One of our core values is Growth, and in 2020 we plan to raise the bar further in our mission to be the best gym and fitness program in Chicago!
The Foundry had a big year in 2019, adding staff, launching new programs, and helping more people make life-changing improvements to their fitness. We worked tirelessly to build a system to give all of you the ability to achieve the results you want, and I couldn’t be more proud of our team and our members.
In this post, I’m going to share with you the things we’re working on for Q1 2020, but before I get into that, let’s review 2019.
2019 Recap
- Added rock-stars Matt & Fabio to the full-time staff!
- Ran two inspiring Opens (that’s 10 weeks out of 52 devoted to Opens!) and saw many amazing performances.
- Launched a nutrition program that has helped many to break through plateau’s and reach new body composition goals (talk to Dave Hardy!)
- Added new programming streams in addition to CrossFit: Rx+ Accessory, Travel WoD’s, and “Fit30” (short 30m metcon only workouts for when you’re short on time).
- Programming is now published a full week in advance.
- Grew the Foundry community by 45 athletes.
- 14k classes attended, 2,000 PR’s, and 250k+ lbs lifted!
- We’re one of Chicago’s top-rated gyms with over 80 5-star reviews and six editorial picks for “Best Gym in Chicago.”
The most consistent athletes in 2019, by attendance, were:
| Men | Women |
| 1. Coach Bob | 1. Marisa Bast |
| 2. Tyler Hohs | 2. Coach Kaitlin |
| 3. Brandon Beuttner | 3. Jen Pino |
Congratulations to everyone who achieved great results in 2019 and thank you for your support.
New For 2020 & RoadMap
Here are some of the projects we are taking on for Q1.
We are Growing!
We are thrilled to welcome our new coach, Ratih, to the full-time staff! Ratih is originally from Minneapolis and graduated from the University of Minnesota with a B.S. in Environmental Science. She has been coaching full-time for the past two years at several other gyms in Chicago and brings some great experience to the team.
Ratih loves to compete, whether it be in CrossFit or Ultimate Frisbee and has fun with whatever she does. She will be coaching noon and evening classes and connecting with all of you through her secondary role as the Joy Ninja.
New Tools to Measure Results
We have invested in a high-tech Inbody body composition analyzer to help provide comprehensive physiological data and help you reach your goals. In addition to measuring weight and body fat percentage, the Inbody calculates your skeletal muscle mass, body fat mass and lean tissue in lbs, provides results by body part (L/R Arms/Legs and trunk), and maintains a history of your results in the cloud.
In addition, the Inbody provides your base metabolic rate (how many calories your body uses per day without exercise) so you can dial in your nutrition. This information will help provide a more accurate view of your progress. One-off scans are available for $50, but as a benefit, members receive a free scan each quarter included with membership during your strategy session (talk to a coach to set one up). We expect to have it up and running in the next week or two.
Locker Room Refresh
We are making some improvements to the locker rooms, including repairing the drywall and repainting the walls. We recently added more shoe storage and will be adding clocks soon.
We’re also looking into a better storage system for products in the women’s locker room as well as lockable storage lockers that would be available to rent for those who want to store items here throughout the week.
Equipment Upgrades
Recently we acquired new barbell clamps, additional 20#, 25#, and 30# dumbbells, and adjustable dumbbell handles for heavier lifting sessions. We replaced all worn jump ropes with new cables. Soon, we will be acquiring an additional assault bike, bringing us to 5.
Did you know you can co-work in the loft? We recently upgraded our network and now have strong WiFi throughout the gym. A guest network is available and you are welcome to connect your laptop or phone to it. Credentials are provided on a table tent in the loft.
Attendance Challenge
Awesome job to all who have participated in the attendance challenge so far, the bucket is filling up! Now that we’re into January, you receive an entry each week that you have 4 or more attendances. Every week there is a chance to qualify, so keep showing up!
At the end of the challenge, we’ll be pulling one ball from the bucket and sending the winner and any guest of their choice on a weekend getaway trip to Michigan. Good luck!
Membership Cap
We’re excited and grateful for the growth in membership this past year. You may have felt classes getting busier, which has been awesome for energy and fun. All class times still have room in them, but as we continue to grow, we are instituting a maximum membership cap of 200 to maintain the core experience of our classes.
Once we reach this cap, new members will only be added when a membership space opens up. As usual, we will not be running any mass group challenges like most gyms do. In addition to the fact that we don’t feel it’s the best way for new clients to get started, we also don’t think it’s a good experience for our existing members and coaching staff to flood the gym with an excessive number of brand new athletes.
That’s what we have planned for the 1st quarter, I hope you found this post to be informative and useful! We will continue working hard to make Foundry the best gym in chicago, and we look forward to continuing to serve you in 2020!