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Running Drill practices for the Haddon Township Turkey Trot will be held on Wednesdays at 7pm  Sept 1^st –November 11th.

These running-only workouts will be designed to help you run your fastest 5k yet. To avoid any confusion about these practices, here are some answers to common questions. If you have additional comments or questions, please post them to the Comments, and we will answer them!

See you Wednesdays

Q: What will the drills be like?

A: The drills will start promptly at 7pm and will include a warm-up jog, 5 minutes or so of warm-up (similar to our drills for a normal class), 10-20 minutes of sprinting or running drills and a short recovery exercise (stretching, foam rolling). One class in October will be a 5k run to test your ability to run the entire race, and to find your appropriate pace.

Q: Where are the drills?

A: Almost all of the runs will start from our house, and the routes will be on the side streets in our neighborhood. We will occasionally run elsewhere ( at a nearby track, etc.), and we will make multiple announcements in the gym and online prior to those runs.

Q: Can I still run the race if I haven’t attended all or most of the practices?

A: Of course! These practices are simply a free added bonus for our members to make sure that your bodies are in the best possible shape before the race. They are suggested, but not at all necessary or required. As your coaches, we do want to be certain that you can run the entire race without stopping, so at the very least, try to run a 5k (3.1 miles) on your own before the actual race.

Q: What should I bring with me?

A: Many of the runs involve a time factor, so if you have a watch with a stopwatch on it, please bring it. I will be using our stopwatch, but when multiple people are running, it might be difficult to measure everyone’s time using one watch. Bring your water and wear comfy socks and your lightest weight/most flexible pair of sneakers.

Q: I’m sore from this week’s CrossFit class. Should I still come to the running drills?

A: By now, you should know your body and what it can take. If your soreness is in the ‘normal’ range, please arrive 5-10 minutes early and start to foam roll on your own, or do some dynamic stretching on your own to prepare for this week’s class. Running fast with tight muscles may lead to injury, and a longer warm-up will help prepare your muscles for running.

If your quads, hamstrings or calves are tight and hurt to touch or move, opt for a long walk or a light, slow jog instead of the sprinting workout. End your day with a bag of ice on the sorest spots.

Still have questions? Post them below!

HEY MEMBERS! You’re invited to join the CrossFit Aspire Team in the HADDON TOWNSHIP TURKEY TROT 5k Run!

This is your chance to show off your strength, speed and endurance in public, among (gasp!) non-CrossFitters.

The Turkey Trot is a 5k race (that’s 3.1 miles!) that is held on the Saturday morning after Thanksgiving (that’s November 27th this year) each year. It has become an annual tradition for Justin and I and we’d like to open it up to the gym, and have you guys run it with us this year. We feel that everyone in our gym, regardless of prior running experience, is on their way to being able to run 5k with ease in November. This race is made up of a few hundred local residents who are just out to have a good time – this is NOT a high pressure, highly competitive race. Prior race experience is not needed. The race concludes with free breakfast at Pour House (yay!)

To prepare for the race, we’ll be doing running drills, sprints, and CrossFit Endurance workouts on Wednesdays at 7pm, beginning September 1st. These practices are included in the Unlimited Class fee, and we are also offering it for FREE to our 2x/week members as well. So you can come to your two regular classes, and also to the running practice at no extra cost. The practices will be about 30 minutes long, and will include some foam rolling and light stretching before and after the drills. Please arrive at least 5 minutes early to get in some extra mobility drills to warm yourself up.

If you want to run the 5k with us in November, there is no obligation to attend every running practice, but it’s definitely encouraged that you come out a few times prior to the race to work on your running skills, finding your optimal race pace, and learning new tips/techniques to help you have a successful run.

Haddon Township Turkey Trot Race Date: 11/27

Practices: Wednesdays at 7pm, Sept 1st -November 17th

Race Fee: Its not posted yet online, but it should be about $20 or so (and you get a free T Shirt and food at the Pour House after the race!)

Attire: Wear your CrossFit Aspire T shirt to the race!

Please contact Alycia if you are considering running the race so we know who is on the team! Whether your goal is to finish in under 20min, beat your last race time, or just complete at 5k without walking, these practices will help you reach your goals before the race!

Hello members!

This week, we are celebrating our first TWO MONTHS of being open for business. We are so happy to say that things are going really well and we are super proud of our dedicated members. In just over 8 weeks (less for some of you!) we have seen our members go through all types of transformations and everyone is well on their way to getting into the best shape of their lives.

Jay has seen outstanding increases in his weight lifting capacity and is moving through conditioning workouts that he formerly wouldn’t have been able to complete.

Becky shows up every morning and attacks the workouts with intensity and energy, even when she’s alone in class. Her determination to succeed in CrossFit will surely lead to dramatic improvements in all areas of fitness and health for her.

Leigh, our founding member, and a new mom,  is looking great these days and is seeing dramatic increases in energy and strength during workouts (watch out – her runs are getting fast!).

Her husband Paul, in just a few short weeks, has seen improvements in his body awareness and work capacity and is already seeing changes in his overall fitness levels. He makes great progress from class to class, and will see significant changes very soon!

Beth, a former CrossFitter and new mom, has made improvements to her technique in all of the major lifts, and is quickly seeing her old CrossFit work capacity and movement abilities  return. She crushes the met-cons, and has a lot potential to be super strong!

Steve, our Monday morning guy, has seen incredible improvements in his mobility and he works on improving his technique every day. He’s fast, works hard, and is on his way to becoming even more powerful.

Jamie, Steve’s wife, has just started with us and is poised to be an amazing athlete. Her core stability and body awareness put her at an advantage, allowing her to go after the workouts with full intensity.

Eric, a member for just a few weeks, has seen an increase in his conditioning and technique already, and is on his way to making some great gains in strength and mobility.

Jill, our newest member, and former Philly-area CrossFitter, is already a tough athlete with impressive strength, amazing conditioning, and a consistently high level of intensity in all of her workouts. We can’t wait to see her become EVEN better!

Every athlete came into the gym with a different set of skills, strengths, weaknesses and goals, and we hope to see everyone transform into a super fit, all-around athlete. Click on the link below to see some highlights from your first 2 months at the gym!

We are so proud of everyone and we can’t wait to see what the future brings for each of you as athletes, and for CrossFit Aspire.

Thank you!

In an attempt to enhance the look of our website, I went and broke it.  If you are having trouble seeing any of the images in our posts, or if the spacing is off, rest assured, nothing it wrong on your end. It’s me.

Dear Members, friends, family and fans,

The first “official” CrossFit Aspire t shirts have arrived! They feature our logo set on bricks, printed on dark grey American Apparel t shirts. They are soft, comfy, and fit really well!

If you’re proud to be a CrossFitter, or to know one,  buy a t shirt and wear it proudly!

They are $20 (and they’re awesome!) and will be available beginning July 2nd.

We’d also like to thank our small, yet highly motivated group of founding members. You guys have helped us get our gym going, and we’re so happy to have had the opportunity to begin to work with you and bring you toward your fitness and health goals. Everyone has made noticeable improvements so far, and we’re super-excited to see what’s in store for the future.

-Alycia and Justin

Welcome to CrossFit Aspire.

As of June 1st, 2010, we are officially open for business!

Much like opening a new business, starting a new workout program can be overwhelming, exciting, and downright scary. We were there once, we know. CrossFit doesn’t come with a “How To” manual, or a handy step-by-step guide that walks you through the program before you even start.

Instead, the best way to learn about CrossFit is to do CrossFit. A few classes will answer all of your questions ( ie: What is it? Will I like it? What if I can’t lift heavy weights yet? What type of people do CrossFit?) and will determine if CrossFit is what you’ve been looking for.

While it’s very difficult to accurately describe CrossFit to someone who’s never tried it (hint: It’s almost as hard as describing the way a certain food tastes. It’s easier just to try it yourself! ), here are a few quick facts about our gym that might help  familiarize yourself with how it all works.

THE WORKOUTS ARE NOT EASY: If they were, then we wouldn’t have a very successful business. You can do an easy workout at home.  Instead, you come to us to experience a level of intensity that you can’t push yourself to on your own. We structure classes to maximize the time spent improving your strength and conditioning, and your body is often pushed to a place it’s not used to being. Enjoy it. The pride and sense of accomplishment that accompanies every workout is indescribable.

ANYONE CAN DO IT: CrossFit has proven success with adults, kids, seniors, college and professional level athletes, elite athletic competitors, endurance athletes, strong men and women, and de-conditioned teens and adults. The workout is created with the high-level athlete in mind, and is modified to fit the abilities of the individual. In a given class, a 250lb college athlete may be doing the same workout as a 60 yr old, 130lb woman – the difference between the two is in the level of skill, weight and conditioning movements.

WE’LL MAKE YOU SMARTER: We not only teach the movements, but we explain why we train this way and how our bodies are responding to it.  If you show up with nothing more than open ears and eyes, you’ll leave having learned something new about the human body, and how you can improve it. We also provide nutrition counseling, fitness and nutrition articles, and recipes along the way, at no extra cost to our members. We’re in the business of creating healthier people, inside and outside of the gym.

YOU’LL HAVE FUN: Most people don’t usually say the words “working out” and “fun” in the same sentence. Unless they go to a CrossFit gym. The workouts are different every day, and they give you a chance to test your abilities, improve your weaknesses, and meet some amazing people while doing it. All classes are held in small groups, allowing for interaction and positive reinforcement among members. Some say that you haven’t really experienced CrossFit until you’ve had someone  yelling “Go! Go! You can do it!” in your face while you worked out.

If you’ve gotten all the way down to this part of the post, congratulations! We’ve held your interest long enough to let you know the best part of all – Your first class is FREE. No obligation. Call or email us today to set up your free class on Saturday at 9am. Try it out, tell us what you think, and if you like it, then sign up for more classes. Signing up is easy. It’s the workouts that are hard.