Christian Pedersen

3 years ago I got a message from my good friend and old flatmate Roshni. She told me one of her best friends Lorelle was coming to Dunedin to live and study and since she was obsessed with crossfit too, she needed a gym to train at. It was the start of a great friendship. Lorelle fitted in great from the start, easy to talk to and a great sense of humor most of the time:) She quickly became part of the morning coffee crew at Strictly which was the place we all spent most of our mornings and solved the worlds problems. if there was anything to be done around the gym she has always been happy to lend a hand or join in at competitions. With working weekends it has been harder to join in on comps this year but whenever has been free she have been there.

Indi has been a part of the gym too. Cleaning her hair up after she has been running around is a job in itself, but she is always welcome. It hasn’t been too bad though because she prefers the beach anyway.

When I talked to Lorelle about my new gym she thought it was a fantastic idea but since she didn’t have much time left in Dunedin she told me I should get onto it straight away haha always good to have your friends on your case to get stuff done. It did however take some time to get solved but it was great to share ideas with someone who saw things from a different angle. Her study and work background also meant she had some great input to how I should get the Southern Peak Fitness name out there.

It will be sad to see her leave Dunedin but as with all good friends its better to have them around for a short time than not at all.

Good luck with the future and whatever you decide to do. There is always a place for you to train and hang out here if you find yourself in Dunedin again.

Monday 24/10/16

Strength: Strict Press (increase weights from 28/9/16)

Sets 1-2 @ 70% + 2.5-5kg

Sets 3-4 @ 80% + 2.5-5kg

Set 5 @ 90% + 2.5-5kg

WOD: 10 Min AMRAP

9 Hang Clean & Jerk 50/35kg

7 Bar-facing Burpees

50 Double Unders (Scale to 30)

I have heard so many positive comments about our programming over the past month which have been amazing. Even people not connected to our gym who have just been checking our some of our sessions on the blog. They complement the variety in both exercises and workout structure, but they also like the fact that we do have structure in the strength and skill movements. As long as we can guide all members towards continuous improvement that is our main goal.

If you have any specific goals which will need a focus in a certain area of fitness we encourage anyone to contact us and have a meeting with one of our coaches to come up with a plan to achieve those goals. It is very important to us that if you feel you are lacking in a certain area of health and fitness have a chat to one of our coaches and they can help you make a plan or give you a few recommendations to move you in the right direction. remember you can get hold of us at the gym or we are just an email or phone call away.

This offer applies to everybody not just members. The more people we can reach with our knowledge and help the better. If you know anyone who could use our help get them to get hold of us or talk to us about getting hold of them.

Reminder Monday is full schedule: 6am, 7am, 12.10pm and 5.30pm

Saturday 22/10/16

WOD: For Time

1 Mile Run

42-30-18 KB Swings 24/16kg

21-15-9 Burpee Box Jumps 24/20′

1 Mile Run

It is time to say goodbye to two great friends of all of us Jack and Catrina. They have both been a huge part of the gym and my life in general over the past few years so it will be sad to see them go.

Super coach Facer has coached most of you for a long time even before Southern Peak Fitness. He has without a doubt been part of the backbone of the gym since its beginning. As soon as I told him I was opening a gym he said he was going with me, which was great to hear, because I knew how good a coach he is and there is nothing better than to go through life changing decisions with great friends.

Over the years we have spent most of our time at the gym or at coffee shops so I hope there are some good cafes up north otherwise you will be struggling with two or three-a-days:)

There hasn’t been anything he wasn’t prepared to help with whether it was cleaning, programming or just listening to me talk shit which often happens so thanks for that too.

Good luck to both of you with the future, I am absolutely sure you will do well with whatever you decide to do.

Friday 21/10/16

WOD: 12 min AMRAP

3 Power Snatches 50/35kg

6 Overhead Squats

9 CTB pull ups

Accessory Work: 3 Rounds of

8 BB bent over Rows

20 L-sit leg raises

8 Single arm DB Overhead Press (each arm)

Good morning everyone. Have had a couple of issues with the automated publishing of the Wod, so its up a little late this morning.

Please note that we have a normal time table this monday Labour Day so make sure you make it in as per.

There has been heaps of topics put forward for our Tuesday Topic which is awesome so keep them coming. Will let you know when the apparel is in the building for you all. And the extra prices for our winning teams:)

Keep dry today and see you at the gym

Thursday 20/10/16

Strength: 5 x 5 Deadlift

Set 1-2 @ 65% + 2.5-5kg

Set 3-4 @ 75% + 2.5-5kg

Set 5 @ 85% + 2.5-5kg

WOD: For time

2 Rounds (8min Time Cap)

30 HSPU (scale to 15 HSPU or 6 wall climber)

30 Box Jumps 24/20′

@ 10:00

Perform 60 Burpees for time

Our student members have started their exams and are working on all cylinders at the moment. It is still great to see all of them still getting a workout in most days because they know how important physical activity is for brain function and general well-being. I would like to first of all say a big thank you to all you students who committed to carpooling down from uni to stay part of our gym and community it was really fantastic to see that you would go that extra mile to receive coaching from us and keep training together and keep forming lasting friendships with both coaches and members alike. For all of you who will be leaving Dunedin for the last time to explore other parts of the country or the world, good luck from all of us here. We truly hope you find what you want in life after all the years of study it is time to face the real world and no matter what happens you are facing it fit af:)

To all of you who are “just” going on a short holiday before returning to good ol’ Dunnas make sure you enjoy your break to the fullest and we will of course be happy to have you training with us when you come back. Hopefully you keep up with your training and the things you have learnt this year so you can show us how far you have come next year.

Good Luck with your final exams and thank you for making our community so much better

Wednesday 19/10/16

WOD: Every 5 min for 25 min

5 Hang Power Cleans 60/40kg

10 Front Rack Lunges

5 STOH

200m Run

(Record Fastest & Slowest times)

Finisher: 3 sets of

30 Sec Hollow Hold

Max Strict Ring Dips

2-3 Weighted Pistols (each leg)

When setting goals you need to be SMART about it. A goal should be

• Specific – The goal has to be specific to you and what you want to achieve. Whether it is about health, fitness, work or family. The more detail you can put on the goal the easier it is to make a plan to reach it.
• Measurable – It is important that you are able to measure the goal. That way you will have a better understanding if you are moving towards the goal or further away. If your goal is fitness orientated it could be a faster Fran time. It is easy to measure if you are getting closer to your goal by seeing if you have become better at thrusters and pull ups and if your Fran time has become faster over time.
• Achievable – You need to be able to achieve the goal in a timely fashion. When you have set your goal, you begin to think of abilities, skills and the attitude it takes to achieve your goal. When creating simple steps to achieve your goal it suddenly becomes clearer and a goal that seemed to hard to reach suddenly seems achievable. not because you made it easier but because you have improved over time and that makes it achievable.
• Realistic – You need to have a realistic goal. It needs to show progress. There is a balancing act though in making sure the goal is realistic but still you have to work hard to get it. it can however not be too easy as you will lose motivation to reach it.
• Time-Lined – There needs to be a deadline for reaching the goal to make sure you are held accountable for keeping up with improvements and working hard at every session.

Goals are important as they make sure we keep moving forward and trying to become better people. With SMART goals you have a better way of keeping track of current goals and making sure you achieve them in a timely fashion and then move on to the next goal. Making sure you always have a goal you want to achieve is important as it will motivate you to keep going especially when you have a bad day.

As Louie Simmons said so eloquently “Without a plan, you plan to fail”

Tuesday 18/10/16

Strength: 5 x 5 Strict Press

Set 1-2 @ 65% + 2.5-5kg

Set 3-4 @ 75% + 2.5-5kg

Set 5 @ 85% + 2.5-5kg

WOD:

3 Rounds for time (10 min Time cap)

30 Wall Balls 9/6kg (can scale to 20 Wall Balls)

100 Double Unders (can scale to 50 DU or 200 SU)

At 12 min

Run 1.2 km (600m x 2)

Great effort from Marco and Amanda at Nationals. Amanda got an impressive Silver medal and Marco took Bronze in the juniors and 4th overall. Also a congrats goes to the rest of the Otago weightlifting team at nationals.

I am sure they will all be more than happy to share their experiences at Nationals with you if you ask them next time you see them. As I have mentioned before there will be more comps coming up so stay tuned for more info as we get closer to November. It s important that we give you all something to train for so it would be awesome to have another great turnout for upcoming events. If you know someone who you think would love what we do at the gym, feel free to bring them along to a session we would be more than happy to help them out. The strength cycle is rolling over to another round so make sure you stay true to the numbers and keep improving your technique and weights.

Monday 17/10/16

Strength: 5 x 5 Back Squat

Set 1-2 @ 65%

Set 3-4 @ 75%

Set 5 @ 85%

Note: add 2.5-5kg from last 5×5 on 20/9/16

WOD: For Time

15-12-9 DB Squat Clean Thruster

21-15-9 TTB

Accessory Work: 3 Sets of

2 Turkish Get ups (AHAP)

5 Strict Pull ups (AHAP)

The day I told Mike I was setting up a gym he made up his mind straight away to come with me. His training has been on and off because of study but even on sporadic training he has become quite an athlete over the years. He is a great guy and always brings a great vibe to the gym. Unless things don’t quite go his way then things start happening. It normally starts out with a few choice words but if that doesn’t help him through, the lifting belt is normally the first thing to take flight through the gym. It makes for an entertaining hour of training but sometimes it helps if the coach gives him a couple of quiet words of encouragement. One thing is for certain, Mike wears his emotions on his sleeve but we wouldn’t have it any other way. Keep going hard in the Wods mate, but remember, the angrier you get the harder the double unders get:)

Saturday 15/10/16

WOD: For Time:

800m Run

50 KB Snatches 24/16kg

50 Box Jumps 24/20

50 Sit ups

50 Burpees

800m Run

Dunedin’s own Amanda Gould is going to Auckland again to compete at Nationals in weight lifting. This will be her third trip to Nationals and with two silver medals in previous years, she will be going for the top spot this year. Last year and this year Gouldy earned a spot in the New Zealand team to travel overseas for Oceania where she came away with a super impressive bronze medal. She has been very successful in the sport of weight lifting and with her talent in CrossFit we are of course all hoping she will be back in the fitness fold at Southern Peak Fitness and start kicking butt again:) Anyone who were at the Vogel Street Party saw that she has definitely still got it when it comes to fitness so I’m sure you will see her around. It will be really interesting to follow the comp over the weekend. Gouldy will be lifting on Saturday. Good Luck up there and all of us at Southern Peak Fitness are cheering for you.

Friday 14/10/16

WOD #1: 7 Min AMRAP

2-4-6-8-10 etc.

Hang Power Cleans 50/35kg

HSPU

6 min Rest

WOD #2: 7 Min AMRAP

2-4-6-8-10 etc.

OHS

TTB

Accessory Work: 3 Sets of

8 Single Arm DB Press (each arm)

Max Hanging L-Sit

Marco earning a bronze medal at South Island Champs in Nanos:)

Since Marco started CrossFit about 2 years ago, weightlifting has undoubtedly been his favorite. The coaches back in Wellington at Maia Crossfit were the first to show him the ropes and get him well on my way. When he came to Dunedin he was keen to continue his training. Last year it was clear to see that weightlifting was the preferred type of training as other parts of fitness were lacking a bit but this year Marco has made huge strides in improving all aspects of fitness. However weightlifting, primarily the olympic lifts are what he loves doing, not running:)

At the start of this year Marco decided to set foot on the platform and compete in olympic lifting. He got in contact with the team at Otago Weightlifting and started to supplement his training between CrossFit and weight lifting. Marco has a couple of lifting comps under his belt now including a very impressive 3rd at South Island Champs in the Under 77kg category. With that performance he qualified for Nations in Auckland which is this weekend. For the past weeks Marco has been training hard, to be as prepared as possible, for Nationals, but has also been coming in to the gym to work on other aspects of fitness. On Friday he gets the chance to show how all that training has paid off. He has come a very long way since his last competition and in his own words: “I am absolutely fizzing to get out there on Friday and see how I stack up to the best in the country.

Marco will be back in the gym after Nationals to continue his progress. There is a bit of a CrossFit athlete hidden in there its just about getting him running more:)

If you don’t see Marco before the weekend make sure to send him a message of support it will be a big weekend for him and he deserves all the support he can get.

Good luck up there mate, enjoy the experience

Thursday 13/10/16

5 Sets for quality of:

10 KB or Bar Step ups

5 false grip Chest to Ring Pull ups or BB Rows

WOD: Cindy

20 min AMRAP

5 pull ups

10 Push ups

15 Air Squats