What sensation is strongest in your body right now? What sensation is the most subtle? What’s happening in your toes your now? When was the last time you thought about your toes? These are some of the questions I ask myself throughout the day in order to strengthen my awareness of my physical body. Why? Because the sensations in my body often lead me to insights...
It's crazy to think the Open is actually over! That 5 weeks went very very quickly. I have to say, this has been my favorite Open season yet. I think it's because the gym was bumpin' every Friday, and I got to see so many athletes absolutely crushing workouts they never thought they could do. It might seem silly or even crazy to do a...
18.4 is in the books! I have to say, this one was by far my favorite. I love heavy deadlifts, and it was fun to pair it with something challenging like a handstand pushup. I wish I had made it to the handstand walks because it would have been really fun to try those in a workout, but alas. I tried to convince Josh to...
Well, it was bound to happen eventually, a workout with a very difficult technical movement - the muscle-up. In this case, 18.3 was also paired with another difficult movement, the double under. I know a lot of people really struggled with this one, it presented a serious challenge. That being said, I saw some incredible things happen, like first-time muscle-ups, first time doing double-unders in...
Solcana has given me a life I never thought I could achieve, one where working out is not about plowing through the hard and the painful, but rather building blocks to a happier relationship with my body. It wasn’t always this way. My mental health has always run my life. From disordered eating, body dysphoria, and being surrounded by others who also suffered from negative body...
The energy in the gym on Friday was palpable for 18.2. This is my favorite type of workout, a fast burn followed by an opportunity to hit a big weight. It was incredible to watch so many people hit a PR on their heavy cleans. I was also so impressed by the number of people who tried the Rx weight. When we did the scores this...
Emma here with some full disclosure: I don't care about the specifics of how or what you eat. You may be thinking to yourself, 'Gee, Emma, that seems strange since you are going to be facilitating the Essential You course moving forward, which is focused on NUTRITION! If you don’t care about what or exactly how I’m eating, what’s the point of signing up for...
I am excited to announce a new strength series we are offering at Solcana called [Em]Power strength. This 5-week series is built for folks who workout on their own, but want to learn the basics of strength training from a professional coach. As an [Em]Power athlete, you will learn the basics of lifting, and walk away with a 6-week program you can use to train...
Congratulations to our two amazing Athletes of the Month, Steph James and Max Poessnecker! Steph is one of those surprising people who seem quiet and reserved on the surface until they just knock you over with their badassery. Over the last two years, Steph has worked consistently, with a curiosity about movement and about her own body that has allowed her to push through some challenging...
18.1 is in the books, one workout down and four to go! Nothing says "GET TO WORK" like starting off with a 20 minute AMRAP. I personally loved this workout even though it was torture, because the rep scheme was totally manageable and kept you moving without too many breaks. This first week started off SO STRONG with 92 people completing the workout. Just a...
Solcana Homies and community at large, Emma Vasseur here, checking in to share updates on what's next with Essential You and my role here within our incredible community. At the start of the year, I took over as facilitator of the Essential You 101 course! Lucia Hawley, NTP extraordinaire, created this program and left the content with us when she moved on to the next chapter of...
We have invited the super smart and talented Dr. Alyssa George from Motion Minnesota to come to Solcana and provide a 90 minute seminar on pelvic floor health. This seminar will involve some instruction, along with lots of time for practicing techniques to improve your pelvic floor strength. If you are someone who pees their pants while working out (or doing other things), this is...
I started doing CrossFit 8 years ago, when the sport was in its infancy and the number of athletes worldwide was only in the thousands. Flash to today, there are 13,000 CrossFit gyms in more than 120 countries, thousands of other gyms who offer CrossFit-like programming, plus athletes who workout from their own garage. When it first started, there was a lot of trial and error. Over the last...
I came to Solcana in May because I was feeling, for lack of a better word, crappy about myself. I had top surgery in December 2016. After top surgery, I thought everything would be different. I thought I was going to automatically love my body because it would finally look the way I knew in my head it was supposed to look. But I still...
If you read my most recent post, you know that my experience with food and dieting has been up and down for a long time. Recently I went through a 6-month long elimination and reintroduction process to finally figure out which foods make me feel awesome, and which don't. Once I finished that process, I knew I wanted to invest in some time in using...
Congratulations to our February Athletes of the Month, Rica Highers and Bradley Machov! Rica Highers brings a fierceness and brilliance that is undeniable. She has embraced crossfit as a practice, and balances her drive and discipline with an attitude of mindfulness, patience, and self love. She pushes herself hard and holds herself to high standards, but she also takes time to celebrate herself and fellow athletes...
I've been a coach for 8 years, and in that time I have tried A LOT of different ways of eating; vegetarian, strict paleo, keto, zone, high-carb, low-carb... just to name a few. The problem I always found with these strict and restrictive diet plans was always the same: I could commit to something for maybe 3-6 months, and then I would rebound, HARD. I...
InBody is a quick and easy way to get metrics about your body composition, using a very simple machine that you can use while fully clothed. Every 6 months we bring in our friend Will Dahlgren into the gym to use his InBody machine in the gym and give you all an opportunity to get some numbers about your body that you can use to...
Recently, we raised over $17,000 in funds from our Black Friday sale, that we are able to use to support 9 POC athletes to join us for a full year at no cost. The application opened on Dec 1st and in the time it was open, we got 49 incredible applicants. From that all-star list, a small committee of 5 Solcanauts selected the 9 recipients....
Last week I played Getting to Know You Bingo at a meeting – that game where the bingo grid is full of things like “I’m the middle child” and “I play an instrument” – to help strangers learn little facts about each other. One of the squares said “I’m an athletic person” and I caught myself skimming over it because it wasn’t the square about...
Congratulations to Hallie Olson and Mike Grewe, our January Athletes of the Month! Hallie Olson walked in the door one day in August and said "I'm here to sign up" and she has become a staple at the gym since then. Hallie is someone I am always happy to see in class. She is honest, gentle, and hilarious. If you ever need to be encouraged through a...
Our current strength cycle is coming to a close, ending the week of January 13th, with some opportunities to max out some lifts and get yourself a new baseline strength for the new year. Our next cycle we will be focused on prepping for and competing in the the CrossFit Open. The CrossFit Open is an international competition that happens yearly in February and March....
Shevaun Church and Katie Burgess are two of the most fascinating people you'll ever know. They are both the type of people who like to constantly learn new things, and are willing to try anything. Shevaun is a woo-woo goddess. She is a magical skin-care guru as well as a food-lover. She is always thinking about ways to improve her gut health, experimenting with how food...
Finally putting a wrap on the Fall Challenge, and I wanted to share the winners, as well as some overall stats from the challenge in general. Below are the most improved lifts, most improved beep test and top overall. You can see that the most improved lifts take into account WILKs score, which is found using a formula that takes into account your body weight....
The Fall Challenge was a phenomenal success. People made huge PR's on their push press, front squat and power cleans. More than that, I saw a ton of improvement on overall form and technique. Also, I had the pleasure of witnessing so many of you re-attempt the Hendrickson Beep Test (despite how painful it was the first time around), and saw so many people add...
The last day of school was always a difficult one for me. Amid the exchange of AIM screen names and promises to keep in touch over the summer, there was that daunting task: cleaning out my locker at the end of the day. In fifth grade, I found the remote control to the family TV that was missing since winter. In high school, I remembered...
Congratulations to our November Athletes of the Month, Martha Williams and Marit Peterson! Coach Jenn Schaal nominated Martha: "She's been a diligent crossfitter since body adapt and I love seeing the progress she's making (even though i haven't coached her since BA). Seriously, her consistency is awesome!" Coach AJ adds "Martha is awesome to coach. She’s been consistent in her evening attendance and been working on her squat form which...
As a child I was very active. I was that kid that parents would have to go out looking for because they lost track of time climbing trees, building forts, or knocking on all of the doors to get a baseball game going in the cul de sac. During recess you could find me playing soccer, dribbling a basketball across the court, or running to...
So, I feel like I should start this blog with an update, or a confession rather. I still haven’t gotten rid of my skinny clothes. But listen, it’s on my to-do list. My ever-expanding, constantly-in-the-back-of-my-head to-do list. I write one every morning, now, and it’s helpful but I have noticed some items just get written out of habit, and not necessarily intention. I’m hopeful that...
I am so excited to announce that we are bringing some HEAVY HITTERS to Solcana for a Weightlifting Seminar. On Sunday December 10th from 10 am - 2 pm we will be hosting a seminar featuring Jenny Arthur and Norik Vardanian. If you don't know who they are, you are in for a special treat. Jenny got 6th place in the Olympics in Rio and is...
