And thats a wrap for the incredible year that was 2022 at VFC
Hey Team and welcome to Decembers newsletter and the final one of 2022. Where do the years go!
Let us take a look back at the year and some of our personal highlights in everything that is Valesco.
December was all about the Christmas Party and what a night that was. It was so good to see everyone, from both gyms come together; share some fabulous food and a few (maybe too many) drinks. Well done to also to all our award winners and runners up (see the shout outs below for full details). What a great night to celebrate our members of Valesco who make it everything wonderful that it is.
October was a pretty big month too. Not only did V2 open its doors but we held a Scale It Up too (yep, the very next day) and it was so wonderful to see so many members in teams and doing VFC proud. The V2 open day was such a wonderful day of fitness, beer and tacos and it was great to see so many faces there both old and new
September saw us celebrate our 7th Birthday with an in house fun competition and a lot of pizza to follow. Was great to do something a bit more chilled this year and the pizza certainly went down a treat.
July the 3rd saw us host the annual 4 of a kind Scale It Up competition and with the summer weather in full flow it was a glorious day for all involved.
May was Mental Health week at Valesco and with some great speaker and a cuppa and biscuit station up on the Mezz at V1 it really opened up and was a safe space for lots of good conversations and we thoroughly enjoyed hosting it all.
April the 24th was the first Scale It Up of the year when we welcomed teams of three to the annual Triple Threat competition. This one saw lots of people who had never competed before joining teams with their fellow members and having an absolute blast!
March the 16th was our day for Ukraine and we raised a staggering £5,525 raised and donated to the Red Cross to help those in Ukraine. The team WOD was an excellent workout and the T-Shirts are still being worn around the gym, which is amazing too see The 20th saw the spring social with a dog walk around the stunning Chew Valley with Fish and Chips to follow, the dream day for a lot of us.
Looking back it has been THE most incredible year for Valesco Fitness Collective and we couldn’t have done it with you, our members and Coaches. We thank you all from the bottom of our hearts and wish you all a healthy, happy and peaceful 2023.
Lots of love,
Amy, Ellie and Leila xx
MEMBER SHOUT OUTS
Welcome to the monthly Member Shout out section where we like to celebrate some of the good things we see in the gym day in and day out.
In this month Members Shout outs we wanted to give one last call out to our amazing members who where both winners and runners up at this years VFC Annual Awards, celebrated and congratulated a this years VFC Christmas Party.
Best Dressed
Winner – Sacheen Meerholz keeps her title! Runners Up – Maddie Griffin and James Iles
Most Consistent Member
Winner – Kate Richardson. Runners Up – John Pratt and Harry-Joe Gillmore
Biggest Chalk Monkey (fav vote for Stew (more Monkey than Chalk))
Winner – Ella Rothwell. Runners up – Will Gibbs and Rich Wiles-Teoh
Tops Off Award
Winner – Steve Jones…again. Runners Up – Mitch Salisbury and Orlando Kitto-Lloyd
Best Social Butterfly – more talking than working out
Winner – James Mooney. Runners up – Lucy Staniland and Steph Ewers
Most Vocal when working out
Winner – Tristan Woolcock…again. Runners up – Matt Ogbourne and Tor Croshaw
Most Improved Male at V1
Winner – Jim Carter. Runner Up – Dan Keast
Most Improved Male at V2
Winner – John Pratt. Runner Up – Orlando Kitto-Lloyd
Most Improved Female at V1
Winner – Joannie Hampson. Runner Up – Amie Marshall
Most Improved Female at V2
Winner – Hannah Stott. Runner Up – Charlotte Smith
Spirit of Valesco
Winner – James Iles retains his title. Runners Up – Ella Rothwell and Torie Diepe
And it’s only fair that we get a vote too…so this year we introduced the VFC Owner Award and our winners this year where Rob Pardoe for V1 and Katie Burns for V2
Well done to every single one of you and we hope you enjoyed your prizes.
VALESCO FITNESS COLLECTIVE QUALIFIES FOR SID 2023!
After 4 months of hard work, commitment and qualifiers, we have qualified for SID 2023! It was the toughest year to qualify we have ever seen and we are ecstatic to be going again – there were over 150 teams that registered. We have had almost 30 athletes at Comp training sessions over the past few months and the buzz has been unreal! We put forward 2 really awesome teams and although 1 team missed out on the final weekend in January we have loved the process more than ever.
What is SID? SiD Origins is a WEEKEND LONG annual team competition entered via an online qualification. Teams consist of 12 athletes in total, combining 7 males, 5 females including a master’s athlete of each sex. One master must be 40+ and the other 35+ on 27 January 2023. The combined age of the master’s athletes must be at least 75.
The top 69 qualifying teams (+ the 2021 champion team) will advance to the Live Finals to compete for the title of Champion 2023. 10 invitational teams (selected from registered interest) will also advance to the Live Finals, competing on a separate leaderboard to the qualified teams.
Can you come and watch? YES you can and we would LOVE To see you there. For anyone who wants to come and cheer us on, spectator tickets are now on sale here:
https://strengthindepth.eventsmart.com/events/sid-origins-2023/
A special thank you, from me, to everyone who has been a part of the process this year! It has been a pleasure to be a part of the team. Here’s to SID 2023 and the Competition calendar for the year ahead!
Big Valesco love,
Ellie
GYM NOTICES
The second part of the 12 week cycle – what can I expect?
We hope you really enjoyed the first part of the new 12-week cycle and enjoyed getting to grips with a few new movements. Who knew doing a press up in a handstand was so hard…oh right, yeah we did think it might be. So what next after a well deserved de load week we hear you ask?
Monday – Back Squats and getting ride of that pesky pause thought the benefits are going to be INSANE!!
Tuesday – Push Press a great chance to test and develop those shoulders.
Wednesday – Metcon Mayhem remains (as if we would take it away from you, we know you all love to hate it)
Thursday – Kipping Handstand Push Ups. Using movement to make them easier after the foundations have been well and truly built.
Friday – Deadlifts taking away the deficit but we promise you will see the fruits of it
Weightlifting is working on dropping into full Clean and Gymnastics continues its focus on Pull Ups, so no need to lose or slow those massive gainz everyone has been making.
Muddy Shoes
Please make sure you aren’t bringing in the outside (as much as possible) into our indoor space. It’s a big gym to keep clean and we do our very best but please help us by not wearing trainers into the gym that you have been for a 5 mile muddy hike in. Nobody wants to lie down, do burpees or stretch in a puddle of mud (well apart from Tough Mudder but that’s slightly different). If you do notice you have made a mess please ask the coach for a mop and clean it up.
PUP CORNER
Hey Pup fans, its Leo and this month I wanted to ask you a question.
Who’s your Hero? and why do we all need one?
My hero has always been Lassie. Her ability to know when something is wrong, always there to help in a disaster. Brave, good looking, friendly. Probably doesn’t bark quite as much as I do. And has a better grip of social distancing (less crotch sniffing) than me.
Do you have a hero? And if not, why not?
Remember you were young and had lots of hero’s that you adored. Fictitious or a real. People/characters that we looked up to and tried to be like, feeding our imagination and making us believe we could achieve anything we wanted.
As an adult we lose that idolisation that we often have as a kid. However heroes help us survive, and they help us thrive. They help us through our worst times, and they prepare us for our best times. Heroes nurture us, save us, and help us become our best selves. The also don’t need to be physically present to help us. They may be a real person or fictitious character.
Here are 12 reasons why we should all have heroes.
- Heroes give us hope.
- Heroes energise us.
- Heroes develop us.
- Heroes heal us.
- Heroes impart wisdom.
- Heroes are role models for morality.
- Heroes offer safety and protection.
- Heroes give us positive emotions.
- Heroes give us meaning and purpose.
- Heroes provide social connection and reduce loneliness.
- Heroes help individuals achieve personal goals
- Heroes help society achieve societal goals.
Find your hero!
Love wise old Leo xxx
COACHES CORNER
This months Coaches Corner is from Coach Sarya and it’s all about competitions and the brand new Comp Calendar she has been creating. Take it away Sarya….
Hey team!
Have I got any keen competitors here?! Or anyone looking to have a go at their first comp?! Or have you thought about competing but aren’t sure where to start or even if it’s just for you?
I absolutely love competing; the adrenaline rush, the team work (when it’s a team or pairs comp) and especially finally being able to test any new skill I’ve learnt or seeing if I can PB on a lift, when there’s a lifting event. The spectators are usually awesome, they bring great vibes and it pushes you to your limit in a really great way.
I’d love to get as many people as possible excited about competing because it’s such a confidence boost and comps are a great day out. So, this coming year I’ll be bringing you an all out competition calendar – I’ll be including popular comps across the country of all levels and with all different types of categories, whether you want to go solo or hit the dancefloor with a team!
Each month I’ll highlight the upcoming competitions.
If you have any questions about competing in general, are unsure which category to go for or which comps are right for you, chat to me at the gym or drop me a message on Insta. Happy to help with anything you need!
RECIPE OF THE MONTH
Roast Aubergine Goulash with Sweet Potato Fries
Try aubergine for a filling veggie meal worthy of Sunday lunch. Teamed with a goulash sauce and sweet potato chips, you can pack in all five of your 5-a-day and with a prep time of 10 minutes and a cook time of 30 long gone are the hours slaving over that traditional Sunday Roast.
Until Next Time, Big Love Team Valesco xxx
Save The Date
Strength in Depth Finals Weekend – Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th January
Spring Social Dog Walk with Pub Lunch – Sunday 26th March
Scale It Up Triple Threat – Sunday 23rd April
Mental Health Awareness Week – Monday 15th to Friday 19th May
Scale It Up Teams of 4 – Sunday 25th June
PRIDE WOD – Saturday 8th July
Valesco Fitness Collective 8th Birthday – Saturday 16th September
Christmas at VFC – Saturday 9th December
Who Wore It Best
Well what a stunning pair two of our Coaches Gemma and James made at this years Christmas Party. Shame the rest of us didn’t get the black top, white trouser memo, must have gone to our junk folder. Anyway we think they both rocked it but its up to you guys to decide ‘who wore it best’?
Have you turned up looking the same as another Valesco member? Then we want to see. Send your snaps to hi@valesco.fitness to be in the next newsletter. We love seeing them!