CrossFit Taproot Athlete of the Month: Ms. Cassandra T (February, 2017)

CrossFit Taproot Athlete of the Month: Ms. Cassandra T(February, 2017)

We are happy to honor Ms Cassandra T as our CrossFit Taproot Athlete of the month for February 2017!  

Ms Cassandra came to us in October 2016 looking for guidance and help to get her health and fitness in check.  Her goals to do this are like many others.  To feel better, look better, and perform better.  Her biggest reason though was to be a positive role model for her young daughter Alyssa.  

On her first day with us she weighed in at 340lbs.  Like anyone else her first day at CrossFit Taproot was challenging but everyday there after she came in FULL OF LIFE, and had a no quit attitude.  She worked incredibly hard, and through this process we found out she is very agile (moves like a lightweight), is super strong, and she did extremely well (way above average) in the weightlifting workouts.  The great thing though, is she pushed even harder on the workouts that made her super uncomfortable.  Workouts that include burpees, wallballs, and rowing.  

Flash forward to her birthday this past week and we are proud to say Ms. Cassandra is down 35lbs, and 21.75 inches in FOUR short months!

She is a staple in our early morning classes and is someone who pushes even our best athletes to bring their A game EVERYDAY!  

She stated on a Facebook post:  "In life we all go through seasons of good, bad and indifferent.  This past year was definitely a challenging one at some points; came across a lot of tough times but with the love and support of AMAZING PARENTS, Family and friends we made it through.  A little over 3.5 months ago I decided I needed a change in my life.  I didn't know what that change was until I came across an ad for a best self challenge and became interested and since then my life has changed for the better.  I have found a new love in CrossFit and have found a second family with CrossFit Taproot.  I want to thank Dan Dirkx and Brooke Lamarca for being amazing coaches and continuing to push me day in and out.  Heather Nicole, thank you for your continuous words of support whether during a WOD or small talk.  Love you all, I know this is only the beginning of my new life in CrossFit and I can't wait to see what's next!!!! #bestselfchallenge #crossfit #crossfittaproot #FAMILY"

#whybecrediblewhenyoucanbeincredible

Congratulations Ms Cassandra this is well

deserved.  You're definitely well on your way to be Rochester's Strongest :)

CrossFit Taproot is growing and we are looking for some amazing coaches to join our team

CrossFit Taproot is growing and we are looking for some amazing coaches to join our team!  

We are a new and progressive box in the Greece and Rochester area.  We are looking to hire coaches with CrossFit Level 1 certificates or higher. 

We offer a very generous compensation package to include complimentary CrossFit, competitive hourly wages, and continued residual monthly income from new members you recruit.

Profit sharing - Do you have what it takes to create and run your own specialty program? If so, get up to 40% of your specialty program dues.

If you are a personal trainer with a strong following and are looking to expand into CrossFit, we can help you achieve your goals. We can offer you space at the gym as well as help offset the cost of your Level 1 certificate. 

If you are interested in becoming a part of the CrossFit Taproot team, send us your resume to admin@crossfittaproot.com

CrossFit Taproot's 2016 Holiday Hours

Good afternoon!  

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years from all of us here at CrossFit Taproot!  

Here is CrossFit Taproots 2016 Holiday Schedule!

December 19th thru December 22nd, 2016 (Monday thru Thursday): Normal Business Hours (5:30am to 11:30am then we will reopen from 3:00pm to 6:30pm (last wod will start a little past 6pm)

December 23rd, 2016 (Friday): 5:30am to 10:30am (last WOD will start a little past 10am).  We will be closed from 10:30am-4:00pm, then we will reopen from 4:00pm to 6:00pm.  

December 24th, 2016 (Saturday) 3 WOD Times only!  12 Days of Christmas WOD.  50 minute Time Cap.  

To WOD you must arrive at the below times.  We can not accommodate any late arrivals.  

6:30am (must arrive at 6:00am to begin warming up)

7:30am (must arrive at 7:00am to begin warming up)

8:30am (must arrive at 8:00am to begin warming up)

December 25th, 2016 (Sunday): Closed

December 26th, 2016 (Monday) (Christmas Observed): We will be open from 8:30am to 10:30am.  Last WOD will start at 10:00am.  

December 27th, 2016 thru December 29th, 2016 (Tuesday thru Thursday):  Normal Business Hours (5:30am to 11:30am then we will reopen from 3:00pm to 6:30pm (last wod will start a little past 6pm)

December 30th, 2016 (Friday): 5:30am to 11:00am (last WOD will start a little past 11:00am).  We will be closed from 11:30-4:00pm and we will reopen from 4:00pm to 6:00pm.  

December 31st, 2016 (Saturday) 2 WODs ONLY:  8:30am and 9:30am.  Our 3rd Annual "Ringing In Another 365 with CrossFit Taproot".  40 minute Time Cap.  For the 8:30am WOD please arrive at 8:00am and for the 9:30am WOD please arrive at 9:00am.

January 1st, 2017 (Sunday): Closed

January 2nd, 2017 (Monday)(New Years Observed):

We will be open from 8:30am to 10:30am.  Last WOD will start at 10:00am.  

January 3rd, 2017: Normal Business Hours resume.

***If you are visiting from out of town please just email us at admin@crossfittaproot.com, just to give us a heads up that your coming.  We can definitely accommodate you.  Our drop in rate per day is $20 but if you are going to come from a full week or longer we have packages available***

CrossFit Taproot's 2016 Thanksgiving Holiday Hours

Good afternoon!  

We just wanted to let everyone know what our 2016 Thanksgiving Holiday Hours are for next week!  If you are coming in from out of town please email admin@crossfittaproot.com just to give us a heads up that you are coming, and our drop in fee is $20.  

Thanksgiving Week Hours are:

Monday (11/21/16): Normal Hours

Tuesday (11/22/16): Normal Hours

Wednesday (11/23/16): 6:15am to 1:00pm (last wod will start at 12:15pm)

Thursday (11/24/16, Thanksgiving Day) 

1 WOD: 7:45am arrival 8:10am start time!  

This will be a partner WOD and its 45 Minutes long.  The WOD is very fun and challenging.  

Since it is a Partner WOD, due to length of the WOD, we will not be able to accommodate late arrivals.  Please be prompt.  

Friday (11/25/16): 8am to 9am open gym, WOD 9am To 10am ONLY

Saturday (11/26/16): Normal Hours

Sunday (11/27/16) : Closed

Monday (11/28/16): Normal hours resume

"Donny"

Today at CrossFit Taproot we tackle CrossFit's Hero WOD "Donny"!  

We pay our respects and remember US Army Specialist Don Nichols who paid the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedom but this Hero WOD has special meanings to one of our CrossFit Taproot Athletes.  Read why below

This WOD is for U.S. Army Specialist Donald L. Nichols, 21, of Shell Rock, Iowa, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, Iowa Army National Guard, based in Waterloo, Iowa, died April 13, 2011, in Laghman province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device. He is survived by his mother and stepfather, Roger and Becky Poock; his father and stepmother, Jeff and Jeanie Nichols; and his brothers, Nick and Joe.

The second is for our very own Matthew M. Morante.  Matt does this Hero WOD yearly for another reason.  Here is why #stiff does it:

Stiff wrote:

Today is my grandfathers birthday, and for the 2nd time in my 35, tomorrow 36 years on this planet I celebrate it without my gramps. Every year for as long as I can remember we would go to Bathtub Billys, he would order a Manhattan, we would order food (chicken wings & fries) and play quick draw, sometimes we lost, most of the times we won, it didn't matter. Tomorrow I will celebrate my gramps by doing a special W.O.D. at the gym , a Hero W.O.D. Called "Donny" in honor of Donald Friga, and probably the most hardest one I've done in months. I love you and miss you so much my gramps, my best man and my friend...9/27/1930 - 12/31/2014.

Hero WOD "Donny" is 

"Donny"

21-15-9-9-15-21 reps for time of:

225/165lb Deadlift
Burpees

CrossFit Taproot September Athlete Spotlight: Matt "Stiff" Morante

(Picture taken by AJAX Media at the 2016 Catalyst Games)

CrossFit Taproot September Athlete Spotlight: Matt "Stiff" Morante

Story by Matt Morante:

My wake up call started in late March. One night I couldn’t breathe and was having chest pains, thinking it would go away, it didn’t.  I called my doctor, she insisted I see them immediately. That morning I weighed in at 277 pounds! I was disgusted, the heaviest I've ever been. The doctor ran all sorts of tests on me that morning to rule out a heart attack, it wasn't thankfully, and then they scheduled me for a Stress Test at the Hospital on the treadmill. 

I huffed and puffed and couldn’t even complete the whole test. My results came back, my heart was as healthy as it could be, I was just FAT!!! 

Fast forward a couple weeks to April 4th 2015. I was with 2 of my friends who were involved with Crossfit. We talked about healthy eating and exercise, they encouraged me to just come and check it out, and see what it’s about. I saw what my friends looked like so I knew it worked for them. 

April 5th came and I went to the doctor again and asked if I could do these kind of exercises my friends were talking about. She said absolutely, you need to be exercising. 

The next day, April 6th I went to CrossFit Fruition with one of these friends and signed up. After my 1st week I almost didn’t go back because of how sore I was, using muscles I never used before. 

Fast forward 6 months later, I was down to 248lbs, almost 30 pounds lost. Purely by eating healthier and eating smaller portions .  I still would be treating myself here and there and not punishing myself if I don't lose a pound one week. I treat myself once in awhile just not 3 times a day like I was used to... AND exercise. Working out 4-5 days a week. Sometimes less with a busy work schedule and life in general. 

I love pushing myself to PR (personal record) weights and times. To see numbers when I first started to seeing the numbers now is amazing. I couldn’t even clean a bar, now I’m cleaning 175 pounds, oh and just saying cleaning, knowing all this terminology and movements that I had no clue what they were, 18 months ago. I even have a favorite movement, I love Clean and Jerks. I love setting weight and time goals for myself and working at them to improve them. I finally made it into the 300 pound club by deadlifting 300 pounds. Now I can’t wait to get to my next weightlifting goal of back squatting 300 pounds. 

I truly get upset if I miss more than a couple days at the gym now. It's a healthy addiction that I love, my excuse was I didn’t have the time...wrong. I was addicted to being lazy and watching TV. I feel better, I'm starting to look healthier. 

I’ve had some ups and downs here and there, I broke my foot and was out for 8 weeks, it could have been a perfect time for me to quit but it did not!  It made me depressed that I was not at the gym working out, counting down the days to get back in. 

More recently I came down with the flu which led to Bronchitis and kept me away for almost 3 weeks. I am not giving in or giving up. I set a goal of losing 50 pounds and I am determined to do it.

A good problem to have but one thing that stinks is I wear suits everyday for work and I had to get them tailored because they were baggy on me and my pants were all bunched up.  I am not a fan of buying new suits and having them fitted to me, haha. 

Dan Dirkx of CrossFit Taproot is an excellent coach.  I appreciate him for making me feel so comfortable and always pushing me that little bit that I need at the end of a W.O.D. always teaching and encouraging. 

He's coined the nickname "Stiff" (when you come into CrossFit Taproot, find me and I will tell you why I am called Stiff lol) for me and it's been that way since. The rest of the coaching staff and the rest of the CrossFit Taproot athletes are a second family to me. They are the best.  There is not one person that thinks they are better than the other. There are no egos there. Everyone pushes each other and give that little extra encouragement you might need to finish a WOD or lift. The coaching staff and community is definitely a reason for me to keep going back to the gym.  

Editors note:  "Stiff" has gotten comfortable with the uncomfortable since beginning with us at CrossFit Taproot.  He recently just competed in his second CrossFit inspired competition where he PRd his clean and 3 shoulder to overheads, with a whopping 185lbs!  This is a huge accomplishment because as Matt mentioned he could not even lift a 45lb bar without a spotter in the beginnning.  This type of result just shows with consistent, persistent effort these types of results will happen.  If you are looking for these results like "Stiffs" we can help.  All you need to do is take that first step and we can help.  Email us at admin@crossfittaproot.com

Introducing CrossFit Taproot's #PROVEN

What is CrossFit Taproot "Proven"?

CrossFit Taproot's "Proven" (#cftprtproven) is for the athlete who wants to delve deeper into the sport of CrossFit or become a better well rounded athlete in CrossFit. The goal is to find weaknesses, make them into strengths, and then train the athletes strengths so they become second nature to them.

Why do "Proven"

CrossFit Taproot's #proven program is a battled tested program that is guaranteed to make you better.

This program sent Rochester's only competitor to the 2016 Reebok CrossFit Games.  #PROVEN has helped many athletes achieve higher rankings/placements in national and local fitness competitions they participate in. It has made athletes who play other sports a step ahead of their competition.  They are game changers on their field of play!

#cftprtprovenathletes also achieve huge personal records in weightlifting, increased proficiency in gymnastics, better efficiency in endurance, and a stronger midline.  Athletes who follow the program as it is designed, will see these gains.

By being a CrossFit Taproot #proven athlete there is a private Facebook page, that will be updated daily with content, such as demo videos, that will have advanced instruction, a place to discuss the weeks program and where you will get the weeks program....

Cost: (Per month, unless otherwise noted)

Current CrossFit Taproot Athletes: add $35 to current membership

Non CrossFit Taproot Athletes: $45 (programming only)

Remote Coaching with Program: $85

One on One Coaching:  $80 per 60 minute session, includes individual programming

CrossFit Taproots #proven is volume heavy.  Meaning there is a lot of work that is to be done.

A Sample Week looks like this:

Everyday:

Warm-Up/Mobility/RomWOD/Metcon/WOD

Then

Mon/Wed/Fri: Strength/Odd Object Conditioning/Stamina/Barbelle Complexes

Wednesday: #proven athletes WOD together could be at box or offsite

Tues/Thursday: Gymnastics/Endurance/Midline/Barbelle Conditioning

Saturday: #proven athletes WOD together could be at box or offsite

Sunday: Rest

#cftprtprovenathletes it is strongly encouraged (we do understand life happens and there could be conflict, so if you miss a day, here and there, that WILL NOT PRECLUDE you from the program at all) that you make one of the two (if not both) WOD together days.  Times to be determined based on athletes who sign up.

 #proven #areyou #gamesbound2016 #crossfittaproot #cftprtathletes #crossfitgames #bbir #rochester #newyork #whybecrediblewhenyoucanbeincredible #crossfit #supportyourlocalbox #cftprt #yes #letsseewhoisreallyproven

Stay Ready!


If you have Instagram please follow us @cftaproot_proven

For any other inquiries into CrossFit Taproot's Proven please email cftaprootproven@outlook.com

*program format subject to change if necessary*

Our very own Karin Gogolsky will be competing against the very best at the 2016 CrossFit Games!

On behalf of all us here CrossFit Taproot and all the #cftprtathletes, I am so incredibly happy to announce that the Rochester, NY CrossFit community will have a representative who trains and lives in Rochester at this years 2016 Reebok CrossFit Games, in Carson, California!

Karin will be competing in the 60+ Masters division in California in a few short weeks!  

Karin getting to this point was truly a team effort with in our walls at CrossFit Taproot and in the Rochester, New York, CrossFit community.  We all rallied behind her and pushed her daily to become more and be better than she was yesterday.  

Karin finished this years CrossFit Open in 19th place worldwide, and she won the Northeast Division in her 60+ age category. She then went on to the Masters Regional competition and absolutely crushed it. She ended the competition up 11 places to finish 8th WORLDWIDE! 

She did these regional workouts multiple times, sometimes doing 2 workouts in the same day and PR'd her Deadlift by a massive 18lbs to 248lbs. When Karin did that lift she weighed in at 121lbs.

This has been a 3 year+ journey getting Karin to this point. There is so much more to her journey that we will be sharing later this week.  Look for a press release and media coverage

Karin and us here at CrossFit Taproot are so excited to share her story because we know it will inspire some of you reading this to try CrossFit, who have been on the fence about getting into it. The story will also make you appreciate just how much Karin accomplished this year.  

Be sure to look for Karin this summer at the CrossFit Games and also #SUPPORTYOURLOCALBOX

CrossFit "Taproot" Revolution!

Welcome to the CrossFit "Taproot" revolution!

Our vision is complete mind and body health.

We believe functional fitness is the "taproot" or central element or position in a line of growth or development.  It is an integral part of a complete regimen to achieve superior mental and physical strength.  

Learn about our life-changing programs.  Our team of talented coaches will guide you into achieving new and higher goals.  

You will meet some great people and develop new lifelong friendships.  

The next chapter of your life starts now!  

Email us at admin@crossfittaproot.com to get started today!