Rowdy said it best: “The weeks have seemed to drag on but the months have flown by!”  2020 has been both a torturous marathon and a speeding train wreck but Tuesday we’re into the final month of the year and I think no matter your religious leanings, we could all use a little Christmas this year.  BFG is hinting that Santa might bless us with a COVID vaccine so let’s be on our best behaviour so 2021 doesn’t start with lump of coal like last year did.

Here’s what’s going on at Empower in December:

Schedule Changes
As long as we’re able to do so we will be keeping our doors open for personal training and open gym access for those who want to come in and use the equipment for their own training.  Group classes will continue to run on Zoom.  We have noticed a decline in attendance which is sometimes a sign of the approaching holiday season.  We will begin to trim class offerings if we do not see high demand.  Right now the 9:15am and noon are not drawing enough attendance to justify two separate classes and we may remove one of them in the coming week or two if we do not see an uptick in registration.  Please book for the classes that you want us to keep in the schedule!

Lending Library Lotto Party
Thanks to everyone who came out to the party.  Loved the party get-ups and the excitement.  Congratulations to all the winners who got the gear they had hoped to get.  Sympathies to Doc Disc!  If you didn’t get what you hoped, take comfort in knowing that this will only go into effect IF we have another forced shut down.

12-Days of X-Mas Fundraiser Saturday December 19th
This has always been one of our most beloved events of the year and it breaks our heart that COVID came along and ruined our potluck plans.  But coronavirus is going to learn this year, like Dr. Seuss’ Grinch did long ago, that you can’t stop X-Mas from coming!  This year, by necessity, our 12-Days of X-Mas event is going to be a live Zoom event and because it is the season of giving, we are doing it as a fundraiser for our dear friends Lightning and Thunder who face a very challenging holiday season.   It will be participation by donation.  We will share the donation link in upcoming posts along with more event announcements.

Rig Reconfiguration
All the parts have arrived, Sandman’s contractor is committed and we will be closing the gym Saturday December 12th to finally complete our pull up rig reconfiguration.  We will be hosting either a Zoom WOD or an outdoor WOD or both so that you can continue training while the gym is being renovated.  Details to follow.

20 in 2020
11 months down, one to go, we have several contenders still going strong, it’s been a bumpy ride so far and they have a few challenging hurdles ahead of them yet in the closing weeks of 2020, so let’s cheer them on to the finish line.

Apparel Order
Just in time for Christmas!  The online store is almost ready.  Empower T-Shirts, Hoodies, Toques and Sports Masks from Thunder’s friend Kai at Oddball Workshop.  Designs and clothes’ look and wear great!  Love the colour choices and quality.  I am excited to get out of my black hoodie and to show off my stylish, breathable, Empower-branded sports mask!  Will link you to the store in an upcoming blog post.

Lifestyle Challenge
Congratulations to members who completed the November Lifestyle Challenge.  It sounds like participants saw some real improvements over our four weeks together.  I hope to use the feedback from participants to make the next challenge even more fun and effective!

Burpees Owing
An early Christmas bonus: We lost a week in November so we’ll give you an extra week into December before we double your outstanding burpees.  Get them done in the gym or on Zoom before December 8th and all is forgiven.  Leave them unpaid and you’ll receive the gift of extra fitness this Christmas.

Monday Workout

Equipment: Barbell or alternative, dumbbell, kettlebell or alternative

Warm up
1 min Each:
Cross Touch Dead Bugs
Windshield Wipers
Cross Touch Bird Dog
Leopard Crawl
Full Body Rocks
Air Squats
Cross Crawls
Lat Pull Ups
Goblet Squats
Ring Rows

Tech:
3 rounds:
3 Paused Squats 3 seconds top, 3 seconds bottom
2 Paused Pull Ups 2 seconds top, 2 seconds bottom

WOD 
8 min AMRAP
10 Body Weight Back Squats
10 Strict C2B Pull Ups or alternatives

ZWOD Variation
8 min AMRAP
10 Front squats or Goblet Squats
10 Pull Ups

Cool Down
Lat Stretch
Quad Stretch
Dragon Pose
Pigeon Pose