ASSESS UB PUSH and U/L ENDURANCE this week!
Top Golf is booked - Founding Athletes
Top Golf was such a good time last year, we decided to do it again! Thanks to Sean for setting it up, we’re looking forward to a roadtrip and shenanigans and (for some) a night in downtown Cleveland. It’s happening 2/26 from 4p-6p. If you’re interested in coming, you’re a little late and you should make sure you’re in our FB group. That said, let me know and we’ll see if we can make it happen. :)
This past Friday, we recognized a group of 20 people who have been instrumental in the establishing of The Standard. People who have been with us since day one or even before! That’s 3 years of encouraging words, helpful hands, and support in so many other ways. Thank you. Without you and those extra efforts, we wouldn’t exist right now.
Adam & Rachel Marroquin
Josh & Libbe Brossia
Craig Willoughby
Darron Olin
Logan Genson
Sam Woodring
Tim Superczynski
Tina Beutler
Carl “Poppy” Genson
Babar Stelzer
Celia Le Saux
Sean Timmons
Myron & Nicole Duhart
Jim Moore
David & Elizabeth Olin
Lesley Chovan
We are going to do this every 6 months and slowly include all of you who have been with us for many years. Once you hit 3 years, you’ll be invited and recognized.
IN SIMILAR NEWS… we will be rolling out a “Committed Club,” as well this summer… more info about that incoming.
1 Month Check-in...
Welcome to February! This month kicked off with a cold bang— 16” of snow and lots of inconvenience, but we adapted and survived and we’re back into the groove, right? Right? Are you satisfied with your groove? How did January go for you? Did you re-build your routines to match your priorities or did you lose conviction and lose out on the progress or experiences you could’ve had?
It’s important to make steps in the right direction, consistently… so sustainable and reasonable goals and expectations is what we’re always in pursuit of. Can’t come to the gym and eat perfectly five days a week? Ok; let’s start with ONE. Level it if that helps. White level discipline to red level discipline. :) Here is a PSA I recorded. If you have anyone that needs to hear it, pass it along!
If you’re having a great experience at The Standard, a review that talks about it would be really helpful. :)
New Month, new focuses. You’ll notice a significant change in workouts for the next four-six weeks as we work toward UB pushing and U/L endurance assessments. Let’s get those levels!
Zone of Proximal Development.
I mentioned this in the last one, but I’m assuming you’ll be spending some time working on your physical health at The Standard, so your coaching staff would love to know what you think is the most important thing for you to achieve in 2022. Click this survey! (it’s 3 questions, super short)
Hopefully all of you reading this have experienced how myself, Sam, and all of the trainers at The Standard are endlessly trying to improve their knowledge, communication, and skills. That endless pursuit of improvement is fully fueled by a desire to possess the tools and information necessary to get you to the next milestone in your fitness journey. I tend to talk about this a lot because it’s true; I’m convinced no team in the region wants to do a better job for every person that calls The Standard their home.
As I was learning from a podcast this week, I was introduced to a concept called “Zone of Proximal Development,” for the first time. If you’re an educator, you’re likely very familiar with this, but for me it was a fun rabbit hole to run down that ultimately related back to how we facilitate learning at the gym.
The basic idea is that a person can get themselves to a certain point, but not to a point they perceive as being next. For instance, “I can hang from a bar, but I can’t pull myself up.” That experience is frustrating and discouraging, so to bridge the gap they need an MKO (more knowledgable other). They need a friend who’s been there- someone who knows what they don’t and can provide information and an environment where new skills can be acquired. It ALSO talks about how there are stages of progression (let’s call them LEVELS) on the way to that significant new skill or knowledge. As the person goes from hanging from a bar, can they hold themselves over the bar? No? Ok, then that’s the next thing to acheive. It’s NOT a full pull-up— that is not the success measure. The success measure is the incremental improvement! Once they can hold their chin over the bar, it’s called scaffolding.. we remove the scaffolding to find the skill is standing on it’s own solidly. The MKO and the individual have build something new and there’s no longer a knowledge or a skill gap. We’re ready for the next step, a chin-over-bar slow negative… probably going to have to get that MKO to help out on this one too.
This may seem pretty “well, yeah, duh…” but it was neat to see the concepts we use daily in level method and at The Standard are rooted in sound psychology and the MKOs we have in place (more advanced athletes, friends, trainers) are powerfully equipped to help and advise our community members along the way.
The other reason I’m sharing is to gently remind you that things take time. Consistency over that time will overcome all frustrations and skill gaps. :) You can do it. I’m pumped I get to help. If you know anyone else that needs help, we’d love if you’d refer them to us. 😁
New Month, new focuses. You’ll notice a significant change in workouts for the next four-six weeks as we work toward UB pushing and U/L endurance assessments. Let’s get those levels!
3 Weeks to... reset.
Congrats to everyone that completed the 3 Weeks to Shredded program! I hope you’re suddenly STUPID lean! What’s more likely is you shed a few pounds, realized that you can handle being more disciplined than you typically are, and that prepping meals isn’t as inconvenient as we like to think it is. If you can maintain even 80% of the RIGHT decisions you made over the last few weeks, over time, you’ll see huge body changes. This is the secret sauce to getting leaner AND stronger. Let’s keep those habits in place!
If you’re having trouble with nutrition, let a coach know, we’d be happy to give you some resources and guidance to help you see more success.
I mentioned this in the last one, but I’m assuming you’ll be spending some time working on your physical health at The Standard, so your coaching staff would love to know what you think is the most important thing for you to achieve in 2022. Click this survey! (it’s 3 questions, super short)
Ok, the groove is back...
2022 is here and it feels like everyone has settled into some new routines and has the bustle of the holidays settled. This is a phenomenal time to reflect on last year and extract the best memories and achievements while forgetting about disappointments or missed opportunities. When I’ve done this, I’ve begun to notice a trend: The things that were the most disappointing and frustrating in that moment, are the things I blow off and laugh at when the year ends. The beautiful and exciting moments are the ones I don’t acknowledge well enough as they’re happening, but upon reflection, cherish in a really special way. I think it’s worthwhile to go through that practice. If you need a guide; here’s a great suggestion from Tim Ferris.
This is also the time to prioritize our lives— how we will spend our time and with who. I’m assuming you’ll be spending some time working on your physical health at The Standard, so your coaching staff would love to know what you think is the most important thing for you to achieve in 2022. Click this survey! (it’s 3 questions, super short)
Basics of Nutrition...
Many of you have joined us on the 3 Weeks To Shredded adventure, some of you have not and that’s all good. The regimented program isn’t for everyone, but what IS for everyone is the knowledge of food, it’s value and it’s importance to our overall health. I think the MAIN benefit of 3WTS is learning how to prep for meals you make yourself and how to prioritize earth-grown nutrients. Let’s me talk a little more about that.
If you lived your life with one rule, you would live an exceptionally longer life, filled with better energy, hormone balance, better immunity, and have really balanced body composition.
“If Jesus could’ve eaten it, I can eat it.”
Heck, if you follow that with ANY level of discipline, you likely get the benefits above. That rule makes it easy to decide what foods are preferential and which should be avoided when possible. For example, could Jesus eat M&M’s? No, they didn’t exist. Could he have eaten Hot Pockets? Of course not. Pretty simple, right?
If you want to add one more layer, you add “quality of ingredients,” on top of that. For instance, could Jesus eat bread? Yes. …but… he would’ve been making it himself, from real ingredients. It wouldn’t be Wonder bread that’s been bleached and processed down to fluffy insulin-stimulating loafs of bread. It’d be Ezekiel bread, sprouted grains, or unleavened bread. Would he have eaten french fries? They’re potatoes and potatoes come from the Earth! Potatoes are not naturally boiled in 500* fat. They wouldn’t have had a fryer in Jesus’ time… so… no, that’s not going to pass the 2-layer test.
That means virtually anything enjoyable is unacceptable. That’s true! But that’s not reasonable and no one wants to live that way. No one wants to be the guy who avoids cake and ice cream at a birthday party. You absolutely CAN BE that guy… I’ve been that guy a LOT of times… but that’s because I don’t really care for cake. If you do, or pizza, or White Claws, or girl scout cookies; you can enjoy these. These are a social health benefit activity. Here’s what they aren’t: daily partakings. Allow yourself a 4 hour window every 7 to 10 days in which you can enjoy all of the things you typically don’t, to enjoy your friends and family, to enjoy the excess and pleasure. Then get back on track with your two layers. Immediately.
This is a success strategy that can be maintained for a lifetime. If 3WTS is too much to handle, start smaller. Make more of your meals. Make them with earth-grown nutrients. Use dairy if you like in moderation (cheese is yum, but you don’t need so much of it!). Avoid processed breads, crackers, chips, and candy.
Start small, see BIG progress over time.
A number of you have take me up on the paid-in-full year for 2022. Thanks for that commitment! It’s going to be our best year yet. If you want to take advantage of that, you still can for the next two weeks. You’ll save 10% off the full year if you pay in cash or venmo (or 7% if you use your card). Just let me know if you’re interested in that. 💪
Nutrition focus to start the year... starts tomorrow. Get in!
THIS IS AN ENTIRE CHANNEL OF VIDEO RESOURCES FOR YOU!! Check it out.
Firstly, let me take a moment to thank all of you again for being a part of The Standard. This month is our 3 year anniversary and we’d have never made it without you. Some of you have been here since 1/1/19 and that feels like the best compliment I’ve ever gotten. :) Thanks. We’re going to have a tremendous 4th year— bigger, better, and more fun than ever.
We’re starting our year with a focus on nutrition by following 3 Weeks To Shredded. If you don’t know what this is; it’s a program that I lost 16lbs on last time I did it and I was already 10% body fat and 184 lbs. It teaches you how to prepare appropriate meals and what real food tastes like. It’s worth participating. If you want to participate, but don’t want to pony up the collateral inspiration; let me know. I got you a promo code.
Here’s a recap video for 2021!
We bought some stuff, we broke some records, we had fun, and became better people along the way.
New Year... Inflation... Sign up for 3WTS
Merry Christmas y’all! I hope you enjoyed a few days with loved ones and made memories worth recalling for decades. :)
We’re moving into the New Year and a few things typically come along with that. It’s a week to reassess our lives on many different fronts and with that pondering comes changes we’d like to make and plans to make them happen.
That happens for The Standard as well- I try to look back at what we did and plan changes so that you get the best experience we can cultivate. This year was pretty divisive socially and economically we’re watching inflation happen at rapid paces; things cost significantly more now than at the beginning of the year. Because of that inflation, but also because our athlete numbers have grown, we’re keeping membership rates the same for 2022 (despite our lease costs going up every year for the next two remaining). Thanks for the continued support and belief in what we do. If you know anyone that might also enjoy what we do… please proactively invite them to check us out. That would be incredibly helpful.
IN FACT… if you’d like to save some money, you can purchase your entire year up-front and save 10% (cash/venmo) or 7% (credit cards)! Just shoot me a message and I’ll get it set up for you.
The most common New Year’s resolution centers around losing weight, so we’ve put this event together.
It costs $25 and you should download THE BOOK — but — You can earn your money back in full!
Simply complete 80% of the tasks asked of you and your entry fees come back to you in full or you can donate them or keep them as a credit inside the gym!
Eat breakfast, eat lunch, eat dinner, eat snacks/hit protein #s, intermittent fast, don’t drink alcohol are all daily tasks. Once a week you’ll take a progress pic (private, honor system!) so you can see the results!
Combine this program with regular training at The Standard and you’ll see incredible results and kick-start your 2022! Last year, at 185lbs and 10% BF, I lost 16lbs. You can definitely do it and you may even learn some things along the way. Partner up and keep each other accountable!
Here’s an older video of me talking about 3WTS and what can be expected.
Saturday's Champ v Champ, holiday potluck, and schedule for this week.
Thanks to everyone who came out Saturday for Chaos of Christmas, to participate in the Champ V Champ, or to witness the finale for the Fair Fight Championship! Congrats to our podium finishers, Maddy, Abi, and Ben! Thanks for putting your fitness and grind on display for all of us. :)
We then got to enjoy each other’s company with some Balance, a white elephant bonanza, and Neejybaby read a poem he wrote for me. :) It was humbling to have all of you there and even more so that you choose to let me and your coaching staff help you to attain things you might not otherwise attain on your own. It’s a privilege.
BIG SATURDAY 12/18!!
Last Year’s Friendsgiving… this year we’re doing a Saturday afternoon potluck/white elephant gift exchange.
This weekend I spend a few days with the Level Method team in Colorado and helped them plan their marketing and sales strategy, along with some other really cool tools and features you guys will see roll out in the next year. It was a ton of fun, but it was inspiring and showed me how much better I could be doing for The Standard and you. I’ll be working on those for you.
THE BIGGEST THING TO PAY ATTENTION TO
THE BIGGEST THING TO PAY ATTENTION TO
THE BIGGEST THING TO PAY ATTENTION TO
…is Saturday. THIS SATURDAY the 18th… The Chaos of Christmas workout will be going down at 8am and 10am. Pleaseeeee arrange with a partner who can handle the same barbell as you and then reserve your slot. You should get there a little early to make sure you get a good warmup in. Chaos can take an hour or more in some cases.
Then at 11am, all of the color Champs will be going head to head in an elimination style workout. If you saw last year’s, you know it’s a blast. Champ invites will be going out tomorrow! 🙌
THENNNN when that’s over, we’ll have a potluck lunch. Balance will be catering a bunch of it, but if you’d like to bring something, please do! We’ll have a white elephant gift exchange as well ($10 limit!).
I’m excited to spend the day with you guys, Saturday. :)
Every year on my birthday, I re-test California Club, a games workout from a few years back. I’m going to do it at 7:30a on Wednesday if anyone is feeling froggy. (You can google for the workout description.)
Toy Story delivers the blog...
“Buzz, would you take on this final workout with me?”
We near the end of the 2021 Fair Fight Championship, and you’re going to need a partner for this one. Grab your best gym buddy and reserve your spots NOW (yes, registration is already open so you can coordinate your schedules.)
“Do you know the $7 T-shirt Sale is still going on?”
Any of the shirts on the entry cubby slots are just $7. We bought too many and it’s Christmas time, and everyone wants a good shirt to wear at the gym. :)
“HAAA!! Inflation and yearly rent increases means our gym memberships will get more expensive?!”
Not this year, suckaaaa!! 🙌 You guys have been so supportive and our numbers have sustained really well, so our accountant said we could absorb the rising costs of operation and the rent increases we get every year from our evil landlord (just kidding, I train him, and he’s a stellar human).
THANK YOU for speaking well of our gym, the coaches, the experience, and for allowing us to serve you (and for allowing this to be my profession)! It’s the best compliment any of you can pay me; continuing to be a member and trusting us with your goals and development.
(IF any of you want to pay in-full for 2022, that’s a thing that exists. You can talk to me about it)
“I DID THAT THING LAST YEAR!! THEY DON’T EVEN TELL YOU THE WORKOUT BEFOREHAND!!”
<READ THIS WHOLE THING PLZZZ>
Chaos of Christmas is coming next Saturday December 16th. You can do it at 8, 9, or 10, THEN
Fair Fight Champions will face off against each other at 11a to see who will be the 2021 Champ Champ! THENNNNN
We’re going to have a HOLIDAY POTLUCK at noon. I’m working with Balance to cater some of it, so feel no obligation to bring anything, but if you’d like to make something, please do. Kids are welcome. Dogs are welcome (as long as they get along and you clean up their puke when one of them inevitably does that 😂) This will be great. I’m hoping for snow. :)
“We’re working together on the 3 Weeks To Shredded program!?”
January 3rd we start. You’ll be matched with an accountability partner and you’ll both work to score points daily for diligence and consistency. I’m also putting together a lot of basic nutritional information so you can learn what a sustainable healthy diet consists of and we’ll obviously we watching our bodies shred fat and look bikini ready by February. :)
“Sureeeeee you read all of the captions and understood the information above. Sure. Either way, here’s what you came for: workouts.”
Thanks Woody. I appreciate your sarcasm.
$7 T-shirt Sale!!
Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday… psssshhh
Whatever. I have too many shirts sitting around and would rather you guys be wearing them than be in the back room making maneuvering back there harder. So. Everything on the entry shelves is $7.
With any purchase you’ll also get a Community Coalition card that gets you discounts on some of the best brands serving the CrossFit community. Basically a $100 gift card if you use it at all five merchants. :)
Cash or Venmo only (I can’t put it in the store we use credit cards with— sowwwy)
As we go into December, having finished up our weightlifting/rowing cycles and assessments, these are the new focuses.
I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving holiday week/weekend! We’re back to tough training, including a new Fair Fight workout this Friday. I personally can’t wait for this one— you can blame Tim and Amanda for suggestions that brought forth this creation in my mind. Hang on tight! :)
Here are the workouts for the week!
Thanksgiving Week plan:
Focus on the controllable. ...plus... a fair fight hint.
Tyler working through Fair Fight 21.2… look at that lockout position 🤤
If you haven’t done the workout, you have until Thursday to do it!! Find a friend to count your reps and get ‘er done!
Happy Sunday everyone! Winter is now here since I’m watching snow fall outside my window.
REJOICE!!!
Let me be clear: I don’t like winter. Winter denies me a lot of the things I enjoy most in life (golf, nature, water, general happiness), but I’m working on my mindset and how I approach and respond to things in life. It would be easy to be negative “ughhh, I can’t golf with my Dad, ughhhh I have to shovel, ughhhhh I have to wear pants at all times…” but… what’s the value of that? I can’t change it. No amount of whining and ughhhh will impact the fact that it’s going to be cold, it’s going to snow, it’s going to be a nuisance. So there’s NO benefit at all. But there IS a negative. Not only is it futile emotional output, it’s poisonous to the mind. If we allow things we cannot control to control us, it makes for less happy day to day lives, which makes for less happy interpersonal interactions, which makes for unhealthy relationships between husbands, fathers, wives, mothers, family, and friends. What if we simply put the things we can’t control up on a shelf? We acknowledge them, then put them on the shelf as something that cannot be undone or changed and forget all about it. That frees us up to think about things that we CAN control: being a good father, being a friend, looking for a new job, dreaming about a new adventure, writing a blog that might help change someone’s perspective about how to approach the disappointments we experience in life.
I’m not perfect at this. Politics bother me, culture bothers me, unprofessionalism inside fitness bothers me; but only for mere moments. I think it’s very healthy to acknowledge those times and to think through those topics and why they bother us, but there must be a boundary. There must be a shelving. An acknowledgement of it and a direct denial of control over our emotions or our lives.
The gym is a microcosm of that concept in life: “ughhhh I hate dubs! Why do I suck so bad?!” Those thoughts are not helpful and they don’t relieve you from the experience anyway. You STILL have to work through the reps until you eventually come to the end. You then shelve that and move on to the next movement. Let’s practice shelving all of the things we can’t control in our lives and focus intently on the things we can. If we spend all of our emotional energy on things we CAN impact, the impact is SURELY greater than on things immoveable and unstoppable. That is how we progress as humans, that’s how we achieve, that’s how we leave a lasting impact.
Every month, Level Method takes us through new focuses so our training is well-balanced throughout the year and we get better at a lot of different things… but also so that we have fun and new challenges to overcome. I’ll post posting these in here for those of you who are interested in why we’re suddenly doing so much barbell weightlifting and dumbbell movements.
👀 👀 👀
New workout, new swag, new members, oh my!
Leo Holt came by to witness the Fair Fight Championship first-hand. He also gave a modeling seminar afterward. Behold.
There were a lot of goings-on happening at The Standard this week! Coach Sam picked our 1st Fair Fight workout, we got our pre-ordered swag delivered, and welcomed three new members into the fold. As always, if you don’t recognize someone, be friendly and helpful (as you always are).
Melissa Conduti comes to us from an extensive and impressive athletic background and has a story I cannot tell in just a blog, Diana Patton is a legend in her own right, lawyer/speaker/energizer bunny/all-around-good-time, and Christina Bodi lived in the middle east for many years and now is responsible for literally millions of gallons of gas making it to it’s destination. Welcome to all of you, thanks for trusting us with your fitness journeys, your coaching staff and I are super pumped to contribute to everything you’re about to do. :))
This week’s Fair Fight Championship workout was guided by Ryan Miller who won our BINGO Assessment Season contest. He gave me some broad confines and it’s ready to roll out to you this Thursday evening! Hints: There are no burpees, rowing, or dubs. It’s also not 1 minute intervals, nor is it 6 rounds. :)
If you didn’t do week 1 of the Fair Fight; you have until Thursday night to do so!! Let your coach know and we’ll set you up. We have a great week of training coming up! Let’s get it started!
Fair Fight Championship 2021
Watch the video below!
I’m super excited to kick off the Fair Fight Championship again this year. It’s always a great way to spend a Friday night, to cheer on your friends, and to push yourself to do your absolute best. 🙌
Become harder to kill.
Many of you know this, but some of you don’t, but I didn’t care at all about fitness until I was 31. I’ve never been athletic, coordinated, or exceptional at anything sport-related. I spent many years in a band honing a skill set and ignoring my health. I ate fast food for every meal and when I didn’t, it was cereal or pizzas out of a box. I ran into a guy who was 66 years old and he was talking about how he was going to watch his only son graduate high school that weekend. I did the math to realize he was 49 when he had him. It seemed irresponsible to me. I asked him why he did that; wasn’t he worried about not being around to see his son succeed and have a family of his own? He scoffed, almost insulted. “I’m fitter at 66 than I was when we had him. You don’t take care of yourself?” “I don’t have to, I’m skinny.” He rolled his eye intensely and uttered “you should start taking care of yourself if you want to live longer and enjoy the times you have on this earth longer.” It was incredibly sobering and kicked off a fitness pursuit filled with a number of stumbles and misdirection due to not having a guide.
Now I get to be the guide. It’s the greatest privilege in my life that you trust me and the other coaches at The Standard with your fitness development. It’s an honor to get to serve each of you and I hope all of you know how committed we are to providing you everything possible for you to live longer and enjoy your time here on Earth more. We study and critique and do our absolute best to have all of the tools to get you where you’re wanting to go. Thanks for allowing us to do that. Thanks for being a part of The Standard. We appreciate the support more than we could ever communicate. Thanks for making it a welcoming and encouraging place, thanks for not complaining, thanks for telling others we care and do a good job for our members. It’s a beautiful thing to behold, when I take the time to do it.
I’m looking forward to seeing all of you this week. If you need anything more than a great class experience, please don’t avoid asking for any reason. See you tomorrow!!
Fall/Holiday Schedule - last day to order Christmas gifts & Standard swag
As we head into the final stretch of 2021, we have a lot of fun things coming up! The year BLEW by, but it seems like we’ve all become fitter, better moving, happier humans, so it’s a successful year. The last couple months we’ll see the Fair Fight Championship return, a holiday party, The Chaos of Christmas, OSUvM game, and more. I’m pretty excited about it.
The official pop-up shop is closed, so hopefully you liked the convenience of picking stuff out. We’ll likely do all new merchandise offerings like that in the future. IF YOU MISSED THE DEADLINE, IT’S NOT TOO LATE …but pretty much too late. You have to let me know ASAP if you want something, we’ll be ordering some for stock in the gym alongside the other orders, so don’t mis out!
SEE ABOVE SEE ABOVE SEE ABOVE SEE ABOVE SEE ABOVE SEE ABOVE SEE ABOVE
Congrats Vargo's! One week only - Pop-up merchandise store!
If you’ve been to a noon class, you’ve met our resident RN, Maghan. Always in good spirits and friendly, there’s nothing bad that can be said about her. She and her new husband Alex were married yesterday afternoon, so congratulations!! We’re all excited to see where you go from here!
You may have noticed we produced some new trainer shirts for our Standard Staff and some of you asked about getting some of your own. Here’s the best solution I could find for that.
Instead of having to guess how many of each size and design and garment, you can simply select what you’d like and they’ll produce it for you and send it to the gym. Holidays are coming, it’s a badass design, your workout shirt game is lacking— whatever the reason… here you go!
It’ll only be available for a week, so do it now, while you’re thinking about it.
DON’T FORGET - if you’re into the shorts we had made, let me know, I have a number of them left.
