As most of you know, this week is the first IA Spirit Week! This will consist of different themes throughout the week that athletes can participate in! On Saturday, athletes will join Matt and Coach Jen for our 10 Year anniversary WOD! Both have been here since the start of the gym and deserve to be celebrated for all the hard work, sweat and tears that they’ve put in. Coach Jen was even in Matt’s first fundamental class. Today’s newsletter will go through some of the ups and downs that IA went through to get to where it’s at now.
Expansion
Matt opened the doors to Industrial Athletics on April 1st, 2013. The original building was a warehouse around the corner from where we reside now. A few years later after the membership started to grow, we moved into our current building. As industrial continued to grow, we expanded the class floor space by removing a wall. This allowed us to increase class sizes. Shortly after this, Jen and Matt realized that it may be wise to find some new coaches to help with the membership. That’s when four new coaches got their Level 1 CrossFit certifications and began coaching!
Covid-19
Once covid hit, the gym was forced to shut down. This was an unexpected blow to the gym as it was for most businesses. IA was closed for three months during this time. We ran virtual classes every day and tried to keep members as engaged as possible. Inevitably, this was the start of a new chapter for the fitness world. Things were changing and we had no choice but to adapt. Before we could reopen the gym, we ran classes outside at a local park. This allowed members to see each and workout in a community once more. In June, Industrial Athletics finally opened back up. This was the introduction of squares, masks, and intense cleaning while working out.
Post Pandemic
The pandemic introduced us to not only new athletes but a new way of training. Private training was introduced at IA. This allowed athletes to get 1:1 training to achieve their goals without the pressure of a group setting. We also expanded our fundamentals program to 12 days which helped members transition into class with more confidence. The private training program has added much value to IA’s offerings over the past few years. It has also given members great results and increased athlete goals.
Present Day
Today, IA looks a lot different than it did when we first opened. We still offer fitness to our athletes and stive to make the membership better each day by leading by example. Coach Leslie has stepped into the GM role. She manages new member intros and fundamentals, private and group training, as well as client relations and memberships. Moving forward, she will be taking the responsibilities that once belonged to Matt. The group coaching staff consists of Head Coach and Client Success Manager – Jen, Kaela, and our newest coach Jenn McNamara. They are all focused on keeping you safe, helping you reach your goals and pushing you to be the best version of yourself inside and out of the gym. We also want to say a special thank you to all of our members. We couldn’t have made it this far without you! Cheers to 10 Years!!
