Street Parking Podcast

The focus now is ACCOUNTABILITY.   No one is coming to save you. Your life is 100% your responsibility. At SP we believe in controlling what we can control - and we know that we are able to control a lot more than most people want to admit.   We know that blaming others, our genetics, or our current circumstances for all of our problems is a waste of time.  We seek ways that we can respond to - or improve our situation.  Even if those actions are small.  Even if it's just re-framing the way we look at things - until we are better able to take action. On this podcast, Co-Founder Miranda Alcaraz talks one of Street Parkings Core Values, Accountability. 

This week Miranda hops on to give some information about the Street Parking workouts and framework - to help you be as successful as possible with your workouts.  Some of this info is a bit different than other CrossFit based programming you may have used (or still use).  From the inception of SP, we have set out to create our own culture in certain aspects. Thank you for trusting us with your Fitness.  We hope you enjoy and that you find consistency in your fitness!  

Molly and EC talk all things #800g Challenge!

In our latest podcast episode, Miranda dives into 2 of Street Parking's core values that will be the driving message and mission for the community in 2024:  Growth Simple. Not Easy.  Over the next few weeks we will be hearing more about these - as well as the other values that our team is excited to share with you.

Miranda sits down with EC Synkowski of OptimizeMe Nutrition, a company dedicated to making nutrition easy through B2B/B2C digital education products and corporate wellness programs. The mission of OptimizeMe Nutrition is to provide solutions for anyone to improve their weight, health, and overall wellbeing through sustainable diet methods. Thousands have used her #800gChallenge®, a diet free of restrictive rules, to eat healthily and have reported weight loss, increased energy, improved performance and more!  They catch up on old times and give some hints at what is to come for the Street Parking Community!

In 2023 Street Parking has been on tour taking our fitness, our van, our team, and of course some gear and guaranteed good times around the U.S. to connect with the community at events, meetups and experiences In the Wild like we've never done before. Join Miranda and Kaitlin as they relive the energy and camaraderie that fuel our community. 

Tune in and learn how we navigate the often over complicated fitness world with a fresh perspective, recognizing that while it may be simple, it's certainly not easy.   Remember, fitness doesn't have to be complicated – it just has to work. Join Miranda for this episode and start applying the simple not easy approach.

A child in the Preschool Youth age range generally has the attention span, physical and cognitive and emotional growth, and motivation developed to start introducing fitness and wellness-specific activities. The Preschool Youth age is when kids start to learn how to take turns… but they generally want to be first and focus mostly on themselves and their little world. As they move through these preschool years, they become more willing and excited to try new tasks, are more motivated by playing with their peers, and begin to notice the world around them. Imitation and copying becomes more prevalent, mainly in movement patterns, behaviors, and play. By the end of the preschool age, they want to please friends and adults or coaches and be liked, can follow more simple rules to games, seek independence, can coordinate but also be equally as demanding. They start to understand first and last and turn-taking (and the preferences that go with this), and they know the difference between pretend and real, are beginning to understand time, and so much more.   

Summer is filled with fun, sun, travel, and many social functions. It's a time of year when it's hard to maintain consistency with your nutrition habits because of a lack of routine and more socializing opportunities. The habits you worked on so hard in the first part of the year start to slip away or get put entirely on the back burner until the fall.  But it doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing approach to your nutrition in the summer months. There are still plenty of simple habits you can maintain, even in less-than-ideal circumstances, that will go a long way. So, regardless of how long you have been focusing on your nutrition (whether you committed a while ago or want to start building some better habits), we have some tips for you to help you master the basics with your nutrition and maintain success through the summer months.  

Re-cap of the 30 hour event that Julian participated in as a part of this year's Big Fish Foundation Fundraiser.   Every year BFF brings in Veterans across each branch of service and teams them up with athletes & celebrities to take on a 30 hour 'ordeal' together. During the 30-hour event teams perform tasks, physical challenges, and experience environmental & psychological stresses together.   Why? To showcase the values that enable anyone to persevere through hardship: • Camaraderie • Communication • Trust • Respect • Service towards others   These are the major components that support the Big Fish Foundation mission to impact against Veteran suicide.   To donate: CLICK HERE

It's well known that Street Parking is committed to providing individuals with the tools they need to take control of their fitness. But since its inception, Street Parking has also been a trusted resource to many personal trainers, school/PE/sports coaches, and gym owners who are active Street Parking members themselves. Whether through following the daily program exclusively or getting a few ideas here and there to implement in ways that make sense for their clients and communities, we love to support ANYONE who is making the world a fitter place. Are you looking for effective, creative, and simple tools to utilize with your gym members or clients? This summer we have a few specific resources (which we think are pretty great) for our members to stay engaged with the community – and excited about their fitness –  that could help YOU keep your members/clients moving and building community through the summer months!

!! WARNING !! Before this podcast episode begins, we're giving a quick content note. You're going to be hearing from our member Leanne Britt who came to visit SPHQ to do this week's Vault workout. Leanne has been a member since December of 2020. Some of you may recognize her name from the Members Only Facebook group and are familiar with her story which includes the loss of a child. We are deeply honored to be part of Leanne and her son Elijah's story. Members who may be sensitive to the topic of loss of a loved one, please take note.

*Check the MILESTONE CHART for general developmental milestones to help in your implementation of activities.    “You cannot make people learn. You can only provide the right conditions for learning to happen.” – Vince Gowmon   STAGE: Building and Development GENERAL AGE RANGE: 5-12 years old  *Keep in mind age is just a starting factor. Some kids may be less experienced, less mature, have different abilities, delays, etc. that would fall into this category when considering approach to fitness and wellness.  ATTENTION SPAN: A generalized trick for this is: Age of the child x 2 or 3 = Length of attention span. If they are 5 years old, a typical range would be 5-10 or up to 15 minutes; if they are 6, a range of 6-12 or up to 24 minutes… etc. *This can change due to motivation and interest in a task, fatigue, or even time of day.  MOVEMENT TYPES: Bodyweight, gymnastics, weightlifting, sport specific.  SPECIFICALLY: Simple movements (think one direction movements — squats, press, deadlift, pull-up) as well as more complex movements (think multiple directions or skills — snatch, clean and jerk, muscle ups) still with the ability to focus on points of performance or broken down versions of movements. IMPLEMENTS: Fun, lightweight implements (ex. cones, balls, ropes); light loads (ex. kettlebells, dumbbells, medicine balls, slam balls, sleds, sand bags, PVC pipes).  TEACHING METHOD: Show and tell, shared attention, imitation, kinesthetic learning (learning by doing), auditory learning (talking about something first), visual learning (demonstrations or written content use, ex: whiteboard).   This age group is a group that generally has already been exposed to some type of fitness, whether they have participated themselves, learned about it, or watched others during their preschool discovery and exploration years. This stage is considered the building and developmental years. This stage is a longer stage with vast differences in ages: there can be huge differences in the low-end age of a 5-year-old compared to the upper-end age of a 12-year-old, but sometimes there is more similarity than readily apparent. This age group has many factors that can significantly impact the progress and participation in fitness-related activities [factors including gender, maturity, experience, motivations, skills, involvement in other activities, learning ability, growth both physically and mentally, to name a few].  

Street Parking gives its members access to tools to help you take control of your fitness every single day, from the Daily Workouts customizable for your equipment, time, and fitness level to the over fifty Extra Programs to add variety to your training. We are excited to share about a new program to add to your toolbox! Street Parking has collaborated with the co-founders of Between the Ears, Karianne and Bill Anthes, to make a very special program available to our members: The Sisyphus Gauntlet. SO WHAT IS THIS EXTRA PROGRAM ALL ABOUT? WHY IS IT NAMED THAT, AND WHAT IS IT EXACTLY? The myth of Sisyphus is about a slippery fella who cheated death twice, according to Greek mythology, by using wit and intellect. Zeus stepped in and banished Sisyphus to the underworld Hades. Sisyphus's punishment was to push or carry a boulder up a mountain, and when he was right at the top of the mountain, the boulder would roll right back to the bottom. So he would have to hike back down and push it up again, and he did this for eternity.   There's two different ways to look at this story. One is that life is determined to be unbearable — it's inescapable, and it's meaningless. This is a very nihilistic or apathetic outlook. The other way to look at this story says yes, life does present suffering, adversity, and obstacles, and how a person chooses to orient themselves to those realities, how they choose to engage with them and find meaning through the suffering is almost an amelioration of suffering and meaning. People can find meaning through their challenges and have a much more positive proactive approach to the inevitableness of life. Everyone will face a boulder and a hill and repeat the cycle at some point — we all will face a gauntlet.

Coaches Miranda, Julian, & Molly sit down and discuss the benefits and effectiveness of team workouts as well as sharing some stories from their own workouts.     For more from us: https://streetparking.com/

If you haven't read Part 1, go check that out first to learn more about the 3 Pillars, along with the previous tips and tricks. Picking up where we left off, let's talk about 3 More Tips for Fitness Freedom and Meeting Your Child Where They Are At: CUSTOMIZING Just like ANY other Street Parking workout, customizing and fitness freedom is the name of the game when it comes to approaching kids' workouts. You do not HAVE to do any of the workouts as written, it's all about making adjustments as needed and simply thinking of it as a template. Don't be afraid to be creative or allow the kids to come up with ideas — it can help them “buy in” with choices and autonomy! Ideas for how to customize: adjust the time frame, adjust the rounds, add or reduce seconds of work or rest, run it on an EMOM clock, or switch out a movement that your child WANTS to do to make it fun and motivating. The main purpose is you're getting them moving, and that itself is a WIN! When kids are working out with you, you can customize to have your child follow your movements, or change it to a partner-style workout with a friend, peer, adult. So what about mid-workout customizations? Because let's be real, this is bound to happen at some point. One of our favorite tips is to use your own watch as a timer instead of a visual timer. Why? Because if you put it on a big timer and then realize your child is NOT having fun and you need or want to adjust, it is easier to say, “1 minute left” regardless of where they are at, allow them to still work hard, but end it before it's TOO much. It is good to push our children and show them what it looks like to do hard things, but we do not want to decrease their confidence or make them NOT want to workout again.      Full Blog

This week on the podcast, Miranda catches up with long time friends Bill and Karianne Anthes, they dive into how they got to know one another as well as Bill and Karianne's approach to fitness and some sneak peaks into what will be coming to the Street Parking community! Between The Ears Fitness promotes physical longevity, emotional vitality, mental agility, and ultimately access to WHO you are as an individual through our movement practice. For more info on Between The Ears, check out their website.

Parents who value health ultimately hope to pass those values on to their kids. There's a desire to build confidence, motivation, and a love for movement. There's a hope to create an environment that will allow their kids to build lifelong healthy habits surrounding health, fitness, and wellness. Which means the big question that we at Street Parking get from parents is “where and how do I start?” Street Parking has plenty of tips and tricks around fitness with youth, but here are three pillars that provide the foundation for our approach to programming (for all ages, but it's especially necessary for kids and youth) and guidance on how to start.  ·   Pillar 1: FUN — relatable, positive, motivating, relevant. ·   Pillar 2: SIMPLE — start small, manageable, easily understood, lots of repetitions.  ·   Pillar 3: SUCCESSFUL — empowered, build confidence, inclusion, scaling.  

When it comes to working out, have you struggled to find and build consistency? Have you found yourself bouncing from one program to the next? Hoping that somehow your problem of being “inconsistent” or “unmotivated” will fix itself with the NEXT BEST PROGRAM? You're not alone.  But… have you ever thought that maybe the “inconsistency” or “lack of motivation” doesn't have as much to do with the program you're following and more to do with your belief system on how fitness can — or should — look? For a long time, you have been sold on this idea of fitness needing to be MORE. We need more fancy equipment. More supplements. An intensive and rigid training program. A specific location to perform our workouts, and perhaps the most prized possession of all - time. However, we have seen firsthand this being the FARTHEST thing from true.  

In this new series, Coach Chelsie will highlight one of Street Parking's 60+ Extra Programs. Episode will cover WHO this program is for, WHAT it is, WHY we created it, and HOW to use it and add it in to the daily programming. She will also answer questions from the Street Parking Members Facebook group. In this episode we talk “Improve Your Squat". Whether you are new to squatting or have been doing it for years, this program will help you squat BETTER! Find the Improve Your Squat Program Sessions in TRAIN > EXTRA PROGRAMS > BODYWEIGHT SKILLS > IMPROVE YOUR SQUAT

Get to know NEW Street Parking KIDS Coach Bre Davis-Shoemaker! From growing up on a farm as a triplet - to her work in occupational therapy - Bre has a wealth of knowledge and coaching experience particularly in pediatrics that she can't wait to share with the SP Community. Plus get a little inside scoop on whats to come for SP KIDS :). Follow our newest coach on IG: @bre_davis_shoemaker and watch out for more from her on the Street Parking Members pages!

In this new series, Coach Alex will highlight one of Street Parking's 60+ Extra Programs. Episode will cover WHO this program is for, WHAT it is, WHY we created it, and HOW to use it and add it in to the daily programming. She will also answer questions from the Street Parking Members Facebook group. In this episode we talk “On Ramp". New to this type of training? The Street Parking On Ramp program has been designed to help you build confidence and a solid foundation for our SHIFT program. Find the 5/3/1 Strength Sessions in TRAIN > EXTRA PROGRAMS > ON RAMP

This year at Street Parking we are kicking off our first official “tour.”   Between April and the middle of September, we are hosting and/or participating in seven major events across the US, and we will pop up at some smaller, member-run meetups along the way.   This episode is all about Street Parking in the Wild and the deeper meaning behind both the phrase and the tour. It's also an encouragement to you all to get involved either with us officially or on your own this spring and summer.  

What you can learn from ditching the barbell and training with dumbbells for a month. Think dumbbells aren't enough? That you couldn't possibly achieve your fitness goals with just a pair of dumbbells? Dumbbells aren't as “cool.” You can't lift as heavy with them. Wouldn't using just a pair of dumbbells for training get… boring? We get it. People often underestimate what a pair of dumbbells can do for their fitness and consistency. Using only a single pair of dumbbells just doesn't seem like it would be enough for anything.  MOST SP members already know where we are going with this, but let's talk some barbell vs. dumbbell facts for anyone who thinks that dumbbells aren't enough for the kind of training YOU need. The versatility of a pair of dumbbells is hard to surpass as a training tool. In fact, you can achieve a very high level of strength, endurance, stamina, and coordination by only ever using dumbbells.  At Street Parking we believe this wholeheartedly, which is why for the month of April, the coaches, team, and community puts our “money where our mouth is” and shows that we believe in our message and program by only using dumbbells for the ENTIRE month.  We call it “Project April,” an unofficial, yearly challenge for anyone to build confidence in believing that if all you EVER had was a pair of dumbbells, it ABSOLUTELY would be enough. 

Thinking of doing an obstacle course race (OCR) or mud run this spring or summer? Or maybe you've already signed up and now you're thinking, “How can I prep for this thing?” The Foundation: The best and most important thing that you can do is be generally fit and well-rounded. Following a program that builds stamina, strength, endurance, and coordination — like the Daily Street Parking workouts — will prepare you VERY well!  In fact, if “all” you do to get ready are the Street Parking Daily Workouts 5-6 days a week — with 2-3 of those days at a relatively high intensity — you'll be adequately prepared for nearly any obstacle course race you sign up for! But, you can also ask yourself a few questions and add in a bit more “focused” work if you have the time and desire to do so.  

In this series Miranda interviews, Street Parking Members who are participating in the Vault at SPHQ.   Member Since: Mar 1, 2019