Vanquish Newsletter June 1, 2026

Steve Jarecki • June 2, 2026

“Train your mind to be stronger than your excuses.” 

The Achilles Cycle: Where Strength Gets Real

Achilles is here—and this 10-week cycle is all about building real, usable strength. Coming off Medusa, we shift into hypertrophy, density, and positional strength you can sustain under fatigue, with consistent loading across key lifts;


5x5 front squat


3x10 strict press


5x5 sumo deadlift.


Olympic lifting progresses from the hang to full lifts from the floor, building toward 1RM snatch and clean & jerk with a focus on strong, efficient movement.


Gymnastics is trained through challenging supersets and interference work to build true upper body strength and resilience. The cycle is anchored by benchmark conditioning pieces—including PRVN Engine, DT, and the return of Wax On, Wax Off—so you’ll have clear data to measure progress from start to finish.


Bottom line: this is where we put in the work, build muscle, and come out stronger everywhere.



 What We’re Standing By (and Why You Should Too): The Foam Roller

If you’ve ever questioned whether foam rolling is actually worth your time… this one’s for you.


A recent study looked at how different recovery methods impact muscle healing—not just how sore you feel, but what’s actually happening in the muscle. After making participants’ calves sore, they compared three groups: foam rolling, massage gun, and doing nothing at all.


Here’s the kicker: everyone felt equally sore after a few days… but their muscles told a different story.


The foam roller group showed better improvements in muscle quality—things like stiffness, tone, and elasticity. The massage gun didn’t deliver the same results, and passive rest didn’t either. Translation: just because something feels the same doesn’t mean your body is recovering the same.


Even more important—how you foam roll matters.


Foam rolling isn’t just mindlessly going back and forth while scrolling your phone. It’s a tool. When used with intention—targeting tight areas, applying steady pressure, and even pairing it with breathing—it can help your body move better, recover faster, and stay more resilient.


Bottom line: if you want to get more out of your training, don’t skip the basics. A few focused minutes with a foam roller can go a long way.


 Don’t Train Around It—Fix It and Keep Moving

That nagging shoulder. Those cranky knees. Tight hips that just won’t loosen up.


Sound familiar?


Good news—you don’t have to just “deal with it.”


At Innovate Sports Medicine, Lara (your on-site Athletic Trainer + Gym Manager) will figure out what’s actually going on, treat the issue, and give you a clear, simple plan so you can keep training instead of sitting out.


This isn’t about quick patches or guessing games. It’s about real answers, smart treatment, and keeping you in the gym doing what you love.


If something’s been bothering you, now’s the time to handle it 💪


MAKE AN APPOINTMENT WITH LARA

Rows of black dumbbells on a gym rack, close-up view.
By Steve Jarecki • October 12, 2026
Read the October 12th newsletter on strength tests, workouts, and health insights. Join us to enhance your fitness journey today!
By Steve Jarecki • October 5, 2026
Focus on deload week workouts to enhance skills & reduce fatigue. Join us for a free intro to start your fitness journey!
By Steve Jarecki • September 28, 2026
Read the latest Vanquish Newsletter on Week 7 of Hercules training. Join us for group & personal training to enhance your fitness journey!
Person squats with a barbell in a dim gym, wearing black workout clothes and sneakers.
By Steve Jarecki • September 21, 2026
Read our September newsletter on empowering girls in sports & strategic training. Join us for a free intro session today!
By Steve Jarecki • September 15, 2026
“You can’t be afraid of failure. You have to be willing to fail in order to succeed.” - Geno Auriemma  Hercules 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.  🚧 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!  What’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.  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. 💪 MAKE AN APPOINTMENT WITH LARA Show up. Put in the work. Let’s go. 💥
Person preparing to lift a barbell with large plates in a gym, wearing blue shoes.
By Steve Jarecki • September 8, 2026
Read about our weekly workouts, including a 9/11 tribute. Join us to embrace challenges & build your fitness plan today!
By Steve Jarecki • August 31, 2026
“You’ll never do a whole lot unless you’re brave enough to try.” - Dolly Parton  🧠 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. 🧠💪  🚧 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!  🇺🇸 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! 💪   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. 💪 MAKE AN APPOINTMENT WITH LARA    Show up. Put in the work. Let’s go. 💥
By Steve Jarecki • August 25, 2026
“Train for the life you want to live.”
By Steve Jarecki • August 17, 2026
“Hercules didn’t become strong by accident. Neither will you.”
By Steve Jarecki • August 10, 2026
“There’s no crying in baseball!”