I posted this on Facebook, but I am fully aware that some of you do not do ‘the Facebook.’ The other day I had a surprise visit from Kasia, and the kids at William Whyte school division. They stopped by to give me a sweet t-shirt and a thank you card. You may remember that waaaaaaay back in the spring time, Sublime put on a little fundraiser. Well, the money raised that day benefited these kids. Every cent that was donated went towards providing them with new jerseys and shoes that they otherwise would not have been able to afford.
A few years back when I was still struggling to decide what I wanted to do with my life, I found a piece of paper on the floor describing a program called “Choices” as I shuffled through the halls of University. I called the number on the sheet and I got to talking with Kasia. I can’t say enough about her. I have never met anyone, nobody, that cares more about the youth in our city than her. That winter I started up with Choices and loved it. It’s weird because I’m not really that great with kids, but I do love playing dodge-ball… so somehow it worked. Anyway, unfortunately after that year the government cut the funding for Choices and the program was shut down. My goal is to keep what Kasia started going, however I can.
The Choices program really stuck with me, and I knew that if I had the right platform I wanted to do something like it. I wanted to try and make a difference locally, even if it was the tiniest difference. I don’t know if it is selfish to say, but I wanted instant gratification when trying to help. Donating money to help a cause thousands of miles away is great, but it didn’t give me the same feeling. Even the time I spent in the soup kitchen wasn’t enough. Cutting carrots for an hour twice a week wasn’t what I had in mind. Again, those are important things, it just wasn’t enough for me. I wanted that direct impact.
The gym provided me with that opportunity. It started with improving peoples lives, helping people who never thought they could jump on a 16 inch box, do just that. I still get equally excited about a new Clean PR, as I do for someone finally being able to squat to proper depth. I love coaching the competitive athletes, I really do, but honestly some of my favourite moments are when my 50 yr old personal training clients tell me about how great they feel. How they thought knee pain was just going to be apart of their lives, and now the pain is gone PLUS they can get off the couch with ease.
As a business owner, it is easy to get wrapped up in the business. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, without the business I no longer have a platform to help people. I didn’t get into this to check profit margins, but it is a critical part of what I do. When I am trying to balance personal life, running a business, and my own training, it can be easy to forget what started it all. So it is moments like this one that make everything worth it.
It is also important to me that I extend the Thank You to everyone who participated and volunteered. We were just the hosts, without all of you no money would have been raised.
Okay that is enough emotional stuff.
Ohhhhhhhhhh baby it’s testing time! Eat BIG, Sleep Well. Foundation & Building, lets see what you got after all the RPT & Conditioning work!
Monday:
Foundation – 3RM Back Squat + 2000M Row
Building – Power Clean + Press + 2000M Row
Being – Clean & Jerk + Dips & Pull ups + More Thrusters!?! (And T2B & Box Jump)
Tuesday:
Foundation – Bench Press 3RM + Baaaaaaaaaasssssssssseeeeeeeeeellllllllliiiiiiiinnnnnnneeeeeee 🙂
Building – Back Squat 3RM + Wall Ball Test + Skill work
Being – Front Squat + Aerobic (Row/Pclean/Push Ups)
Wednesday:
Foundation – DB Split Squat 8RM + Core Strength Tests…. Put those Dragon Flags to the test!
Building – Rest
Being – Rest
Thursday:
Foundation – Rest
Building – Power Snatch + Row Intervals + Baaasssssssseeeeeellllllllliiiiiinnnnnnneeeeeee 🙂
Being – Snatch + Press + Sled Push
Friday:
Foundation – Deadlift 3RM + Box Jump Test
Building – Bench Press + Box Jump Test
Being – Deadlift + Row
Saturday:
Foundation – Press 3RM + Aerobic Test (….A LOT of Rowing…..Burpees….)
Building – Deadlift 3RM + Aerobic Test (….Burpees….A LOT of Rowing…..)
Being – Dip / Handstand Practice + CrossFit Grinder (DU/Burpees/Ring Rows) + Pistol Practice
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