Sixth Anniversary Party Recap

I find it hard to believe it has been six years since I first opened Rise Above Performance Training and last month we held our famous anniversary party. The party is not only a time for celebration but a time for me to show my gratitude to our clients, family and all the people who support what I do.
This past year was a huge milestone for the business because it also celebrates being in the new space for one year. This new space might simply seem like an upgrade for clients with new paint and more room to move around, but for me it is much more.

This is a sign of progress. I have always taken a conservative approach to business with my motto being never to make any huge financial mistakes. I realize mistakes will be made, I am myself after all, however I realized that I could not move until the time was right and financially feasible and this past year the time was right.
With this progress I am constantly moving more towards my goal of having a place to treat all adults and athletes who are looking for the best in training now with recovery options. Along with adding Stretch Therapy I was finally able to incorporate a physical therapy component to the gym by adding Jeff from MoveWell Physical Therapy and things could not be going any better. We are able to reach out and help more people with their physical needs and that is the whole goal for the business and who I want to be as a trainer.

The Anniversary Party is a celebration of these improvements and this year was another huge success. We started like we always do with the Strongman Competition where two teams of three participants competed in three different events to try and become the 2014 Champions.

The Strongman Competition consisted of three events. The first was a five-minute single kettlebell push press competition where the participants tried to get as many repetitions as they could in five minutes and they could only switch hands one time. The weights were as follows: men 24kg, women 12 or 16kg depending on their strength level. Overall everyone did great and we had one exceptional lifter, Ivette, complete 112 repetitions with the 12kg. With her marks, she advances to the 16kg kettlebells next year for sure!

The second event was a timed relay consisting of tire sledgehammer slams, sled pushes and kettlebell farmer walks. One competitor had to complete 10 repetitions of sledgehammer slams, on one side of the tire then quickly push the sled 50 feet (weight 150lbs men low handles and women high handles) back and forth, hit the tire 10 times on the other side then walk 50 yards with two kettlebells in the low position (men 36kg, women 24kg). When one of the team members finished the next one went until all of them completed for their total time.

The final event was a team medley where one person performed their best two events. Events included 10 pull-ups (men bodyweight, women with a band), two kettlebell get ups on each side (men 24kg, women 12kg), ten kettlebell snatches on each side (men 24kg, women 12kg), medicine ball overhead slams, (men 50lbs, women 25lbs), sandbag walking lunges (men 70lbs, women 50lbs.) tire flip 50 feet.

I’d like to congratulate all of the teams and each of the participants for making it a memorable event. Congratulations to Drew, Ivette and Lee for winning this year’s event.
I am truly amazed and thankful for another great year of Rise Above Performance Training and I owe it all to the members and to the people who help me out behind the scenes. Special thanks goes out to Jeff of MoveWell for coming on board this year to bring high quality physical therapy to Rise Above and to Debra who is the creative genius behind the design and execution of all of the posters, fliers, monthly newsletters and online work that goes into the business. I also want to thank my family for their continued support and especially to my sister for helping me with the articles for the blog and other publications.

Lastly, I would like to thank all of you who subscribe to the email list. I greatly appreciate you reading my articles and watching my videos. I do my best to provide you with the best strength and conditioning insights. I would not have lasted four years without the support of my subscribers. I hope to have all of you come by the gym to visit, lift or compete at the next anniversary party.