TUE: February Members of the Month

**P360 OB First 50 Initiative — Limited time enrollment is now open**

Hey, guys. It’s that time again where we recognize two wonderful members whose efforts and behavior stood out in the past month. Please put your hands together for the following his and her awards.

-Jules

Lyndsey Parker

Lyndsey has been a member for almost 4 years. Not only is she an incredible presence in the gym, but also outside. Lyndsey is part of the “Events Team” that brought you Prom, The Beach Clean-Up, and all the other fun events over the past year. She works her butt off in the gym, taking time to address mobility and areas of weakness, seeks out coaching advice, and never has an excuse for anything. It’s been really fun watching Lyndsey through the years, she has such a positive attitude and knows how to have fun even in a rough tier 2. Any time a coach says “Good Job, Lyndsey!” you can always count on a “Thanks Coach!” and a smile, even in the middle of a set of KB swings. We’re also extremely excited to see Lyndsey accomplish her first strict push-ups in the gym since a previous injury had been an obstacle in pushing and pulling strength. We’re so happy to be able to recognize a solid member of gym for both their physical accomplishments and progress, as well as all the good they do in the P360 Community!  Can’t wait to see how the rest of 2018 looks!

How old are you, and where are you from?
I’m 30 years old and I’m a native San Diegan. We do exist!

What do you do for work?
I’m an African Safari Specialist. I create and sell tailor-made holidays to Southern and Eastern Africa.

What do you do for fun outside of P360?
I love to be outside and spend a good amount of time in the mountains or playing beach volleyball. Travel is a big part of my life as well and I spend about a month a year in Africa (working, of course ).

How has P360 affected your life?
P360 brought me back to life! I had to think really hard about this because I’m in such a different place than when I joined the gym. There was nothing particularly wrong with life before the gym, but I felt a bit lost and scattered. I want to emphasize that I don’t think the gym filled any hole in my life, as I feel strongly that someone should feel whole without any outside influence from people or things. It just seemed to help bring balance and drive to my life again. I stated wanting to be better at everything, in and out of the gym. Not to mention I’ve met some incredible people that I’m so happy to be able to call my friends (not just my “gym friends”…Leah…)

What are your favorite, and least favorite exercises?
I’m quite fond of single leg RDLs and walking lunges with a plate twist. I feel like they really challenge balance and core strength as you work through the movements.
Hollow rocks can go to hell.

What is the hardest thing you have done, physically, in the gym?
Fortify! This might sound strange, but this was probably the only thing I worked really hard at finishing even though I didn’t care about it. What I mean is, I’ve always pushed myself in an athletic sense knowing that it would propel me forward in whatever sport I was involved in at the time. There was nothing that I got out of this except for the fact that I was able to physically and mentally push through this.

What is your most proud achievement at P360?
ONE PUSH-UP! Yes, one push-up. I’ve unfortunately had some pretty traumatic injuries and subsequent surgeries throughout my athletic career, and was told after the last surgery that I would never be able to do a push-up or a pull-up again, among other things. I was never actively trying to prove my doctors wrong or anything,* but I had given up on a lot and was really surprised when I found the strength at P360 to actually try for a push-up, both emotionally and physically. So I guess a pull-up is next?!
*Just want to clarify I don’t ever think you should go against any doctor recommendations. The worst thing that could have happened to me from this was a shoulder subluxation (partial dislocation), which happens already and would not have been the fault of my doctor or the gym and would not have injured me further. I alone made the choice to pursue this movement.

What is a hidden talent of yours?
I’m pretty good with voices and accents. My Gollum/Smeagol is spot on and has thoroughly creeped out family and friends. I also once convinced an Australian I was from Australia, so that was cool.

What is an embarrassing fact most people don’t know about?
I’m feeling generous, so here’s two:
I gained a few pounds in college (read: it looked like I ate someone) and one summer my mom told me she was taking me to a spa for a week. It was fat camp for adults.
I once bought a Groupon for laser hair removal and went after my mustache. I was too cheap to buy the extra sessions that actually finished the job, so it grew back…but only half.

If money was no concern, what would be your dream job?
Opening and running animal sanctuaries around the globe.

What is the biggest overall improvement you’ve made, since joining P360?
Honestly, an attitude adjustment. This plays into the below, but I’m continually learning to shift my attitude and push myself for me. I’m a bit ashamed to say that I would purposefully not push myself to my limits because I was afraid if I did and I wasn’t the best/strongest/first to finish/etc. it would feel like failure and I wasn’t ready to accept that. I quickly learned that I am not the strongest or fastest, and I’m actually okay with that.

What is the most valuable piece of coaching you’ve received?
I’m sure we can all attest to the valuable coaching we’ve received at P360, but I’ve found an overall attitude and approach most valuable. P360 coaches have taught me that I don’t need to be the best, I just need to work to be my best. This might sound silly or not make much sense to some people, but I imagine it might resonate with former athletes. Growing up, you play a million different sports, but weed them out for the ones you’re the best at. Some people even reach an elite status because they are one of the best at what they do. It was clear to me from day one at P360 that I will never lift the heaviest or run the fastest (okay, I may have known I would never be the fastest before the gym, but whatever). Being able to work through that mindset and really focus on myself as opposed to anyone around me has been incredibly difficult and something I’ll likely struggle with in one way or another for the rest of my life. Just the fact that P360 was able to create an environment where I was able to explore this and work through this, is incredible to me.

Which public figure or celebrity would you put in the dunk tank?
Larry Nassar. You can go right to hell along with those hollow rocks. You two deserve each other.

What’s your favorite place to eat in San Diego?
Cucina Urbana.

What famous person (alive or not) would you most like to have a drink with and what would you buy them?
I’d buy Jason Segel a beer. It’s not profound or interesting, he’s my number one on my list of “Top 5 People I’m Allowed to Sleep With” and I think buying him a beer would get me one step closer.

If you had one movie on a deserted island what would it be?
Forrest Gump

What’s a funny story from your childhood?
My family used to go to a fancy restaurant on the beach in Del Mar called the Poseidon. We were there for Mother’s Day or Easter or something and my cousin and I decided we wanted to go play on the rocks instead of hang out in the restaurant. For those who don’t know, the Poseidon is located right on the beach and looks out at the water. It’s not quite at sea level and there is a small ledge made up of large rocks to get down to the water’s edge. Those are the rocks we were playing on. I suddenly realized that I had to go to the bathroom. Instead of going inside, my cousin suggested I just go in the rocks. Great idea, right? Couple of issues: I didn’t climb into the rocks where I would have privacy to go to the bathroom. I did not have to go number one…
So I climb up onto the top of the rocks, face to the sea and ass to the bougie restaurant, and take a poop. I wish I could say I was three or four when this took place but pretty sure I was like seven. We don’t go back there.

What’s your favorite naughty food?
A party-sized bag of Ruffles. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but they have ridges.

If you could travel to any point in the past, where would you go?
The Ancient Olympics. I had the pleasure of studying the history of sport at university and was lucky enough to visit Olympia when I was playing volleyball in Greece one summer during high school. The focus of the athlete was on their whole person – mind, body and spirit – which I really admire and feel is often forgotten in modern day sport.

What’s your favorite thing about training at P360?
I feel like I’m part of a team again. A huge, 600+ member and coach team. The support and camaraderie that comes from being a part of a team is so special, and fun, and addicting, and I’m so happy that I’ve been able to find that again with P360.

What is your biggest goal moving into 2018?
I guess I have to go for that pull-up now!

Nate Correia

Nate has been a stellar member of the P360 community for over two years. He is a staple in the midday and early afternoon classes, and one of the friendliest faces in the gym. Nate works hard to complete every workout as intended, always asking questions, looking for feedback, and applying coaching with enthusiasm and without ego. Nate is a very well rounded member, and prides himself on quality of reps. In February we saw Nate make some incredible progress not only in strength, but also muscle endurance, and speed with improvements in his benchmarks over the first part of the year. We are beyond stoked to recognize Nate for all of his hard work and attention to detail, as well as all of the progress and results that continues to yield for him!

How old are you, and where are you from?
18/F/Cali. JK. I am 30, I am from Point Loma, San Diego

What do you do for work?
Massage Therapist

What do you do for fun outside of P360?
Being a true San Diegan, I spend a fair amount of time at the beach. I’ve gotten really into bodysurfing in the last 5 years. I’m very close with my two brothers and my mom, so any time I can spend with them is awesome. My brothers and I can get pretty competitive with our go-kart times. Travelling or going on some sort of adventure that has the proper amount of danger involved is great too. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love humiliating my little cousins in video games.

How has P360 affected your life?
Working out alongside the P360 community has truly humbled me and in turn helped me push myself to be my best. I look forward to working out every day because I love it at our gym. There is something so beautiful about going to a place that fosters such great camaraderie and encouragement. I know that when I walk into the gym and see all of the faces of the people whom I’ve suffered with, it’s going to be a great time. If my body didn’t require a rest day, I wouldn’t take one.

What are your favorite, and least favorite exercises?
Favorite: Scorpion Taps are far and away the best 30 seconds of my life every day. Pull-ups, push-ups, turkish get-ups, all of the Ups, medicine ball slams, wall balls, ring dips, burpees, shooting gym free throws during march madness, and all rope work.
Least Favorites: Cleans, deadlifts, bridge runs.

What is the hardest thing you have done, physically, in the gym?
5,000 Meter row! I had to go into a real dark place for that, and I came out… different. There was also some excruciatingly long bear crawls we had to do at the end of a fortify one time, that was pure torture.

What is your most proud achievement at P360?
Being recognized as a member of the month definitely takes the cake. After that, I was really stoked when I got my first Muscle-Up, I wanted that for a while. Finishing Fortify a couple of times while I was having some pretty bad knee issues. Speaking of that. There was a nurse that was taking my vitals before my knee meniscus debridement surgery. After getting my numbers, she looked up to me and said in a thick Eastern European accent, “I see you’ve prepared yourself extremely well for this.” That made me feel pretty damn good.

What is a hidden talent of yours?
I used to be able to do a human flag on a pole, but I’ve been off the pole for 6 years now so I’ not sure if I still have it in me. I can juggle half decently. I can sing perfectly out of tune. I’m really fast in a go-kart. I have a great imitation of the crosswalk voice that says “Wait!” its truly uncanny.

What is an embarrassing fact most people don’t know about?
Not embarrassing, but most people don’t know that I used to weigh 245 lbs. The majority of people who knew me in high school would not recognize me if they saw me today. When I was 21 this made avoiding people at bars and clubs that used to know me super easy. Now that I have social media profiles, those bloodsuckers are a bit harder to hide from.

If money was no concern, what would be your dream job?
Is professional Merman a job? If not, professional bodysurfer, pizza/burrito food critic, traveler.

What is the biggest overall improvement you’ve made, since joining P360?
Consistency. I’ve dealt with my fair share of injuries since I started to take fitness seriously when I was 18. Removing my ego from certain lifts, modifying when necessary, learning more about my body, and self care are all things I’ve improved upon since joining P360.

What is the most valuable piece of coaching you’ve received?
After getting discouraged with myself for performing an Olympic lift as I viewed suboptimally, Jules looked at me and said, “Hey Nate! Less this (shaking her head side to side), more this (nodding her head up and down)”. I get frustrated with myself a lot and this helps me to look at my failures more constructively.

Which public figure or celebrity would you put in the dunk tank?
Chairman of the FCC and King Douche Ajit Pai

What’s your favorite place to eat in San Diego?
Island Prime C-Level. But to be honest, I’m not in love with any one place when it comes to food. Anywhere that I can eat and look out at the water or a beautiful view, I am happy with. Luckily we’ve got a ton of those here in SD.

What famous person (alive or not) would you most like to have a drink with and what would you buy them?
Not a famous person, but I would like to have a drink with my Dad who passed away when I was young. I’d buy him a bottle of Crown Royal and I’d keep the purple bag.

If you had one movie on a deserted island what would it be?
Gladiator. The way I see it, I’m not going to be on that island for very long. I’ve watched a ton of Naked and Afraid episodes, so I feel pretty confident in my ability to build a raft and get the hell off that island so I can make Muscle class at CP. The movie is just to get me pumped up.

What’s a funny story from your childhood?
My brothers and I finally acquired Street Fighter on the Sega Genesis. We hadn’t had the game for more than a few days when I lost a match to one of my older brothers, Andrew. Feeling cheated that I had lost to repeated jabs whilst being helplessly stuck against the side of the arena, I decided to test out his in-game strategy on him, in real life. So I punched my brother in the head and learned that it was indeed an extremely effective strategy in getting our new game taken away. Forever.

What’s your favorite naughty food?
Pizza with some meats on it, but not pineapples you savages. Also, Mexican food is always great.

If you could travel to any point in the past, where would you go?
It’s a toss up between, WWII Europe, seeing the building of the pyramids in Egypt… or running for my life from some Dinosaurs.

What’s your favorite thing about training at P360?
The coaches with their encouragement and corrections.  I love the detailed walk-throughs and the small adjustments that the coaches will give me throughout a workout. I also feel that they want me to succeed as much as I do. That goes for all members, when we all stop to watch someone attempt a PR, we do that because we want them to hit it and when they do, we share in that excitement. The people who I come to class with and leave puddles of sweat. I’m a competitive person so working out alongside some real ass kickers motivates me to give that extra effort that would be really hard to emulate on my own. The programming. The variety of movements and circuits that we do always keeps things fresh and challenging. Sometimes I finish a workout and think, “I’m glad they made me do that, because there’s no way I would have written that for myself.”

What is your biggest goal moving into 2018?
25 of the sexiest strict pull-ups you’ve ever seen, and leaderboard for Mr. Pink.

Tuesday, 3.6.18

First, for Structure.
1 Rope Pull + Return Reverse Sled Drag
8/s Open Palm KB Press
8/s Non Alt Lunge Jumps
Get 5 Rounds in 25’ Running Clock.
—
Then, For PPB Lactate Threshold 3
*Record Total Time
400m Run
Rest 3’
(x3)