Heather Hodges

If you have been CrossFitting for any length of time you know that CrossFit is designed to prepare the athlete for any physical contingency whether it is known or unknown. Some of the side effects of CrossFit are decreased body fat, increased strength, increased bone density, improved over all health and the reduction of many of the diet induced diseases such as cancer, heart problems and diabetes. Following a CrossFit regimen can increase your speed, power, and coordination it can even improve your mental health and help you become the healthiest you have ever been. But is that all? Working to improve yourself is rewarding up to a point. What then?

So my question is, “Why CrossFit?” The answer that I hope we find is, “We CrossFit for the sake of others.” The army sergeant trains five days a week so that he will be prepared for any combat situation, not just for himself or his country, but for the buddy next to him. The grandfather CrossFits so that he can conquer diabetes and watch his grandchildren grow up. The mom trains to set a good example for her children, and to prepare for the day when her two year old runs into the parking lot and she has to sprint after him to save his life. The de-conditioned co-ed CrossFits to lose 100 lbs and then becomes an inspiration to others. Being “CrossFit” is about being able to do something greater with your health, using your strength and training for the benefit of others.

The bible has something to say about it as well: “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” I Timothy 4:8

More to come on physical fitness and spiritual fitness…….

CrossFit Central is offering a FREE CrossFit Kids workout for boys and girls 7-14 years old at the August “Under the Bridge” workouts, Saturday August 1st and Saturday August 29th at 8:30am.  Come to Zilker Park under Mopac bridge.

The kids’ workout will happen at the same time as the free adult workout. This workout is for kids of all abilities whether they are athletes and compete regularly in sports or they are just getting involved in fitness for the first time. The workout will be scaled for all levels. I will be training the kids along with the other trainers at CrossFit Central who specialize in working with youth.

If you want more information about the free CrossFit Kids workout  at “Under the Bridge” or our programs in general please email me at heatherhodges@crossfitcentral.com or give me a call at (512) 672-9073.

Now that I’ve been using and abusing my feet for nearly 4 decades I’ve finally come to the conclusion that wearing the right shoe is absolutely imperative. I can hear echoes of my grandmother saying “Always wear sensible shoes!” So what is a “sensible shoe” for a CrossFitter?  For the most part we can perform our WODs in a good cross-trainer.  But what about those days when we “go heavy” and through the course of a WOD we lift 5000lbs from ground to overhead? That’s a lot of pressure on your base – your feet. In these situations a regular running shoe just won’t cut it! Just take a look at this video that shows the difference between lifting in running shoes verses lifting in weightlifing shoes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrJfOi5rnlU

Mark Rippetoes says that, “the main feature of a squat shoe is heel compressibility. The drive out of the bottom starts at the floor, where the feet start the kinetic chain. If the contact between the feet and the floor is the squishy gel or air cell of a running shoe, a percentage of the force of the drive will be absorbed by the compression of the cell. This compression is fine for running, but when squatting it reduces power transmission efficiency and prevents foot stability….Squatting in running shoes is like squatting on a bed. Many people get away with it for years, but serious lifters invest in squat shoes.”

Here is a great article by Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore explaining more about the different kids of shoes for lifting ranging in price from Chuck Taylors for $40 up to the state of the art Adidas shoe for $200.

Below is R. Plukerfelder (USSR) in a deep split clean. These photos are from the European Weightlifting Federation.

Here is Lopatin, also a Soviet lifter, wearing an early model of the Soviet made weightlifting shoe.  Look closely and you’ll see that he hasn’t laced up his shoes completely for ankle flexibility.  He has even fashioned a crude metatarsal strap with his laces.

We have arrived and have moved into our apartment in Austin and have finally unpacked all our boxes. Special thanks to all those who helped us load the U-Haul last week: James and Nelda Lawrence, Trent and Bonnie Latshaw, Mike Davis, Greg Taylor, Lance Newsom, and Robert Garland. We couldn’t have done it without you!

We are all slowly adjusting to the move and have even started making new friends. We are finding that Austin is ripe for harvest and that 85% of Austinites do not attend any kind of church.  We are affirmed daily that the Lord has led us here to launch a new church that will bring him glory and change lives.

Caleb and Elijah are enjoying their morning basketball camp and their daily swim in the pool. Wade is busy networking in the community and making connections to build our launch team.  We are excited about the Heil family moving from Abilene to Austin to join our team; they arrive in July.  I will begin my part time training job soon and hope to start meeting people who will someday be a part of our church.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support.  Please be praying that:

1.    Our house in Catoosa sells quickly.

2.    The Lord will bring us people to join our launch team.

3.    Our family will adjust well to the move and new ministry.

4.    The Lord will provide more financial support for the church plant.

5.    We can be bold and courageous in our work.

Our new mailing address is:
Wade and Heather Hodges
12800 Harrisglenn Dr. Apt 1228
Austin, TX 78753

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything we’ve had a lot going on, but I’m really excited to tell you what the Lord has been doing in our lives lately.  For the past 12 years, Wade and I have been ministering to two different churches, one in Bellingham, Washington, and more recently at the Garnett Church of Christ in Tulsa.  While we have loved these church families dearly, the pull of planting a new church has been tugging on our hearts for some time.

Wade first felt the call to plant a new church nearly 10 years ago, but I was always hesitant, and to tell you the truth I was scared.  But the Lord has a funny way of working on our fears and increasing our faith.  So last Fall when presented with the opportunity to plant a church we both felt there was no other option for our family, but to answer the call.  So off to Nineva we go, or more accurately to Austin.

I’ve been asked many times, “What is a church plant?” To put it simply it’s a process by which new communities of Christians (churches) are formed.  Every church across the globe started when a group of people came together to follow Jesus, care for each other, and serve the community.  This is exactly what we hope to do.

We will move to Austin in June and begin gathering people in small house churches.  There are several groups of people we would like to reach: (1) Christians who have been burned by church in the past (2) People interested and attracted to Jesus, but who have no interest in being part of a church like they have known it, and (3) Skeptical people who have no interest in Christianity.

We hope to have two to three strong, vibrant house churches of 30-40 people each (including children) by the time we launch our Sunday morning assembly in January or February of 2010.  It is our desire to invest our time and resources in people and ministry instead of paying a mortgage on a building, so we will be renting a venue to hold our worship assemblies.  This means we will be transporting all of our equipment and supplies for the worship, hospitality, nursery, children’s ministry etc. to and from the facility every week.

Since our primary goal is to multiply the kingdom, we will immediately begin tithing as a church for our daughter church.  We will set aside 10% of our offerings beginning in June to help fund a new church plant that will be several years down the road. Our goal in going to Austin is not to plant just one church, but to be part of a larger church planting network that will multiply itself over and over again spreading the Good News all over central Texas and to the ends of the earth.

One of the other questions I hear often is, “What kind of church are you planting?”  Wade and I want to plant a church that gathers people around Jesus so that we can help God put His broken world back together one life, one family, one neighborhood, one city at a time. We want to be radically pragmatic when it comes to “how” we accomplish this.  However, there are several things that we know ahead of time: (1) we will not compromise or water-down the message of the gospel (2) we want to be relevant and creative in our worship, and (3) we want all seekers and believers alike to use their individual gifts to glorify the Lord regardless of their gender, history, or the length of time they have been following Jesus.

We are working under the leadership of the Golf Course Road Church of Christ in Midland, Texas who has generously donated a portion of the necessary funds to get the project off the ground. As our “mother church” they will also be responsible for the financial oversight of the project for three years. Wade and I will be coached and mentored by the Nexus church planting organization (www.nexus.us) who has planted 7 churches in Texas in the last 30 months.  This coaching relationship will also last for three years. We feel very blessed to have these experienced people beside us during the infancy of the new church.

As one of the leaders of this project my responsibilities at first will be very broad including administration/organization and more specifically community care and outreach.  I also anticipate using my professional counseling skills as well as doing some teaching.

This new ministry will not be possible without people who can give generously of their prayers, talents, and finances to support it.  There are several ways to help:

First, Wade and I need your prayers, and lots of it.   You can help by joining our prayer team. If you want to be a part of this team, please send me an email at heather@heatherhodges.com.

Second, we need money.  You can help by joining our funding team. I have been charged with raising my own support as co-church planter. I need to raise $1,500 per month for three years for my salary until the church is self-supporting. You can also help by giving a special gift directly to the church plant or visiting our Amazon.com wish list of items we will need for the church (go to www.amazon.com and look for “The Austin Project” under “Gifts & Wish Lists”). If you’d like to be part of our funding team, please email me at heather@heatherhoges.com or email Wade at wadehodges@gmail.com.

I’m excited but also humbled that we get to partner with God in this new ministry. Will you support us in this effort?

I’m home from my CrossFit Kids Certification in Ramona, California.  What an incredible weekend!  We will begin offering CrossFit Kids classes at Next Generation CrossFit next week.  Let me know if you are interested in signing your child up for a class, or just stopping by to observe.

I’ve had a lot of people ask me about CrossFit (What’s so special about CrossFit?  Is it hard?)  In a nutshell it is simply the most effective fitness program in the history of the industry.  Wade and I are both in better shape now at 36 years old than we were playing college sports.  CrossFit aims to prepare you for anything life throws at you, whether that is in combat, on the court, or in your own home.  It is a broad, general, and inclusive program; the fitness needs of a teenager and your grandmother are the same, they just vary in intensity and scale.

The CrossFit prescription is “constantly varied, functional movements, performed at high intensity.” Every time we enter the gym our trainers put us through a different workout of the day or WOD – you are NEVER bored at CrossFit. The workouts involve FUNCTIONAL movements, these are the movements of life. There is nothing more functional than moving large loads, over long distances, quickly.  So yes, it is hard – but it is also very fun!  CrossFit simply works, and the best part about it is the community. Crossfit is such a good example of how ordinary people can overcome enormous obstacles and achieve great things together.  But the only way it is possible is in community.

CrossFit Kids is not just a scaled down version of CrossFit, it is absolutely and entirely CrossFit geared and designed for a special population.  Kids and teens have specific neurological, coginitive, and motor developmental needs and CrossFit helps meet those needs. It can shape lives, reverse prevalent health issues, build strength, improve agility, give real self-confidence, improve balance and coordination, and improve cognitive functioning by building neurological pathways in the brain.  But above all we want our kids to associate excercise and fitness with – BIG FUN !!!!!

Our first CrossFit Kids class at Next Generation CrossFit with Caleb, Elijah, Sophia, and Sebastian.

Learning the air squat, it’s much harder than it looks.

Jumping pull ups on a weighted bar.

And finally, the kids did bear crawls (their speed and agility were improving every moment.)

I am home from the Level 1 Crossfit Certification in Ft. Worth (I’m in the middle in the black tank top.)  It was a tough, informative weekend with some incredible trainers.  Lisa Ray, Jon Gilson, Chuck Caldwell, Tony Budding, Dutch Lowy, and Major Andrew Thompson of Crossfit Quantico were all phenomenal teachers.

I felt like a pony among thoroughbreds, but it was an incredible experience. We were all instructed on the nine fundamental movements/ technique along with corrections for all of them.  The pattern for the day was instruction, performance, repetition, correction, repetition, more correction. Tired? Lactic acid overload? Good, repetition, more correction. It’s amazing how heavy an 8 ounce pvc pipe can become after holding it over your head for two days. I needed a whole day to recover.  We heard lectures on: What is Crossfit, What is Fitness, Nutrition, Glycemic Index, Sick-Wellness-Fitness Progression, The Nine Fundamental Movements, and Programming.  I am on information overload. I loved the format of experiencial learning, and I’m really looking forward to my Crossfit Kids Certification later this month.

I had another remarkable day at crossfit yesterday.  We did the workout called “Angie” which is 100 pull ups, 100 push ups, 100 sit ups, and 100 squats.  One hundred repetitions of any one of those movements would be a complete and difficult workout by itself.  But combine them and you have a recipe for immeasurable pain and suffering. Now that I can do a real pull up I was able to do the workout as prescribed and posted the third best gym time for a woman – 28:17 (almost 20 minutes was spent on the pull ups alone.)  This morning I’m very proud of myself, but also VERY sore.

I would have not been able to complete this workout if I had been alone.  One of the things that struck me so strongly yesterday is the communal aspect of crossfit.  Five times a week I get together with a group of insane people and we force our bodies to do unbelievable things.  The slogan for crossfit is “Forging Elite Fitness” and of course this is true, but it would not be possible without the community.  I got to pull up number 82 and could have easily quit, but my coach was in my ear spurring me on, he knew I had more in me even though I wanted to stop.  Because I had friends around me encouraging me and believing in me, I completed the workout and posted a good time.  If I had been alone, I would have quit and failed.

Crossfit is such a good example of how ordinary people can overcome enormous obstacles and achieve great things together.  But the only way it is possible is in community.  Our lives as followers of Christ is no different.  Alone, I may set big goals for myself and strive to be faithful to the Lord, but I often fail because there is no one walking beside me.  But in a community of faith when we are working towards the same goal and supporting and encouraging one another we can finish the race together.  We can resist the temptation to doubt and fear because together we are strong.  Without accountability and support I would not only fail in crossfit but in my spiritual walk as well.

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11

“But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. ” Hebrews 3:13

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. ” Hebrews 10:24-25

I’ve been crossfitting for 8 weeks now.  Last week I was able to do my first pull up unassisted.  This is a big deal and I’ve been working towards it for nearly 2 months.  I can’t believe how strong I’m getting; crossfit is amazing. My trainer says pull ups are a life saving skill.  I supposed the next time I’m precariously dangling off a cliff I can pull myself to safety.  Ha.

There is a hip new restaurant in downtown Tulsa called Joe Momma’s.  My friend Blake, who celebrated his 30th birthday today, is the owner and visionary behind this amazing new establishment.  Joe Momma’s is renowned for it’s amazing brick oven pizza, live music, and of course – art.  For the next week some of my large modern floral paintings will be on display there.  Please come by to experience Joe Momma’s and view my floral art series.  The restaurant is located at Elgin and 1st Street downtown.

On Tuesday, December 2nd from 5 – 6:30 Blake is throwing a “Happy Hour Art Show” party for all my collectors and art friends.  Please consider yourself invited to Joe Momma’s next week for some art, and if you want – the best pizza in  town !

“October Garden” 14 x 14 Set of 4 Acrylic on Gallery Canvas – $300

“Turquoise Garden” 30 x 40 Acrylic on Gallery Wrap Canvas – $500

“Vibrant Garden” 30 x 40 Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas – $600

“Crimson Garden” 12 x 24 set of 3 Acrylic on Gallery Wrap Canvases – $375

“Sunflower Garden” 30 x 40 Acrylic on Gallery Wrap Canvas – $500

“Paradise Garden” 24 x 30 Acrylic on Gallery Wrap Canvas – $260