HEATWAVES, HOT COMPETITION AND THE MONTH THAT WAS JULY AT VFC
Hey Team and welcome to July’s newsletter….where does the time go?
So we guess the first thing to mention this month is the awesome Four of a Kind completion held in the gym on Sunday 3rd July. It was such a great event and congratulations to everyone who took part including the Valesco home team who managed to hit the podium in 2nd place in the female division. Well done Emma Houghton-Brown, Beccy Evans, Lexi Niccolls and Tor Croshaw, you all absolutely smashed it.
With that one in the bag it’s time to look at our final competition of 2022. Safety in Numbers at Valesco on Sunday 9th October. Half the team spots have already been grabbed already so if you are keen get signed up right away. Why not check out the Facebook post for more information or the snazzy posters up around the gym?
We would love to have as many VFC teams there representing as possible. Maybe you’re keen to compete but don’t know anyone to make a team? We have a few people in that situation, so if that’s you just drop us an email hi@valesco.fitness and we can create some VFC dream teams.
The Neon batch of stash has finally arrived and there are a fair few items left to collect, please do pick these up ASAP and make sure you pay on the way out (if you haven’t already). The second, and remaining, stash batch is in production and should be with us in the next week – please keep an eye on the FB page for as soon as its in it will be on there.
If you missed out on the first two orders please do not fear, we are working with our wonderful web team to making it possible for you to order away until your hearts content and your wardrobe full on our website…fancy!! We will of course let you know just as soon as this is a possibility.
Finally we wanted to give a special mention to 4 Valesco members who went up and represented Valesco at WOD on the Loch early this month. Jonny Crease, Tor Croshaw, Tristan Woolcock and Rich Wiles-Teoh. WOD on the Loch is a 2-day CrossFit competition at Loch Lomond with 6 events and a final. The weekend threw everything at our athletes from Mountain Biking (including going over a jump), STOH with a log, Handstand Walking (for Jonny), heavy ass deadlifts, sandbag cleans, Burpees straight into swimming and the CrossFit workout ‘Helen’, in which Tor took an event win and thanks the Wednesday Metcon Mayhem sessions for this! Jonny, Rich and Tor all finished in the top 10 after event 5, so all made it into the final which included a gymnastic complex and thrusters…..yuk!
All 4 of them absolutely smashed it; overall Rich came 8th, Jonny came 6th and Tor finished on the podium in 3rd place. Tristan was unable to complete two of the workouts due to a shoulder injury but still managed an impressive 17th place finish!
Well done you lot what an awesome weekend it sounds like you had.
Think that might be it for now and we are super excited for another month of training, gainz and sweaty workouts!
Lots of love and warm summer vibes,
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.
Shout out from Coach Stew to Ben Ebrahimi. He has committed to the 10 week RunWOD block, may have even enjoyed one of the sessions. Keep Up the great work mate!
Shout out from Ellie (and to be fair all three of us) to Di & Rob Pardoe. Now 2 of our longest standing members and 100% our biggest supporters. They come in 3 times a week; they always work super hard and always make people in the class feel welcome! They greet new members with open arms and are everyone’s hype squad when it’s needed! Practically part of the furniture, it’s always a pleasure to have them in classes. Absolute Valesco Legends xx
Shout out from Coach Ella to Rosie Gunnion. Her Double Unders are coming along really well and her Handstand Push Ups too! Really consistent and lovely to have in class.
Shout out from Coach James to Amie Marshall. Gone from strength to strength over the last couple of months. Great personality to have around the gym, infectious pozzy-vibes, works hard and got her first ever strict pull-ups this month after working hard and following the ADP religiously, shortly before then banging out a set of two or three! She’s our people.
Shout out from Coach Amy to Dee Lodhia. Dee set herself the massive challenge this year of completing the epic Spartan Trifecta. Three Spartan races in one year 5km sprint, 10km super and the 21km Beast. Not only did she complete it she absolutely smashed it completing the furthest and toughest one on the 17th of this month. 21km, 30 obstacles in just under 5 hours during gruelling heat. Dee you set yourself a challenge you committed to it and your concurred it. So proud of you and what you have achieved.
All of the coaches wanted to send massive congratulations to Coach Joe who got married to his now wonderful wife Kate in stunning Varenna, Italy earlier this month. Wishing you all the love and happiness in the world.
Also a massive welcome Will Gibbs to the Coaching crew. Will started his Functional Fitness journey with us in August 2020 (and even a taster session with Coach Amy didn’t out him off) and is now starting his internship to become one of your coaches. Super excited to have you on-board Will.
And finally with talk of new coaches it’s also time to say goodbye to two of our current crew. Kat and Steve have made the tough decision to hang up their coaching boots for now due to life outside of Valesco commitments. We would like to thank them for all the time and the energy they have put into Valesco and being coaches. Kat has completed her last shift but Steve has a few to do over the coming weeks. Of course they will still be solid members of Valesco so we will still continue to see them training hard in the gym.
GYM NOTICES
ADVANCED NOTICE OF GYM CLOSURE – PLEASE NOTE
The gym will be closed on Saturday 6th August due to Coach Amy and Laura’s Wedding on Friday 5th, to which many of the coaches are attending AND the South West Regionals for which many members are taking part in and Coach Ella is running. So if you want to still get your fitness hit on this date why not go and cheer your Valesco buddies on. It looks to be a fantastic day being held locally. Check out their insta page for more information.
PLEASE BE KIND TO OUR KIT
Please remember there is a zero tolerance on dropping kit, from ANY height. Unless you have 25kg, 20kg or 15kg plates on the bar and even then only when it’s safe to do so.
Unfortunately we have had a few plate and dumbbell casualties over the last few weeks. Not only is it potentially dangerous to drop weights, it also costs us a lot to replace this kit. We try our best to supply all the kit needed. Please play your part in trying to keep the kit in the good condition it is supplied to you in.
MEMBERS FACEBOOK GROUP:
ARE YOU ON OUR MEMBERS ONLY FACEBOOK GROUP? It’s an awesome little place to ask questions, find out information or just share funny memes or moments from the gym. If you aren’t a member but would like to be please follow this link and request access.
VALESCO KIDS AND TEENS IS BACK!!!
We are excited to announce the return of Valesco Kids and Teens Functional Fitness from September. The sessions will be delivered in 6-week blocks (to align with the school term timetable), and will be delivered on a Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. Classes will be capped at 12 individuals per session to ensure the coach can give them the attention they deserve, and contents of the sessions will be planned around FUNctional movement patterns – with an emphasis on keeping fitness FUN. Further details will be released in due course, but until then we would like to invite your young ones to a FREE Taster Sessions at Valesco on Sat 20 Aug 22.
Kids and Teens will be split into 3 age groups during the taster session:
- 1pm – 1.30pm: 4-7 years old
- 45pm – 2.30pm: 8-12 years old
- 45pm – 3.30pm: 13-16 years old
Could we please ask that you complete the Google Form to register your child / children, so we can plan for numbers on the day? Please use this link
PUP CORNER
Hey Pup Fans,
Unsurprisingly we want to talk about staying safe and exercising in the heat.
It has been super hot the last few weeks and it’s important that we recognise that we need to take some steps to keep ourselves safe and our bodies working like we would like them too.
Here our top tips for keeping safe in the heat, whilst still doing what we love…moving!
- Try and train outside the mid day heat times. Now we know this can be difficult with all of our busy lifestyles and commitments but on the SUPER hot days it’s good to try and use those early morning classes or the later evening classes. It can be a good few solid degrees cooler in the gym during these times
- Stay Hydrated. In this weather and when we have been sweating water alone might not cut it. I f you have been sweating a lot water might not cut it. Try a rehydration drink that also replaces the salts and minerals lost during sweating (or in our case panting).
- Scale Down the workout to suit the temperature. Exercising in hot weather puts extra stress on our bodies. If you don’t take care when exercising in the heat, you risk serious illness. Both the exercise itself and the air temperature and humidity can increase your core body temperature. To help cool yourself, your body sends more blood to circulate through your skin. This leaves less blood for your muscles, which in turn increases your heart rate. If the humidity also is high, your body faces added stress because sweat doesn’t readily evaporate from your skin. That pushes your body temperature even higher so working a little less hard can help keep your core temperature down.
- Pay attention to the warning signs of overheating. During hot-weather exercise, watch for signs and symptoms of heat-related illness. If you ignore these symptoms, your condition can worsen, resulting us not feeling very well at all. Signs and symptoms may include, Muscle Cramps, Nausea or vomiting, weakness, fatigue, dizziness, confusion and light headiness. If you develop any of these symptoms please let your coach know immediately.
- Finally remember coaches die in hot gyms! If you plan on coming in to the gym for Open Gym or attending a class PLEASE BOOK IN, if there is no one booked in we may close the gym and go and work somewhere a little cooler. Do remember that if no one is booked into a session an hour before the session automatically cancels.
We hope that helps and do make the most of the summer but lets all stay safe and do remember the sun cream and the ice cream, hehe!!
Lots of love and licks,
Harley and Finn xx
EXBAND.FITNESS
HAVE YOU JOINED THE EXBAND GAINZ TRAIN YET?
These are 15 minutes fully coached pre recorded sessions that you can do anywhere at any time so what’s not to love? You even get to see some familiar Valesco faces!!
If you are looking to build endurance in your muscles, prevent injury or generally just look and feel better THIS IS FOR YOU and with only 15 minutes of your day? You’re getting a huge bang for your buck.
With a two-week FREE trial and only £7.99 per month after that it’s a bit of a steal.
EXBAND.fitness to get signed up or https://www.instagram.com/exband.fitness/ to see what all the fuss is about – go on, give us a follow…….please!
THE SOUTH WEST REGIONALS
The Southwest Regionals is going to be an epic day! It’s the Southwest’s biggest competition of its kind featuring some of the Top CrossFit athletes in the UK. It’s an all-day event running from 8-4 and we’d love to have as much of the local CrossFit community getting involved.
What do we need?
Volunteers! We need people who fancy trying their hand at Judging. Athlete control, people who’d like to help check in and look after the athletes on the day and help make sure the day runs smoothly. We’ll need people to assist the scoring team, making sure all the validated scores make it up to the Head Scorer, as well as volunteers helping with the Kit between events and swapping everything in between events ahead of the next workout.
When do we need you?
Saturday 6th of August from early morning until mid-afternoon. Even if you’re available for part of the day, that’s okay too! Just let us know.
Where?
The competition is being held at Filton Wise Campus in Stoke Gifford so it’s nice and local and easy to get to!
How do I get involved!
If you could send an e-mail to swestregionals@gmail.com , I’ll be able to send across the google doc for you to fill out so we know what dietary requirements you have, your car reg to allow for free parking on the day, and most importantly, how you’d like to be involved.
What do you get in return?
You will be fed! A nice sandwich, pastry snack, and drink from our food vendor. You’ll get a t-shirt that’s yours to keep and some swag in the form of a goodie bag as a thank you from us for getting involved.
We’ve got some of Velasco’s finest taking part in the competition itself so even if you can’t commit to volunteering, we’d love to see you at the competition supporting the Valesco crew!
Looking forward to seeing you guys there and hearing from those that can help!
Ella Xxx
COACHES CORNER
This months Coaches Corner is written by Coach Leila and it’s all about Wrist Health.
Prompted by deload week and few weeks ago I wanted to give a little bit of information on wrist pain/ health.
I know a few members that struggle with wrist pain. Particularly in the snatch and front rack position. This can be a huge hindrance when trying to lift heavy.
There are a few reasons why people may feel wrist pain from strains/sprains to carpal tunnel syndrome, however if wrist pain isn’t a regular occurrence outside of the gym it’s more than likely that you need to stretch and mobilise more. Adding in some strengthening exercises so your wrists are used to carrying a heavier load.
If sore wrists affect you take 5-10 minutes to stretch your wrists off. You can do this whilst the coach is talking through the workout so there’s no real excuse to miss out on it.
Here are some ways you can strengthen your wrists. This will help to eliminate pain.
- Dead hangs from the bar.
- Wrist curls and reverse curls with lightweights.
- Wrist flexion using a resistance band.
- Plate pinches – these are also fab for grip strength.
It’s a shame to let wrist pain limit your training. Allowing it to stop you from lifting what your other muscles are capable of and therefore limiting your progress as an athlete.
Try some of the above regularly and Iif you need any guidance on any of the exercises or stretches. Just ask. We are all here to help.
Stay pain free and get swole.
See you all soon.
Valesco Love
Leila x
BAKED RATATOUILLE AND GOATS CHEESE
Baked Ratatouille and Goats Cheese
Transform ratatouille into a bake with a layer of cheese sauce and you won’t look back. It makes a great late summer dish and delivers three of your 5-a-day!
With just 472 calories per serving and 20g of protein it’s a great dish already but feel free to add your favourite source of protein!
Until Next Time, Big Love Team Valesco xxx
Save The Date
Valesco is 7 years old. Birthday Party – Saturday 10th September
Scale It Up – Safety in Numbers – Sunday 9th October. Registration is OPEN
Strength in Depth Finals weekend – 26th and 27th November
The Valesco Christmas Party – Saturday 10th December. Venue booked and deposit has been paid.
Who Wore It Best
Check it out…the new stash modelled effortlessly by Hayley and Lois. Looking super fly ladies, thanks for rocking the new stash and making us all well jealous.
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!