Five Alarm CrossFit

Bloomington, Illinois

Schedule Changes

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We’ve got some exciting changes coming to our schedule! Beginning March 1st, we’ll be opening the gym for a group class on Sundays! Our TOTAL class will run from 12-1 on a trial basis for the month of March. If the response is good, we’ll keep it going on a permanent basis. With the addition of the Sunday class, our lunch open gym hours will now be 10-11am M-F (also effective 3/1).

We hope you’re as excited as we are about this new addition! See you in the gym!

FAQ’s

  • What time will a coach be at the gym on Sundays? 

Similar to our other classes, a member of our team will be at the gym at least 15 minutes prior to the start time to open the doors and greet athletes. 

  • Will I need to be out of the gym right at 1? 

No! We always encourage athletes to stick around and socialize or stretch after classes while we perform our closing duties. All we ask is that you’re respectful of our time on the rare occasion a coach needs to get out right on time. 

  • What if I don’t want to participate in the group class on Sunday? Can I still do my own thing? 

For the time being, Sundays will be class format only (similar to Saturday at 8am). Folks wanting to come in and do mobility work during that time would be able to do but if you’re wanting to do a workout or active recovery, it would need to be with the rest of the group. 

  • What if I want to come in during the Open Gym slot during the week but I can’t make it until later? 

We would highly encourage you to call the gym and see if one of our team members will be around. There are many days when a coach is on site working despite it not being one of our “scheduled” hours. Unless otherwise stated, if one of our team members is in the gym, you’re welcome to come in and do a workout so long as you’re also respectful of our time in the event that they need to leave. 

Five Alarm Committed Clubs

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What are they?

The Committed Club is a year-long attendance challenge that recognizes athletes for consistently showing up to Five Alarm each month. In order to achieve Committed Club status, you’ll need to attend at least 12 classes per month. To achieve the Super Committed Club status, you’ll need to attend at least 20 classes per month. At the end of the year, athletes who were in the Committed Club for all 12 months will be entered into a drawing to receive 50% off their next months membership while athletes in the Super Committed Club for all 12 months will be entered into a drawing to win a FREE month membership. 

We know that consistently showing up to the gym is how we progress towards and achieve our goals. Our hope is that the Committed/Super Committed Clubs provide a little extra incentive for athletes to make their gym attendance a priority and turn it into a regular habit. 

FAQ’s

  1. How will the visits be tracked? 
    The visits will be tracked by signing in on Zen Planner each day you come in. 
  2. What if I forget to sign in?
    You are responsible for signing in each day so please remember to do this before every class or open gym. The coaching team does our best to add athletes to the roster who forget but we might miss you as well so, to be safe, just check in on the iPad before class starts. 
  3. Does Open Gym count towards my Committed Club visits?
    Yes, open gym will count as a visit. Just make sure you remember to sign in.
  4. If I start out in the Super Committed Club but drop to the Committed Club for a month, am I still eligible to win? 
    You would still be eligible to win the 50% off membership but not the free month. 
  5. Do I get bonus points for attending more than 12 or 20 classes in a month or can I transfer them to a previous or future month?
    No. Our intention with this program is to promote consistency over the long term so visits will be looked at on a month to month basis and transfers will not be allowed. 

**During the year 2020, athletes will only be required to have 11 months of consecutive attendance to be eligible for the drawings. 

January Committed Club

Mark Johnson (19)
Taylor Sanders (19)
Evan Jefferson (18)
Maddie Winger (18)
Ryan Reilly (18)
Zach Maxwell (18)
Mallory Roberts (17)
Thomas Woods (17)
Steve McCane (16)
Laura Murukas (15)
Callie Sanders (14)
Cassie Isaacs (14)
Alvin Bilang (13)
Dave Eakle (13)
Garrett Gould (13)
Lorena Allen (13)
Rod Burchett (13)
Craig Tackett (12)
Gayatri Bondili (12)
Kera Tackett (12)
Kristin Adams (12)
Mark Jenson (12)
Mike Buob (12)
Risik Rangineni (12)
Ryan Convery (12)

January Super Committed Club

Auggie Kim (25)
Chris Burchett (25)
Joel Backs (23)
Levi Ransom (23)
Cindy Bruce (22)
Lisa Reilly (22)
Nick Jefferson (22)
Sheri Jefferson (22)
Barry Reilly (21)
Jordan Downing (21)
Wayne Geffon (21)
EJ Garneau (20)
Janet Daniel (20)
Leah Wheeler (20)
Maridee Jefferson (20)
Michael Reilly (20)

Great job last month, Five Alarm! Let’s keep the momentum rolling into February!

Introducing “BUILD!”

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If you received the Five Alarm email that went out at the end of the year, you saw a little blurb about a new class offering… BUILD! (If you didn’t get the email and would like to, please be sure your email address on file is correct, then check your Spam Folder to see if Five Alarm emails are being dumped there!)

So, what is BUILD and how is it different than our standard classes? Let’s start with our general description for BUILD…

“BUILD offers daily strength and skill training along with fun and effective MetCon-style workouts, incorporating daily strength-based movements with a workout to build a solid foundation. The movements and workouts in BUILD focus squarely on building a strong base and providing daily exposure to strength training.

In BUILD, you’ll learn to Squat, Press, Pull, and Clean through daily strength progressions. You’ll also gain exposure to common bodyweight, gymnastic, and monostructural movements. If you’re newer to this style of training, this program is a fantastic introduction to complexity, loading, and variance. If you are more advanced, BUILD helps develop mechanics, consistency, and intensity in foundational strength and moderately complex movements.”

Next, let’s cover some other basic BUILD info. BUILD…

  • Does NOT cost anything extra.
  • Is temporarily temporary. We’re testing out this second style of class offering for our members for the month of January, Monday – Friday at 5pm. If you try it and have any feedback for us, please let us know!
  • Will run a very similar format to our standard classes, with a couple small exceptions… (1) there will be a Strength/Skill component every day, and (2) there is a goal to include a foam rolling/mobility/stretch portion at the end of every day and included within the hour.

Finally, let’s discuss some further considerations in regards to BUILD…

  1. In general, BUILD involves less complex movements than our standard classes. Things like Barbell Snatches, Muscle Ups, and Handstand Push Ups won’t be programmed. Note, THIS DOES NOT MAKE BUILD ANY EASIER! Just ask anyone who tries it…

    That being said, anything and everything that is programmed can be modified based on individual goals and needs (just like our standard classes).

  2. BUILD is written as a completely separate program from our standard classes. Members are free to switch back and forth between BUILD and our standard classes on any given day; however, you must be conscious of the issues that can arise when mixing programs. Anything from overtraining specific muscle groups or movements to completely missing training other muscle groups or movements.

    For example… if you attend a standard class on Monday and it involves Deadlifts, but then attend BUILD on Tuesday, the possibility exists that you could do several Deadlifts again. Similarly, by moving back and forth throughout a week, an individual might completely miss any Deadlifts (or Pull Ups, or whatever).

    Is it doable? Yes. But you need to very smart when doing so.

  3. Along those same lines… can you do BOTH standard classes and BUILD on a given day or on an ongoing basis? Technically, yes. But that’s even less advisable and would almost certainly lead to overtraining. Remember, MORE IS NOT BETTER, BETTER IS BETTER.

    In general, my advice would be that if you’re interested in BUILD, try it out for a full week if you’re able to. Then make a decision to either stick with it for a time or return to standard classes. In the end, the decision is yours, and we’re just extremely happy to be providing everyone with further options in their health and fitness journey!

I hope this answers any questions anyone might have in regards to BUILD. If you have any further questions or would like clarification on anything, please don’t hesitate to email me at josh@fivealarmcrossfit.com! See you in the gym!

Coach Joshua

Survive or Thrive Through the Holidays?

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Words matter. Stop me if you’ve heard this one… “Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch your words, for they become actions…,” etc.*

But it CAN go the other way. The words we use can shape our thoughts as well. It’s around this time of year we start hearing (and using) the phrase “survive the holidays.” There will be articles about surviving holiday parties, family gatherings, and an overall busy season filled with festivities.

Many of the uses of the phrase will be geared towards our eating habits and nutrition. What strategies can you take to survive the assumed damage that the holidays are going to cause to your waistline? Spoiler Alert: It’s usually dietary deprivation in some way or another.

But SURVIVE? Sounds a little dramatic. What if we flipped the script? How would your thoughts and outlook change if you used the phrase “THRIVE through the holidays?”

Thrive with nutritious food that makes you feel satisfied and warm.
Thrive through awesome workouts powered by that food.
Maybe even take advantage of these shortened days and thrive through a holiday break nap. (Adequate sleep is a topic for another time!)

Please note, I’m not asking you to become so militant you don’t enjoy your holidays. But words matter. Change the words you use, and change how you think and feel and ACT. Let the things we love to do – be with friends and family, eat well, move with abandon, and get appropriate rest – take us through this holiday season. Thrive.

– Coach Josh

* “Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny.” – Lao Tzu

#mindset

The Most Revealing Test in CrossFit

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Not Our Usual CrossFit “Test”

If you’ve been with us for awhile, you’ve likely partook in one or more of our standard fitness “tests.” We use a variety of these to measure and track different elements of our strength, our aerobic capacity, our endurance, etc. But today I’d like to talk about a different kind of “test.” One that is more about character and community. One that happens almost every single day we’re in the gym (at least every day the workout isn’t an AMRAP)…

What do you do when the workout is over?

Do you immediately begin cleaning up your equipment? Maybe after lying on the floor or catching your breath for a minute? Get a drink? Do you check your phone since you’ve likely got a little bit of time before everyone else is done? Or chat with friends who have also finished?

Or…

Maybe you still lie on the floor or catch your breath for a minute; but then… move on to someone still working to offer encouragement? Do you cheer them on? Clap for them? Try to include everyone (whether you know them or not)? Do you give high fives or fist bumps as people finish?

There are a variety of reasons CrossFit has exploded in popularity. It’s simplicity, it’s varied and fun workouts, it’s universal scalability, it’s ability to provide trackable results, etc. – but also it’s community. There’s a reason people choose not to workout on their own in a standard gym or at home – we’re social creatures. We become our best selves when we’re pushed and encouraged, and when we’re surrounded by others who believe in us.

Why did you initially choose Five Alarm? If group training, accountability, friends, or a like-minded community are part of your answer, then consider this – the workout isn’t over when you’re finished, it’s over when everyone is finished.

Challenge

When you’re in a class, the members of that class are now your tribe. You should take personal satisfaction in that every member of your tribe feels supported and that no one “finishes alone.” It doesn’t matter if you’re a 10-year CrossFit veteran or if you’re fresh out of Academy. It doesn’t matter how the workout or exercises might have been modified for different people. For that hour we are one group with a common goal – self improvement through shared suffering. Make sure no one suffers alone.

– Coach Joshua


412 Olympia Drive
Bloomington, Il 61704
Contact us
309-808-0171

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