This edition of the Catalyst Go! Newsletter is brought to you by The Athlete's Foot (thanks, Doug!) Recognizing that most athletes and exercise enthusiasts in town now read this newsletter, they're offering 15% off as a holiday gift! Click the link to download a printable coupon, take it into the store, and presto! you're saving money on stuff you need anyway, like shoes, running gear, and workout clothing. Download Catalyst coupon
Happy December! Hard to believe that our Queen Street gym is more than two years old….seems like only yesterday we were painting the walls, putting drywall compound on all the nicks and scrapes…wait a minute, that WAS yesterday! We've gotta calm those noon Crossfit groups down!
We're kidding about calming them down, but we ARE offering a beginner-level Crossfit group or two. Crossfit is very fun, and scalable to even the most rank newbie, but I'll concede that its very awesomeness can be intimidating. So if you've never tried it, or even if you've gone through the boot camp and are scared to take the next step, we're making it easy for you. Tiffany's 'Beginner Crossfit' group runs Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 7am. She'll have a custom WOD made up for entry-level Crossfitters, but don't worry – she can scale it up to challenge the veterans too! If folks like the workouts tailored to the 'beginner' level, we may just make this group a permanent fixture at our Queen St. gym.
Okay…the absolute most exciting part of this newsletter: Catalyst Kids starts in January! Yeah, we know it's taken forever to get the ball rolling (nearly a year,) but can you blame us for trying to find the perfect coach for your kid? How could we possibly offer this amazing program with a less-than-awesome coach? Well, we've finally found her. She's an elementary-school teacher, Gymnastics Coach, Crossfitter, has a degree in Kinesiology, and a ton of great ideas for active games.
The Santa Claus Parade hits Queen Street at 6pm December 6th. As always, Catalyst Fitness will open its doors to its clients for the parade. Watch from above, no need for a jacket! We'll have a bit of coffee and hot chocolate from Cafe Natura, maybe a little snack, and let the kids run around a bit. Warning: if you let them play on the climbing wall, they're going to get hooked and want to come back. Just sayin'.
Also on the 6th, Catalyst Athletic (99 Industrial Court B) – our membership-based facility – will host its first every virtualmeet. That's a full powerlifting meet, videotaped and judged by a panel of elite powerlifting judges from Finland, the US, and one other to be named later.
Interviews this month: Jennifer Entwhistle, local physiotherapist and runner, talks about resistance training and running in the offseason. Dom Deluca talks about creativity, coaching, and hockey in one of our
most popular interviews of all time, and John Clement outlines things every high school athlete should know about getting a US scholarship.
most popular interviews of all time, and John Clement outlines things every high school athlete should know about getting a US scholarship.
Some other highlights of November: our Is Crossfit For Runners? article caught fire in the online world, and was featured on CrossfitNYC, Crossfit Toronto, Crossfit Austin, Crossfit Virtuosity, Crossfit Fort Benning, Crossfit South Brooklyn, Crossfit St. Louis, and others. Guess we're not the only ones having the conversation! We were also loud and proud at King Of The Kage, where Brent Fryia (our wrestling coach,) and Ray Gowlett (winner of Catalyst Games 2008 Open Division and all-around crazy dude) took their love to town. Well, not much love. But they DID beat some pretty good fighters.
Team Catalyst News: Whitney attended a WOD at Crossfit DC. This was her email to me later:Hey coop!! Let me tell you that we have it made! I just finished the group crazy work out it was fun. About 16 people in the group and picture this.. In a room only slightly bigger than the long hall at the queen location where the rings are !!!! We have so much space to work with. We are lucky! I ripped it up for sure and people took notice. I was the only one waiting in line with all the boys for the 65 lbs thrusters (girls were doing 35) and the only girl doing full kippinh pull ups! The coach "alex" loved having a strong woman in the group he said.
Tyler and Chris will be in Kinross Penitentiary for their annual "Non-Invitational" Powerlifting meet December 13. We'll be competing with 40-50 inmates in the Squat, Bench Press, and Deadlift. Winner goes home at the end of the day – well, that's what we're telling Tyler, anyway. Mike's headed to Crossfit Barrie over the break, hopefully. Tiffany's November Boot Camp turned into the Beginner Crossfit Group on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and everyone returned for more (uh, yeah, she's kinda popular.) Taylor will be home on the 16th – look for her at Crossfit! The CrossFit Dolls reunited!
Kubis will be starting his free Sunday Morning Salvation classes on Sunday, November 30. Show up at 9am and improve your technique on a variety of lifts. Choose to stay for the WOD or not. The Sunday Salvation class is free for Crossfitters who have been through the Introductory Boot Camp (also free!)
Hope to see you this month! Merry Christmas!