It was September 3rd, 2004. I had just lost my girlfriend (She went back to the Czech rep) and my best friend had booted me out of the green building consulting engineering business I had started……. all on the same day.
I was 33 years old, fat and out of shape (worse than now, I couldn’t do a pullup, 10 years removed from college hockey)
I had no idea what I was going to do with my life. I was in bad shape.
Some of my friends took pity on me and promptly got me drunk. Eventually we ended up in whistler. Somewhere between Bungee jumping and cougar baiting I found myself in a “sweat lodge” (A homemade version made from a tent, a cookie sheet and a piece of hot iron from a camp fire. Try it sometime…works great) with a bunch of kids from Enderbie when someone put a pill in my mouth. The next few hours were quite interesting.
Eventually I left the “Sweat Lodge”. As I was putting my clothes back on I noticed my friend (who eventually became my first partner in Crossfit Vancouver along with Kirk Hollohan…that is a whole other chapter) Andrew Krynen putting on a t-shirt that had this deranged Clown throwing up on the back.
In my state at that moment this “clown” was the most fucked up thing I had ever seen. I knew I had to investigate further.
“Krynen what the fuck is up with that clown on the back of your shirt” I said. “Ohhhh shit, it’s crazy bro, its rings and rowing and running and shit. Its mental ……”. I was immediately hooked by the concept. My life has never looked the same since.
That was over 10 years ago and today is the 10th anniversary of the opening of our first Commercial Gym (Which has since evolved into a “School of Fitness”)
To say the least, it has been a saga of Ulyssean proportion. We (Eunice and Patty) are going to attempt to tell our story over the coming months. It promises to be an entertaining story. ☺ We have a new Website coming out with a new message in June, so we are going to wait until then.
The training and what we have learned in 10 years has guided us in a very distinct direction that we need to better articulate to the world. The history of our community is rich and each person in it has lead us to a greater understanding of ourselves, our training and what works and what doesn’t.
Once our new website is up we will be telling our story and the lessons we have learned along the way. These lessons make up the backbone of our training and our community today. They are important lessons that only experience and wisdom can provide.
Side note: Our new website will be the same template for the over 150 Madlab Group “sister” gyms around the world. Our story continues to evolve and our “sister gyms” will play a big part in the development of “best practices” so that we can continue to give you the best product and service in the fitness industry for the next 10 years.
Having said all that; today is a special day for me, it is a day of reflection. A day to honor and thank all of you who have made my dream possible and for the rich life I have today. Along the way I have found my best friends, my wife and just about every person who I truly trust with my life from this community. Watching all the bonds grow between our members, life long friendships, marriages and now kids running around the place. It warms my heart and gives my life purpose.
Thank You!!!
On July 18th, we want to thank all of you for your contribution to our community, be it year one or ten, we appreciate what each of you brings into our little family. So to celebrate we are throwing an old skool picnic at the beach.
Saturday July 18th – Spanish Banks. BBQ, Volleyball, Bocce, horse shoes, bag races for the kids. Come bring your family and your friends and lets have a great day.
We will be producing 11 chapters to our story, in it we will be introducing a lot of the cast and characters, but I couldn’t resist a few photos I found from the personal training studio I worked at, our first gym and even the parks and rec centers before we opened. Big shout out to my first Client (top row 2nd from right) THE DUKE
See you all ON THE BEACH!!!!
Warm Up:
Coach’s Choice. Incl. John Waynes and cossack squat
Skill/Str:
A. 1.1.1 Sumo Deadlift EMOM, 12 min
B. 3 X 15 Wt. Glute Bridge w/ 3 sec pause
Workout:
100, 80, 60 DU
5, 4, 3 Rope Climb
In the event of a large class, start half of the group on the Workout, while the other half does the Skill/Str.
Optional Finisher:
6 Tempo Ring Dips (3 sec down, 3sec at bottom, 1 second up, 3 sec at top), 3 sets.
If 6 reps is easy add wieght. If 6 reps is a pipe dream add a band.