Never Miss a Monday

Never Miss a Monday

This is my commitment: “Never miss a Monday”. It is my motivation and gets my week off to a good start that carries through for the rest of the week. I’m not new to fitness. You name it, and over the years, I can virtually guarantee you that I’ve done it all. In my...

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The Beauty of Showing Up

Back in the day when multi-sport athletes were the norm and scholarships were still available to hard working athletes (and not just the freakishly talented), I was a Division I volleyball player. Squats, cleans, and box jumps have been part of my routine since I was...

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The Leapfrog

Simon said, “it starts with why”. Although, you don’t really care about my why. Because it is my why. It is personal. Intrinsic. The only true judgment of value is through the exposition of my how. In that, we live in intimate intersections. Crossroads without traffic...

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Sweet. Sassy. Sweaty

We found an interesting recipe: What do you get when you take two scoops of “competitive runners”, mix with two busy lives and flavor with a sprinkle of empathetic wit? You’ll get two mid-career CrossFit athletes who have restructured their lives, created a new...

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Shame & Conditioning

Shame & Conditioning

Most adults start their fitness journey from a point of unhappiness. Displeasure. Guilt. Some even hate themselves. When the barrel is full, we commit to action. We explode out of our pockets ready to change what shames us. We are fueled by the negative perception of...

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“Nakuona”

It’s Swahili, and it translates to “I see you”. I see you for who you are. The effort you put forth. The support you lend to others. I see you for the paths you are willing to forge on your own. The growth you experience through your own trials, and the encouragement...

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Confidence.

When I first looked into joining The Athlete Lab or as the members call it, TAL, all I wanted was to prepare for the fire department physical test. However, I ended up gaining a lot more than I expected. Let me tell you how. The fabric of our community rests with each...

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Re(dis)covered.

Hiya folks, My name is Vicki and I am a member of The Athlete Lab, or TAL as members call it. Alongside a bunch of great people, I started at TAL during a special program. The program was built for beginners to regain their fitness, nutrition and functional lifestyle....

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Who’d You Rather Be With?

There are plenty of people who talk about the importance of why, and then there are those who show you their how. Society has applied its norms to the methods in which we are demonstrating our commitment to “how”. We, who are prone to (accidentally) pass judgment upon...

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From Impossible to Possible

I’m not sure what made me click on the ad that popped into my Facebook news-feed back in May of last year. I don’t even know which of my Facebook friends had liked The Athlete Lab. But there I was, sitting on my back patio in the spring sun, scrolling mindlessly...

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You’ve Got Balls…

You’ve Got Balls…

At any point in time, you are juggling any number of balls. The balls of profession, balls of health, family, friendships, integrity and honesty. By nature, each ball has a different consistency and base materials of which they are made from. It is factually...

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Age is a number. Willpower ignores that number.

Frequently, we read about adults who have changed their lives around. We applaud them, because inside all of us is a little bit of them. Social media serves us with images of high-level athletes who compete while showing incomprehensible determination, strength and...

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Pre-diabetic to CrossFit

"It took the pre-diabetes to wake me up, and the right eating for me to finally get on the correct path."  I started at TAL in October of 2015, in the six week boot camp.  I was 54 years old, 10 months into my second knee replacement, and well into menopause. The...

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With your Back Against the Wall

With your Back Against the Wall

Since the dawn of human time, we are programmed to resist change. Change is uncertain. Change can be dangerous. It can be a source of ambiguity, or worse yet, a source of failure. It makes perfect sense that we favor familiar environments, routines, and perceived...

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The Value of Time

The Value of Time

What is your time worth? We review products on Amazon or social media. We talk about companies and we reflect upon our experiences. It's not only that we state how we felt about it, but in unspoken terminology, we describe whether our time was well invested or wasted....

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Mother of three. Genetic Counselor. Athlete.

“There were so many things that I wouldn’t even try because I just assumed that I couldn’t do them or that it wasn’t “me,” but now I am starting to realize that I can do hard things; that I am strong.” The fabric of our community rests with each individual member. If...

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5 Considerations Before You Select a Gym

Not all gyms are equal. Far from it, actually. Granted, most look the same way, have rows of machines, or as in our case, no machines but rigs, rowers, and other equipment. But that's only what you see when you step in. To select your future 'home away from home',...

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Muscles For Breakfast

Muscles For Breakfast

4 Muscle-Building Breakfasts (and Mark Rippetoe Wisdom) Strength is one of the ten domains of fitness, defined as “the ability of a muscular unit, or the combination of muscular units, to apply force” (CrossFit Journal).  Did that definition just give you flashbacks...

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Virtuosity – The Art of Injury Prevention.

We get excited, especially when we are close to mastering a skill, or when starting out, or when we notice great progress. Often times, we can 'wrestle' our way into a pull-up, or squat that extra ten pounds if we just put a little oomph into it and sacrifice a little...

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Napping 101 – there is science behind the nap!

Napping 101 – there is science behind the nap!

According to the National Sleep Foundation, humans are part of only 15% of mammals who segregate their days into sleeping and being awake.  The rest of our mammalian cronies have multiple awake and sleep periods a day.  Think of your pet's life; that’s what we’re...

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Attitude Adjustment

“Well, I guess I have to go work out…” “Aww… do we have to do strict pull ups?” “Coach, why do we have to run 400 meters? 200 is good, isn’t it?” Is this you at the gym?  I know that sometimes it’s me... and while it’s easy to slip into this frame of mind, it’s...

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4 Tips for Healthy Minnesota Camping Meals

4 Tips for Healthy Minnesota Camping Meals

Here is a guest post from one of our members and previous coaches, Beth! Camping in the summer is an American staple vacation. We're going to fill you in on how you can go about eating healthy, while being out in the wilderness! Whether you're packing several miles to...

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Beating the exercise blues

When you first started working out, everything was challening but new and exciting.  The people, the energy, the movements, all the things you didn’t know you could do but now have done repeatedly make you feel invigorated (but exhausted) and ready for more each day....

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5 Foods our coaches stack in their fridge

5 Foods our coaches stack in their fridge

It’s inevitable… you’re going to eat the food in your house sooner or later, and in the case of the busy, the stressed, or the hangry (that’s right, HANGRY), it’s probably sooner.  Each bite you take is either going to be a chomp towards better health and fitness or...

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You Turned Type-2 Diabetic. Now What?!

You Turned Type-2 Diabetic. Now What?!

What’s It Gonna Take? Guest post by one of our members. Thank you for sharing your story, Michael! Each person is motivated by an event, some form of circumstance or situation. I’m no exception. To finally answer my "what's it gonna take?", I first had to take a hit...

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9 Ways to Stabilize Your Blood Sugar for Everyday Life

9 Ways to Stabilize Your Blood Sugar for Everyday Life

Lately, there's a lot of talk about blood sugar stabilization. This is especially true for people who are pre-diabetic or already diagnosed with diabetes 2. However, what most don't know, is that blood sugar stabilization also matters for individuals who are nowhere...

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The Fastest Way to Lose Fat with Minimal Time Investment

The Fastest Way to Lose Fat with Minimal Time Investment

 We’d like to be fitter not fatter, more trim than loose, and want to feel self-confident, not self-conscious. Ideally, we want all this to get done with as minimal of timely investment as possible. The problem here is: Time. It’s that precious commodity, that as a...

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