Forge Performance NW

ADULTS ONLY.

It still boggles my mind the insane amount of GARBAGE "programming" being sold at record rates in the fitness industry. Everyone is now an expert in selling you the answer to your lacking strength and conditioning with their 30-day fad programs, 45-day fixes and individual workout challenges/competitions. Most of the "successes" in these programs are in spite of the program not because of it.

I am not glib to the fact these have always been a presence in fitness.

It is clear the trend of selling "6-week this" or "90-day that" are the only conversations being had and promoted through these channels. There are a few grownups in the room, like and and who are pushing back against this tidal wave...but folks like us are losing.

My good friend, a Yoda-level Oly coach, used to say, "nothing new has been invented in fitness since the Greeks," and he was right. NOTHING you see on this platform is revolutionary or a "secret" that only that huckster selling it knows. This industry is built on profiting from you being a desperate, uneducated sucker that will pay a LOT for your salvation to be handed to you.

The programming and coaching I do for first responders, military and general civilians is a synthesis of everything I have learned from all the names I listed above as well as my real-world and academic background. I have never given a damn about chasing the sales dragon in fitness and never will. This gives me with the freedom to program and EDUCATE people who want to take the correct path forward.

I received this message a few days ago from someone I have been working with 100% remotely in the ecosystem. You can read for yourself what he achieved. If you read between those lines you will see that NONE of it came from some truncated plan, just consistent work day after day to EARN his award and finish at the top of his academy class. His closing statement "Time to keep grinding" is the answer to how EVERYONE should view training.

Be an adult. Educate yourself. Ignore the bu****it trends. Just do the next thing. Don't fu***ng quit.

PRIVILEGE

This word has been weaponized by so many people in the last few years it has transformed into something today that denotes a person or group’s toxicity, poison or…dare I say…evil.

You know what is impossibly ironic though? It is because of PRIVILEGE these overly loud troupes of idiots can become so polarizing and conflict-happy.

PRIVILEGE is what gives them the ability to be publicly stupid without fear of being stoned to death for dissenting opinions. PRIVILEGE is what gave them the technological platforms with which they can spread their message…no matter how astute or stupid.

PRIVILEGE is also what 56 men and countless women behind the scenes had 247-years ago today when they signed the Declaration of Independence. Everyone who signed and supported that document had the PRIVILEGE of making their own decision and choice to take a stand against England and declare the United States of America would be a land of FREEDOM.

FREEDOM to choose, right or wrong, the paths an individual would walk in their life. The FREEDOM to work together with fundamentally opposed persons to reach a middle ground. To be able to look across the aisle from someone you vehemently disagree with, and yet still have respect for and work with, as a fellow Citizen of the greatest nation ever because of our overwhelming commonalities.

Whether you were born in this country, immigrated or snuck in, you are PRIVILEGED to be here because of our FREEDOM. No other country in human history has come close to the levels of success and social progress as this one. That is something we need to remember as we head into year 248.

Flying our brother’s flag in our gym, a flag which saw dozens of deployments in active war zones across the globe over the last 20+ years, is a PRIVILEGE for us because of what it represents…those who have willingly given the greatest sacrifices imaginable over the last 247-years so that we may have the FREEDOMS we live under daily.

It is time we start taking this PRIVILEGE seriously again and use it to build more ideological bridges, “hand in hand across the nation” so the next 247-years can be even greater than the first.

Happy birthday America🇺🇸