News & Notes 📰
Shoutout to Raoul! 😎
A big congratulations to Raoul on earning his Online Level 1 Trainer Certificate (CF-OL1) not too long ago!
Since starting CrossFit, Raoul has made huge strides—not just physically, where he’s lost a lot of weight and built solid muscle—but also in how he moves. His mechanics have improved across the board, and his passion for CrossFit is clear every time he walks in the door.
We always recommend the L1 seminar to any athlete serious about CrossFit. Even if you’re not planning to coach, the knowledge you gain makes you a better, more aware athlete.
Raoul, we also want to thank you for helping us cover Open Gym during our monthly coach meetings. That support means our coaches get time to connect and learn while the gym stays open for members.
Thanks for being such a solid part of our community!
Support Ryze Above Fitness + Represent Our Gym
Only 3 CFLKW teams are officially signed up! Let’s change that.
We’re hosting our first-ever fundraiser for Ryze Above Fitness, a nonprofit making fitness and social opportunities more accessible for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
This is your chance to:
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Do a fun partner workout for a great cause
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Help raise money for a mission that matters
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Show up and represent our CFLKW community
Right now, more athletes from other gyms are signed up than from ours. Let’s bring the energy and show what CFLKW is about!
✅ Register as a 2-person team for $115
✅ Can’t find a partner? Sign up solo for the inclusive 11 AM heat—only $50
✅ Sign up for an early heat if you can
Every registration includes a t-shirt, and every dollar goes to support the mission of Ryze Above Fitness.
Let’s pack the gym, support a great cause, and have a blast doing it.
🎟️ Registration is OPEN
https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/athletes-for-a-cause-x-ryzab0ve-fitness-event
Learn more about their mission here: RyzAbove Fitness
New: Compete Track Now Available in PushPress
We’ve added a Compete Track to our programming for advanced athletes looking to add more volume to their training.
Here’s what you need to know:
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It includes the Workout of the Day, plus additional strength, skill, or stamina work
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Each Compete session is designed to take about 90 minutes
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We recommend doing the WOD in class, and using Open Gym time for the rest
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You won’t have time to complete everything in the Compete Track during Open Gym alone
Important: this track is for advanced athletes only.
That means:
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You move well and understand CrossFit mechanics
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You’ve been doing CrossFit for 5+ years
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You’ve mastered most skills and can handle more volume
If that’s not you, stick with class.
Here’s why:
The people who saw the biggest results during the Open were the ones showing up 3–5 days a week and doing our regular class programming. Not extra volume. Not shortcuts. Just consistency.
How to access it:
Go to PushPress > Workouts > Compete Track in the dropdown menu.
Let us know if you have questions about whether this track is right for you.
Recent Member Wins 💪🏽🏆
- Crystal L. checked in to 250 classes!
- Jenny K. checked in to 25 classes!
- Coach Brad checked in to 750 classes!
- Sarah C. got a strict pull-up!
- Dashauna B. hit a 140 lb clean PR!
- Esther H. hit a 125 lb clean PR!
We’re extremely proud of all these members for accomplishing great things!
*Remember to let a coach know if you hit a PR so we can highlight you each week. We know this is not an all-inclusive list of wins so be sure to share your wins with a coach so we can celebrate you!
Birthdays this Week 🥳
- 5/7 Sarah Mu.
- 5/8 Staci M.
- 5/9 Cullie M.
CrossFit Lake Wylie Anniversaries 🤩
- 5/5 Crystal L. – 2 years
- 5/7 Nicole W. 1 year
- 5/10 Chris C. – 1 year
Nutrition & Wellness 🥑🧘🏽♀️🛌
Neuroplasticity: Rewiring Your Body and Mind for Sustainable Change
When it comes to fitness and nutrition, success isn’t just about reps and macros—it’s about mindset, habits, and the way our brain adapts to change. Enter neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to rewire itself based on new experiences and behaviors. Understanding how to leverage neuroplasticity can help you not only build strength and endurance but also reshape your mindset toward a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle.
The Science of Neuroplasticity
Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to form and reorganize neural connections throughout life. Every time you practice a new skill—whether it’s proper squat form or mindful eating—your brain strengthens the pathways related to that habit. Over time, these connections become more efficient, making behaviors feel natural and automatic.
However, neuroplasticity works both ways—positive habits can become effortless, but harmful ones (like chronic stress eating or poor posture) can also become ingrained. The key to lasting transformation lies in intentional repetition and awareness.
Mindset, Nutrition, and Behavioral Change
Your mindset plays a crucial role in how effectively neuroplasticity shapes your habits. Here’s how you can leverage it:
- Reframe Your Approach to Nutrition: Instead of thinking of food as “good” or “bad,” focus on nutrient density and long-term fueling. Over time, your brain will associate whole foods with energy and vitality rather than restriction.
- Build Better Eating Behaviors: Repeated exposure to healthier meals trains your taste preferences. Gradually increasing your intake of minimally processed foods helps reset cravings and supports gut-brain communication.
- Use Movement to Strengthen Neural Pathways: Exercise is a powerful brain booster, enhancing neural plasticity. Learning proper movement patterns—such as engaging the core during squats—allows your nervous system to integrate these corrections, reducing injury risk.
- Focus on Small, Sustainable Changes: Neuroplasticity thrives on consistent practice. Whether it’s committing to drinking more water or mastering a new mobility drill, small wins compound over time.
Putting It Into Practice
Here’s how you can reinforce neuroplasticity in your fitness and nutrition routine:
✅ Repeat Positive Habits Daily: Small, frequent actions (choosing water over soda, stretching after workouts) help solidify neural pathways.
✅ Train with Awareness: Mindfully engaging muscles during movement helps build stronger brain-body connections, improving technique and efficiency.
✅ Use Visualization Techniques: Picturing yourself succeeding—whether it’s lifting heavier or making better food choices—enhances neural reinforcement.
✅ Embrace Challenges: Struggle is part of the learning process—your brain is literally rewiring itself with each effort.
Neuroplasticity is your built-in advantage for behavioral change. Whether you’re working toward better nutrition habits or refining your movement mechanics, consistency and awareness are the key to lasting transformation.
Stay patient, trust the process, and remember—your brain and body are always adapting. Train them wisely!
— Coach TJ
Tell Me About CrossFit 📚👩🏻🏫
CrossFit is constantly varied, functional movement executed at high intensity.
Fighting Chronic Disease
CrossFit isn’t just about lifting weights or hitting PRs. At its core, CrossFit is a health-first approach to fitness.
Many people walk through our doors looking to lose weight, get stronger, or feel better. What they don’t always expect is how much it can change their life.
We’ve seen members at CrossFit Lake Wylie:
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Get off blood pressure and diabetes medications
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Lower cholesterol
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Reverse pre-diabetic markers
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Improve heart health
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Build lasting energy and strength for everyday life
This happens through consistency—showing up, moving with intensity, and pairing workouts with real, whole food.
The CrossFit methodology is designed to improve how your body functions. Over time, that doesn’t just make you fitter. It makes you healthier.
If you’re managing a chronic condition or want to avoid one in the future, this is one of the most powerful tools you can use.
Many of our members are living proof.
You don’t need to be fit to start. You just need to start.
We are so glad you’re here and that we get to be part of your health and fitness journey!!
Programming Summary 🏋🏽♂️
May Programming Focus
We’re getting ready for Murph on May 26!
Here’s what to expect this month:
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Benchmark Cindy early on to build a Murph baseline
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Weekly work on pull-ups and push-ups (spaced out to avoid overuse)
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Focused Olympic lifting in both heavy and skill work sessions
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Benchmarks like Elizabeth, plus fun variations on Annie and Diane
Monday: We’re kicking off the week with a descending couplet of rowing and toes-to-bars. After the workout we’re doing some front-rack carries.
Intended stimulus:
- Sub-10:00 for most athletes.
- Close to a 1:1 balanced time split between rowing and toes-to-bars.
- Descending rep scheme to allow for high intensity as the workout progresses.
Tuesday: In today’s workout you’ll perform all three types of barbell squats with run efforts in between. As the complexity of the squat goes up, the reps decrease and the weight stays the same.
Intended stimulus:
- Finish in 8:00-12:00.
- Moderate volume squatting under fatigue.
- Each barbell movement in :30-1:00.
- Each run in :50-1:10.
- Hold around a 5K run pace.
- Unbroken sets of each barbell movement to start and no more than 2 sets in the second round.
Wednesday: Today you’ll take on a jerk complex that has you completing 3 push presses, 2 push jerks, and 1 split jerk all without putting down the bar.
Intended stimulus:
- Heavy overhead day with a technical focus following 2 days of couplets with hinging/flexion and running/squatting.
- Overhead with a complex that requires technical proficiency and execution.
- The push press is the gatekeeper of strength while the push jerk and split jerk will be very technique-dependent under fatigue.
Thursday: We start with 3 snatch high-pulls as the pre-workout. Then, use today’s workout to practice moving with 80-90% effort on the bike!
Intended stimulus:
- This is an interval-based work capacity test that’s similar to an old bike test back in the early days of CrossFit known as the 300 FY Test.
- Set a challenging calorie benchmark in the first interval and fight to maintain the same number or even improve upon it with each round.
- Keep all rounds consistent within 5 to 10 calories.
Friday: Cindy (pull-ups, push-ups, and air squats)!! This classic benchmark workout first appeared on CrossFit.com in 2005. This is a May CAP benchmark, last tested on May 6, 2024.
Intended stimulus:
- 10-20 rounds for most.
- CAP benchmark for May; last tested 05/06/24. Scores are in Push Press so be sure to go back and see what you got. We had 40 athletes log a score back then!!
- Long grind with a pull, push, and squat combination without movement redundancy to allow for continuous movement.
Saturday: Something fun, partner variation optional!
No single workout can develop all aspects of fitness and training different time domains helps develop different metabolic pathways. That’s why CrossFit workouts vary daily.
Effectively harnessing elements of variance is key to developing a broad fitness. Keep showing up so you can be the best and fittest version of yourself! 😎
Upcoming Events 📆
🥾 MammothMarch 20-Mile Hike! 🥾 – Saturday, May 10 @ 8 am
Let’s kick off 2025 with an adventure! Coach Greg, Jesse B., Ben D. (and like 17 other members so far!) are taking on the MammothMarch 20-Mile Hike at Kings Mountain State Park – and they want YOU to join them!
This epic hike is a chance to push yourself, enjoy the great outdoors, and bond with your fellow CFLKW members. Don’t worry if you’re new to hiking – all levels are welcome and encouraged! We’re all trying to start at 8 am. If that time is not available, you can register for any available time then email them and ask them to change your start time to 8 am because you’re starting with a group.
🌟 Details:
📅 Event Date: Saturday, May 10 @ 7:45 am
📍 Location: Kings Mountain State Park, 1020 Apple Rd, Blacksburg, SC 29702
🎟️ Tickets & Info: Get your ticket here
Greg, Jesse, and Ben will also host shorter rucks and hikes leading up to the event, so you can train and prepare together.
👉 Interested? Let Coach Greg know, and check out the event page on FB for more details. Let’s tackle this challenge as a team and start the year with an unforgettable adventure!
📸 Upcoming Photo Day: Wednesday, May 14 @ 9 am
Bruce Williams is coming back to shoot the 9 AM class!
Bring the energy, wear your CFLKW gear, and get ready to be featured!
Saturday, May 17 – Closed for a CrossFit Affiliate Owners Event
CrossFit Lake Wylie is hosting the CrossFit Southeast Affiliate Gathering for Affiliate owners. We are honored to offer our space to over 40 CrossFit Affiliate gym owners as they come together to learn, connect, and support each other in growing stronger communities through CrossFit.
It’s a privilege to help bring this group together, and we’re excited to play a small part in the bigger mission of improving lives through fitness.
🏋️ CFLKW’s First-Ever Fundraiser Event – Saturday, May 31 🏋️
Supporting Ryze Above Fitness
Let’s come together to do what we do best—work hard, lift others up, and make a difference.
We’re incredibly proud to host our first-ever fundraising event right here at CrossFit Lake Wylie to support Ryze Above Fitness, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit creating fitness, camps, and social experiences for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Their mission is powerful, and we want to show up big to support it.
This will be a high-energy, community-first event with a little something for everyone:
🏆 Divisions for all fitness levels:
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Red Division (RX): For seasoned athletes ready to throw down.
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Blue Division (Scaled): Fun, challenging, and approachable for most.
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Yellow Division (Fun 4 All): No pressure—just move, smile, and support the cause!
💪 Event Format:
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3 stations | 9 min AMRAPs | Waterfall-style start
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5 minutes transition between each station
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Heats every 15 minutes starting at 8 AM
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Inclusive heat at 11 AM
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Final heat at 12 PM
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Teams of 2: MM / FF / MF
🎉 Whether you’re competing, cheering, or volunteering—we want you there.
This is bigger than fitness. This is about community, inclusion, and giving back. Let’s pack the gym, bring the energy, and show our support for an amazing organization.
🎟️ Early Bird Registration is OPEN
Register here before prices go up!
https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/athletes-for-a-cause-x-ryzab0ve-fitness-event
Learn more about their mission here: RyzAbove Fitness
Let’s rally together and make this an event to remember!
Beers & Burpees Charity Event – Saturday, October 11 – Heats 12:20 and 1:00 pm
CrossFit Lake Wylie is one of the co-host gyms for the 15th Annual Beers & Burpees Charity Event on Oct 11 in Charlotte/Indian Land. This event supports the local non-profit Changing Lives Together Foundation (www.cltfoundation.org) and last year the event had over 900 athletes and raised $141,000. It’s a boot camp style partner workout with Standard, Scaled and Competitive workout options and the drinking is optional.
Registration is now open and we’re trying to get our members to sign up for the 12:20 pm or 1:00 pm heat times soon so we can work out together! If you’re having your kids participate we recommend doing the 1:00 pm heat because the kids heat is at 1:40 pm.
SUPER Early Bird pricing is in effect now but ends April 10. It’s 2-person teams and for $110/team (super early bird pricing) each person gets a t-shirt/tank top and 6 craft beers per team. Heats are from 9am to 5pm with live DJ, other games, activities, vendors, food trucks, craft beer garden and a kid’s Brownies & Burpees Heat at 1:40pm.
To register go to — www.beersandburpees.com/register
Member Perks 🤩
Being a member of CrossFit Lake Wylie has it’s perks and here are all the discounts and benefits you get for being part of our gym family!
- Get 10% off at Thorne. You can get anything from prenatal vitamins and probiotics to creatine, whey protein, health tests and so many other high quality supplements.
- Save 30-40% on your CrossFit Lake Wylie membership by using your HSA/FSA dollars to pay for your CrossFit Lake Wylie membership.
- Get 10% off at Inov8 – use code CFLAKEWYLIE at check out. They offer everything from barefoot training shoes and lifters to running shoes and more, including the F-Fly shoe, perfect for CrossFit with its lightweight feel and wide toe box.
- Get 10% off a GOWOD Premium subscription. Get in touch with one of our coaches! Our partnership with GOWOD will enable you to receive a subscription link that will save you 10% on your subscription!
- $1 per minute massages with James Jones from Zenergy Massage Therapy ($60/60 mins or $90/90 mins). Just let him know you’re a member of CrossFit Lake Wylie and show him your active membership in PushPress (click Memberships in the PushPress app). Text (803) 526-3550 or book your appointment here.
- Save $$ and help our community grow. Check out our Referral Program and thank you for your support.
- Check in at least 16 times (12 for Masters) a month and you make it to our Committed Club! If you make it each month your name goes in the monthly drawing for a prize.
“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” — Proverbs 27:17
