Bound Newsletter 5.3.2026
2026 Hero Month – Week 1: Build the Foundation
Hero Month is here.
This time of year carries a different weight in the gym. The workouts are longer, the effort is deeper, and the meaning behind every rep matters more. These workouts are designed to honor fallen service members—men and women who gave everything. That means our approach shouldn’t be random or reckless. It should be intentional.
Week 1 is about laying the foundation.
Before we chase intensity… we earn it.
Mechanics → Consistency → Intensity
You’ve heard it before, but during Hero Month, this principle matters more than ever.
Mechanics come first.
Every movement—whether it’s a squat, pull-up, kettlebell swing, or run—should be done with purpose and precision. Good mechanics keep you safe, but more importantly, they allow you to express your full potential when it counts.
Consistency comes next.
It’s not about one big day. It’s about stacking quality sessions over time. Showing up, moving well, and building repeatable effort is what prepares you for the longer, more demanding Hero workouts ahead.
Then—and only then—do we add intensity.
Intensity without a foundation leads to burnout or injury. But intensity built on sound mechanics and consistency? That’s where transformation happens.
Hero Month isn’t about going all-out on Day 1.
It’s about being ready to go all-in when it matters most.
Recovery Is Part of the Mission
You can’t honor the work if your body can’t sustain it.
This week, we double down on recovery—not as an afterthought, but as part of your training.
1. Hydration: The Non-Negotiable
Water drives everything—performance, recovery, energy, and focus.
A simple checkpoint:
Start your day with water
Drink consistently throughout training
Don’t wait until you’re thirsty
If you’re training hard and sweating daily, your hydration needs are higher than you think. Try to consume 1oz of water per pound of Bodyweight.
2. Nutrition: Fuel With Purpose
Hero workouts demand more from your body—your nutrition should reflect that.
Focus on:
High-quality protein for recovery and muscle repair
Smart carbohydrates to fuel performance
Whole foods that support energy, not drain it
This isn’t the time for under-eating or cutting corners. Fueling well is part of respecting the work.
3. Sleep: Your Greatest Performance Tool
You don’t adapt during the workout—you adapt when you recover.
Aim for:
7–9 hours of quality sleep per night
Consistent sleep and wake times
A routine that helps you wind down and disconnect
Better sleep = better performance, better recovery, better results.
4. Use the Recovery Room
Take advantage of the tools available to you.
Sauna: Helps with circulation, relaxation, and recovery
Compression boots: Reduce soreness and improve blood flow in the legs
Cupping: to help with specific areas such as shoulders, knees, & back
These aren’t luxuries—they’re tools to help you stay consistent through a demanding month of training.
Build Now So You Can Push Later
Week 1 sets the tone.
Dial in your movement.
Show up consistently.
Take recovery seriously.
Because when the workouts get longer, heavier, and more challenging—you won’t be guessing. You’ll be ready.
Remember Why We Do This
Hero workouts are more than fitness. They’re about remembrance, respect, and pushing ourselves in honor of those who gave everything.
To better understand the meaning behind these workouts, take time this week to read:
“Fallen but Not Forgotten: How CrossFit’s Hero Workouts Honor Fallen Service Members”
You’ll find it in the Weekly Education portion of this newsletter.
Go beyond the workout.
Understand the purpose.
Carry it with you into every rep.
Let’s build the foundation the right way—together.
Class Attendance Breakdown for April and Committed Club
Total Class Attendance for Month of April - 1487 *those that checked into a class
Class Averages:
5:30 am - 11.09
12 pm - 10.41
4 pm - 8.27
9 am - 8.12
5:15 pm - 7.41
6:30 pm - 6.56
6:30 am - 3.68
Jen Wells 18
Chistopher Kibbe 18
Elysia Dunlap 18
Santez Kindred 18
Elaine Dunbar 18
Brittany Ringrose 18
Kyle Rice 17
Hannah Spratlen 17
Dylan Dejesus 17
Jamie Spratlen 16
BAM 16
Kalob Apodaca 16
Rod Banks 16
Committed Club for April
Julie Chamber 40
Sheri kindred 29
Michael Jamorksi 25
Ryan Boone 25
Brittany Karneol 24 *pregnant :)
Jeb Buffington 24
Mary Turner 23
Matt Schuster 23
Adam Rowe 23
Brian Lawler 21
Tyson Kimm 20
Natalie Gordon 20
Dylan Porter 20
Emily Conaster 19
Austin Willis 18
Bragging Board
Natalie Gordon 205lb back squat | 150lb Bench Press
Wilnette with her first (of many) bar muscle-ups
Elaine Dunbar hit an 85lb Clean and Jerk
Cody Porter showed up and out by completing Nic Crews Memorial Workout Solo
Sarah PB 135lb Bench Press
Michael Rivera with a 235lb Bench Press
Dylan Porter 3:05 1000m Row
Douglas German 3:10 1000m Row
Ean Parr
Winning that money at the Peach State Pro this past weekend. Congratulations!
Weekly Training Highlight Reel is in the Works
Upcoming Birthdays & Anniversaries
Anniversaries
6+Years
Tyler Cory
Michelle McCrary
Michael Guelfo
Ken Wysocki
Miguel Chavez
Michael Jamorski
Meghan Willis (9)
Eriko Moore
Dylan Dejesus
Brittany Karneol (12)
Missy Ureda
Nathan & Mary Cox (8)
Julie Chambers (8)
Katherine Garey (12)
Mary Lubbers (12)
Kara Everill
Miles Pettit (9)
Amber Buettner (alot)
3-Years
Sarah PB
Sergio Rivera
Sidney HIghtower
Emily Conaster
2 Years
Ryan Stratche
Chuck Carter
Katie & Ryan Allen
Brandon Brooks
1 Year
Lee and Elizabeth Tillman
Grayson Young
Birthdays
Colton Heibeck May 3
Katie Allen May 6
Ryan Kangiser May 9
Bryan Marichal May 10
Emily Conaster May 11
Brittany Peteerse May 12
Travis Tucker May 12
Hayden Venable May 13
Logan Hawkins May 14
Ryan Boone May 19
Elysian Dunlap May 22
Elber Albaladejo May 27
Justin Rutland May 29
Mindset & Lifestyle - Your First 90 Days, What to Expect and How the Member Vault Can Lead you to Success
Your first 90 days in the gym can either feel overwhelming… or it can completely change your life. The difference? Having a plan—and the right support system.
That’s exactly why we built the CrossFit Bound Member Vault.
Inside, you’ll find our full guide on “How to Approach Your First 90 Days”—designed for potential members, brand new athletes, and even our current members who want to reset and refocus.
This isn’t about going all-in for a week and burning out. It’s about building something that lasts.
In the Member Vault, we walk you through:
How to structure your first 90 days for real progress
What to focus on in your workouts (without overthinking it)
Simple habits outside the gym that actually move the needle
How to stay consistent—even when life gets busy
What results you should expect (and when to expect them)
Most people fail because they guess their way through the process.
Our members succeed because they follow a proven path.
The Member Vault is more than just workouts—it’s your roadmap, your accountability tool, and your resource for long-term success.
Whether you’re thinking about getting started, just joined, or have been here for years… this is where you level up.
Start your first 90 days the right way—and see what’s possible when you stop guessing and start following a plan.
Upcoming Events & Summer Kids Class
☀️ CrossFit Bound Kids Summer Classes – Starting June 2–3! ☀️
Keep your kids active, confident, and having fun all summer long with our CrossFit Bound Kids program! These classes are designed to build coordination, strength, and confidence through age-appropriate fitness, games, and movement.
Mini Movers (Ages 3–5)
A fun and energetic introduction to movement! Kids will learn basic motor skills, balance, coordination, and body awareness through games and structured play.
🗓 Wednesdays: 10:15–11:00 AM
💲 $85/month or $150 for the full summerJunior Jumpers (Ages 6–12)
Perfect for developing strength, fitness, and confidence! These classes introduce foundational CrossFit movements, teamwork, and discipline in a fun, supportive environment.
🗓 Tuesdays & Wednesdays: 9:00–10:00 AM
💲 $120/month or $200 for the full summerSpots are limited—secure your child’s place by using the QR links below and give them a summer full of movement, growth, and fun!
Age group 6-12 yrs old - Junior Jumpers - will meet Tuesday & Wednesdays from 9-10am.
Cost is $120 monthly or $200 paid in full (+$50 for sibling)
Age group 3-5 yrs old - Mini Movers - will meet on Wednesdays from 10:15-11am
Cost is $85 monthly or $150 paid in full (+$50 for sibling)
Education: CrossFit Journal Article “Fallen But Not Forgotten: How CrossFit’s Hero Workouts Honor Fallen Service Members
By Matt Bischel
“Since 2005, CrossFit has posted workouts meant to honor the memories of CrossFit service members who made the ultimate sacrifice and exemplary members of the CrossFit community who are no longer with us.”
This sentence sits at the top of the CrossFit Hero and Tribute workout page. The page has been updated and re-skinned a few times but its purpose has remained the same It is home to photos, brief bios, and some of the most challenging workouts ever created — workouts that have become sacrosanct not only to CrossFit but also to the broader community that celebrates them.
“To the average CrossFitter, Hero workouts are symbolic gestures of respect for our fallen. CrossFitters from all over the world, regardless of country or allegiance, throw themselves wholeheartedly at these intentionally gut-wrenching workouts that serve as a tribute to our lost protectors.”
— “Fallen But Never Forgotten,” CrossFit Journal, 2010
If we wind the clock back 20 years, many CrossFit athletes serving overseas in the armed forces never belonged to an affiliate. At best, they had a small group on base they could train with, no 5-p.m. friends to spot them and grab a burger and beer with after class. The CrossFit community lived online at CrossFit.com, in the comments or on the message board. Some of those men and women risked their lives for our continued safety, and while they seemed to live in a different world than those on the civilian side, the common thread between us all was CrossFit.
Hero workouts became CrossFit’s way of paying tribute to the fallen members of our community who made the ultimate sacrifice, and through the consecration of the values they lived by, paired with a workout bearing their name, we remember them and begin the healing process for those they left behind.
CrossFit Hero workouts are built on three pillars that symbolize the visceral and physical experiences athletes who undertake them endure to create a legacy for the fallen:
Honoring
Grieving
Enduring
HONORING
Lt. Michael Murphy
Not only were these service members CrossFit athletes, but they also displayed the highest merit and values in the hardest circumstances, holding a true standard of heroism.
The first Hero honored in this manner was Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Jeff Taylor, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2005. The Hero workout J.T. was first published to CrossFit.com on July 6, 2005.
There are 208 Hero workouts to date, but without a doubt, the most well known is Murph, named after Lieutenant Michael Murphy (Murphy fell during the same conflict as J.T. and Navy Lieutenant Michael McGreevy, for whom the second Hero workout was created). Murph was the third Hero to appear on CrossFit.com, first published on Aug. 18, 2005. Many of the Hero workouts are derived from movements or modalities that the fallen implemented or were known for. In remembrance of Murphy, CrossFit affiliates and the larger fitness community suffer and persevere together every Memorial Day to the tune of a 1-mile run, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 air squats, and another 1-mile run. This was because Murphy regularly used this workout to prepare himself for the truly unknown and unknowable: battle.
“This workout was one of Mike’s favorites and he’d named it ‘Body Armor.’ From here on it will be referred to as ‘Murph’ in honor of the focused warrior and great American who wanted nothing more in life than to serve this great country and the beautiful people who make it what it is.”
— CrossFit.com write-up on Murph
The values Murphy lived by and the example he set made him a true hero. Murphy fell in battle while calling for reinforcements from an unsecured hostile area, sacrificing his life so that others might survive.
You could argue that Memorial Day Murph galvanizes the CrossFit affiliate community more than the Open. No leaderboard, no judge but your own integrity; just fellow athletes and friends watching, working, and honoring. Even those technically outside the CrossFit community — including John Krasinski, Chris Pratt, and The Rock — join in honoring Murph. They share in the legacy of honoring a fellow CrossFit athlete.
“What an honor it was to drop sweat in honor Lt. Michael Murphy. … I love that it was designed to help push us, help humble us, and dedicate a little bit of pain and sweat to the man who gave everything he had.”
— Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (2019)
How Did Memorial Day Murph Come To Be?
In 2023, it may be easier to find a Starbucks refusing to serve caffeine than a U.S. CrossFit affiliate not hosting some sort of Memorial Day Murph event. Popular opinion would assume CrossFit.com programs Murph every Memorial Day. But in true CrossFit fashion, we do not yield to popular opinion, and Murph has never specifically been programmed on the last Monday of May. And yet, athletes who have never touched a weight vest throw one on a couple times a week for the exposure. CrossFit Hyperactive owner Jesse Suarez-Lopez has implemented “weight-vest Wednesdays … to help prepare people for Murph.” So how did the so elegantly alliterative Memorial Day Murph come to be? In truth, It’s truly a galvanizing event that was born out of the CrossFit affiliate community and CrossFit athletes take it seriously.
Former Navy SEAL and CrossFit Director of Education Dave Castro knows the value of community-driven initiatives: “What’s cool about all the affiliates that do Murph on Memorial Day is the fact that they’re coming together and they’re bringing their communities together to celebrate CrossFit and to celebrate Murph and to celebrate something bigger than them,” Castro said.
The best guess we can offer for the first time Murph was done on Memorial Day is this comment from BobM on the 060529 CrossFit.com Workout of the Day — Memorial Day, 2006, one year after the creation of the Murph Hero WOD.
This is a cool piece of history but not what really matters. What matters is that a group of individuals recognized that honoring and creating a legacy for Murph and other heroes built around the shared suffering of a Hero WOD was something that should be done. And much like CrossFit, it started as the right thing to do for the right reasons, and 17 years after the first publication of the Hero workout Murph, we have something built by the community that will endure for generations to come.
According to Castro, Murph’s legacy represents “a really strong community-building moment.”
“That the affiliates and the community came together on their own — independently together as all these micro gyms across the world to do this the same weekend is an expression of the power of this community globally to an awe-inspiring degree,” Castro said. “I mean, it’s pretty impressive. This was not an organized thing. This was not our organized effort to make Murph a thing on Memorial Day weekend. This was something that the community said, ‘Hey, we are going to do (this) on our own as independent gyms,’ and it’s now this massive collective.”
GRIEVING
Grieving is part of reaching acceptance after a loss. CrossFit Hero workouts give those close to the fallen the opportunity to memorialize their legacies in a way that can be repeated time and time again as the grief process continues. Through Hero workouts, loved ones are not relegated to photo albums collecting dust in attics; they’re brought to life again and again through the breath and sweat of those who strive in their honor. And for those in grief, such striving can be cathartic — a physical outlet to channel the all-encompassing emotions that a grieving person experiences.
First Annual Peyton Fundraiser and Workout at CrossFit Aptos, 2021
CrossFit Managing Editor Nicole Peyton lost her husband Chad to suicide in May of 2021. She says helping create and then complete the Hero workout dedicated to Chad early in the grieving process helped her make sense of her emotions after such a monumental loss.
“The workout Peyton was created just weeks after Chad died. Honoring him in this way was the only thing that made sense in a time of such shock and turmoil. He loved the CrossFit community and I knew he’d be proud of that tribute,” Nicole said. “Like most of CrossFit’s Hero workouts, Peyton is composed of Chad’s favorite elements, so it’s literally like pieces of him live on in it. Early on in the grief process, the workout gave me a reason to put forth the effort to move forward. It gave me the outlet I needed to direct my sadness, anger, and disbelief. Now, with each passing year, completing the workout allows me a chance to move through another phase of grief. There is no end to grief — it just evolves. So having something like a Hero workout to return to with each evolution really shines the light on how far you’ve come.”
ENDURING
A Hero workout is not just a test of fitness; it is a trial of mental fortitude. When a typical CrossFit athlete is briefed on a Workout of the Day, they look at the Rx’d option and decide whether it’s suitable to their ability. However, with a Hero workout, there’s more on the line than just a couple letters next to your score on the whiteboard. Committing to the prescribed workout is a promise to the fallen to try to experience a tiny speck of the pain and effort they endured to protect your freedoms. And you dig deep to try to deliver on that promise.
In the comments under J.T.’s post, there are numerous comments from soldiers who served with him or people who knew him and praised his character and ultimate sacrifice. But there are also those who never met J.T. and still are willing to give more of themselves in a hero’s honor, just like Ron N. from 2005:
Jennifer Loredo’s husband was honored in a Hero workout on Dec. 31, 2012. The workout Loredo has been embraced by CrossFit affiliates and athletes in an effort to keep his spirit alive. Jennifer reflected on what the honor meant to her in 2017:
“I will ensure that I do what I can to keep Eddie’s memory alive, but with a Hero workout there are people all over the world on any given day doing this workout in honor of Eddie. … Not only just the Hero workout, but the support of the CrossFit community — People talk about the community all the time, but the way that they wrapped their arms around my family is amazing.”
The support of those who never knew Jennifer or Eddie creates a legacy that endures and will continue to reflect the values he lived every time a CrossFit athlete laces up their shoes for 6 rounds of 24 air squats, 24 push-ups, 24 walking lunges, and a 400-m run. Jennifer believes “it’s not about completing the workout; it’s about honoring the person,” but as members of the CrossFit community, we try our absolute hardest to finish. It’s in our blood.
THE TRADITION CONTINUES — ONE REP AT A TIME
Hero workouts have been a long-standing tradition in the CrossFit community, but they by no means only belong to CrossFit. That would completely undermine the CrossFit ethos. Rather, it’s an honor to see the broader fitness world do these workouts to show respect for the fallen who have made the greatest sacrifice.
Formulating the words to adequately describe all that a Hero workout symbolizes feels insurmountable. But the workout itself may contain a framework for approaching the seemingly insurmountable. As our article from 2010 explained:
“The Hero workout is more than a test of physical ability. It bridges the gap between the body and the mind, emotion and experience, and gives us the chance to do more than just remember our soldiers. It gives us the chance to sweat, bleed, suffer and grieve for our fallen heroes one rep at a time.”
Recipe of the Week: High-Protein Cottage Cheese Chocolate Balls
Macros (approx per serving, ~8 balls):
Protein: ~20–25g
Carbs: ~5–8g net carbs
Fat: ~4–6g
Instructions:
Blend the base:
Blend cottage cheese until smooth (this is key for a dessert-like texture).Mix ingredients:
In a bowl, combine the blended cottage cheese, protein powder, cocoa powder, PB2, almond flour, sweetener, vanilla, and salt.Adjust consistency:
Too wet? Add a little more almond flour or protein powder
Too thick? Add a splash of almond milk
Chill:
Refrigerate for 20–30 minutes to firm up.Roll into balls:
Scoop and roll into bite-sized balls.Coat (optional):
Roll in cocoa powder, coconut, or crushed nuts.
Why this works:
Cottage cheese = high protein + creamy base
Protein powder boosts macros
Low-carb ingredients keep it lean
No baking required → quick and easy
Ingredients:
1 cup cottage cheese (preferably low-fat or 2%)
1 scoop chocolate protein powder
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1–2 tbsp powdered peanut butter (PB2) (optional but adds flavor)
1–2 tbsp almond flour (for texture)
1–2 tbsp zero-calorie sweetener (like monk fruit or stevia)
½ tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Optional coatings:
Unsweetened shredded coconut
Cocoa powder
Crushed nuts
Sugar-free chocolate chips.
