Steal Your Weights

For Episode 11, we're back in the Strip District to visit 5 Borders CrossFit. Part of the Mecka Fitness family, 5 Borders is a sister gym to CrossFit Mt. Lebanon, and Dylan Snyder is the head coach and programmer for both gyms. After a mess of a workout featuring 800-meter runs and overhead squats, we sat down with Dylan to talk about 5 Borders, his history in CrossFit, the methodology behind programming, the evolution of CrossFit and a lot more. We'll be taking a three-week break after this episode, and the conversation with Dylan offers plenty to consider over the next few weeks. Thanks for listening to Steal Your Weights this summer, and we'll be back at the end of August with a whole new batch of episodes. If you enjoy the Steal Your Weights podcast, be sure to rate, review and tell a friend. 

After spending a few episodes in the suburbs, we're back in the city for Episode 10 with a trip to CrossFit Athletics. Located at 21st and Mary in the South Side, CFA has been in operation for more than a decade, and the location alone makes it an interesting place.What kind of unique challenges does a gym face when it draws a lot of its clientele from a neighborhood like the South Side? After a five-minute AMRAP of wall balls, we sat down with CFA co-owner Gabe Trbovich to talk about the history of the gym and how the community has been built, plus the changes in CrossFit - not just on the leadership level, but throughout the industry over the last decade.Check out our episode on CrossFit Athletics in the South Side, and if you enjoy the podcast, rate, review and tell a friend. 

For Episode 9, we went to Gibsonia - although it's much cooler to say Wildwood - to visit R.A.W. Training and chat with co-owners Amy Butteri and Molly Tuman. Sprawling 40,000 square feet and sitting on 42 acres, R.A.W. is the largest CrossFit facility in Western Pennsylvania, and Amy and Molly have made the most of the space, using two full-size CrossFit rooms and an indoor turf field to concoct all kinds of workouts.The result is an outstanding CrossFit experience, but beyond the exercise, Amy and Molly have  grown R.A.W. into a true community. After a grind of a workout, we sat down with Amy and Molly to talk about the origins of R.A.W., how that community was built and a lot more. Check out our conversation with Amy and Molly and subscribe to Steal Your Weights on Apple and Spotify. And if you like the podcast, rate and review and tell a friend. 

For Episode 8, we're in Sewickley to visit CrossFit MindFire. Housed in a former train station, MindFire is a spacious facility with great coaching and even better community. On our visit to MindFire, we spoke to general manager Christian Pope about the gym community, programming, the pandemic and a lot more. Check out this episode featuring CrossFit MindFire, and be sure to subscribe to the Steal Your Weights podcast on Apple and Spotify. 

For Episode 7 of the Steal Your Weights podcast, we're back where it all began: CrossFit Pittsburgh.The first CrossFit gym in western Pennsylvania and the 54th CrossFit affiliate worldwide, CrossFit Pittsburgh was opened by Mike and Jennifer Pietragallo in 2006 and currently stands in a big pink building on Hamilton Avenue in Point Breeze. With more than 15 years of involvement, Mike and Jennifer clearly have a long history in CrossFit, and that led to some really interesting conversations about the history of CrossFit Pittsburgh, direction of the industry, the changes in CrossFit over the last year and a lot more. Check out our conversation with the Pietragallo's and be sure to subscribe to the Steal Your Weights podcast on Apple and Spotify. And if you like the podcast, rate, review and tell a friend. 

For Episode 6 of the Steal Your Weights podcast, we went to CrossFit Mt. Lebanon and Mecka Fitness, where we took a BodyLab class and had a conversation with CFMTL/Mecka mogul Kevin Beamon. CFMTL opened in a big space on Washington Road in 2013, and it has only grown since then - both in size and offerings. You can now walk into the facility and take CrossFit or any number of other fitness classes, from cycle and boot camp to BodyLab and RowFit, with plenty of age and interest-specific options along with yoga and more. On this episode, you can hear from Kevin about the birth of CFMTL, how he expanded to broader and more accessible fitness offerings, the opening of a second location in the Strip District and a lot more. If you enjoy this episode, be sure to subscribe to Steal Your Weights on Apple, Spotify and more podcast platforms. 

For Episode 5 of the Steal Your Weights podcast, we went to South Fayette to visit Anna Tobias - nee Tunnicliffe - at T2 CrossFit.Anna is an Olympic gold medalist and one of the top CrossFit athletes in western Pa., having made it to the CrossFit Games five times as an individual athlete from 2013-17 and logging two top-10 finishes along the way. And after she moved into the masters 35-39 category, she dominated, finishing first at the Games in 2018 and 2019. Through it all, she and her husband, Brad Tobias, have been coaching. They opened T2 CrossFit in 2016 and recently branched out with T2 Fitness, a multi-program facility at a separate location. After a rough workout of burpees and snatches, we sat down with Anna to talk about the Olympics, coaching, scaling workouts, surviving the pandemic and a lot more. If you enjoy the Steal Your Weights podcast, rate and review and tell a friend. And if you know of a gym we should check out, let us know. Thanks for listening. 

For Episode 4, we're headed to Lawrenceville to visit Arsenal Strength, where we got grippy with a bunch of hang power snatches before sitting down with head coach Vincent Camps for a conversation that covered a lot of ground.Arsenal Strength used to be CrossFit 1812, but the gym dropped its affiliation earlier this year. So one of our first topics with Vincent was about that change: What's in a name? What's the value of having "CrossFit" attached to your business? And is a CrossFit gym still a CrossFit gym under any other name? Beyond that, we discussed surviving the pandemic, being part of the neighborhood in Lawrenceville and a lot more about Arsenal's community. Check out our conversation with Vincent Camps and be sure to rate and review if you like the podcast. 

For Episode 3 of the Steal Your Weights podcast, we went to the North Side to visit Matthew Becker at CrossFit Alloy/Industrial Athletics. Located between Route 65 and the Ohio River, CrossFit Alloy has been around for 8 years, and our conversation with Matt covered a lot of ground. From building a business and the CrossFit bubble to outsourcing programming and the value of a gym blog, Matt had plenty to say on a variety of topics. Check out our conversation with Matt and be sure to subscribe to Steal Your Weights wherever you listen to podcasts. And if you enjoy the podcast, rate and review so more people can find out about our efforts at documenting CrossFit in Western Pa. 

Welcome to Episode 2 of the Steal Your Weights podcast. For this episode, we went for a run in the streets of Millvale with a workout at CrossFit Pine Creek. Established in 2018 but recently re-opened under new ownership, Pine Creek is a clean facility with great natural light and a really welcoming community. After the workout, we sat down with Julia Bryan and Jessica Dunbar - two of the gym's owners - to talk about Pine Creek's history, its community, programming and what happens when people love a gym enough to step up when things get tough. Check out our conversation with Julia and Jessica and be sure to subscribe to Steal Your Weights wherever you listen to podcasts. And if you enjoy the podcast, rate and review so more people can find out about our efforts at documenting CrossFit in Western Pa. 

Welcome to Episode 1 of the Steal Your Weights podcast. For this episode, we're visiting Intrepidus Fitness and CrossFit PB&J. From Singapore to the Strip District, Patrick and Jenna Benton have seen a lot of CrossFit in a lot of different places. For the last four years, they've been operating CrossFit PB&J on 26th Street in the Strip, but their history with CrossFit goes back much longer than that. So we sat down with Patrick to talk about the history of PB&J, CrossFit in Western Pa., how things have changed in the last decade and a lot more. Check it out and be sure to subscribe to Steal Your Weights anywhere you listen to podcasts. Also, rate and review the podcast if you are so inclined. Thanks! 

Welcome to the Steal Your Weights podcast, where an average CrossFitter explores CrossFit in Western Pa. There are more than 30 CrossFit gyms in the area, and on this podcast, we'll be going to those gyms, meeting the people and hearing their stories. In this first episode - the prequel episode - we're talking about what the Steal Your Weights podcast is and will be.