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BayWay CrossFit continues to prove that it is the premier fitness program when it comes to creating a general level of physical preparedness for the everyday person in the Baytown area.

Each day we make our members better in a new area. When explaining our program to someone new, I use the belt system in martial arts. Everyone starts as a white belt, and with time you will ‘level up.’ You do not go from a white belt to a black belt in a year; it takes time. You help your advancement by doing extra classes or additional workouts, and even at times, competing. Fitness as sports very similar.

I have been an avid supporter of competing in the sport for as long as I can remember. Signing up for a competition gives you a reason to get into the gym. It is harder to le yourself skip whenever you know you have to perform in a few months.

Many times people start practicing pull-ups or doing some extra lifting, and that is great, and exactly how you start. But with the time, you will need a more structured program that fits with your general fitness (CrossFit class) program you are already following.

We have been offering this specific program as an add on to our everyday CrossFit classes for a while now but never had the space to do allow participation for it. That is no longer the case. Although the elements can sometimes be a factor, our outdoor area provides for training for those that are wanting to do our extra work during designated hours.

Our extra work is $6.50 extra a month to your CrossFit membership. It is broken into two parts – A. Extra Conditioning and B. Extra Strength & Skill Work. If done straight through, you are looking at about 30-60 minutes of extra work. Time can be a factor, but if you are looking to excel at certain things, additional time is what you need.

Many of our athletes that follow it only do the Strength & Skill part to help with time constraints, and push it real hard during the class workouts! I usually do the extra conditioning and skip the extra strength work. Either way works to fit what you want or need to do.

Our outdoor area is designated for us only by the people who have our extra work. We understand that there are many programs out there for people to do, but they do not line up with our CrossFit program. Our extra work coincides with the daily programming to make sure that we do not use the equipment being used by the main classes and so that our athletes do not over train.

That being said, if you are not ready for all the volume of our extra work, I would be willing to provide you with a purchased program. I have a bunch of programs, from strength to cardio and gymnastics!

If you are interested in any of this, please send me an email!
[email protected]

Stay moving my friends,
Richard

I had the majority of this post ready for Monday morning, but in light of the add on to the situation brought on by the CEO of CrossFit, I felt I needed a small edit and to post it early.

If you haven’t seen what was posted, a quick google search will help you find out what he said. Know that we do not condone or support any of the comments made by Greg Glassman. Speaking in this way only creates more division and less inclusivity.

Inclusivity is a common subject in many of my blogs and videos. I mention it often because it is something that our BayWay CrossFit community has always been about. Every person is welcome. Hate is not.

Everything I post is about the gym and Fitness because that is what I know. Talking outside of my “expert” knowledge is not something I often do.

BWCF has been in business for almost eight years, and not once do I recall a moment of real hate, in any way, but especially not in a racial way.

Inside BWCF, people share the common bond of sweat and hard work. The common issue in our gym is about who is cutting reps and not hateful actions or rhetoric.

I have always wanted BWCF to be a place for someone to get away from their daily struggles. To be a happy place that you can come and feel included. Leave your troubles at the door and clear your mind and build your body for an hour.

When you show up to a class at BWCF, you are part of a diverse group that is ready to work together, train together, and party together.

It doesn’t matter where you came from, what you look like, or how you live. When you walk through the door, you are a BWCF member and part of the best community in Baytown.

We do not tolerate hate in any way, especially racism. We are a community of people who bring each other up and help each other become better versions of ourselves every day.

Stay moving my friends,
Richard

Someone asked me what a good Murph time was for an elite athlete. This is a picture of the leaderboard from the CrossFit Games when they did Murph Unpartitioned. This was five years ago, but I believe their times would not vary much now. I post these for a couple of reasons.

I’ve talked to a couple of people who felt very discouraged about their Murph times. You shouldn’t be, no matter how you did. Participating in Murph in any way is an accomplishment. We are doing it to do our best, but we are doing it for a more significant reason as well. Each year, we shoot to improve from the year before. It doesn’t have to be a vast improvement. Just look to have one. Go from elevated pushups to knee pushups. Or banded pullups to regular pullups. Or no vest to vest. Once you are there, then worry about your times. No one should be discouraged. Look at the times these men and women are putting up.

Understand that these people spend/spent 4-5 hours a day training for these events. They were in the heat of 40 people of the same fitness level to push them. Some of them can even do 100 pullups unbroken, and most of them still took almost an hour to complete it. Therefore, if you are upset with yourself because you needed two hours or because you did half Murph, don’t be. Make it a goal to improve for next year. Use it to make you better. If it was the running that slowed you down, take one day a week and just run for 20:00, and each week try to run a little further. If it was the pullups that slowed you down, each week spend a day practicing either your kip or strength on pullups. Pushups, we all can practice anytime, give yourself a daily pushup goal, and hit it! And the squats?… well, show up to CrossFit class, and those will get better!

Another reason to post the leaderboards is for those that asked for an elite time on the workout. Some of us are fueled by competition, and knowing these times can help us get better. It can show us what is possible with the application of CrossFit in the appropriate way. Now I am not saying that by coming to our CrossFit classes, you will be able to do a 40:00 Murph. These are the best of the best, and these times are pretty untouchable to us non-games athletes, but it allows us to have something to chase, and for many of us, that is all we need.

We did Murph as a gym on Monday, and I am very proud of the effort that everyone gave. We socially distanced everyone during the workout and kept our capacity in-check inside of the gym the entire time. We had stations that athletes moved through as they finished each movement, and we had staff come through, and clean/sanitize those stations immediately and then after each heat.

There are many people out there that do not want us open. That will look at what we did Monday and turn their noses up. But if you were a part of this community and you were here on Monday, you would know. We look out for each other. We help each other. We build each other up. And most of all, we keep each other SAFE.

Staying fit is a great defense against any ailment, not just COVID, so places like BWCF and other facilities like ours keep pushing on. Keep your people healthy and safe and allow them to do the same for each other. We are all adults; we all know what is safe and what is not. Go somewhere that makes you feel safe. If you are not ready to be back in a gym, stay at home and workout. Hit me up, and I will help you!

Stay moving my friends!
Richard

Outdoor activities are some of the safest things to do right now, so hitting the beach has got to be on the top of your list, so its time to get beach body ready!

Everyone wants to hit the beach looking like they’ve been at the gym, but we have been missing it for the last 6-8 weeks. With summer here already, we need to get into a program that will help you get your body ready fast.

Our program is a combination of resistance training and cardio. We use your typical weights like barbells and dumbbells but also add in other resistance movements like pullups and pushups—cardio wise we can do anything from biking and running to rowing. There are endless combinations of movements that we can combine to create some pretty killer workouts.

This is important because repeating the same routine weekly doesn’t yield consistent results. Having a variety of time domains and movements keeps your body guessing and produces some serious gains. This is the fastest way to start burning some of that unwanted COVID pounds that might have been gained during the stay at home, and getting your body closer to being ready for the beach!

The theoretical part of our program is simple, but the application is where it gets a little tricky. You can always throw together different movements you find from the internet with some random rep schemes, but what’s missing is structure. What makes our program successful is the attack of different energy systems.

Your body uses three metabolic pathways broken down into two cardiovascular systems: anaerobic and aerobic. Knowing how to reach into these is essential to building fitness. You have to vary your workouts so that you are hitting all of these pathways. By doing that, you are no longer specializing and can reach different levels of fitness. This means you will be burning more fat and building more lean muscle and getting beach muscles ready!

The last part of getting beach ready is having someone help you do it. Having a good trainer that makes sure you are doing all exercises correctly is key to getting the most out of all the workouts. Not only for safety but for the effectiveness of workouts. Learning new movements is fun, and we can teach you how to do them all!

If you are looking to be beach ready quick, we are the place! Follow this link to sign up for a free class!
http://www.baywaycrossfit.com/get-started/

Stay moving my friends!
Richard

Yesterday Texas gyms were allowed to reopen. We are limited with our operations, but that doesn’t mean we cannot provide an excellent service.

I would think most of the country is still in caution of the coronavirus but ready to get back to some normalcy. I know this because that is how I am!

So with gyms open, what should you do?

You have two options, continue to workout at home or ease your way back to the gym.

It’s essential to exercise, but it is also necessary to be safe. Staying safe means two different things now, training safe and training in a clean environment.

Training safe means that you are following a well written and structured program as well as doing the exercise correctly. Finding a gym where they have both is key. Jumping right back into a program as if you never stopped is dangerous. Right now, we are easing people back in with a ReBuild program. Each day we will reintroduce movements back to the community and build intensity over the next few weeks as well. Now is the best time to get started with us because it doesn’t matter if you never stopped working out, are new to working out or coming back to fitness our program will get you where you want to be.

At our gym, we take cleanliness very seriously. Even before coronavirus, we already had a rigorous cleaning process. Every member was required to clean their equipment after they use it as well as mop up their workout area. A well-managed class with trainers who know each person can ensure that each piece of equipment is clean as well as the used area. We know who was there and what was used. This was already being done before coronavirus, so the systems were already in place. We have just increased our effectiveness as trainers in between classes to clean and spray equipment a second time. Globo and non-group class style gyms cannot manage this as well. We also have ensured that all our members can workout in an area that is spaced out enough from their neighbors to abide by social distancing guidelines.

If you are ready to get in shape or get back into shape, fill out this free trial form and come in for a free class this week!

Stay moving my friends!
Richard

Before we were given the stay at home order, I was going to around to members houses and working out with them. What I realized is that several members have some pretty awesome home gyms. One of the houses I went to was Bryan and Chrissa Teel’s, and they have a sweet set up!

Chrissa started at the gym about three years ago, in typical fashion, as plus one. She started in the morning classes and would bring her friends when she could convince them to come. Finally, a year later, she got Bryan to come. Since then, they have been staples at BWCF.

I could go on and on about how awsome the Teels are, but I am trying to keep these posts to less than 500 words or less and to do them justice thoroughly, I would need a multi-page add in the Houston Chronicle.

Chrissa is one of the most genuine people I have ever met. She is involved in so many things in her community and is a real leader. At the gym, she is always looking to help and support when she can, and just before the stay at home order, became an official CrossFit Level 1 Trainer!!!!! One of my first memories of Chrissa was one where I almost had a heart attack. Anyone that knows me knows that I am all about safety. Chrissa was still pretty new and was over on the corner rig at the old gym with a group of people. Being a former gymnast, she wanted to see if she could still get up on top of the bar, doing a muscle-up. Out of the corner of my eye, I see her jump up, swing around a bit, and then pull herself up. Everyone clapped and cheered in true BWCF fashion, but then she does a forward roll around the bar, and I about fell to the floor. I for real thought she slipped and fallen, but she spun around, stuck the landing and be-bopped out from under the rig to the high fives of the watching group. My jaw and heart, I think, are still resting on the floor at the old gym.

Bryan officially became a member bout a year and a half ago but had dropped in a few times with Chrissa beforehand. Anyone that knows Bryan knows that he tells it how it is, zero sugar-coating, and when he would come to class with her, he would say to me, “This cardio shit is hard.” Bryan is one of those guys who when it’s tough, he wants to keep going until it isn’t. He is a very successful man, and I would bet this attribute has something to do with it. He has missed very few workouts since joining and has seen some crazy improvements. Even during this stay at home order, he is still hitting personal bests on lifts and beating previous metcon times. Like who is still hitting personal bests during coronavirus???? With all of their working out during the stay at home, Bryan and Chrissa have even inspired a few of their friends to try out BWCF when we reopen!

Bryan and Chrissa have become some of my closest friends. They are the most helpful people I have ever met. If there is something at the gym that is going on, I can almost always expect a call or text from one of them asking if I need help. There is for real nothing that I could ever do to repay them for the support they have given me. I am very fortunate to have them as friends, and the BWCF community is lucky to have them as well.

Stay moving my friends!

Richard

The last two posts I have really enjoyed writing them up and have got some pretty good feedback on these.

Today I am posting about the Muscle Hamster himself, Gabriel Ramos!

As in my last two posts, Gabe was a plus one with his cousin to a class a little over three years ago. Gabe started at the gym when he was like 22 years old, but because of the way he carries himself and acts, I thought he was closer to my age. When I was 22, I was a goofball, loud, and selfish – he was none of these.

My first impressions of Gabe, outside of his maturity, was that he was super athletic and had a knack for getting hurt lol. He can pick up on anything. You show him one time, and he can do it, and usually do it well. He is a workout role model for the evening classes. People love working out with him because he is an example of what the program is capable of. He allows people to see the complexity of movements as well as what intensity looks like. He is a staple and a must in our evenings.

A little while back, I asked Gabe and his wife Cloud to test a program that I had purchased for the gym but wanted to see how it worked with our current plan. Both of them have seen some impressive gains from the additional work, and because of it, I added it as an option to our daily workouts. I remember when they first started the program, it had a handstand walking in it. Gabe asked me, “What do I do when it says handstand walk.” I told him, “You handstand walk.” It didn’t matter if you were walking two feet or five feet at time you will get better with practice. Yesterday he posted this video of him doing a 25′ handstand walk without falling but in the middle walking over an object. Hard work pays off!

I am really proud of Gabe and his desire to be better. He has put in the work daily, even while away from the gym. He pushes his wife and mother to get in and workout and leads from the front. BWCF can’t wait to have him back!

What I realize writing these posts is that I am inspired by so many people and didn’t even know it. The people I get to work with all have a story, and all wake up daily and make themselves better. I am a very fortunate guy, and I thank everyone for being apart of this community!

Stay moving my friends!
Richard

In keeping with my daily post of people who have been kicking ass during the stay at home, today is the Mooney clan.

Kelly did a testimonial video for me before we were forced to shut down, so some of yall may know her already from this, but today we will talk about her whole family.

Like Robert yesterday, Kelly was a plus one from her husband, Robert. He started a week or two before she did, but now they are both regulars.

When I first met each of them, they were both very personable.
They told me exactly what they were looking to do and why they are driving to BWCF and not another gym. I appreciated that. No BS with either of these two and honestly, it keeps me in check with what I am providing everyone else, not just them.

Robert reminds me often that CrossFit is not a tall guys thing, and I agree with him, but he still kicks ass anyway. Kelly would tell me she had a hard time putting together some of the lifts, but not anymore, I will touch on that in another paragraph. Both have improved tremendously in their first year at the gym.

The Mooneys have two kids, and both work full-time jobs. They work 12-hour shifts at odd hours, but if you are friends with Kelly on Facebook, you know that they do not miss many workouts, even with the gym closed. Everyone has an excuse, but if yours is “I have kids,” or “I work 12-hour shift work,” it can’t be used here.

The great part about Kelly’s Facebook videos is the fact that the kids participate with them. Kelly would tell me she didn’t get some of the lifts, and now she is teaching her kids how to move and move well at that. Robert told me last week that the youngest one watched a documentary with him and now plans to go to the CrossFit games when he is old enough. Pretty badass!

It makes me proud to see their posts and hear the things about their kids. I love that I have been apart of their fitness journey, and I am ready to be back in the gym with everyone!

Richard

So today makes us one step closer to being back at the gym. I know there are so many of you that are just as excited or more to be back. We have a few restrictions, but it is for our safety, and we are going to make it great!

Over the next couple of days, I want to highlight a few people who kept on keeping on during this COVID stay at home. There are not enough days before the start of our classes, but I will try to touch on someone each day.

Robert Wells is my first write up. He has been a member for almost four years and is a staple at our 5 am classes.

Robert’s first day was actually as a plus one with his wife, Tracy. She found us and was a consistent member of our afternoon classes, and Robert tagged along one day and has never left.

One of my first memories of these two together was about music. I typically play the edited versions of the top 50, and at the time, it was probably some modern workout tunes, and then a Metalica song made it up, and both of them looked at each other. I remember seeing them both start nodding their head to the beat. The next thing I knew Roberts wodify profile pic was this.

Now every time a Metaclia song comes on in one of Roberts’s classes, I always look to see his reaction.

During this stay at home Robert and his family have been killing workouts. You don’t see him on social media, but he worked out so hard his dumbbells could not keep up. Robert even got his kids involved putting them through some of the kid’s strength and conditioning each day.

I am very proud of him and how he led his family through exercise during this stay at home. It is tough to stay motivated and do things right now, so Robert is one of a kind!

Keep it up, Robert, and I hope to see you soon!

Richard