The Process
the story
I was standing in a golds gym in bozeman, montana when a friend sidled up next to me; he nodded towards a couple of guys strapped into the pec-deck…. we had seen them here before, always working their routine; chest and bi’s day, back and legs, shoulders and tri’s. 4 exercises each muscle, 3 sets of 10 with a splash of cardio. same machines. same time… my friend, he nods towards these guys and asks me about consequences. he asks me what affect working on these machines, the same program day in and day out might have on a persons personality. linear movement. isolation. tracks. safety. how, he asks, does this affect their problem solving ability? he asks me if i think these guys are getting more conditioned than they are aware of. he asks me this, and walks away.
our conditioning determines our reality. a simple truth dropped on me that same week in montana. those simple words turned out to be the entrance into the rabbits hole. physical condition governs possible and impossible, separates game from sport from test from impasse. physical conditioning is the exchange rate in which we trade work for results. physical conditioning, however, can only get us so far. our mental and emotional (spiritual) conditioning governs how we see the world, how we react to stress, to joy, to competition and to failure…. we condition ourselves through language, through thoughts, through every unconscious action, we reinforce where we are at the moment.
i guess the question is where do you want to be? it is so widely accepted that competition and sport is 10% physical and 90% mental, but does your training reflect this? do you have standards ? was that last rep “good enough”? what exactly are you conditioning? look to the alpine climbers for inspiration, 99% of a pull-up means you fell off the mountain and died. 100%, anything less is simply not. have standards. condition integrity. work smart. work with a partner. build trust and keep each other honest. learn that failing in front of someone is not the end of the world. that failing in the gym is better than failing in the real world. court failure, get to know your limits, the signposts of physical and emotional collapse. condition yourself to adapt to new situations. full range of motion conditions your flexibility. change directions. to go a little further than you once thought possible. develop a workout that actually scares you. just a little, just enough that you have to face the physical symptoms of panic. fear creates a clarity. a focus. savor it. experience it. control it. if you use all the knowledge you have, all the ass in your jeans, and a little grace from god you just might pull through. what, do you think, are the long term consequences of facing panic and overcoming it with hard intelligent work? what exactly are you conditioning? its not just what you do, but how (and why) you do it…
this is the 90%.
this is where philosophy has consequences.
raise the bar.
– the station.
Assessment
all trainees begin with a consultation to make sure we are a good fit for each other – to discuss goals, means, timelines and pitfalls.
Program Design
after the assessment our instructors work to form a comprehensive and flexible strategy to achieve our goals.
Milestones
programs demand error correction – measurements and tests, however arbitrary will be implemented and administered.
Support Structure
time in the gym is only a small part of the process – measures are taken to address an individuals diet, recovery, and social well being.
Psychological Focus
the mind is primary. training is designed to address that fact – to stress the applicant mentally as well as physically in order to affect meaningful change.
Research
we are not so arrogant as to assume we have the answers to all your questions – what we do have is the curiosity, the network, and the understanding to find the solution that best suits your needs.
Deliberate Growth
variable stress - consistent adaptation
Agents
who we are
goal oriented
it is better to be useful than liked
BRUTAL
honesty above all
we train athletes and artists. fighters and climbers. players and gamers. the thread that binds us together is we train individuals willing to go the distance. willing to commit. willing to risk who they are right now for who they may become. we work “in relentless pursuit of the next iteration of self”. we care less what an individual can pick off the ground than we do about what they are willing to leave on the floor….
we train hard. that is the only way to grow. do not misunderstand, hard means different things to different people (and at different times). it is varied, sometimes elusive, and profoundly personal, and we will do our very best to ensure no corner goes unexamined, no pain un-found. hard is often doing exactly what we dont want to, hard can mean taking a day off, hard means taking on the things that scare us most, the things that are most likely to cause failure. we court failure. we expose weakness in ourselves and in each other because only in this cruel light can we correct the imbalances and challenge our very definition of possible and impossible.
we train the big picture. we train emotion. we train reaction. we train response. we train flexibility. we train diet. we train recovery. we train responsibility. we train problem solving. we train the Will. this is the beauty of allegory; flexibility and conditioning… confidence and humility. hard work and deep breaths. efficiency and accountability.
we train for objectives. the gym is the gym. it is a laboratory. a church. we pray and we sacrifice, we do our time gladly with the knowledge that we will be rewarded. there is no glory in these halls, no posturing. no trophies or egos… we gather together as a community, lay bare our weaknesses in the hope they will be “forgiven”, and each night the confessional is cleaned and the pyres are readied for another offering.
we train the serious. the dangerous. the dedicated – we train yogis and housewives. fighters and rockstars…
we train the workers. we train the willing.
Self Actualization
action breeds understanding
details
there is no such thing
5000
square feet
132
individuals
3
dedicated instructors
365
days a year