“Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better.”- Pat Riley
LIFESTYLE
Zoom Fatigue? Not at Morgan Bungerz’ Flourishing, 100-Percent Virtual Affiliate
When COVID-19 first hit in the spring of 2020, like thousands of other gyms and coaches around the world, Morgan Bungerz transitioned to virtual coaching.
Three-and-a-half years later, however, unlike the rest of the world, the former head coach at CrossFit New England in Natick, MA, is still rocking Zoom classes. In fact, he now owns his own affiliate and it operates 100 percent virtually.
The details: Bungerz—who started CrossFit when he was in high school in 2009 and has been coaching since 2010—owns and runs Gym Bungerz out of his home gym, where he hosts four live CrossFit classes a day on Monday to Friday, one on Saturday, and posts a pre-recorded stretching class on Sundays.
Bungerz has 70 members who pay $99 a month for unlimited access to all the live classes and workout recordings if they can’t make a live class time, as well as a handful of clients who pay for individual design and remote personal training. And he also offers a household membership for $135 a month, meaning anyone from that household can attend classes or access recorded classes, “which is significantly cheaper than bringing your whole family to the gym,” he said.
Finally, he’s about to roll out a new project, where he will take on 10 people who are brand new to fitness. “One of the pain points is that fitness is scary,” Bungerz said, adding that he’s hoping his introductory program will help them overcome their fears of the gym.
Zoom fatigue? Bungerz insists Zoom fatigue isn’t a concern at his gym, where convenience is king.
“During the pandemic, when all we could do was Zoom, people were unhappy about it, but the best fitness program is the one you can do the most consistently, and the more convenient that program is, the more consistent you’ll be,” he said.
“It’s a 45 minute class. People (sometimes) sign in in their pajamas. For a lot of them, it’s just much more convenient,” he added.
This is certainly the case for Gym Bungerz members David Foley, Karen Hayes and Megan Taylor.
“I find it very easy to roll out of bed and hit the basement gym to begin a workout,” Foley said.
“It is hard to put into words how incredibly convenient and inclusive Gym Bungerz is. We still have the community of a CrossFit gym without having to leave our houses. Some of us have a lot of equipment and others a few dumbbells. Morgan can make it all work,” Hayes offered.
“Coach Morgan has created such a great environment at Gym Bungerz. I love being able to workout at home, but also with other members who are quickly becoming my friends…Without Gym Bungerz, I probably wouldn’t be exercising at all right now,” Taylor added.
Pit Teen Throwdown: The Victory Grips Pit Teen Throwdown wrapped up over the weekend in Three Rivers, MI. Check out all the final leaderboards. And, with members of the Games team on-site, is the Pit Fitness Ranch the future home of the Games teen divisions?
DUC Qualifier WODs: Australia’s Down Under Championship, a CrossFit licensed event taking place December 1-3 in Wollongong, NSW, has released the online qualifier workouts for Elite Individuals and Elite Teams. Scores are due September 8.
💪 💪 Indy in 2024: Kelsey Kiel, fan favorite CrossFit Games team veteran and individual Games qualifier in 2020, has announced that she is headed back to the individual division in 2024.
Catching Up with the Newest Fittest Man on Earth, Jeff Adler
How do you celebrate after being crowned the Fittest Man in the World? What do you do in the days that follow? How do you get motivated again to train after reaching the pinnacle in your sport?
Nearly one month since his big win, we sat down with the 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games champion Jeff Adler to ask him all of the above, as well as about how following the old school Zone Diet and three days on, one day off CrossFit.com programming is still working for him.
Caja Magica to Host Another Edition of Madrid Championship
The second week of September kicks off the largest throwdown in Europe, the Madrid Championship, which for another year will be held at La Caja Magica in Madrid, Spain.
Remind me: In 2022, Emma Tall topped the women’s podium in first place, with Emma McQuaid in second, and Manon Angonese in third. Lazar Djukic took the win for the men, with Aniol Ekai finishing in second, and David Shorunke taking third.
Emma Tall shared her excitement after her gold medal last year on an Instagram post.
“The first time I stepped into Caja Mágica was at 2017 Regionals as a spectator. That time I left with a dream to stand on that competition floor. This time I leave with a gold medal, a big ol’ check and my first ever podium finish in a CrossFit competition. That’s been 5 years of hard work. Thank you Madrid Championship for letting me show it off,” said Tall.
The details: The multi-day event, running from September 7-10, features a full vendor village with sponsors such as Picsil, GOWOD and Assault Fitness offering spectators a full-on spectator experience including “The Mad Challenge,” which will be held on September 9, in the midst of the Championship.
Another way to engage spectators and build community, the Mad Challenge is a partner competition, encouraging people of all levels to register and participate to enjoy and be part of the “Mad Experience.” Organizers are hoping to register over 200 participants for this hour-long community event.
With the most categories to compete, compared to any other European CrossFit competition, the Madrid Championship hosts individuals in elite, RX, teens, and many masters divisions beginning at 35 years old. Additionally, there are multiple team divisions such as elite, RX, scaled, and intermediate.
Competitors filled spots by way of an online qualifier, invitation from the organization and open registration for the non-elite categories.
The workouts: At this point, we know there will be seven workouts for individuals as well as teams, six of which have been released in detail. Strict handstand deficit push ups are programmed, sandbag squats, as well as a 5K run. The seventh, final workout, has yet to be announced at the time of this publication.
New implement: Another exciting component added to the programming this year is the introduction of the Jump Bar, or Mono Rope. This implement has been used in adaptive division competitions in the past, but is the first time we’ve seen it in individual divisions. Included in both individual and team Test 3, the jump bar will be used to complete sets of 50 double-unders.
The bottom line: Boasting the largest prize purse of any European competition and one of the largest for any off-season CrossFit competition at 170,000 Euros, the Madrid Championship has drawn in some large sponsors and very large names, set to compete in just days. We can expect to see spectacular performances as men, women, teens and teams compete for lucrative prizes and a spot on the podium.
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