COMMUNITY UPDATE

MARCH MADNESS. FEAST STYLE.

A huge thanks to Keels (Matt Keeler) for volunteering to be the Commissioner of Feast’s March Madness Bracket Pool. Here are instructions from the Commissioner on how to participate:

Entry: Easy 3-step process:

Step 1: Click on this Group Link (Group: Greg’s Brack’ That Ass Up) and create a bracket on ESPN (Password: BuckFurpees).
Step 2: Fill out This Form after you pay so I can keep track and silently judge the deadbeats.
Step 3: Venmo $20/bracket to @Matthew-Keeler-4

More Details:

Entry Fee: $20/Bracket. Enter as often as you'd like and tell a lot of people. Like, a LOT of people. Money can't buy happiness, but it can make the NCAA tournament more fun.
Venoo because I don't want cash. No, I don't take Zelle, Cash App, Doge Coin or Rubles. Trying to keep this all streamlined and in one place to make it easy to manage. Cut me some slack.
Payouts:
- Winner: Winners win, baby. Winner gets it all, except the following consolation prizes. Total to be announced on Thursday March 16th once I've cleared out the deadbeats.
- Consolation Prizes: $20 each
  - Biggest Loser: You finish dead last, you get your money back.
  - Trash Talker: If the prior payout rewards being a dumbass, this one rewards being a smartass (while NOT being a d*ck). Commissioner's sole discretion. I am flush with power.
  - Bracket Name: Get creative. Get spicy. Get $20 back. Will post a voting link to the group once we get going.

Key Dates:

Brackets Live: NOW.
Brackets Locked: You can make changes right up till tip-off of the first game on Thursday, March 16th. BUT...
Payment Due: All payments are due by Midnight, March 15th. I'll clear out the deadbeats Thursday morning before tipoff.

Special Thanks to Feast Member Michael Lim, @jmichaellim, for the great photos included in this Newsletter!

FEAST marathon row EVENT to help cover val’s expenses to compete at the crossfit games.

Val’s leaderboard will not be finalized until April 14, so her Games spot is not yet guaranteed. But we need to start fundraising as if she’s going, so we’re organizing the Feast thROWdown marathon row, with net proceeds going to help pay for Val’s expenses in competing at the CrossFit Games.

Here are the details. On Sunday, April 16, at 10:30am, Feast will host a Team of 10 Marathon Row (42,195 Meters). A group of hearty Feast members have volunteered to be Captains of Teams, and they’ll be recruiting team members. So jump aboard with one of them, or create your own team, and sign up!

Friends, Family, and Other Gyms Welcome to Sign Up!
Sunday, April 16
10:30am check in and rowing technique overview
11:00am start
Event t-shirt (see design below) if you pay $60, or skip the t-shirt and pay $40
Video analysis of rowing technique during the row
Coffee and fruit during the race; beer and seltzer after
Sign Up Through this Link by March 24 if you want a t-shirt, or later if you don’t want a t-shirt
Zelle $60/team member (t-shirt) or $40/team member (no t-shirt) to greg@feast-fitness.com

SPECIAL THANKS TO FEAST MEMBER BRAD VANDENBERG FOR DONATING THE T-SHIRT DESIGN!

bring a friend week is back, starting saturday, april 8!!

We’re bringing back Bring a Friend week, and we’re kicking it off in style with a Partner WOD that will be accessible to all at 9:00am on Saturday, April 8. Bring your friends and family and strangers you met on the street whom you think would like to be healthier, happier members of an amazing community.

As a reminder, your friend will work out the entire week for free (through Saturday, April 15). And if they decide to join, they get $100 off their first month’s membership, and you get $100 off your membership in that month as well!

Does it sound pretty good to get paid to get fit with people you like? Be on the lookout for the sign up sheet on the front desk and elsewhere. And reach out to Connor or Greg with any questions.

COMMITTED CLUB LAUNCHES april 1

One of our missions at Feast is to get you Fit for Life.

We believe that one of the best ways to get fit, and one of the best ways to build other healthy habits, is to consistently come to class.

That’s why we’re going to start rewarding members who log active days in SugarWOD 16 times a month--an average of 4 days a week in a 4 week month.

Eligible classes include CrossFit, Oly, Sweat and Yoga.

Starting April, we’ll run a monthly attendance report, and if you’re showing up on 16 days or more in SugarWOD by attending one or more of those classes in the gym (road classes don’t count), you’ll be in the Committed Club!

Committed Club members will receive recognition in our regular communications and be entered into monthly, quarterly, and annual prize drawings.

Monthly: Feast T-shirt or 12 Pack of Fit Aid ($30-40 value)
Quarterly: Custom RPM Jump Rope ($90 value)
Annual: One Month Membership ($239 value)--must be in Committed Club 10 of 12 months in a calendar year. In this first year, it will be 8 of 10 months.

But the best prize is that Committed Club members will have the most success in becoming fit.

So, don’t forget to log your workout in SugarWOD to ensure you get credit for attendance! If you have any questions, just let Greg or Connor know.

results from end of year member feedback survey

Thanks so much to everyone who responded to our end of year member feedback survey!

We had 61 responses. Here’s what we learned.

The most important survey attribute was Coaching Quality, scoring an average of 4.7 out of 5 on the importance scale. According to the responses, we’re doing pretty well on Coaching Quality, scoring an average of 4.57 on the satisfaction scale. We’re always trying to improve our Coaching Quality, and we recently retained a group run by two CrossFit Seminar Staff to provide us with year-round coach training.

The second most important survey attribute was Equipment Quality, scoring 4.56 on the importance scale, followed closely by Facility Quality, scoring 4.35. We seem to be exceeding expectations in these areas, with satisfaction ratings of 4.76 (Equipment Quality) and 4.79 (Facility Quality).

Programming also proved to be important, averaging 4.54, and receiving a satisfaction rating of 4.35. We’ll continue to track this as we move forward with new programming.

Nutrition Coaching received the lowest average importance score, at 3, and Nutrition Coaching satisfaction averaged 3.49. We know we haven’t yet found the sweet spot on our Nutrition Program, so stay tuned for a re-launch of this.

We can group the specific feedback into categories:

MORE SOCIAL EVENTS: We heard you. Check out the list above. More to come!

EQUIPMENT AND SPACE: Before COVID, we regularly shared barbells, spots on the rig, aerobic equipment, etc. We lost the habit when we were forced to keep our distance. We love sharing equipment and working out up close with each other. We think it creates community and allows for athletes to learn from one another. So don’t stress about whether we have enough equipment or space—grab a friend in class and share!

HOURS: Some wanted different holiday hours. Some want later hours on the weekends. This was definitely a weird year for holiday hours, and we could have planned better. We’ll try to be more on point with this next time. Later weekend hours are difficult because of the hours demands we already place on our coaches.

GYMNASTICS PROGRESSIONS AND SPECIFICALLY PROGRAMMED SCALING OPTIONS (ESPECIALLY FOR MASTERS ATHLETES): Some felt the gymnastics work has been too challenging; others, not challenging enough. Look for us to test out some more specific progressions for high level gymnastics days with the goal of keeping everyone engaged. Some would like to see scaling options specifically programmed into workouts. We’ll try to experiment with this, but PLEASE always ask a coach if you feel like you’d like a more or less challenging, or different, scaling option—we love to help with this! And realize that doing a scaled workout that hits the intended stimulus is far superior to trying Rx and going too slowly (and missing the stimulus) or getting hurt.

EXPLICIT MUSIC LYRICS: We often work off of playlists that we didn’t curate. When something over the top comes on, we try to skip, but we’ll be more attentive to explicit lyrics going forward.

MORE AND BETTER COACHING FEEDBACK: We’re working on this diligently.

OTHER STUFF: You’d like a clock that shows the time of day, special foam rollers, towel service, and an earlier afternoon class time during the week. No promises, but we’ll look into all of this.

NEXT YEAR, MAKE THE SURVEY ANONYMOUS: We have always asked for names so that we can discuss with responders and get more details. But we’re fine making it anonymous and giving people the option to identify themselves.

FITNESS UPDATE

YOU CRUSHED THE OPEN 2023

What an Open! 62 Competitors, 11 Quarterfinalists/Age Group Qualifiers, and Val currently tied for 2nd in the World!

Congratulations to all the members of the Feast Family who celebrated their fitness by competing in the 2023 CrossFit Open.

Feast had 62 athletes register for the Open. According to the Affiliate Leaderboard, that’s more than any other gym in Chicago!

Among those competitors were this year’s Rookies: Chad Patterson; Mike Turski; Eric Vanisko; Caitlyn Johnson; Emma Falk; Kat Dillane; Alex Schildgen; and Andy Brink.

We’re also thrilled to recognize our Spirit of the Games winner Nate Abraham, and our Most Improved Athlete, Jim Erwin. Nate was there to compete at his best, and help with equipment setup and breakdown, and with judging and cheering on other athletes. After hitting his first kipping pull up in last year’s Open, and then hitting a ton more, Jim went from 1 to 50 Toes to Bar in the course of a single workout. Jim’s willingness to try without fear of failure is an inspiration to us all.

A huge fist bump to our athletes advancing to quarterfinals and age group qualifiers: Nate Abraham; Griffin Beeler; Anna Stuck; Connor Scherer; Lindsey Herndon; Britta Dahlberg; Mason Bowman; Carmen Kassinger; Dan Short; Abe Kreml; Rob Schildgen; and Terri Hartman.

And of course, we couldn’t be prouder of the Beast from Feast Val Cohen. Val’s hard work under the direction of Coach PJ has her currently tied for 2nd place on the women’s lower extremity adaptive leaderboard. CrossFit has announced that it won’t finalize that leaderboard until April 14. We’re assuming Val will be returning to Madison for a three-peat, but regardless, we’re incredibly grateful that Val is part of the Feast Family!

NEW PROGRAMMING CYCLE: POWER

Welcome to our post open cycle, POWER.

The two components of POWER are strength and speed. We will focus on both this cycle, with the goal of increasing Fitness as defined by CrossFit: “Work Capacity Across Broad Time and Modal Domains.” And of course we will build Fitness through constantly varied movements, while focusing on consistency of movement quality.

The blueprint for our weeks in this cycle will be a little different. Thursdays will no longer be dedicated Oly days. Instead, we’ll have more opportunities to lift throughout the week, and specifically will focus on moving lighter weights faster on Thursdays.

Monday- Heavy lower body

Tuesday- Gymnastics

Wednesday- Weightlifting + Endurance

Thursday- Speed lower body

Friday- Heavy upper body

Saturday- Partner WOD / OLY

Sunday- Rest Day / Sweat (Active Recovery)

This is Anna’s first cycle programming for Feast, but she brings to her programming a decade of coaching experience.

While fitness and strength building will be focuses in this cycle, we want to make sure everyone is feeling happy, healthy, and not too beaten up. Please listen to your body and continue to take your rest days, and let a coach know if you’re feeling beaten up. And reach out to Anna directly with any questions or concerns regarding programming, coaching, or anything else!

To provide more details, this cycle we will be lifting heavy on Monday (lower) and Friday (upper), and each week we will rotate exercises. Mondays will alternate between a squat and deadlift variation, while Fridays will alternate between a OH press / jerk and bench variation.

Tuesday we will focus on gymnastics, this cycle we will do a lot of strict work– get ready!

Wednesday will consist of weightlifting plus a longer METCON. This cycle we are going to perfect the snatch and learn it from the hip to the ground. Who wants to PR their snatch in a couple of weeks? The METCONs on Wednesdays will be spicy ones!

Thursday are speed lower days. What does this mean? We will focus on moving sub maximal weights at faster speeds. Think training to “produce more force with less effort”. We will rotate exercises every 3 weeks between a squat and hinge variation. The first 3 weeks of this cycle will be sumo deadlifts, followed by front squats the next 3 weeks.

Saturdays will remain as is. Partner workouts at 8 and 9am, followed by OLY at 10am. In OLY, we will be doing hang squats cleans, testing our 2RM in week 1.

Sunday is our rest day or come by for Sunday Sweat at 9am.

**After the strength portion, we will have our typical METCON. These cardio pieces are programmed to compliment our strength work and increase our capacity.

This blueprint may take some getting used to, so as noted above, be sure to listen to your body and prioritize recovery + take rest days when you need them! Need help with recovery strategies? Reach out to any coach.

NUTRITION UPDATE

produce giveaways are back

During COVID we stopped our monthly produce give aways because . . . well . . it was COVID.

By popular demand, we’re bringing them back!

On one Saturday each month we’ll be giving away some fresh, seasonal fruit or veggie. As in the past, we’ll try to prioritize something interesting you may not have tried before. And, as always, we’ll supply you with macro- and micro-nutrients so you know just how good these post-partner-WOD snacks are for you.

IT’S TIME TO JOIN THE PROTEIN + SALAD CLUB WITH FEAST FITNESS AND PLENTY GOODS

Thanks to everyone who expressed an interest in having fresh, protein-laden salads from Plenty Goods delivered to the gym! We’ve signed a deal with them that gives Feast members FREE DELIVERY and 10% off your first order. So get those orders in, and tag Feast and @plentygoodsforall when you post about your first salad experience, and let us know what you think!

Here’s more detail from Plenty Goods:

Life’s better when you’re part of a club. Plenty Goods’ meal club is your one stop shop for veg heavy, delicious, and convenient salads, bowls, and breakfasts. We offer an organic, thoughtfully sourced menu featuring the best of what the Midwest has to offer. Our in-house registered dietitian approves everything, by the way, but we understand nutrition is so much more than that. To have a fulfilling, positive, truly nourishing relationship with food is to be curious and open. Order online for weekly pick ups at your gym! Use code FEASTFAMILY for $10 off your first order.

Recipe

Here is the baked egg recipe many of you enjoyed the past Saturday mornings:

Ingredients:
24 eggs
Large container cottage cheese
1/2 cup half and half or milk
1 lb package frozen chopped spinach, defrosted
1 lb Package chicken sausage, chopped
3-4 Roma tomatoes, thinly sliced
Salt and Pepper

Directions:
Mix eggs, half and half, and cottage cheese with hand mixer.
Mix in spinach, sausage, salt, and pepper.
Pour into greased pan.
Layer tomato slices on top.
Cook at 350 for 30-40 mins depending on thickness.

Newsletter #20 March 2023