Uncategorized – WOD & DONE

WOD & DONE Lifestyle #2

Hey there WOD & DONE Nation,

In this this edition of our WOD & DONE Lifestyle blog, we are featuring one of our favorite hand care products: RipFix.

This is a great company with an amazing product that can take the sting out of a hand rip overnight and have you back on the bar. Developed in the kitchen as a family recipe, this remedy has been passed through generations from mothers to their gymnast daughters. If you have not heard of RipFix, you’re missing out!

We would also like to introduce the WOD & DONE nation to the U.K.’s very own Rhian “Rhi” Pearson. She is an inspirational CrossFit Masters athlete and mother who overcame adversity to reach her goals and continues to push forward.

To learn more about RipFix, follow them on Instagram at @ripfix.

To follow Rhi and learn more about her and her story, follow her on Instagram at @rhip32.

Check out our friends’ profiles and let them know we sent you with the hashtag: #WODNDONECARES.
Enjoy!

Rhian “Rhi” Pearson, 36

City/State: Worcester, UK
Favorite movie/character: Point Break
CrossFit Affiliate Name: BullPen Fitness
Favorite lift: Power Clean
Favorite Girl WOD: Helen
Least favorite/Weakness: Squats (giraffe femurs!)
Name of Box: BullPen Fitness
Owner(s): Will Kane and Fraser McKenzie
Location: Worcester, UK

Three months after having her eldest daughter, Rhi Pearson was ready to pursue fitness again—but
without having to spend two hours on a treadmill every day. Her father had begun taking a new “fitness
class” and was excited to tell Rhi about it. She liked what she heard and soon after, she was signed up at her local CrossFit box.

At the time, there were only a handful of locations in the UK. As fate would have it, Rhi’s first WOD was Fran—and despite being dealt the WOD CrossFitters love to hate as her induction, she was immediately hooked.

Now, Rhi trains five times each week, with one session being a double. She carefully plans her training to include one rest day and one active recovery day, although there are variations from time to time with her schedule.

Rhi draws inspiration from many great athletes, many of whom she follows on Instagram; however, her true role model is her friend, Cathy Wilson. As a mother of four children, Cathy continues to push her limits as an athlete.This year, she is heading to the CrossFit Games as a UK Masters athlete.

Two years ago, Rhi underwent ACJ reconstruction in her shoulder. Her coach, David Shorunke, has tailored her programming to ensure she continues to achieve her goals. With more Masters-level individual competitions in her sight, Rhi is not showing any signs of letting up on her dream of reaching a podium. But, most importantly, her goal is to continue to enjoy and have fun doing what she loves.

In the future, Rhi plans to continue training in her garage with two new members: her daughters.Currently, they are 8- and 5-years- old and love gymnastics, and Rhi hopes to compete with them one day.

RipFix – the perfect solution to CrossFit Hands

Search for #crossfithands on most social media outlets and you will find thousands of pictorials of people proudly holding up their “warrior wounds,” also known as rips. Hand rips in the CrossFit world have become a rite of passage —a sign that you are working hard and progressing in the sport — but what CrossFitters come to find out quickly is that injured, torn hands are not fun; they are painful and they interfere with their WOD.

Most athletes are aware that if you are participating in a heavy-handed sport, your hands will become callused: For some, ripping those calluses is inevitable even with grips (just ask a gymnast). Preventing the calluses from thickening and hardening to the tearing point is where daily maintenance becomes critical, and staying on top of the vicious rip-heal–rip cycle is key.

This is where RipFix steps in. RipFix is not only an amazingly quick rip remedy but when used daily, along with a pumice stone, it is a great preventative and maintenance tool-helping your hands stay primed for your sport. There is a big difference between healthy and un-healthy calluses. The minute your calluses start to turn color (yellow, white or brown) it’s time to take them down. Calluses should not be hard mounds of painful, discolored, flakey skin…They should be pliable so they work with you , not against you.

Instructions:

How to Fix Ripped Hands
1. Clean hands and disinfect the wound. 2. Cut the skin away as close to the rip line as possible3. Pack RipFix generously in to the fresh rip. Do not rub it in, let it sit, preferably overnight.4. Loosely wrap with gauze to allow some air into the wound.5. Watch RipFix do it’s magic.
How to Care for Callused hands.
1. Keep a pumice stone in the shower.

2. Take the wet pumice stone on a wet callused hand and gently pumice the top layers of skin off of the calluses.

3. Repeat on the other hand rubbing for about 3 mins on each hand to smooth out all the rough edges.

4. Rub RipFix in to freshly filed down hands.

5. Watch RipFix do it’s magic
Keep those hands healthy. They are your number one tool.

Robin Stewart

Owner/founder

RipFix.com

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Michele Oller

This month’s Athlete Spotlight is Michele Oller. We’ve had a distinct pleasure of working with Michele for the past 3-4 months and she has been nothing short of inspirational! We are really happy to have this opportunity to introduce her to all of you, along with her husband Colby, and the community of their gym: Relentless Athletics Durant

Name: Michele Oller

Age: 31

City/State: Durant, OK

Gym Name: Relentless Athletics Durant

Favorite lift: Snatch, Clean, and OHS

Favorite Girl WOD: Nancy

Least favorite / Weakness: Karen

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Michele started CrossFit at CrossFit Durant, a gym her now husband Colby owned in 2014, and she hasn’t looked back since. She trains 5-7 times per week under Colby’s coaching, who is an amazing programmer and is also the main coach of their gym. Colby has a great eye for seeing what needs to be focused on during a lift. He often gives a single cue to an athlete that has failed a PR attempt and that helps them successfully hit the lift!

Among many amazing athletes in our sport, Michele looks up to the 2nd fittest woman on earth, Tia-Clair Toomey – “It just doesn’t get any more admirable than rocking The CrossFit Games and going to the Olympics for weightlifting!” (we happen to agree, that’s pretty bad-ass)

On her way to chase Tia, Michele wants to focus and refine her weightlifting in order to set some OK State Weightlifting Records, get to the American Open Finals and go to the CrossFit Games Regionals as a masters athlete in 4 years. Michele also plans on continuing to be a pharmacist while running their gym – not a simple task, and also becoming a mommy!!!

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Name of the gym: Relentless Athletics Durant

Location: Durant, OK

Owner (s): Colby and Michele Oller

Head Coach: Colby Oller

Size (sq.ft): 1200

Brief History of the box:

It all started in 2011 at Colby’s garage named Southern Strong Fitness. In 2012 the gym became the first CrossFit in Durant and in southern Oklahoma as it affiliated as CrossFit Durant. Also in 2012, it was moved out of the 2 car garage and on to a new building in town. After 3 years as CrossFit Durant, the gym became Relentless Athletics Durant. Colby owned the gym when Michele decided to give CrossFit a try in 2014. She became one of the most dedicated members!

Colby was working as a Safety Specialist in the offshore oil business when a friend introduced him to “Fran” one day while he was at home. He was hooked from then on. Later that year, after leaving the oilfield, Colby decided his path was going to change. He decided he had found what he was meant to do. Six months later, Colby opened the original gym with a whopping membership list of 4 stay-at-home moms who didn’t want to lift weights!

The community at RAD is like a family, always being supportive of one another. Michele and Colby pride themselves on helping athletes of all levels reach their individual goals, whether it’s to get healthier, lift at a certain level, or just feel better and more confident. One of their favorite things to do is to crank up some music, lift, and cheer each other on!

We are lucky to have come across such an inspirational duo and wish them nothing but the very best! If ever in town, please drop in Relentless Athletics Durant located at

542 Knight Dr

Durant, OK

74701

(580) 367-0966

Amy “Pistol” Mandelbaum

(raw photo credit: Irene Penny Photography)

This month’s Athlete Spotlight is Amy “Pistol” Mandelbaum. Amy was one of the first athletes who gave WOD&DONE brand a chance and helped us spread the word. So, it’s not a surprise that we wanted to share her story in our bi-weekly Athlete Spotlight series .

Name: Amy “Pistol” Mandelbaum
Age: 49 (50 in May)
City/State: Westport, CT
Favorite movie / character: The Matrix, Trinity – of course!
CrossFit Affiliate Name: CrossFit Westport
Favorite lift: Clean
Favorite Girl WOD: Helen
Least favorite / Weakness: Amanda

Amy started doing CrossFit over 7 years ago with no athletic background prior to that. Her fitness consisted of random interval, boot-camp style classes and spin classes. That’s when a friend suggested that she give CrossFit a try. “It took one class and I was hooked. It was a complete departure for me in terms of physical challenges” – Amy said.

She has competed in every Open since, been on two Regionals teams 2011 & 2012, competed at the Games as a masters athlete in 2012, 2013 and 2014 and earned a spot at the 2015 Games, but had to withdraw last minute due to a family emergency and took 2016 off to dedicate to her daughter, who was auditioning for musical theatre programs, and to give time to the development of CrossFit Westport.

When asked about her current training, Amy responded: “I now train five days a week with my coach – Jay Leydon. I am training to get back into the Games and after a year-and-a-half hiatus. It’s been a process to get my head back into the competitive mindset. “

Two years ago, Amy, along with her husband David, set out on a venture to open CrossFit Wesport in their hometown of Norwalk, CT. To date, their box has over 180 members and they are still growing. They operate a 6000 sq ft facility that runs seven classes per day. With other business responsibilities, as well as being active in her family, Amy still finds time to teach 1-2 classes every day. Here is what she had to say about how it all came together.

Name of the Box: CrossFit Westport (crossfitwestport.com)
Location: Norwalk, CT
Year of Affiliation: Two
Owner (s): Myself and my husband, David
Aprox Membership base: (optional) 180 and growing!
Coaches: #? Names? (optional) Including myself, six
Size (sq.ft): Just under 6000 sq ft

Tell us how it all started:

“I had been a coach and competitive CrossFit athlete for many years and had a vision of what I wanted to create in a strong community. I knew that my life as a competitor needed to slow down but that I wanted CrossFit to be a part of whatever “next chapter” I was going to write for myself. It was my husband, David, who presented me with the opportunity to own my own box. I jumped at the idea without a second thought. With his support and my incredible coaches, we have created an amazing environment for our members.”

Tell us more about your box:

“CrossFit Westport is a health, fitness, and lifestyle gym. We are not a competitive box, though we have a number of terrific athletes. We are very welcoming to both the experienced CrossFitter as well as to those who are trying it for the first time. You come to us to work out in a safe, well-organized and fun environment. Our members work to reach and surpass their goals and we aid them in those achievements. In my view, this is all about the journey and there is so much that can be attained by finding physical strength and conquering your fears. Our members are moms, dads, grandmothers, grandfathers, young professionals, teens, you name it. We have a very community-minded diverse membership. We believe in giving back so we raise money for charity, we support our local community and we have an amazing teen sports program that supports our local high school. We are a very social box and enjoy each others company both in and out of the gym. We view our incredible staff as family as well and fully support them in their own development. In short, we are a place to come find your best self and great friends.”

What is the one workout YOU KNOW if you program you’ll get the most amount of complaints?

I don’t generally get complaints about workouts. I try very hard to listen to my membership and challenge them appropriately. So if I hear rumblings of sore shoulders, for instance, I will take that into consideration as I program or I will change programs on the fly to accommodate the feedback I get from my coaches. Our members are not generally whiners, so when someone voices a concern, I take it seriously.

As an owner, what did you learn about yourself and how have you evolved personally and in the business sense since you’ve opened up?

Owning a box has challenged me in ways I could not have predicted, but it has also given me a great perspective on how, as a coach, I can positively impact others’ lives. I wake up every day happy to go to work. I have learned to be a very good multi-tasker. Additionally, being responsible for such a large group of people dilutes my focus in a positive way. I am not so focused on the minutia of everyday life in the gym, so I let go of things that in the past, would have really bothered me. As a result, I feel very present both at home and at the gym.

When asked about her short and long term goals Amy said: “My longer-term and always-present-goals sort of blend: to maintain a healthy family life, be with my kids as much as possible and to nurture and grow my membership at my gym – CrossFit Westport. The best I can say is that my long term goal is to age in as healthfully a way as possible, and continue to help others live a healthy life along the way”. We would like to wish Amy an injury-free and successful competition season as well as to continue running a successful CrossFit gym while helping others achieve their goals.