Proud athlete dons bathing suit

by Tyler Quinn

Ah, yes. The fourth of July. One of the best weekends of the year for our fantastic country. A weekend full of family, food, friends, boating, fireworks, sunshine, and relaxation. Like a lot of others, I’m fortunate enough every year to spend a good deal of the holiday out on the water with family. And the thought of being out on the pontoon with a brat and a beer – yes, that’s right – got me thinking about our membership base, and what it means to train at Alchemy going into a holiday weekend like this.

Many of you will be donning a bathing suit this weekend, maybe for the first time this season, and for some, the first time since starting Alchemy or maybe even the 365 Challenge. What will you notice about yourself? What will you say inside your own head when you look in the mirror for the first time?

Truth is, if you’ve been training with us for over a month or two, then it is a biological certainty that your body, whether inside or outside or both, is different than it was before. Though perhaps it doesn’t apply to our entire community, I can say with confidence that before Alchemy, many of our members never once in their lives considered themselves athletes. No more. Before Alchemy, dieting was a means to a body image, as opposed to a means to an athletic performance level. No more. Before Alchemy, many of our community members considered only cardio, and never strength when they thought through gym memberships and different workouts. No more.

Every single day, I have the amazing privilege of seeing swaths of people come through our doors, proud to be an athlete, excited to express their athletic potential, prepared to lift and jump and do countless pull-ups (banded or not), on the way toward obtaining a body which isn’t meant to look a given way, but rather, is meant to perform a given way. I get to be involved with a lot of cool things in this business, but watching that transformation take place is among the very coolest.

This fourth of July, when you have a minute to yourself, when you’re standing in front of the mirror with your suit on ready to go out and catch some rays say this to yourself.

Because of the work I’ve put in, I’m an athlete. I’m proud of the muscles I’ve earned, and proud of the calluses I’ve earned, and proud to be what I am, and excited of where I’m going.

You may not be in your own personal end zone yet. There may still be work to do. But as I said before, if you’ve been training with us, then the ball is moving. And it only moves by way of your ferocious effort, your sweat, your sore arms and exhausted legs and burning lungs and this fourth of July you should be damn proud of all of it. All of your coaches certainly are.

This holiday weekend, post your very best photo of you (and your friends) flexing for the camera on Facebook or Instagram with the hash tag #alchemyathlete, tag Alchemy in the post, show us at the front desk next time you come in and receive a five dollar retail credit on your account.

Be safe. Have fun. Happy 4th, Alchemy.