United Barbell - CrossFit SOMA

The 2013 UB Holiday Party

TODAY IS THE UB HOLIDAY PARTY!

Oh come all ye faithful - grab your significant other, get your glad rags on, and get yourself down to Pete's Tavern for some holiday fun with your fellow athletes!

WHERE: Pete's Tavern (upstairs), 128 King Street, SF

WHEN: Friday, December 6th at 8pm

WHAT:

• Delicious food
• An open bar
• CrossFit Santa will make an appearance
• Your fellow athletes will be wearing actual clothes

CrossFit Santa will be taking your goals for next year - maybe your first muscle up, or a huge PR on your 2k row - and will be drawing some lucky names who will receive free personal training to work towards that goal. So make sure you bring your biggest CrossFit Christmas wish!

UPDATE YOUR ADDRESS

UB has a pretty amazing holiday card this year - don't miss out on it by having an ancient address on file! You can either log into your Mindbody Online profile to change it, or send it to gym@unitedbarbell.com and we'll update it for you.

Make sure to get it in by Monday to receive this precious UB keepsake! ACT NOW!

Two Canucks, a Kiwi, and an Aussie walk into a bar...
Team Commonwealth at last year's UB holiday bash!

This week's dose of awesome is brought to you by coach Trent

This week's D.O.A. is one that may surprise you; surely he's been the dose already? He exudes awesomeness. He is Ato. If you haven't met Ato, he is UB’s gentle giant with a heart of gold and a fierce determination. Ato wears an elevation mask, adding to his HAM status. He also came in and trained every Sunday to prepare himself for a marathon row... that's 42,195 meters! Think about that the next time we ask you to row 2,000 meters. “Pffhff, kids games" he says. The list goes on, including the numbers he’s put up that have gotten him on the record board repeatedly. But what really makes Ato so awesome is his softer side. He always comes in with a huge smile every day, and lightens the mood during class. He is a breath of fresh air for everyone, including us coaches. Ato also raised over $1,000 for the Fight Gone Bad Boost! West Oakland fundraiser, crowning him the Ultimate Champion of 2013. So many good things to say about this humble beast and we know there is still more to come. Keep rockin' it Ato! You're the man!

Oh, did you want a bar? You'll have to get past Ato first...

With the thought of trying something new, one of our UBites was inspired. It started one Saturday with coach Wong bringing out magical, colorful, rubber balls to play warm up, CF style dodge-ball. It was love at first throw. Joanna G. has been bitten by the dodge-ball bug - and she's been researching leagues in/around the city(!) with the hopes of creating an awesome UB dodge-ball team!

We know you've thought about it...

After looking into it, Joanna found the following league to be the most promising:

SF Dodgeball - located in the Marina), their season starts January 9th (minimum 7 games). Games are Thursday nights between 7pm-10pm at the Galileo Academy Bay Street Lower Gym - Cost is $85/person or $800/team with teams competing in a 6 v 6 format (4 guys/2 girls ratio) ... Teams are 8-12 members, so even if you are only able/wanting to get in on a couple games this season, there is still a place for you!

BONUS: For those of you wanting to try it on for size or come and watch, there's also a tournament happening this weekend in the Mission (10 players max, min. 2 ladies, for $100).

Interested? Post to comments, message me, or chat up Joanna at the holiday party this Friday!

I ran across the following article and thought it was appropriate to share with all the holiday travel coming up.

If you’re a competitor or even someone that enjoys staying on top of working out traveling can be a pain in the butt!! It takes us out of our typical schedules, then norm that we are used to, what we would like to follow, and can genuinely stink. BUT… we can get it dialed in when we are on the road if needed. Here are some things that I’ve found helpful both mentally and physically for when I’m on the road. I travel basically every weekend of my life to work at seminars so I have some experience in this department and can relate to those of you with similar schedules.

1. RELAX…. even though we may be stuck in airports, cars, lines, etc. when was the last time you had to just unwind? Once you accept that fact that you’re on the road and just settle in you can get some good work done or unwind a bit if needed. Catch up on your to do list, or download a good movie on the ipad that you wouldn’t get a chance to watch otherwise when you’re trying to get the kids to bed :)

2. Do you BEST to keep your sleep at no less than 6 hours a night. Try to keep it at 8 hours a night if you can. I find this to be the toughest with frequent changes in time zones but if you can hit the sack so you’re at 7 hrs a night that is pretty solid. Plan ahead if you’re going east since you will feel it more in the morning.

3. If you can surround yourself with like-minded people for working out that’s great. It’s one of the huge advantages that I have since the other trainers are chomping at the bit to workout at lunch together. You may not have that convenience though so try some of these things. Come up with new workouts that you genuinely WANT to do and will be motivated to do. It may involve stealing some dumbbells and using them for some kind of workout in the stairwell at the hotel. Khalipa and I did this year ago and had a blast as well as a great workout with one another. Hotel have a pool? When was the last time you got in a little pool workout, who cares what people think of you. Sprints and burpees outside the pool can do the trick. Or you could get out and explore on a good run.

4. Be ok with the fact that your nutrition will most likely be less than ideal. If you’re starving, have the sandwich at Starbucks and get some calories in. I think that starving is worse than a bit of gluten. Make good choices when you can, but if it’s between starvation and grabbing something, I’m going to grab something. Get to know some good chains that you can count on. Chipotle is my fave and easy to find just about anywhere.

5. Schedule your workouts so that you can enjoy the rest of the day. Even if you aren’t a person that likes to workout in the am you may have to do it if you’re slammed in meetings or tied up the whole day. If you suck it up and get out of bed and hit up the WOD you know you will feel better about the day. Even if it’s not the perfect time that you perform you got the response in and that may be the goal for the day in those situations. Otherwise take advantage of the time that you can get your WOD in.

Traveling may not be the best thing possible for your training but if you develop some good habits, just like anything else, you will make it work and be all the better for it. When it comes time for competitions and people ask me if it effects me I say it’s to my advantage. I’m in different time zones, climates, elevations, different equipment, set ups, etc. every weekend. I’m used to things not being the way I want it all the time. When it comes time to compete… easy day. I’ll be ready for it. If you train in your gym every day of your year, that’s all you know. The competition is different. For me, it’s just another weekend on the road out of my gym.

And just like that it's December. Time for cold weather, Christmas music, and lots of holiday warm 'n fuzzies. Start off the season right -- join us this Friday for the United Barbell Holiday party. Gussy up and head down after open gym to Pete's Tavern from 8-11pm. We have reserved the upstairs area and will have an open bar for the first part of the evening. Share in the fun and join us for a drink or two. See you there!

Mister T-Rock.

We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday - come in to open gym and work the pie off!

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We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday - from our entire UB family!

Please note this week's holiday schedule:

• Wednesday - Normal Schedule
• Thursday - Turkey Day WOD at 9:30am.
• Friday - Open Gym 9am - 11am.
• Sat/Sun - - Normal Schedule

I apologize to the 7am and 8am classes... they have already this shpeal. ....

Take a second to remember how you felt when you walked into a CrossFit gym the first time. Were you intimidated? Excited? Ready to take on whatever was thrown at you? Since then you have WODded with the best of them, growing faster, stronger, leaner, and ready to take life on head first. We love that. After all, that's what CrossFit was originally designed for.. to make you better at life.

So the question is, now that you have reached new capacities, what have you tried that you wouldn't have before? Was it competing (another shout out to the 7 teams at the Jigsaw competition!)? Maybe it was a tough mudder, 1/2 marathon, an experiment with 30s day of paleo...etc.?

Whatever you have taken the time to try, I am challenging you to go further. Dig deeper. Find something you would have never given a second thought to before, and try it. Whether it's trying trapeze, snowboarding, doing the CrossFit Open, joining an intramural sport, jumping out of a plane, or starting a dodgeball team... get after it. Personally I am going to try my hands at rowing... on the water (and if you know me, you know this is a stretch beyond just trying something new). Know what it is yet? Post to comments and let your UB family hold you to it! Still have commitment jitters? Enroll a buddy to do it with you! Who knows? You won't know unless you try.