Anniversary Party 2.0 Recap

The second RISE ABOVE Anniversary Party was truly a wonderful occasion celebrating how much our members and the gym itself has grown in the last year.  It was a day of thanks to my family, friends, and dedicated gym goers for their ongoing support in allowing me to build a gym and career based around what I enjoy most in life.

This year’s Anniversary Party was much like the last one only BIGGER and BETTER.  We had professional chef Javier Montano supply us with a huge variety of healthy and delicious food.  There were more people interested in competing in the Strongman Competition so this year we made it a team competition.  There were four teams representing different groups of people; Firefighters, Police officers, Trainers, and the Evening Crew.  Each team consisted of at least four people and there had to be at least one female on each team.

The Strongman Competition consisted of three events including: Double kettlbell deadlifts for total number of repetitions (40kgs males, 20kgs females), a timed ten-lap Prowler race, and a team medley consisting of 20 pull ups, tire flip, 20 keg (male) or sandbag (female) press, walking lunges, and a sled drag where each person did one event within the medley to combine for the best overall team time.

Kristen from the firefighter team gives a recap of what the day was like for her as a competitor:

“This past weekend I attended the Rise Above Anniversary Party 2.0 and had a blast! For most people a party consists of food, good company and then more food. This party was not as traditional, but then again, nothing at Rise Above is! I competed on the Firefighters team of 5, in the fitness challenge. Once again Doug pushed us to our max by challenging us to three events and having us compete against other teams, including the Cops! Before any food was served, we enjoyed the company of our legs screaming and our hearts pumping out of our chest after kettlebell deadlifts and pushing the Prowler! The competition ended with a great medley of events and a cheering supportive crowd.  After the competition we enjoyed a great feast of yummy food! I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate! Congrats and thanks to Rise Above!”

Here is a video to give you a feel for what it was like:

Each team participated to their fullest potential and the contest was tight.  When the smoked cleared and the points were tallied, there was a tie between the Police and Firefighter groups.  Before we could do a tiebreaker event everyone had already started eating and drinking so the event ended there.  All of the highlight pictures can be seen in the news and events page on the site as well as on the facebook fan page.

I also wanted to thank Logan Christopher from Legendary Strength for competing in Rise Above’s Strong Man Competition for the second year in a row.  After a grueling competition, Logan once again found enough energy to put on a show for the crowd with some Old Time Strongman Feats of Strength.

Logan even demonstrated some incredible kettlebell juggling tricks per everyone’s request.

Logan is a great guy and a wealth of knowledge; if you haven’t already, please check out his Legendary Strength Website.  He even took the time to write his own review of the Rise Above Strongman Competition on his blog here.

This was a truly special day for me and I thank all who came out to compete, eat and support the gym.  In the spirit of thanks I want to acknowledge the people who have done a ton of work for me behind the scenes.  A special thanks must go out to AJ for helping out around the gym with training and to Deb who is the creative genius behind the design and execution of all of the posters, fliers and online work that goes into the business.  I also want to thank my sister Nicole for helping me with the articles for the blog, for taking great picture of the events and for kicking my butt during our kettlebell training.

Lastly I would like to thank all of you who subscribe to the email list.  I greatly appreciate you sticking with me as I try the best I can to provide you with simple and honest training and nutritional insights.  I would never have imagined that I would have the online following like I do and without your support my career would only be an empty shell of what it currently is.  I hope to have all of you come by the gym to visit or compete one day.

Until then, Thanks and Stay Strong.

Tags: competition, kettlebell, strongman

Got My Gym T-Shirts

OK not a long post here but I got my first batch of new T-shirts and I am excited.  Kind of strange to see your business on a shirt, I guess I could have made one long ago, myself but it seems official now.

So look out world if I hit the next level think an action figure is in order.

Tags: Conditioning, Strength, T-Shirts

My Take on the Michael Phelps Saga

As the week progressed more of the story unfolded, punishment was dished out, and a statement made, I must say that I thought everything turned out appropriately for Michael Phelps.

I know a lot of pundits have mentioned that “the incident was not a big deal.”  Maybe it is maybe it isn’t I am not here to judge him, all  I know is that the “cons” of being a famous athlete came out.  Along with the fame, glory, and endorsements comes the life under a microscope.  Seems like there are people constantly there to see if you make that one little slip up and they are quick to call you on it.

It is crazy to think that the line of infamy runs so closely parallel to the one of fame, and it is so easy to cross over and hard to come back.  The diirectin your travel beween lines is also predicated by the idea that being one of the best athletes in the world makes you a roll model.  Is Phelps a great athlete?  Yes.  A good person?  Most likely.  A good roll model  maybe, maybe not.

In my opinion I think that if the rest of us were blessed with talent like his and achieved the same success, we would most likely do something that the public would look down upon so Phelps is no different than us in a social setting. When someone is young and thrusted into a situation of extreme social responsibility, it is very easy to live in the moment for yourself and not think about the millions watching your every move.

Much like Spiderman the famous athlete falls under burden of “with great power comes great responsibilities,” and too bad it is forced upon the athlete because even small slip ups can keep you from doing the things you like to do and also cut into you livelihood.

One night out with some extra curricular activities earned him a 3 month ban and his Kellog’s contract done at the end of the month, and what did Phelps do?  He said “it was fair.”  Instead of complaining or make excuses he took his punishment and looks like he is moving on in a more positive direction.

Michael Phelps might not be the best role model in the world but the way he handled the situation suggests that he is on the right path to being one.

Tags: Michael Phelps