As the year draws to a close we take this opportunity to thank you for your support over the last 12 months. What a year is has been!
CrossFit Brisbane has grown in many ways and it is amazing to see our community continue to develop as the numbers grow. We hit several major milestones this year. In May, we hosted our first ever L1 Certification Seminar and were honoured to have Coach Greg Glassman, Media Director Tony Budding, and Director of Training Nicole Carroll in the house. This was the first of two successful Certs that CFB hosted, each marking a great step forward in the development of CrossFit education in Australia. In August, we hosted the "Hard'nup Challenge" which was a huge success with 126 competitors and at least that many spectators. In November we hosted Australia's first ever CrossFit Olympic Lifting Certification with Super Coach Mike Burgener, which like the Certs was a sellout and great success. Along the way we had a number of CrossFit's best athletes drop in to train with us including Pat Barber, Taz Venter and Steve "Commando" Willis, and we were privileged to have some of the best CrossFit trainers in the world, Pat Sherwood, Nadia Shatila and Lisa Ray visit the box to teach at the Certs.
When we first affiliated in 2006, none of these things seemed possible. The community is now strong and CrossFit is becoming the program of choice for anyone serious about improving their health and fitness. The CrossFit Games have legitimized our claim that we are "the Sport of Fitness" and this year we were so proud to see our members traveling to other boxes to compete at events around the country. We had representatives at the Wounded Warrior games at CFX, the Newcastle games at CrossFit Newcastle, the Coastal Challenge at CrossFit Coastal and at the Fight Gone Bad event at CrossFit Gold Coast.
Seminars, competitions and events all provide unique opportunities for athletes and coaches to further develop, and it is with great satisfaction that we look back on the year where these opportunities were made available for the first time in this country.
The year also saw our membership grow to new levels, and well beyond what we ever dreamt. Our mission has always been to make CrossFit accessible to as many people as possible and is so rewarding to see the depth and breadth of members that we now have. Part of our mission is to further the development of CrossFit in Australasia, and this year some of our trainers and members took the leap and created their own affiliates. CrossFit Arena, CrossFit Resolve, CrossFit Northside and CrossFit Moshpit all affiliated in 2009, and we are proud to have helped develop CrossFit in the region to the point that allows trainers to start their CrossFit Affiliate journey. It is always bittersweet to see people leave the fold, but we are pleased that CrossFit growth continues to be so strong, and we love seeing people follow their passion. We wish these new affiliates every success and encourage them to be active in supporting the community through the hosting of events, seminars and competitions.
CrossFit Brisbane first affiliated in 2006 at a time when there were 3 affiliates in Australia. There are now 47 affiliates nationwide and 14 in Queensland alone! We now have strong affiliates on both coasts, with CrossFit Coastal, CrossFit Sunshine Coast and Coolum CrossFit doing well on the Sunshine Coast and CrossFit Gold Coast and CrossFit Broadbeach leading the charge on the Gold Coast. We are also about to see the launch of CrossFit Toowoomba. In some small way, all of these affiliates have been influenced by CrossFit Brisbane, and in a large way they have you, our members, to thank for creating such a thriving community.
One of the highlights of the year for the coaching staff was the launch of CrossFit Rocks at Seventeen Mile Rocks. CrossFit Rocks is owned by Doug Armstrong and Darren Meares, and for all intents and purposes is an extension of CrossFit Brisbane in the Western Suburbs. Doug remains an active trainer at CFB, and Rocks operates using the same programming model and coaching philosophy. In January we will be offering a reciprocal membership option which will allow CFB members to train at Rocks and visa versa at no additional cost. Both gyms will run the same session on the same day meaning that training at the other facility will not impact the quality of your training or recovery. Stay tuned, this option will be made available shortly. We are so proud of Doug and the degree to which he has developed, and continues to develop, as both a trainer and athlete and we look forward to having a strong involvement in the success of CrossFit Rocks. The official opening day is 16/1/2010. Lets get over there and support the boys!
So 2009 was a huge year of growth for the box, but none of the achievements match those of our members. We welcome everyone that joined, did their first workout in the box and survived the mayhem. We congratulate everyone that achieved a first ... first pullup, first rx'd wod, first muscleup, first competition ... the list goes on ... and we thank everybody for their continued efforts in training. Many, many people progressed beyond what they thought was possible, and there is nothing more rewarding for the coaching staff than seeing this happen. CrossFit Brisbane is well regarded for the standard that we set, and this reflects the quality of the people that we are lucky enough to call clients. Always striving for improvement, always willing to be coached and generally making the place somewhere that we all want to be. So, thank you!
We look ahead with anticipation and excitement. 2010 is going to be a great year. We are hosting the Qld Sectional Qualifiers for the CrossFit Games in March, we have soldout CrossFit Certification seminars in February and March, and an even bigger and better Hard'nup Challenge planned for August, and no doubt many other events throughout the year. We want 2010 to be about the community and will also be working hard to hold regular social events at the box. We will continue to build the coaching team with Level II trainer Chris Tefft joining us early in the year as a permanent member of the coaching staff, and we will also be implementing a number of coaching initiatives that are designed to bring an even higher level of instruction to the box. The plan is simple ... provide an environment where our community can thrive!
Great training, great people, great times ... bring it on!
So what are your goals this year? Get fired up! Post your reflections on 2009 and goals for 2010 to comments.
All the best,
Matt, Wendy, Danny, Clay, Donna and the CFB team!
CrossFit Brisbane has grown in many ways and it is amazing to see our community continue to develop as the numbers grow. We hit several major milestones this year. In May, we hosted our first ever L1 Certification Seminar and were honoured to have Coach Greg Glassman, Media Director Tony Budding, and Director of Training Nicole Carroll in the house. This was the first of two successful Certs that CFB hosted, each marking a great step forward in the development of CrossFit education in Australia. In August, we hosted the "Hard'nup Challenge" which was a huge success with 126 competitors and at least that many spectators. In November we hosted Australia's first ever CrossFit Olympic Lifting Certification with Super Coach Mike Burgener, which like the Certs was a sellout and great success. Along the way we had a number of CrossFit's best athletes drop in to train with us including Pat Barber, Taz Venter and Steve "Commando" Willis, and we were privileged to have some of the best CrossFit trainers in the world, Pat Sherwood, Nadia Shatila and Lisa Ray visit the box to teach at the Certs.
When we first affiliated in 2006, none of these things seemed possible. The community is now strong and CrossFit is becoming the program of choice for anyone serious about improving their health and fitness. The CrossFit Games have legitimized our claim that we are "the Sport of Fitness" and this year we were so proud to see our members traveling to other boxes to compete at events around the country. We had representatives at the Wounded Warrior games at CFX, the Newcastle games at CrossFit Newcastle, the Coastal Challenge at CrossFit Coastal and at the Fight Gone Bad event at CrossFit Gold Coast.
Seminars, competitions and events all provide unique opportunities for athletes and coaches to further develop, and it is with great satisfaction that we look back on the year where these opportunities were made available for the first time in this country.
The year also saw our membership grow to new levels, and well beyond what we ever dreamt. Our mission has always been to make CrossFit accessible to as many people as possible and is so rewarding to see the depth and breadth of members that we now have. Part of our mission is to further the development of CrossFit in Australasia, and this year some of our trainers and members took the leap and created their own affiliates. CrossFit Arena, CrossFit Resolve, CrossFit Northside and CrossFit Moshpit all affiliated in 2009, and we are proud to have helped develop CrossFit in the region to the point that allows trainers to start their CrossFit Affiliate journey. It is always bittersweet to see people leave the fold, but we are pleased that CrossFit growth continues to be so strong, and we love seeing people follow their passion. We wish these new affiliates every success and encourage them to be active in supporting the community through the hosting of events, seminars and competitions.
CrossFit Brisbane first affiliated in 2006 at a time when there were 3 affiliates in Australia. There are now 47 affiliates nationwide and 14 in Queensland alone! We now have strong affiliates on both coasts, with CrossFit Coastal, CrossFit Sunshine Coast and Coolum CrossFit doing well on the Sunshine Coast and CrossFit Gold Coast and CrossFit Broadbeach leading the charge on the Gold Coast. We are also about to see the launch of CrossFit Toowoomba. In some small way, all of these affiliates have been influenced by CrossFit Brisbane, and in a large way they have you, our members, to thank for creating such a thriving community.
One of the highlights of the year for the coaching staff was the launch of CrossFit Rocks at Seventeen Mile Rocks. CrossFit Rocks is owned by Doug Armstrong and Darren Meares, and for all intents and purposes is an extension of CrossFit Brisbane in the Western Suburbs. Doug remains an active trainer at CFB, and Rocks operates using the same programming model and coaching philosophy. In January we will be offering a reciprocal membership option which will allow CFB members to train at Rocks and visa versa at no additional cost. Both gyms will run the same session on the same day meaning that training at the other facility will not impact the quality of your training or recovery. Stay tuned, this option will be made available shortly. We are so proud of Doug and the degree to which he has developed, and continues to develop, as both a trainer and athlete and we look forward to having a strong involvement in the success of CrossFit Rocks. The official opening day is 16/1/2010. Lets get over there and support the boys!
So 2009 was a huge year of growth for the box, but none of the achievements match those of our members. We welcome everyone that joined, did their first workout in the box and survived the mayhem. We congratulate everyone that achieved a first ... first pullup, first rx'd wod, first muscleup, first competition ... the list goes on ... and we thank everybody for their continued efforts in training. Many, many people progressed beyond what they thought was possible, and there is nothing more rewarding for the coaching staff than seeing this happen. CrossFit Brisbane is well regarded for the standard that we set, and this reflects the quality of the people that we are lucky enough to call clients. Always striving for improvement, always willing to be coached and generally making the place somewhere that we all want to be. So, thank you!
We look ahead with anticipation and excitement. 2010 is going to be a great year. We are hosting the Qld Sectional Qualifiers for the CrossFit Games in March, we have soldout CrossFit Certification seminars in February and March, and an even bigger and better Hard'nup Challenge planned for August, and no doubt many other events throughout the year. We want 2010 to be about the community and will also be working hard to hold regular social events at the box. We will continue to build the coaching team with Level II trainer Chris Tefft joining us early in the year as a permanent member of the coaching staff, and we will also be implementing a number of coaching initiatives that are designed to bring an even higher level of instruction to the box. The plan is simple ... provide an environment where our community can thrive!
Great training, great people, great times ... bring it on!
So what are your goals this year? Get fired up! Post your reflections on 2009 and goals for 2010 to comments.
All the best,
Matt, Wendy, Danny, Clay, Donna and the CFB team!
Happy new year Matt and the team, reflections are so many it would be another war and peace. So glad I read the Ultrafit article, found the BOX, and have found the inspiration and motivation my training was lacking.
All thanks to CFB.
Thanks guys, oh so looking forward to a great year of training.
"On the day of victory no one is tired"
Posted by: Matt G | January 01, 2010 at 01:52 PM
It will be a couple of years in Feb that I have been training at CFB and apart from the changes in my own fitness and my enjoyment of exercise its been great to see Matt and Wendy's dream grow.
The quality of the coaching is outstanding but for me the best part of their creation is the spirit of the place
and they have kept that spirit intact as its grown from 20 to 150+ members
Goals for 2010 ? continuous double unders without a single skip in the middle - muscle up - handstand - would be nice
but to be honest - and Matt you may shoot me for saying this - the goals are not really the driver for me I just really like turning up, pushing myself and having fun with a group of great people at CFB.
Thanks Matt, Wendy and Danny and all the other people that have coached me and also thanks to all the people i have trained with over the last few years you have made the place for me.
Posted by: Miles | January 01, 2010 at 02:22 PM
This month will be a year from when I found the CFX website randomly in a google search when looking for an exercise plan that didn't involve normal gyms. This got me onto CFB, WOD's, and until then, unknown physical/mental pain.
The box was a very scary place, filled with people with untold fitness and resolve. Subbing exercises and "tapping" out was a regular occurence for quite some time but now I'm competing directly against the same people that I was so impressed by.
So what's my goals for 2010? Regularly doing more than 2 Rx'd WOD's a week, continuous double unders and at least 2 muscle ups in a row (without dislocating my shoulder!).
Bring on 2010!! See you all on Monday.
Posted by: Karel | January 01, 2010 at 08:13 PM
Happy New Year to all!!
Well, it’s just been over 10 months since I first walked through the doors of CrossFit Brisbane for my Intro Session with Danny and it’s fair to say I’ve fully embraced the CrossFit method. Apart from being involved in a team sport environment (rugby union) for over 20 odd years, the camaraderie, positive energy and community spirit I’ve experienced from CrossFit is second to none!!
My personal CrossFit highlights of 2009:
* Attending the Australasian CrossFit Games Qualifiers as a spectator down in Sydney and witnessing some unbelievable performances as well as meeting Commando Steve :)
* Competing in my first ever CrossFit Games challenge type format which was the Hard’nup Challenge with my wife and kids supporting me
* Attending the Weightlifting Cert and meeting Coach Burgener
* Watching Matt “The God Father” Swift absolutely rip it up at Coastal CrossFit Qld’s inaugural Clash on the Coast Games was awesome.
Goals for 2010:
* To improve my kipping pull ups ten fold
* Improve my mental capacity to push myself through the pain barrier
* To keep improving my diet
How hard can it be?? 2010, onwards and upwards!!
Posted by: Bill S | January 01, 2010 at 08:45 PM
Goals are eat well and decrease my rest on metcons. Look forward to 2010!
Posted by: Brad | January 01, 2010 at 10:17 PM
I am totally fired up for 2010. It is going to be a great year.
I had a fantastic year in 2009 - did lots of stuff outside of crossfit that all my efforts in the box (and with my diet) made possible. Too many good moments for me to list, both personally and witnessing other people's achievements.
Our community is awesome. Have made some fantastic friends through crossfit, including from other affiliates.
My personal 2010 crossfit goals are to attain much more speed with running and bodyweight exercises and to do rxd pullups in workouts, and still to get a ring dip (muscle ups might be a 2011 goal). I'm also very excited to be participating in the games as both a volunteer and a competitor this year.
Bill, it's gonna be bloody hard. But we're CFB and each day we'll rise to the hard'n'up challenge! Happy new year all, I'm off to drink some concrete...
Posted by: Liz | January 01, 2010 at 10:28 PM
Having only been coming along for 3months I have been amazed at both how quickly I have changed and how great the environment is at CFB.
My goals for 2010 are to continue to improve in all areas - I would love to be able to do a pullup workout. Other goals are to keep supporting Isobel who has been loving CrossFit kids and once Isaac turns 11 I am sure he will love it as well.
I was talking to someone over the break about why Crossfit is so much better than other gyms. I thought on this for a bit. I said that the best part about Crossfit is that the people respect you for the effort you put in. You dont have to be the strongest, you just have to try hard. If you try hard, you fit in and gain the respect of the people that are there. Makes for a great environment that is very inclusive.
Cant wait to get back in the box on Monday.
Cheers
Ged
Posted by: Gerard | January 02, 2010 at 08:00 AM
Congratulation guys. It's been awesome to watch your dream grow. 2010 is going to be a great year for you I'm sure. Crossfit is way better than Product Management eh Matt? :-).
As for 2010 goals... I'll stick with the ones I've had for a while now...
Be better at the things I really suck at:
20 continuous full depth push ups followed by 20 pull ups and a "good" squat pattern. If I can get these three things right in 2010, I figure the rest will work itself out.
Happy new year CFB.
Lee :-)
Posted by: Lee W | January 02, 2010 at 11:11 AM
Ged, that is spot on! Think I will quote you on that.
Posted by: Liz | January 02, 2010 at 02:37 PM
Good to hear about Crossfit Toowoomba. Any idea of who's putting it together or when?
Posted by: Stuart Smith | January 04, 2010 at 08:56 AM
Happy new year friends.
What a year it was. Not everything went according to my plan, but such is life. I battled an injury, I had a taste of a defeat in sport, I learned a lot.
I also had a great time training in the box, improving my skills, taking part in crossfit competitions for the first time, and making friends along the way.
My personal goals for 2010:
• get stronger
• injury free
• improve my diet
• learn how to clean properly (1,5 year in CFB and I am still struggling)
• being able to do most (maybe all) workouts rxd - that will require learning some skills: hand-stand pushups, ring dips, muscle-ups and getting stronger.
• improve my performance during competitions - I would like to get to a final some time this year... (doesn't really matter, which competition - I am not fussy, not yet ;-)
and maybe... sub 5min Fran by the end of the year? if I am lucky ;-)
A lot to learn and practice... but it's fun to do it in a good company :-)
Anna
Posted by: Anka | January 04, 2010 at 10:51 AM