Shout out from Coach Simone – V2 member Charlotte Hill ‘A shout out to Charlotte Hill for her great progress over the last few weeks! When Charlotte first joined the gymnastic classes she anted o learn handstand kick-ups, and now she has got them down. Her hard work and consistency really paid off, and she is always a pleasure to have in class. Nice work Charlotte!’

Shout out from Coach Hamish – V2 member Merryn Waddy ‘Merryn has been the silent assassin, consistently chipping away over the course of the last year to improve her skills. Showing up week in, week out and evidently loving the process. Buzzed to see her cracking RX kipping oull ups in the last few weeks. Keep up the amazing attitude and consistency.’

Shout out from Coach Drew – V3 member Laura Thomas – ‘Fully embraced the training method and shows what consistency can do for anyone. A delight to coach, super friendly and community driven and contributes well to the supportive in class vibe. It’s been great getting to know her and see her get stronger. Especially with her success with the gymnastics like the elusive / challenging TTB.’

Shout out from Coach Maddie to V3 member Becky Gleed – ‘Beck is a consistent member of the 9.30am crew at Bris. She has thrown herself into training since starting at Valesco, making huge progress over the last block, joined the 100kg deadlift club and jumped in on her first ever comp at Scale It Up last month!’

Shout out from Coach Will to V1 member Alizee Wong – ‘super committed to weightlifting and has put in hard graft to get her lifting to where it is now! Always a pleasure to have in class!’

Shout out from Coach Amy to V1 member Kyle Hartigan – ‘Kyle is a long standing member of the gym and through trails and injury he has stuck with his training, often investing in PT to rehab injuries and return to class. Kyle goes above and beyond for the community, attends every social (mainly as he loves a drink and a chat) and put an absolute shift in the V1 relocation weekend. Thank you Kyle, we do appreciate you and love having you as part of the Valesco community (even though you moan more about fitness than I do). See you at the bar at the Christmas Party’.

Final shout outs this month, a massive congratulations to two sets of Valesco Love Birds who got engaged over the last month. V2 members Lucy de Vial & Dave O’Brien and V2 member Kat Clapton & V1 member Lorenzo De Pasquale. Massive congratulations to both couples! It warms our old hearts!!

WHATSAPP GROUPS.
Did you know that we now have site specific whatsapp groups? These are member run and welcome for anyone to join, so if you want to get involved in the community more, have a question you think members might know the answer too or want to see if anyone is about for a drink or a walk why not join the one for your training location home. There are posters at each site, which have the QR code to join. We would love as many of you as possible to join your home gym location one as it’s a great way for us to get information out quickly and really help our community flourish!

PAYING FOR THE CHRISTMAS PARTY
If you have signed up for the Christmas party and have yet to pay please do that at the gym ASAP via the coach and the iPad. Any outstanding payment by the end of the day on Thursday 14th November will be run through WODboard and will be subject the card transaction fee (25p plus 3% of the total charge). Any cancellation after this time will be non-refundable and of course if you can no longer make it please do let us know ASAP AND if you have been under a rock and would like to come please get your name down on the sheet by end of the day Thursday 14th.

PLEASE HELP US KEEP THE GYM CLEAN AND TIDY
It’s come to that time of year where the gym just seems to attract mud and extra lost property. Please help us keep a nice clean gym for everyone to work out in my wearing clean trainers into the gym and if you do happen to make a mess, please ask a coach to give you cleaning equipment to help clean up. Please also have a look around after class and make sure you take everything you bought to the gym home with you. With limited spaces at all three busy gyms we will now be carrying out regular clearing out of lost property so please be careful not to leave you favourite clothing behind, or you might see it in the charity shops of Bristol!

Programming for this block is a shorter cycle and we are already heading in to week 4 (which means Christmas is just around the corner)!

This block will be for 8 weeks followed by a test week which starts on the 16th December. For this block we don’t have A&B weeks, instead we have the same movement on each day of the week – over a shorter block this enables us to concentrate specifically on some movements with a structure designed to get you fitter & stronger in a shorter period of time.

We have opted for a shorter cycle to coincide the end of the block with Christmas and NY so that those of you away over the festive period can finish the block. It also means we can go a little ‘off piste’ over Christmas and do a few of our favourite WODs. Aaaaaaand you will have an opportunity to vote for the workouts you want to do between the 23rd December and the 5th January 2025.

This block (just in case you weren’t already aware)
Monday – Front Squat
Tuesday – Strict Press
Wednesday – Hero WODs
Thursday – Strict Pull
Friday – Deadlift

Weightlifting
Snatch – Tuesday
C&J – Thursday

Gymnastics
Kipping Pull Ups – Tuesday
Toes To Bar – Weekend

Recording scores…and yes we’ve said it before BUT:
RECORDING your workouts is important. Not for competitive reasons or because it means you always have to try and beat the last score but because having data will help you measure your fitness and therefore track progress, it will give you accountability, training is more effective when you can work off specific percentages and use scales that challenge you…and the list goes on. And Wodboard is really cool!!…If you give a number of kg’s for a number of reps it will calculate an estimated 1RM and then all of your %’s so when you come in to classes you don’t have to try and work them out and do bar maths at the same time!

And….NEW YEAR, NEW TRAINING and we want to hear your thoughts. Do you want to see a totally new format? Are there things you want to see more of? Some things you want to do less of (cant promise anything)? What motivates you and gets you into a class you might to have done until you looked at the programming? And what do you wish you hadn’t seen on your way in?? Answers on a postcard aka email please!

This months Coaches Corner is written by Coach Will, and it’s all pacing and strategic approaches to workouts. Take to away Will.

Hey team,

This month, we’re diving into pacing and strategic approaches to workouts. We get it – when you hear the countdown, “3…2…1…GO”, it’s tempting to go out at full throttle. But five minutes in, you may find yourself in a hole, questioning your life choices. Sometimes an all-out start works, but more often than not, a more strategised approach will be more successful. Here are a few key points to consider when doing a metcon and how pacing can help you achieve the workout’s intended stimulus.

Workout duration

The duration of a workout largely determines the pace you can sustain for optimal performance. Take “Fran”, for example—a benchmark workout consisting of 21-15-9 thrusters and pull-ups – a quick 5-10 minute sprint. This is a workout where you want to push hard, aiming for big sets to score your best time. Your heart rate will spike quickly, but with a sprint effort, you can push through and finish before fatigue fully sets in.

Now, compare “Fran” to “Whitten”, the Hero WOD many of us did in the first week of this block: 5 rounds of 22 kettlebell swings, 22 box jumps, a 400m run, 22 burpees, and 22 wall balls. If you completed it, you know it’s a long grind, with most people finishing in about 40 minutes. This type of workout calls for pacing—starting at around 80% effort and aiming to hold that pace. Aim to keep your heart rate below 90% of max, sustaining a hard but manageable intensity. For Whitten, a great pacing strategy is to break those 22-rep sets into 11s, with a brief rest between, maintaining consistency through all five rounds, and staying out of the red zone! If you anything left in the tank, you can push the final round. In general, it’s better to start out a bit slower than you think and pick up the pace towards the end of a longer workout.

Consider Your Week and Your Energy Levels

Life outside the gym impacts performance inside it. A tough day at work or other stresses can influence how well you handle a workout, so listening to your body is essential. If you’re not feeling up to hitting a workout’s full stimulus, don’t be afraid to dial things back. Your coach is always here to help you modify based on how you feel that day.

When the week’s programming is posted, scan the workouts and pick one where you can really push to get your best score. Balancing intensity throughout the week improves performance while preventing burnout. Going full-out every workout isn’t sustainable for our bodies, so mix it up! Our programming offers variety, with each workout designed to bring a different challenge and stimulus. Ideally, limit workouts that push your heart rate above 90% (or into Zone 5) to once or twice a week.

As always, your coach will go over the workout’s intended stimulus in class, so if you’re unsure about pacing or strategy, just ask a coach!

I think we must have missed out on the Fabletics sale but these two V2 members certainly didn’t. Check out Christa and Hannah in some jazzy looking leggings, worn on the same morning too, now that twinning!!

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!