CrossFit Athletic Group

I promise I am not all about the money when it comes to this place. Although now that I think about it, it seems people who really aren't all about [blank] never have to start a sentence with "I'm not all about [blank]". So let me try that again: It is not often when I make a decision with money as the leading factor. There. That's better.

Anyway, with that in mind, I invited Owen Munk to be part of our Summer 2020 roster and I didn't invite Zander. At that point the two brothers could not have been more different; Owen was hardworking and consistent and went out of his way to make sure he stayed up to speed with the group, and Zander only worked hard at the stuff he was good at, had inconsistent attendance, and never really seemed "into it". I was all set to be moving forward with a Zander-less Champions Club. Yet, on the first day of Summer, Owen showed up at the 11 am session (for some random reason) with Zander right by his side and an envelope of cash in his hand for both brothers.

Nine months later Zander is now our Athlete of the Winter and has leg muscles.

The point where Zander officially solidified his spot in the Champions Club came during that sit-up/run workout from August where he had the top time of the day. He was good then but there was a pack of kids like Chase and the Banet brothers who hung with him in the long-duration workouts. But since sometime in December, Zander has really put a significant distance between him and whoever the second-place finisher might be that day. I even counted his reps while he wasn't looking and it's legit.

Once his dominance in long-duration workout was obvious we began working on some other parts of his fitness that needed work, namely the two ends of the speed extreme. He worked slow sit-ups, overhead squats, pull-ups, and deadlifts to get more body awareness and control in trouble positions, and he worked sprints and burpees in short bursts to see if that form held up at the highest speeds. I wouldn't say he's mastered either end yet, but his head is definitely above water and is patient enough to work until he gets it.

Usually this is the point in the post where I say something along the lines of, "what I really like about [blank] is how well they are fitting into our group," and I sincerely mean that every time. Zander has for sure and has become a fan-favorite with the Lamphere dads. But the thing I really, really like about Zander is how coming to the gym has become a habit. There's no Owen to drive him, no classmates from Foley to walk over with him, and yet he is in the gym 7 days a week. It's to the point now where if I don't see him at 9 or 10 am on a Saturday, I know he's coming at 11 am thinking there was a session at that time. He is about as dialed in as anyone could reasonably hope for a high school junior to be.

From what I know, Zander's main athletic passion is not actually running. It's cheerleading. He's been a male cheerleader for the MCLHSAA since 9th grade and he's really found a niche' in that community, and has hopes of making it bigtime on the sidelines of some professional sports team where his short shorts can be excused as part of his uniform.

Okay, I may have made some of that up. But running really isn't his main thing. By all accounts mountain biking is. Him and his dad go on biking adventures all the time, which is how Zander broke his collar bone after the Pirates workout. He's been doing that his entire life and only started to get into running seriously within the last year, so I'm trying to convince him to give the college cross country thing a look. But either way, this winter has really seen Zander build some great fitness habits that he can carry on through the rest of his life. Hopefully the Champions Club will be a part of that. My favorite people are the ones who prove me wrong and Zander put himself on that list for sure. Really proud of you youngster!

...........

This has been a really interesting winter for me in terms of the big picture of this business. The thing I still go back-and-forth on is the two-week hiatus we did early in December. If that didn't happen, the Christmas Workout would not have happened because of close contacts and all that, but it also took some extra effort to get the momentum back on track after that, and to regain some trust. I'm still not really sure what the best decision is there, but I'm doing a better job now of leaving that where it happened.

Speaking of the Christmas Workout, it set an all-time record for attendance at a single session and introduced a new format and had the best food yet and also was the only time I can remember the gym thermostat displaying a number in the 30's. I thought the Thanksgiving and Super Bowl workouts went really well also. My favorite workout was probably the snow fight, though.

Another thing I go back-and-forth on a lot is what to do about New Kids. As I'm typing this there is a checklist of sorts that I look for and it's probably going to change as I experiment with it. Either way, I want to make sure the people we bring in match the vision I have for this place, and I can promise the only two families we let in this winter are absolute keepers. Sam and Sarah Curtis were November additions and the Cavataios came in February. Both came from Mrs. Teri (Mr. Mark was also half from Mr. Gjon) and she has been doing mobility and workout sessions with me also.

There are two groups that occupy most of my mind-wandering: the Monkey Exhibit and our Sunday middle school group that really isn't in middle school but we call then that anyway. I think both groups could be special, not only with athletics but also with the community they foster. We saw a glimpse of that last month and there will surely be more to come. I'm not exactly sure what's the best thing to do with them yet, so for now I just try to let them be themselves and learn what I can.

Thank you guys for a great winter. It was freezing in the gym with the garage doors always open and I really appreciate the tolerance you all have. Mr. Kuiper, any of the Vans, and Mrs. Burton were all in serious consideration for Athlete of the Winter too. Bring on the spring!