I hope everyone is enjoying waking up to what is going to be a beautiful day. It’s been about a week or since we sent a note out. Just wanted to give you guys a quick update and some thoughts, as well as of course ask for your feedback on what we can do to better serve you all within reason of our abilities/facilities.

Business Timeline

As of right now the state mandate that is in place currently keeps us closed until April 15, the middle of next week. However we are under the impression the Governor will come out this week to push this mandate back to at least fall in line with the Federal guidance of April 30th. While we hope that timetable will actually happen, and we will be able to go back to work and a more normal life the first week of May, Dani and myself are completely prepared and of the understanding that this very well could go longer.

So as we look ahead to at least the next 4 weeks we plan to continue what we’re doing. Programming will continue to be posted, we will continue writing for 3 columns of programming and will now be putting up the strength/accessory side of things for a new Power block of programming. We are working to keep the new Power work in line with a class time-line so that those of you who are still at normal jobs/work and only have 60 minutes to train can get everything in.

Looking ahead to re-opening the business we feel there is something important that you are all mindful of in terms of how CVCF will function when we open back up. We are preparing for the fact that when we do open we will likely be limited in how we run our business in terms of the number of bodies in the building. If this is mandated upon opening, we are hoping it doesn’t go on for too long, but please be aware we feel there is a high likelihood that when we do open we will be limited as to the number of people we can have in the gym at a single time. This will mean athletes will have to sign-up for classes ahead of time and class sizes will be capped. We’re prepared from a systems standpoint for this, as we can require class sign-up through Push Press, however this does mean we could be looking at adding some additional class times as well as trying to work with having one class inside and a slightly differently structured class outside given we’re coming into warmer seasons. We just want you all to be aware that this is very much a reality and will require a little more work, timing, and planning from all of us, however hopefully only for a short period of time.

As we’ve been getting a lot of e-mails from you all, showing your support and sending us info we thought we’d keep you in the loop. We’ve been trying to apply for a PPP loan which would allow us to put our employees back on payroll and essentially get our business almost back to where it was. At this point in time however we’ve been turned down by the initial bank we reached out to because we aren’t regular clients/members of the bank, and are now trying to work with some of the other banks we had also reached out to who we do business with. It seems however unfortunately there is still lots of information not there, and many banks are holding off for the moment. We’re hoping we can get one of these loans before the money runs out as it seems other banks that we unfortunately don’t do business with are processing these loans. We know many of you work in the finance field, if you have any suggestions or know of banks that would work with us without currently being a client please feel free to let us know, as currently this our best lifeline for keeping CVCF as whole as possible.

As we continue through this period of time we continue to ask that if you’ve borrowed equipment that you keep your membership on as fee for gear rental and programming, if you’re just following the programming you can sign-up for just our programming access, and for those who have generously decided to just keep their membership billing because the gym is so important to them that’s great to and we appreciate the generous support from everyone. We’re hoping that you all don’t have to deal with this for more than two billing periods and hopefully we can get back to normal next month. If you’ve found yourself in a tough financial position and can no longer afford to pay, PLEASE reach out to us so we can help out. Just as many are helping us, we want to be able to help those who also need help as well.

Your Health

As we continue through this unprecedented time we can’t emphasize enough about taking care of yourself both physically and mentally. As quick re-cap some easy and simple things you can do to keep yourself healthy at a time when a strong immune system and a strong mindset can be of utmost importance.

• Sleep – Try and get yourself for one on a set schedule. If you have the ability to do this try and make it happen…I know this has been the one positive for Dani and myself since we’ve been home, the ability to go to bed and get up at the same time every day, no need for alarm clocks. It feels quite nice to be able to sleep 8 hours a night on the same timeline, instead of 5 hours, 10 hours, 6 hours, 8 hours like our normal schedule. Do your best to make this happen…another way I’m a big fan of from a health standpoint when it comes to sleep, try and be awake, up and about when the sun is up, and be in bed when the sun is down. If you’re consistent with your schedule, you likely don’t need an alarm clock, I’ve woken up within the same 15 minute window for the last 2 weeks because I’ve been going to bed at the same time every night.

• Food – In some ways this is tough. I know for me personally I’m definitely a stress eater and go to junk when I’m having tough days. At the same time, right now poses a unique opportunity to eat well. Since we’re not supposed to be out and about except for crucial items, just don’t buy bad food, don’t put it in your house, when you’re at the grocery store don’t pull it off the shelf. Doesn’t mean you need to be a complete zealot, but I’m a pretty big fan of the 80/20 rule. If 80% of the calories in your diet are coming from healthy, unprocessed, home-cooked foods, you’re probably in great place, and that leaves you with a place to fill in something that might not be the best, but help keeps your sanity and allows you to find some pleasure in the food. In addition, when it comes to eating healthy, remember eating healthy doesn’t have to be boring, plain, not tasty. Think about the foods that you really enjoy that are healthy, my guess is there is something that is good for you that you actually really like. For me there are a few go to meals, that are healthy and if they’re ever placed in front of me I’m more than happy. I LOVE big salads, throw the whole kitchen sink in there, a bunch of veggies, some cheese, meat, hardboiled eggs, maybe a little dried fruit or nuts, with a good balsamic, super healthy, packed with lots of micro and macro nutrients, 5-10 minutes prep time or less, you could slap this in front of me everyday and I’d eat. Bowls are a go to for us as well, Dani is especially fond of them…good one for me is a breakfast bowl, scrambled eggs, small amount of potatoes, some meat and cheese, sautéed veggies, again 10-15 minute prep time, easy to make, another good one we eat often is a Mexican style bowl, a small amount of rice, some greens, drop some meat and cheese, and load with additional sautéed veggies, salsa, avocado, etc. Bowls are great, simple, easy to make, and pack a punch. Last one we hit a lot is steak, salad, and some sweet potatoes, again super easy to make and make well, and something I think most people find enjoyment in.

• Exercise – We know that it’s super important to stay strong, fit, and active. Generally we see as people age, they age faster, and often loose their mental sharpness quicker the less active they are. Our business is in getting people fit and helping to make their lives healthier and more able, so we obviously want to see you guys training. With that said, that doesn’t mean you guys have to be zealots and crush yourself 5-6 days/week. For some people that works, they need it more mentally than anything and exercise is almost like a drug for many. For others it doesn’t have to be the extreme end, it could be just a few days/week. For me personally I’ve usually found my best health/fitness with 3/days week of hard CF training, another day of just strength work, and then trying to get outdoors for some aerobic exercise a couple of days/week, while fitting some mobility/stretching work in a few days a week. Find what works for you, it doesn’t have to be the extreme to be affective, just like eating doesn’t have to be 100% to be highly affective. At the same time if you workout 1 day a week, you can likely have similar expectations to having your diet be 20% quality and 80% poor food choices. There needs to be some consistency and relative frequency in what you’re doing to be affective.

• Mindset – Arguably the most important for last as it in many way’s dictates all of the above. What can often be hard is that all of the above items help to make you physically healthy, which in turn makes you feel good and helps put you into a good mindset and mental space. At the same time if you’re not in a good mindset it can be incredibly difficult to get these things started and get out of your own way. Especially during these difficult times I don’t think I can emphasize enough to focus on what you CAN do and what you DO have. As we’ve discussed here and there in videos, and writings, much of your mental state comes from where you choose to focus your mental energy. So, as you move through your days, focus your energy on what you do have and not what you don’t, focus on the opportunities you do have not the ones you don’t, focus on the health you have and the opportunity to make it better, not the downsides of whatever you may have physically, make the choice to be positive about what you have in your life instead of focusing on the negatives of what you don’t have, what someone did you once upon a time, what situation wasn’t fair, take each moment in your day to focus on the task/opportunity at hand and find the positive in it and not the negative and you’ll likely find yourself in a very healthy state.

That’s it for the moment, we hope you are all navigating these days the best you can. If there is anything we can do for you, please reach out and let us know. We are incredibly thankful for all of the continued support of our “quarantine business” and look forward to being able to get back to normal life. While I don’t think we have too many in our community falling into this group, if you don’t think things are serious, below is a quote taken from an e-mail I exchanged with one of our CVCF members who is on the front line, or rather as I read yesterday, the last line as we are all now the front line of support and protection by keeping ourselves at home.

“Hi Jade, Thank you so much. Honestly, I’m not doing great. Yesterday at work was awful. A sight I can not describe.  I scanned 6 covid patients before noon. It’s complete chaos.  We are having to reuse all PPE. It’s a terrible situation. On a positive note, my coworkers and I are working so well together to make this work. I am petrified that one of us will get this soon and then we will all go down.”

In a tough time I hope you can all find your Cool Spot!