Christmas edition – December 2019
Welcome to the special festive edition of your monthly round-up.
We know we say this every year, but this year has been our best one yet. We’ve renovated the gym and added the mezzanine and new showers. Thanks to our mentor-ship programme, 6 brand new coaches are now part of the team. We’ve introduced 7 new types of class to our timetable and a team of 17 now help make Valesco what it is!
We’ve run 3 comps, including our first ever Strong comp. We’ve been put through our paces with 2 opens! There’s been pizzas and beers at the gym, a fab night at The Lanes, the best Christmas party to date and 2 in-house comps.
You’ve represented Valesco in comps across Europe and a team of legends did us proud at Strength in Depth.
There’s been 1 engagement, 4 weddings, 5 pregnancies, 3 babies and 4 new pups.
It’s been the most incredible year and we’ve loved sharing every moment with all of you. All that’s left to do, is grab a glass of festive fizz and enjoy your final newsletter of 2019!
We're open over Christmas!
We know that for many of you training is a really important part of your daily life, and we’re with you – Christmas is no reason to change that! We’re staying open as much as possible over the next 2 weeks and we hope to see lots of you in for some festive WODs and plenty of sweaty fun!
Opening hours are as follows:
23/12: 07:00-19:30
24/12: 07:00 – 14:00
25/12 & 26/12: closed – enjoy the rest and lots of festive food
27/12: 07:00 -18:30
28/12: 08:00 – 13:00
29/12: 08:00 – 11:00
30/12: 06:00 – 20:30
31/12: 06:00 – 14:00
01/01/2020 – closed
02/01: normal hours resume
When booking classes over the next 2 weeks, please check WODify carefully and ensure you are booking the right classes.
Please note, as of January 2020, Friday PM classes are changing. We are moving to 2 classes, 1 @ 17:00 & 1 @ 18:00.
And if you're not able to come and see us...
Put down those mince pies for half an hour and give one of these home workouts a whirl…
1. Mini “Murph”
1-mile Run
100 Push-ups*
200 Air Squats
1-mile Run
*scale as needed
2. Death by “…”
AMRAP:
Choose 1 movement; Push-ups, Air Squats, or Burpees
Do 1 movement per minute at the top of every minute. Each minute adds an additional rep.
Go until you can’t complete the required reps in a minute
3. Bodyweight WOD
8 Rounds for Time:
10 Push-ups
10 Air Squats
10 Burpees
10 Air Squats
Strength In Depth 2019
What a weekend!!! Thank you Strength In Depth Origins for an awesome competition!
The whole weekend was an absolute blast from start to finish and this team were outstanding! As athletes, as friends, as competitors, and as team mates. We have never had the pleasure of competing with such a wonderful bunch of humans. They’re too humble to do so but this lot need to take a bow, and we hope they are as proud of themselves as we are of them.
Pride, humility, guts, determination, positivity, support, courage, hard work, overcoming obstacles and SO MUCH FUN are just a few things that spring to mind when we think about SID 2019.
We qualified in 45th and after 8 workouts, no event finish lower than our qualifying place and over 50% in the top half of the field (5 of 8 including a 19th place finish) we ended the weekend in 31st. Way higher than we could ever have hoped for but absolutely deserved!
SID 2019 has been 6 months in the making and it has been worth every minute. 3 qualifiers over 3 months, additional training sessions, very early starts, sacrificed weekends, and extra time in the gym and away from loved ones (including their beds), it is safe to say this lot put the work in and the results and smiles speak for themselves
We couldn’t be more proud of these beautiful people if we tried.
To all of our wonderful members who came and supported us this weekend – thank you from the bottom of our hearts. You don’t know how much it meant to all of us to have you there cheering us on!
Lucie Peters – your magic hands were, as always, magic. You literally kept our bodies together this weekend. And you’re such a beautiful, kind and generous person! We’re so lucky to have you!
Henry Winterton and Kathryn Pacey-Halls – thank you for keeping us all in check, on time, in the know and calm. You were an immense help and we loved having you with us all weekend.
Sofía Deambrosi & George Nyandoro – the most supportive and encouraging subs all weekend. Sofia, thank for jumping in and enabling the best decision for the team, all round, to be made – you smashed it. And George, for always smiling and being there 100% for the team. I only wish we could have had a team of 14 competing!
Charlie Menter, Steve Jones, James Iles, Joshua Tyack, Kyle Bennett, Jonny Crease, Stewart Jeenes, Leila Johns, Emma Leigh, Serena Pacey-Halls, Sofia Deambrosi & Geertje Oskam, you are an amazing team of hard working athletes who rose to a huge challenge with dogged determination, grace and humility. Hold your heads high
Meet The Team- Coach Henry
I’m one of the coaches, here at Valesco, and when training I’m normally one of the lesser spotted morning squad but occasionally pop up in during the evening. Outside of the gym I’m an indirect tax adviser.
CrossFit is great because of it’s simplicity. You can achieve great results by just coming in, doing the daily classes and enjoying your training. Regular attendance means good results which means good progress which means motivation.
Fun fact about me: I’m hoping to (possibly) be the first indirect tax Chartered Tax Adviser to snatch 100kg and I love unicorn Ice-cream!
Meet the Team- Coach Jenna
After taking part in the Valesco Coaching Internship, I am one of the latest additions to the coaching team and I love it! I have a background in fitness, having worked previously as a personal trainer in a regular environment. Discovering CrossFit made me even more passionate about training! It challenged my fitness on a whole new level, introduced me to a community of wonderful, like-minded people and highlighted the importance of focusing on functional, quality movements that are relevant to everyday life, rather than focusing on aesthetics.
Fun fact about me: I ran my own healthy cafe for a couple years where I also ran a meal prep service for people, including lots of Valesco members! I am extremely passionate about nutrition and eating to fuel performance, so if you ever want to chat on this topic don’t hesitate to ask – I love to talk about it!
COACHES CORNER
Hey beautiful people. Let’s all try to focus on being the best version of ourselves this Christmas and that of course means getting super fit and strong but also being kind to others around you, even if their views are not aligned with yours.
We all have to try and get along. Let us think of the needy and do what we can to help them.
I really do love you guys, you allow me to do a job I love and live my best life.
Coach C wishes you the best and happiest of Christmas’s ❤️ xxx
Nutritionally Navigating the Festive Season
Already feeling the over indulgence, or looking for some damage limitation?
The festive season can be tricky to navigate but don’t worry Steph is here to help! Click here to read her festive nutrition hints and tips on our blog!
Use up those left overs…
This recipie is easily adaptable to add in any other left overs you might have
Click here for the recipe and give it a go, upload a pic and tag us in it!
And if you feel like baking…
This festive log is fun to make and has a minty twist. Click here to give it a go!
Until Next Time, Big Love Team Valesco xxx
Save The Date
Save these dates for 2020…!
Sunday 5th April – Scale It Up- Triple Threat
Friday 15th May- May Social
Sunday July 5th- Scale It Up- Strength In Numbers
Saturday 19th September- 5th Birthday Party
Saturday 12th December- Christmas Celebrations
Who Wore It Best
These 2 are who wore it best regulars and we love them for it! Take a bow Sophie & Laura!