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....
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...
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...
It's that time of year, Fall Challenge time! The Fall Challenge is an opportunity to establish accountability, work towards a specific goal, and be part of something the whole community is doing. This year the Fall Challenge is: 1 RM Front Squat 1 RM Push Press 1 RM Power Clean The Hendrickson Beep Test That's right, this challenge is a FOUR-PART extravaganza of strength and endurance. Next week, sep 18th - 25th,...
Our most recent #comeasyouare project was a huge success, and we ended up with over 100 photos of you awesome people looking powerful at the gym. My favorite part of this project was seeing so many of you reflect on the struggles of showing up in your own body, as well as the triumphs of owning who you are. To follow up on this project,...
Amalia Nicholson (she/her) @amalianicholson What type(s) of community work do you engage in? I work in the advertising + film community, primarily. When I'm not working, I'm still working... But on launching a super cool podcast called Borrowed Interest with a couple other rad ladies of color in advertising! We're going to take a critical and fun look at what it's like to be a person of...
Kory LaQuess Pullam. He, Him, His What type(s) of community work do you engage in? I do a fair amount engagement with the community through the arts. Also, workshops and Improv clinics with youth are things that I have found myself giving my time to.. Why Solcana? Why now? It's a perfect time for me to join Solcana because I want to take better care of myself. I like...
Hector Chavarria (He/Him) @biggaymexican What type(s) of community work do you engage in? I am a performance artist known as The Big Gay Mexican, tell your friends. My work has been seen in various cabarets and social events throughout the Twin Cities. There is so much fat-shaming, homophobia, and racism flooding the Internet, primarily in social media. The reason I began Big Gay Mexican was because I...
This week we are finding our 1 rep max for back squat, bench, deadlift and snatch. Such an exciting time! Remember to make sure you get those numbers tracked into WODify and keep them in your memory bank for the future. If this is your first (or hundredth) time maxing out, here are my suggestions going into this week. Don't repeat an old number. Warm up...
I am so excited to announce that we picked our scholarship winner(s)! We raised $1980 to sponsor an athlete for a full year. We had over 20 applicants, and in the end we just fell totally in love with two people, so they are both coming on board! Eli and Karina are two folks that I am thrilled to welcome to the Solcana family. I hope...
Patrick Stephenson (@patiomensch on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram) | He, him & his What type(s) of community work do you engage in? Well, I’m all about bikes AND bike community! FOR STARTERS: I’m the co-founder of 30 Days of Biking, a pledge to ride your bike every day in April and share your adventures online with the hashtag #30daysofbiking. There’s no required distance for this pledge (around the block counts just...
To donate: http://squ.re/2tc82g4 To apply: http://bit.ly/2sIKcHo Right now at Solcana we are raising money to fund a scholarship membership.This scholarship opportunity has been afforded to us by our generous members and friends, who have donated their money and time to make this scholarship possible. We have raised $830 of the $1980 needed to cover a whole year of membership for someone. If you would like to donate, the donation page...
Hello Brilliant Community, We have been so moved by the participation and energy around the #comeasyouare campaign and are excited to introduce the next phase to our community and are requesting your help. The next phase is going to be about celebrating and honoring the many incredible things our bodies can do now and the powerful things we are working towards. It's also about leaving room for...
Congratulations to our June Athletes of the Month, Alyssa Ahlgren and Shelley Quade! We are so thankful to have you both in our community. Alyssa joined us in October last year, a former hockey player who was itching to get back into the gym. She made herself at home and got down to work, calmly crushing workouts left and right. Alyssa is up for any challenge...
I can’t believe it has already been a year! The season of the 5k is upon us. This year we’re having our Third Annual Solcana 5k and it’s bringing a (new, first-ever) 10k with it. For those of you who haven’t experienced the Solcana 5k before, it’s a fun experience for all fitness levels. You can complete the course however you like. In the past we’ve...
Our 3rd Anniversary Day-Of-Fun is coming up fast! June 3rd we are celebrating 3 magical years of being open and we are doing to do it in stye. The day starts at 10 am with the Partner Challenge. That will run from 10-12, followed by a BBQ and hangout until about 4 pm. We will have food, treats and games at the BBQ, but please...
The beginner meet is coming up this weekend, which means that this is the final week of our oly cycle! In case you didn't LOVE maxing out your snatch and clean and jerk, there is an opportunity to max out your back squat coming this Friday, so get excited. I am thrilled for what is coming up in the summer cycle, it's going to be a...
This May 29th is Memorial Day, a day on which those who died in active military service are remembered. For CrossFitters, this is also the day most of us do some version of the Hero workout “Murph”. Murph is named after Michael Patrick "Murph" Murphy who was a United States Navy SEAL officer who was awarded the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor,...
Homies, Friends, Buddies, Fellow Athletes, Mindful Mobiles: Listen up! We have something exciting in the works and we can't wait to get you all involved. Beginning on May 1st, we are going to be welcoming each and everyone of you to #comeasyouare! Quick rundown of what that means, followed by some deets: Who - YOU! What - an opportunity to engage with our community and beyond by promoting the fact...
17.5 is done, which means the 2017 Open is officially over. Congratulations everyone for getting through all 5 of those brutal workouts and really crushing it. There were so many remarkable and unforgettable moments that happened this year and I was proud to witness some of them! This last workout was a no-mercy beatdown of breathlessness. Very difficult to manage your rest and work ration on...
The Open will be over in just a few days, and it feels like these last 5 weeks have moved incredibly quickly. I teared up today looking through the beautiful photos of all the Solcanauts supporting one another during 17.4. This truly is a special time of year for camaraderie, teamwork and pushing out of your comfort zone. It will be sad to finish the...
17.4 is over and WOWZA that was a fun one to watch. I remember just how much this one crushed my back and hamstrings when it was 16.4. It is such an intense grind for 13 minutes, and it was so inspiring to watch you all push that hard. I saw more effort put into this one than the other three workouts combined. Maybe it's being...
17.3 is done, which means we only have two more open workouts left! This last week was so incredible to watch. I saw some people get a personal best on snatch, and I saw a handful of people do their first workout with pull-ups or chest-to-bar pull-ups. This workout was so intimidating on paper, all those heavy snatches and a highly skilled gymnastic movement does...
17.2 is done, which means there are only 3 open WOD's left to go! This was a 12 minute hammer triplet. Just bruuuuutal on the forearms, butt and lungs. Grunt work lunges plus some technical gymnastics elements made for quite the combination. I was so impressed to see so many of you push outside of your comfort zone. Once again I need to shout out to...
17.1 Is in the Books! That was quite the barn-burner, 20 minutes of pure lung-busting metcon madness. I know some of you loved it, and you could see some athletes truly thrive under that spicy endurance style. The most important thing is that it's over and done with and we never have to do it again (until we do)! We had a lot of incredible accomplishments this...
Join us this week as we interview Solcana’s Olympic weightlifting coach, ENT surgeon Jenn Hsia. Learn her story, how she got into crossfit, lifting, and why she carries a scale with her everywhere she goes. If you go to crossfit and have ever snatched or clean and jerked a barbell before, these are the olympic lifting moves and this is the episode for you! Tune...
What did you do before becoming the Solcana intern? All the things! I graduated from Macalester College in May of 2016 and am now living in Minneapolis. At Macalester I competed as a track and field athlete, specializing in the 400m dash and sprint relays. For the past six months I've been working retail at Whole Foods Market and Lululemon Athletica. What did you love the most...
CHANGE IS HARD By: Lauren Anderson Last Wednesday at the gym, I got lost in thought during a particularly grueling 50-calorie-row portion of the Met Con. (Met Con is short for metabolic conditioning. Or as I like to call it, the “exercise-y part. Not the weight-lifty part.”) I know it doesn't seem like much, but in order to burn one calorie on those machines, the average gym goer...
I came to Solcana as a photographer. I responded to a request to shoot a throwdown. I knew that Crossfit was an exercise program with a reputation for getting people into exceptional shape, and what I saw at the competition put that athleticism on display. I was sold. I wanted to be in exceptional shape. I came to Solcana as an ultra runner. I run for...
