January 2015 - The Hill Kansas City

Featured Athlete

Mark Nuss

Typically when the coaches all chat about who we’ll nominate for a month’s featured athlete, I’ll shoot that person an email & ask them some questions that I think pertain to them, their career, and family and how it all relates to The Hill. This month I’ve ~~selfishly~~ decided that, instead of letting Mark answer questions about himself, I’d attempt to take all the incredible things said by and about Mark and put them out there. But first, I’d like to let all who don’t know him get a feel for his attitude:

“I love this place. I’ve only been coming here for 4(ish) months and I’ve only been working out (really) for about 7. I have so much fun at the Hill. I feel like I’ve come a long way from where I started and, for the first time ever, I don’t care about where I stack up…it’s now a mentality that I’ve found what I want to do for life and just need to make little improvements towards every movement.

I’ve felt like I’m part of the family since day one- regardless of my abilities. It’s infectious. The Hill is FULL of great people who have been nothing but welcoming and given me PLENTY to aspire to.”

It’s the Mark’s of the world that compel coaches, trainers, and gym owners everywhere to wake up and go to work each day. When he first came to the Hill, Mark was apprehensive (as we all are) but determined, persistent, and infectiously joyful. He’s an example to everyone around him that life is best lived actively and enthusiastically. Mark is a loving father, demonstrating for all parents that health, fitness, wellness, and community are foundational habits of happy people.Mark, The Hill is a better place because of you. From all of your coaches: thanks for the inspiration, hard work, and delightful attitude. On behalf of The Hill membership, thanks for being the embodiment of our cornerstone: Community. Commitment. Results.

February Member Newsletter

EVENTS, EVENTS, EVENTS.

Seriously, now’s the time to really get involved with your fellow awesome-sauce members at The Hill. Here’s the run-down:

Saturday, January 31st Noon-1PM — Nutrition Lunch and Learn
This is a brief, casual seminar focused on nutrition, macro-nutrients, eating for performance, & eating for fat loss. This is NOT a how-to-cook-Paleo food lesson. If you’re interested in your nutrition this year, you need to be here. Reserve a spot NOW!

Saturday, February 14th, Noon-2PM — Partner Play Yoga with Sabrena and Lisa
This is their 3rd time hosting a partner yoga session and it is guaranteed to be a great time. You don’t need to be a yogi or have a partner to attend. This will be a great start to a fun-filled day with your sweetheart or a light-hearted first date with someone you just met on [insert dating app]. Join the Facebook group or, email Sabrena to reserve your spot.

Feb. 23rd – Mar 28th — The Hill Games
Join an intramural team for this year’s CrossFit Games Open. Your coaches and fellow members have all volunteered their time for 5 weeks to make this an open, free event. There will be three levels at which to compete, so EVERYONE CAN PARTICIPATE. For those that were around during the Open last year, you know how fun this will be. Join the Facebook group or email me to enter the draft.

FEATURED ATHLETE – Mark Nuss

DOUBLE UNDER CHALLENGE

It’s time to get those Double-Unders! 2 weeks left in the challenge – upload a video to our Facebook page with you doing 10, 40, 100, or 150 unbroken double unders to get your name in a drawing for a free t-shirt or other awesome prize. If you’re in there for one level, you can move up to the next to get in there a 2nd time. If you got 150… let’s see 200.

1st Annual The Hill Games

Feb. 23rd – Mar. 28th

Purpose

The Purpose of the first annual “Hill Games” is simple: have fun, build community, commit to working hard, and see some great results in the process! You do not need to sign up for the CrossFit Games Open to participate, unless you’d like to see how you stack up across the world.

TEAMS

Every team will have a team captain; a coach to help guide, inspire, and tally points. Teams will have the ability to earn points throughout the Hill Games to go toward a grand prize along with random drawings along the way. Teams will be drafted according to what level they’ll be participating in the Open workouts.

POINTS

Teams will earn points based on several categories: attendance throughout the week, participation and scores in the Open Workouts, and a “spirit of the Games” award will be awarded weekly.
-Each team member can earn up to 5 points/week for their team based solely on attendance. (1 point for regular WODs and 2 points for participation in an Open WOD). You must sign into Wodify for attendance to count.
-The top 2 Female and top 2 Male finishers in each division will also earn their team 1 point per finish. Results must be recorded in Wodify.
-The Spirit of the Games award is worth 5 points weekly and will be awarded to the team that demonstrates an exceptional example of community, commitment, and fun.

CAPTAINS

Your captains will keep track of your scores, provide some guidance and direction in the workouts, and help lead you to which level you should be participating. Your team captains are:Brian Z, Jamie Thomas, David Ochoa, Kyle Smith, Chad Trease, Brianna Walters, Steph, Maggie, Matt, Josh.

LEVELS/SCALING

Your coaches will ultimately let you know at which level you should participate, but here is a general idea of where you’ll participate. Please note that teams will be drafted to have equal participants in each level. If you are routinely finishing 1st in a level, your coach reserves the right to move you up a level.
Level 1 – Ring Rows, 75/35 Snatch, 95/55 Clean, Step-Ups, Single Unders
Level 2 – Ring Dips, 2-5 Unassisted Pull-Ups, 135/95 Snatch, 155/105 Clean, K2E, Box Jumps, 25 DU
Level 3 – Ring Muscle Ups, 185/115 Snatch, 225/155 Clean, TTB, 10 C2B Pull Up, Double Unders

*These guidelines are a rough idea of levels. All the workouts will be accessible at a comparable level for ALL Athletes*

Please request to join this Facebook Group to be drafted onto a team. If you don’t have Facebook, email Matt@CrossFitMemorialHill.com to be put on a team.

ALL MEMBERS (INCLUDING FUNDAMENTALS) ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO PARTICIPATE!!!

Happy New Year!!!

#TheHill30

Every year leading up to this time, I’m asked if the gym will be doing any sort of “challenge.” I love challenges; physical, mental, professional, ect. In the instance of a nutrition “challenge,” people typically will do 30 days of a strict version of a diet: paleo, clean eating, zone, etc. I think these challenges have a great place for people who have never played around with clean eating. It’s a great opportunity to see how great you feel and how well you perform.

For myself and for The Hill, 2015 is the year of sustainability. We’ve stripped down all of our programming, products, coaching, and business administration to it’s most basic principles and asked ourselves: “What does this look like in 20 years?” How can we program and approach fitness in an integrated system that ushers our athletes into retirement strong, healthy, and able to enjoy a life of independence and wellness? What does a healthy workplace look like? How can we promote a sustainable nutrition practice? How do we give athletes the tools they need to succeed physically, mentally, and professionally?

Because of this, we’re putting out #TheHill30 on our Facebook Page all this month. Your coaches will each submit a short tip or nugget of information that they’ve learned from a challenge they’ve done or from spending thousands of hours coaching athletes. These are the things we’ve made habit over years or even decades. So, take what you want; throw away what you don’t. But, I strongly encourage each of you to take away something from this month that will build your wellness landscape for the next 20, 30, or 50 years.

The Hill-Cast

If you’ve yet to check out The Hill-Cast, do so RIGHT NOW. We sit down with your coaches and fellow athletes to chat nutrition, training, specialty programs, and what makes them tick.

Do you have a topic you’d like covered? Email: Kyle@crossfitmemorialhill.com and let him know!

Last Call for Specialty Classes!!!

In case you missed it the first time, check out the Specialty Class FAQ and follow the links to sign up.

Looking for a nutrition or training jump-start?

This year we’re expanding into personal training packages. This can be in the form of nutritional consultations, some specialty training, or just a good ole kick in the butt. A free 20 minute planning consultation is included when you get a 4- or 8- session package. Fill out the form here to get more info.

Be cool in ’15

Remember the first time you stepped foot in CrossFit? Super intimidating, right? Well, now you’re a CrossFit badass that knows where the jump ropes and J-Cups are and how to do barbell math.

This time of year, we’ll see a bunch of new faces around the gym. Be cool to them. Introduce yourself, partner up with them, and…well…be cool. You guys are all incredible people to work with on a daily basis. Share that awesomeness.

Also, while you’re at it, pass along that referral card to a friend. Everyone has a resolution this year; let’s make this the year of results.

Thanks!