Happy Birthday William!

One year ago today we were blessed with William. He is our greatest fan and our gym mascot. He loves the mobility tools and tries to stand up on people's deadlift bars. 

A Gift Guide for Athletes

I get the question often of, "My husband/sister/brother/aunt... is really in to fitness, what should I get him/her for Christmas?" Today I am going to give you some hints for what to get your friends and family that are super in to fitness. So here are our thoughts on gifts to give your athletes!

For the guys:

Under Armour Men's Fleece Storm Pants. Brian wears these almost every single day during the winter season. These are especially awesome because they come in a tall size too! These are super soft and we can attest that they are easy to squat in.

adidas Performance Men's Powerlift.2 Trainer Shoe. Morgan actually owns a pair of the men's shoes (she likes them better than the women's shoes) and she says that they are AMAZING. They give great stability and helped her to work through some mobility issues until she could master the movements barefoot.  

WOD Shorts Agility 2.0. These shorts are cut really well for the athletic body. They are great for cross training and functional fitness. Brian has similar pairs from Rogue Fitness. They are SO much better than trying to train in basketball shorts! 

For the girls:
A tank for women to train in is an awesome investment. We have loved wearing these style tanks in the gym, the fun sayings are just a bonus! 

Knee socks are a great investment. When you are doing a lot of WODs socks to protect your legs are a must have and you can't go wrong with super cute knee socks!

I love the jewelry on Shields of Strength. What girl wouldn't love a shiny necklace that tells the world how hard she works to be fit, healthy and ready to rock?

Equipment: 
Exercise loop bands. As anyone that has been in the gym for a while can tell you, we are BIG believers in prehab and rehab in order to better your mobility. We use these bands in the gym often and they are wonderful. 

A Tone Fitness Ab Wheel. If you are looking to better your Olympic Lifting technique your mid-line is incredibly important. Using an ab wheel three to five times a week will increase your ability to catch and stabilize your lifts. 

A sandbag is a great way to increase your fitness, You can squat it, press it, drag it... the list goes on. If you want to really help someone with their fitness, get them a sandbag and encourage them to use it often!


These are just a few ideas. If you need suggestions or if you have ideas that your athlete has loved share them in the comments below!

What is it like having an in-home gym? How did we decide on this ministry field?

So what does it look like to have an in-home ministry?

Honestly? It can be a little crazy.

We have classes Monday through Saturday. We currently offer 11 classes, not including the times when Brian and I complete our own training. These all happen in our gym, at our home.

Our home is open Monday nights, Thursday mornings, Friday nights, Saturday mornings, and Sunday afternoons for "non-training" ministry events. 

That means in a 7 day week, we have people in our home 16 different times. And that is if no one does a surprise visit or a last-minute-hey-I-need-to-talk visit. 

People ask me often if we ever get tired of it. Don't we ever want a break? The easy answer is yes. Yes, we get tired, sick, worn down, and even burnt out. But for us it all comes down to a verse in the Bible we were studying shortly after getting married. The verse is 1 Peter 4:10 which says, "God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another."

We looked carefully at our gifts, abilities, passions, and strengths. Then we came up with a plan. Brian is an incredible teacher and coach. He can inspire and uplift absolutely anyone. I (Morgan) am made for caring for other people, feeding them, loving on them... 

Needless to say we are a great match. When paired up our gifts and abilities perfectly mesh to meet the physical and spiritual needs of those around us. God REALLY knew what He was doing.

But, we still get tired. We still have days where we don't want to get out of bed. When don't want to coach again, we don't want to have anyone else ask us a single question. That is a normal part of an in-home ministry. It isn't easy. In fact, some days it is incredibly hard and the only thing that gets us through is the grace of God. In-home ministry is hard, but it can be done. God will give you exactly what you need to be able to do what He has called you to. 

And you have to remember, your ministry will look different than ours. You may not have a gym full of people. It may just be you and your kids. It may be the small group of ladies you have coffee with on Tuesday afternoons. It may be the guys you lift with during the week. Find out where God called you to be and get there 100%.  

At Home Workouts

With the holiday season upon us, many people will be missing a day or longer in the gym. It can be super frustrating to try and figure out what to do on your own, so we have given you our list of little to no equipment needed workouts. The one piece of equipment that you'll need is a jump rope, and then you are good to go!

Name	1	2	3	4	5
Amanda	AMRAP 10 min 100 JR 25 squats	AMRAP 10 min 75 JR 20 squats	AMRAP 10 min 50 JR 15 squats	AMRAP 10 min 25 JR 10 squats	AMRAP 10 min 25 JR 5 squats
Anna	AFAP 200 JR 50 squats 50 sit-ups	AFAP 150 JR 25 squats 25 sit-ups	AFAP 100 JR 20 squats 20 sit-ups	AFAP 50 JR 10 squats 10 sit-ups	AFAP 25 JR 5 squats 5 sit-ups
Ashley	AFAP 100 JR 20 BJ 90 JR 18 BJ 80 JR 16 BJ 70 JR 14 BJ 60 JR 12 BJ	AFAP 75 JR 10 BJ 65 JR 8 BJ 55 JR 6 BJ 45 JR 4 BJ 35 JR 2 BJ	AFAP 50 JR 5 BJ 40 JR 4 BJ 30 JR 3 BJ 20 JR 2 BJ 10 JR 1 BJ	AFAP 25 JR 3 BJ 20 JR 2 BJ 15 JR 1 BJ 20 JR 1 BJ 05 JR 1 BJ	AFAP 25 JR 5 STEP 20 JR 4 STEP 15 JR 3 STEP 10 JR 1 STEP 05 JR 1 STEP
Caighla	EMOTM 8min 11 SU 10 squats 9 burpees	EMOTM 8min 9 SU 8 squats 7 burpees	EMOTM 8min 7 SU 6 squats 5 burpees	EMOTM 8min 5 SU 4 squats 3 burpees	EMOTM 8min 3 SU 2 squats 1 burpee
Lea	AFAP 35 squat 07 SU 28 squats 14 SU 21 squats 21 SU 14 squats 28 SU 07 squats 35 SU	AFAP 30 squat 06 SU 24 squats 12 SU 18 squats 18 SU 12 squats 24 SU 06 squats 30 SU	AFAP 25 squat 05 SU 20 squats 10 SU 15 squats 15 SU 10 squats 20 SU 05 squats 25 SU	AFAP 20 squat 04 SU 16 squats 08 SU 12 squats 12 SU 08 squats 16 SU 04 squats 20 SU	AFAP 15 squat 03 SU 12 squats 06 SU 09 squats 09 SU 06 squats 12 SU 03 squats 15 SU
Maranda	EMOTM 7 min 6 burpees 6 lunges e/l	EMOTM 7 min 5 burpees 5 lunges e/l	EMOTM 7 min 4 burpees 4 lunges e/l	EMOTM 7 min 2 burpees 2 lunges e/l	EMOTM 7 min 1 burpee 1 lunges e/l
Morgan	10 AFAP 9 burpees 30 sec plank 10 squats	10 AFAP 7 burpees 30 sec plank 10 squats	10 AFAP 5 burpees 30 sec plank 10 squats	10 AFAP 3 burpees 30 sec plank 10 squats	10 AFAP 5 sprawlers 10 sec plank 5 squats
Shawna	5 rounds for time 30 lunges 30 squats 20 SU	5 rounds for time 25 lunges 25 squats 15 SU	5 rounds for time 20 lunges 20 squats 10 SU	5 rounds for time 15 lunges 15 squats 5 SU	5 rounds for time 10 lunges 10 squats 3 SU
Taylor	8 rounds for time 9 burpees 10 SU	8 rounds for time 7 burpees 10 SU	8 rounds for time 5 burpees 10 SU	8 rounds for time 3 burpees 10 SU	8 rounds for time 1 burpee 10 SU

Progress: The Before and After

In the fitness world you see a lot of skin, that is just reality. It is something that we work on and talk about in the gym often. As a Christian, I believe that your body is an incredible gift that God has given to you and your spouse. So what does that have to do with progress?

Would you go to church in your sports bra and tiny shorts? For most Christian women the answer to that is a solid NO! So why then, do you see Christian women posting pictures of themselves in minimal clothing or even their underwear on social media?

Think about it for a second and you'll realize you see them all the time, especially when the person is selling a "fitness supplement". They post these picture under the heading of "before and after" pictures... and we excuse it in the name of "getting healthy".

Don't get me wrong, I think that before and after pictures are fantastic. I have taken them myself many times. However, I  have a couple of issues to bring to mind before you post your before and after picture. 

First things first, is the picture appropriate to be on the Internet? What I mean here is does it honor God? What are you telling your children about modesty? That it only applies certain times and to certain people... good luck fighting that battle when your teenager wants to wear something "colorful". If you are leading small groups, or mentoring one-on-one and talk about modesty and the importance of being a woman of God do you really think that posting half naked pictures of yourself on the Internet is going to help your ministry? What kind of example are you setting for the new believer that watches your every move? You are telling them that God's rules are conditional and that you can mold them to fit each situation, and that simply isn't true.

Another question along this line that I would ask is what does your spouse think about these pictures? Is it honoring to them? Have you asked him/her if they are comfortable with other people seeing your body in a way that was meant to be shared only between you two? 

Finally, my last question would be why are you doing it? Are you truly posting these pictures to help motivate people that don't think they can do it too? Or, are you just chasing approval on social media? I understand making progress and wanting to tell people about it. But I believe that can easily turn into an idol, and overtime will become a much bigger battle to fight. This is where good friends and wise counsel can help you stay on a good path rather than getting lost down a dark road.

If you are posting before and after photos that are God honoring, spouse honoring, and you are doing it for the right reasons then I say go ahead. Post those photos, encourage one another. But if for even a half of a second you question that this is a wise choice, I urge you to talk to an older, wiser mentor and ask them what they think. It takes seconds to upload a picture that can change your ministry and the way that people see you forever. Don't give in to the pressure to be like others when we were called to stand out.