Vanquish Newsletter August 24th

Steve Jarecki • August 25, 2026

“Train for the life you want to live.”

🎸 Hercules Week 2: Flight of the Conchords


Week 2 builds on the foundation from Week 1 with a mix of strength, barbell work, gymnastics, and conditioning. Expect heavy lower-body work, opportunities to sharpen your barbell cycling, and workouts that challenge both your fitness and pacing.


The big takeaway: not every workout needs to be a red-line effort. Focus on good movement, smart pacing, and quality reps. Training is about knowing when to push—and when to stay controlled.


πŸ’ͺ Week 2 Highlights


Monday: Back squats + Business Time — toes-to-bar and thrusters.

Tuesday: Deadlifts & bench press + a grip-heavy conditioning piece.

Wednesday: Community Cup E4 — double unders, air squats, and dumbbell snatches.

Thursday: Strict pull-up strength + running and midline work.

Friday: Clean & jerk technique + a challenging row/barbell workout.

Saturday: Team Day! Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros — wall balls, wall walks, box jump-overs, and kettlebell swings.

Sunday: Bowie — a 24-minute EMOM designed for steady movement and active recovery.


🎯 Coach's Cue

Train with purpose. Know your pace, respect the stimulus, and don't confuse going harder with training better.


🦡 Who Can Stand on One Leg for 10 Seconds?


Hopefully you—and your parents—can! Balance might seem simple, but it requires strength, coordination, body awareness, mobility, and control all working together.


Dr. Rhonda Patrick recently highlighted a study of more than 1,700 adults ages 51–75 that found people who couldn't stand on one leg for 10 seconds had an 84% higher risk of all-cause mortality over the following seven years, even after accounting for factors like age, sex, BMI, and several health conditions.


That doesn't mean standing on one leg is a magic longevity test. Instead, balance is a useful snapshot of how well several systems—strength, coordination, proprioception, vision, and neurological function—work together.


The good news? Balance is trainable. And it's something we work on at Vanquish all the time through single-leg movements, strength training, gymnastics, carries, mobility work, and conditioning.


One simple challenge: try standing on one leg for 10 seconds. Better yet, try brushing your teeth or putting on your shoes while balancing on one leg. If it's harder than expected, that's a great reminder that balance is a skill worth practicing.

ο»Ώ

At Vanquish, that's exactly why we train the way we do. Strength, conditioning, gymnastics, mobility, and balance aren't separate pieces—they all contribute to helping you move well and stay capable for life.


STOP TRAINING AROUND PAIN. FIX IT.


That shoulder that won’t quiet down.
Knees that hate squats.
Hips that feel locked no matter how much you stretch.


You don’t have to work around it anymore.


At Innovate Sports Medicine, Lara (your on-site Athletic Trainer + Gym Manager) will pinpoint the real issue, treat it, and give you a clear plan to keep training—without guessing or sitting on the sidelines.


No band-aids. No fluff. Just real answers and real progress.


If it’s been bothering you, it’s time to handle it. πŸ’ͺ


MAKE AN APPOINTMENT WITH LARA



Show up. Put in the work. Let’s go. πŸ’₯



Rows of black dumbbells on a gym rack, close-up view.
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“You can’t be afraid of failure. You have to be willing to fail in order to succeed.” - Geno Auriemma β€ŠHercules Week 4: Familiarity With a Twist This week might feel a little familiar — and that’s intentional. You’ll see workouts that borrow from past experiences, with a few twists along the way. Repetition builds recognition, and recognition builds confidence under fatigue. Expect muscular endurance, midline work, mixed-modal conditioning, grip challenges, and plenty of opportunities to practice pacing and repeatable effort. Monday — Echo: Speed deadlifts followed by pull-ups and Echo Bike intervals. Tuesday — Jamais Vu: Front and back squat work followed by a descending ladder of kettlebell thrusters and burpees. Wednesday — Doppelganger: Two 12-minute pieces featuring running, rowing, GHD/V-ups, kettlebell swings, sit-ups, and dumbbell snatches. Thursday — Identity Crisis: Push press and push jerk work followed by bench press, double unders, and farmers carries. Friday — 9/11: A 2001m row buy-in followed by nine rounds of eleven reps. A workout built around remembrance and resilience. Saturday — Familiar Stranger: A two-person waterfall workout featuring running, hang power snatches, and back-rack step-ups. Sunday — Double Take: A 30-minute strength EMOM featuring bench press, sandbags, rows, carries, and planks. The Challenge Pick your number. Then hold yourself to it. This week isn’t about going out too hot. It’s about knowing what you can sustain, sticking to the plan, and owning the result. Set the plan. Trust the plan. Own the score. β€ŠπŸš§ Brookfield Road Construction Update Starting September 3, Brookfield Road will be closed to through traffic for approximately 2.5 weeks. Vanquish will remain accessible, but you’ll need to approach the gym from the south during this phase of construction. Please follow posted detour signs and flaggers and allow a few extra minutes for possible delays. Thanks for your patience! β€ŠWhat’s On Our Watchlist? The Dynasty: UConn Huskies . Apple TV’s The Dynasty: UConn Huskies takes a look at one of the most successful programs in women’s college basketball. But what stood out to us wasn’t just the championships. It was the standards. UConn didn’t become UConn because they discovered a secret training method. They built a culture where excellence was expected , and then passed that expectation from one group of athletes to the next. Geno Auriemma’s coaching style is demanding and, at times, confrontational. But the bigger lesson isn’t that everyone needs to coach like Geno. In fact, coaches like UCLA’s Cori Close show that you can have incredibly high standards while leading in a very different way. The important part is not lowering the standard just because the approach changes. Listen to players like Rebecca Lobo, Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore, Breanna Stewart, and Paige Bueckers talk about their experiences, and you hear the same theme: they weren’t looking for comfort. They wanted to find out how good they could become. That’s something we can all take from. At Vanquish, we believe training should challenge you, support you, and help you become better than you were yesterday. The goal isn’t perfection. It’s showing up, doing the work, and continuing to raise the standard. Great cultures don’t happen by accident. They’re built one workout, one rep, and one expectation at a time. STOP TRAINING AROUND PAIN. FIX IT. ο»Ώ That shoulder that won’t quiet down. Knees that hate squats. Hips that feel locked no matter how much you stretch. You don’t have to work around it anymore. At Innovate Sports Medicine, Lara (your on-site Athletic Trainer + Gym Manager) will pinpoint the real issue, treat it, and give you a clear plan to keep training—without guessing or sitting on the sidelines. No band-aids. No fluff. Just real answers and real progress. If it’s been bothering you, it’s time to handle it. πŸ’ͺ MAKE AN APPOINTMENT WITH LARA Show up. Put in the work. Let’s go. πŸ’₯
Person preparing to lift a barbell with large plates in a gym, wearing blue shoes.
By Steve Jarecki • September 8, 2026
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By Steve Jarecki • August 31, 2026
“You’ll never do a whole lot unless you’re brave enough to try.” - Dolly Parton β€ŠπŸ§  Hercules Week 3: The Mandela Effect Things may look familiar this week… but don’t trust your memory. Week 3 is all about The Mandela Effect —when we collectively remember something that never actually happened. Each workout takes something recognizable and adds a twist, flips the script, or sends you in a different direction. Expect power snatches, toes-to-bar, burpees, wall balls, double-unders, strict handstand push-ups, deadlifts, bench press, back squats, running, and plenty of barbell work. The big focus this week? Pacing and execution. A workout may look familiar, but the demands are different, so don’t let your memory dictate your pace. Coaches will help you spot the difference during the whiteboard brief. Listen for what’s changed, understand the intended stimulus, and attack the workout that’s actually in front of you—not the one you think you remember. 🧠πŸ’ͺ β€ŠπŸš§ Brookfield Road Construction Update Starting September 3 , Brookfield Road will be closed to through traffic for approximately 2.5 weeks. Vanquish will remain accessible , but you’ll need to approach the gym from the south during this phase of construction. Please follow posted detour signs and flaggers and allow a few extra minutes for possible delays. Thanks for your patience! β€ŠπŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ Labor Day Schedule We’re keeping things simple this Labor Day! There will be no regularly scheduled classes , but we’ll have one all-levels class at 8:00 AM for anyone looking to get their holiday workout in. Open Gym will remain available 24/7 as usual, so you can train on your own schedule. Enjoy the holiday! πŸ’ͺ β€Š STOP TRAINING AROUND PAIN. FIX IT. That shoulder that won’t quiet down. Knees that hate squats. Hips that feel locked no matter how much you stretch. You don’t have to work around it anymore. At Innovate Sports Medicine, Lara (your on-site Athletic Trainer + Gym Manager) will pinpoint the real issue, treat it, and give you a clear plan to keep training—without guessing or sitting on the sidelines. No band-aids. No fluff. Just real answers and real progress. If it’s been bothering you, it’s time to handle it. πŸ’ͺ MAKE AN APPOINTMENT WITH LARA ο»Ώ β€Š Show up. Put in the work. Let’s go. πŸ’₯
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