Christian Pedersen

In 2012 the CrossFit Tour came to Queenstown NZ, and apart from opening my own gym, it is by far the most exciting thing I have experienced in my career in the fitness industry. There were workouts throughout both days, both for the athletes of course, but also for the rest of us. There were also parties and dinners and one of the best talks from the man himself Greg Glassman. It all just confirmed I had made the right decision to pursue a career focussing on CrossFit. It has taught me almost all I know about fitness and believe it is by far the best way to make people fitter, healthier and better period. Even Castro had a chance to speak a bit before the athletes took on the CrossFit Total at the AJ Hackett Bungy Jump bridge which was really a ridiculous experience in itself.

In the morning, Jason Kalipa took us through a simple warm up before a run and push up WOD and he chatted to us about how it was important to keep things simple and to the point when training members. He also said other probably important stuff but I was busy thinking about how cool it was Jason Kalipa was taking the warm up:) Rebecca Voigt gave me a couple of pointers during the WOD and naturally when she talks, you listen.

It was a great experience and even though it is a few years ago now, I still remember it all. If they ever came back to NZ,  I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to everyone I know.

Christian

Monday 19/09/16

Strength: 5 x 5 Strict Press

Set 1-2 @ 65%

Set 3-4 @ 75%

Set 5 @ 85%

WOD: 12 min AMRAP

100 Double Unders

35 Wall Balls 9/6kg

7 Muscle ups

The weather is getting better in the mornings and its getting lighter earlier, at least until the clocks change:) I will be running half price ($120 for 5 weeks) Boot Camps until mid-december, so if you are keen to do some outdoor training in the many parks and on the beautiful beaches that surrounds Dunedin you can sign up through me anytime. The next round will start Saturday 8/10/16.

Southern Peak Fitness Boot Camp is a military-inspired training programme. The focus is on improving strength and fitness by utilizing teamwork to accomplish tasks in an outdoor environment. All sessions are scaled to suit all fitness levels. The whole philosophy behind our Boot Camp is to find all participants’ strengths and use them to finish any workout that is presented to them. Our Boot Camp is also perfect for businesses looking to improve cohesiveness in the workplace. You don’t have to do everything on your own, gain motivation and much needed help from your teammates.

If you love training but you are more of an outdoor person this program i definitely for you. Feel free to get in touch early if you want more info about our Boot Camps.

Christian

Saturday 17/09/16

Partner WOD: 6 Rounds each for time

1:1 w/partner.

Partner A does 12 Box jumps 24/20′ – 9 Thrusters 40/30kg – 6 Burpees.

Partner B repeats

Then

Partner A does a block lap

Partner B repeats

REMINDERS:

The GrabOne deal for our mid morning classes starting up in October is still running and it would be great to get heaps of people involved who has that time off. So if you know anyone who would be keen but might not know about it, please let them know or help us get in touch with them.

Also our Partner Comp 24/09/16 is right around the corner now, so make sure you find a partner and get your team signed up with me or Jack before it is too late. It is for everyone. So any fitness level is welcome just think about it as another saturday wod. Its meant to be a fun saturday not a serious comp. We have a variety of fitness levels already signed up, so make sure to get involved.

Before opening Southern Peak Fitness I ran a program specializing in training 50 plus population especially the part of that demographic who hasn’t done much exercise and who is trying to find a safe and friendly environment to belong to. It has been very popular and many of the people I have helped out have even improved so much that they started joining the regular classes. It is absolutely amazing to watch people who haven’t done much training at all develop a new level of fitness and confidence.

Here is an editorial I wrote for the ODT about keeping your Independence while Aging:

As you have all seen from this weeks programming we will focus on classic WODs and lifts. We will include some simple 5-3-1 strength work. It is important that all members build a strong foundation in the classic lifts and core strength. This will help you further down the track and it will give us coaches a much better idea of where everybody is from a fitness point of view. This will form our program to make sure we improve across the board as a gym. It will also give us an in-depth view of who needs to improve where and we can therefore easily recommend the right scaling option for each individual rather than just give everyone the same option where that might not be appropriate.

An example of this could be scaling a Toe to bar: If you have a weak core a lying hollow rock/hold would work well if grip strength is also an issue a hanging leg raise would be a good option. If on the other hand your core and grip were strong but you had issues controlling your shoulders on the swing, hanging hollow rocks would be a good option or even hanging hollow rock with a high knee raise. See there are many options which makes it easy to choose the wrong option if we don’t know where you are lacking. you can relate this example to every exercise and as we get to know more about you we can give you the right scaling option and we will also know when you are ready to perform a certain exercise RX.

This is the main reason our gym follows the same program. Yes every individual member has different abilities, strengths and weaknesses but their needs stay the same. Sounds like you have heard something like this before?

Christian

In House Comp: Again we are still getting teams to sign up for our in-house partner comp, which is great, but the more teams we have the better the comp will be. So make sure to sign up now. Saturday 24/09/16, 10am-12pm. $20 per team. A team consists of 1 male and 1 female.

Thursday 15/09/16

WOD: 3 Rounds for Time

800m Run

15 STOH 60/40kg

25 burpees

Finisher: 6-5-4-3-2-1

Strict CTB/Pull up

Strict Toe To Bar

I find it hard to remember a time where I didn’t train Jenny. I met her way back when I was a pt at wfc. She was very shy and it took weeks before I got her to string some sentences together so we could have a conversation. When she was at the gym her safe place was around the radio machines where she could hide and just get her session done. Luckily for Jenny when I started training her I had already read about and watched videos of Greg Glassman which meant that there was no way I would hang out with her around the cardio gear the whole time. We went straight to the open floor area for a bodyweight circuit and I can only imagine how brave she would have had to be to follow me over there:)

Training progressed over the months and Jenny got closer and closer to her health and weight goals. Then came the day I had to tell her that I was moving on to my next adventure at cfd. I knew she would follow me over but I also know how she hates change so it wouldn’t have been an easy decision for her. Which makes it even more incredible how much her confidence has grown since then, that when I told her I was leaving again to open up my own gym there wasn’t a shred of doubt in her mind that she was following me again:)

I could probably have written many pages on our training sessions over the years. I do have quite a few log books on what we used to do which is pretty funny to read as it also shows how much I have grown as a coach. Everyone encounters setbacks both with regards to life and training. You have been lighter than you are right now and you have been fitter than you are right now, but I can say with almost certainty that you have never been stronger, healthier or more confident than you are now and that shows in all the different competitions you have taken part in.

Next time you see jenny at the gym ask her about her Masters Games medals:)

Christian

Wednesday 14/09/16

Strength: Strict Press Testing

Option 1: Find your 1RM

Option 2: work on technique in 3-5 reps

WOD:

6 min AMRAP

50 Double Unders

12 TTB

10 Hang power cleans 50/35

2 min Rest

4 min AMRAP

30 Double Unders

9 TTB

6 Hang power clean 80/55

Finisher: 3 rounds for quality

8 Double KB Box step ups (each leg)

2 TGU AHAP (each arm)

Wesley competed at the Gore Gauntlet and he told me he felt like it went really well considering some of the weights might have been a bit of a challenge. We can definitely agree that he did a great job. congrats mate.  Competing can be super intimidating but your confidence will grow as you come out on the other side. Wesley fought against some tough competitors and did our little community proud:) He was among friends as Adam, Lorna, Mitch and others were there competing along side him which is awesome, well done everybody. I was told that Mitch from CFD even got on the podium, great stuff mate.

Make sure you get Wes to tell you all about his competition next time you see him. He is a great guy and I’m sure he would love to talk about his experience and maybe give you a couple of pointers if you are keen to give competition a go:)

Speaking of competition In House Partner comp is coming up 24/09/16 so make sure you get your team signed up ASAP:) before you know it, the date will arrive, you know it will, so get onto it

If you have a special person in your life you should check out Wesley’s Roses on Facebook.

Christian

Tuesday 13/09/16

Strength: Power Snatch

Option 1: Find a 1RM in 10min

Option 2: Work on technique in singles

BB cycling: 5 min AMRAP

5 TnG Power Snatches 1:1 w/partner

WOD: 8 min AMRAP

3-6-9-12-15 etc

Overhead squats 40/30kg

Box Jumps 24/20′

Read More

Congratulations to Tom and Raph who got their first muscle ups yesterday.

The best thing about our community is they all trust our program to be the best thing for them and their fitness. They turn up to regular classes, work hard and they are seeing the improvements. . We make sure we cover all bases over a certain timeframe but we don’t try to cram every single exercise into a week of work. We make sure our program is tailored as best we can to our community and we make sure all weaknesses are addressed at some point.

If you follow the program over the course of your time with us, you will see huge changes for the better. If you feel your particular weakness is not being addressed right now, don’t worry because over time we will get there. Work on what is presented to you and everything will improve as we move forward.

As our members do more and more classes and are exposed to all aspects of fitness like the gymnastics movements or weight lifting we encourage them to try out sports. The coolest thing about being fit is being able to use that fitness.

Christian

Saturday 10/09/16

Partner WOD: 8 Rounds for Time

10 Burpee Box Jump 24/20′

15 KB swings 32/24kg

200 m Run

12 TTB

16 BB Thrusters 20/15kg

20 Wall Balls 9/6kg

24 V-ups

Scale as needed

Make sure you stay up-to-date with everything that is happening at the gym by reading blog posts and checking Facebook. We would hate for anyone to miss out on anything. As always when in doubt ASK:)

1st: Today we have a fantastic deal going on GrabOne. Make sure to check it out and recommend it to everyone you know who needs a bit of help getting into fitness again this spring. It is specifically for mid morning classes which are hard to come by. Perfect for parents after they have dropped off the kids to school or for professional who have mid morning free.

2nd: The in-house Partner Competition is on 24/09/16 at 10am and you need to make sure you find a partner and sign up for $20 per team which will go towards prizes. SIGN UP NOW!!!

3rd: We will start a pre-order of AS Colour navy blue t-shirts and hoodies with our very cool logo on printed by Monogram House (Jonesy). You can come in to the gym to try out a few samples to make sure you get the right size. T-shirts will be $35 and hoodies are $60. Deadline for the order is 1/10/16

4th: We are still working out the best Time table possible for all of you. So if you have any concerns at all come and see us and we will do everything possible to accommodate you. Nothing is set in stone so don’t be afraid to speak up.

Friday 9/9/16

WOD: Every 2 min for 24 min

0-2 min: 3-5 Muscle ups – 10 Power Snatches 45/30kg

2-4 min: 10 HSPU – 14 Goblet Lunges 32/24kg

Scale to: False grip ring rows for MU

L Push ups off box for HSPU

Three main things come to mind when I see this heading

1. Accountability

Training with the members at Southern Peak Fitness will make you more accountable for turning up to every session and work hard. Every person in a group class will feel a need to improve something during every session to be able to keep up with everyone else.

When you train alone it can be hard to make yourself go to every session you have planned out because no one else will be waiting for you to turn up. You won’t feel the same urgency to improve because you don’t have anyone you need to keep up with. You wont let anyone else down. Its often easier to let yourself down than letting someone else down.

2. Motivation

Praise when you do well and encouragement when you are struggling are great motivators that you will get from training at Southern Peak Fitness. This will motivate you to train hard and achieve your goals

It is hard to keep motivating yourself when things aren’t going your way. It is a horrible feeling not to have anyone there helping you when you have your back against the wall.

3. Belonging to something

Being a part of Southern Peak Fitness gives you a great feeling of belonging to something bigger than yourself. you are all in it together, you suffer together, you succeed together and you inspire each other to achieve greatness.

That person who trains alone could be you, you could train very hard every day and achieve great goals but imagine if you had just one person by your side every time you started a workout. Just one person to help you run that extra 100m, perform that extra rep, turn up to that extra session a week. Now imagine you have 5 or 10 or 20 people by your side. You all went through every session together and you helped all these other people achieve their goals and they helped you. Now you have really accomplished something big.

Christian

Thursday 08/09/16

Strength: Front Squat (15-20 min)

Option 1: Build to a 4RM

Option 2: Work on technique in sets of 4 reps

WOD: 7 min AMRAP

12 Pistols

7 Power Cleans 50/35kg

3 Rounds for Quality

30 sec Hollow Hold

Max set of unbroken Strict CTB/Pull Ups or Ring Rows