Eat to Thrive, Not Survive

Junkie Journal Mar 16 🏋️ Programming This Week This week at StormKing we’re again leaning into five days of focused strength training. Our primary lifts this week include: • Shoulder Press • Deadlift • Bench Press • Sumo Deadlift High Pull • Back Squat Each day begins with intentional strength work, giving you the chance to focus on technique, controlled loading, and steady progress. The goal isn’t to rush through the lifts — it’s to move well, build strength, and add weight when it makes sense. After strength, we finish with shorter conditioning pieces that support the lifting. You’ll see movements like: • Toes-to-Bar • Pull-Ups • Push-Ups • Man Makers • Farmer Carries • Wall Balls • Box Jumps Cardio options will rotate between running, rowing, and ski erg efforts to keep things varied while building capacity. Remember, more strength days doesn’t mean you need to hit every lift at full intensity. If you train 3–4 days per week, take a quick look at the week and decide which lifts matter most to you right now. Track your lifts in Wodify, add a little weight when you can, and focus on quality movement. Small increases add up — and over time, that’s how real strength is built. 💪 Strength vs Conditioning Why Both Show Up in Our Training Strength and conditioning are often lumped together, but they serve very different roles in training. Understanding the difference helps you train with more intention. Strength Training Builds Capacity Strength training increases the maximum force your muscles and nervous system can produce. Over time, lifting heavier loads improves: • Muscle fiber recruitment • Bone density • Joint stability • Nervous system efficiency This is why we repeat foundational lifts like: • Squats • Deadlifts • Overhead Press • Cleans Strength training primarily develops the neuromuscular system — teaching your brain and muscles to work together to produce force. Think of strength as raising your ceiling. The stronger you are, the more physical capacity you have available. Conditioning Improves Work Capacity Conditioning training improves how efficiently your body can sustain effort over time. This type of training challenges your cardiovascular and metabolic systems, improving: • Heart and lung efficiency • Oxygen delivery to muscles • Energy production • Recovery between efforts Examples include: • Rowing • Running • Burpees • Jump Rope • Longer mixed-modal workouts Conditioning improves how well your body uses different energy systems to keep moving. Think of conditioning as how long you can operate within your capacity. Why Both Matter Strength and conditioning support each other. If you only condition without building strength, your capacity stays limited. If you only lift heavy without conditioning, you may struggle to sustain effort. Strength builds the engine. Conditioning teaches you how to use it. At StormKing, our programming intentionally includes both. You’ll see dedicated strength work to build capacity, followed by conditioning pieces that help you apply it. The goal isn’t exhaustion. The goal is building a stronger, more capable body that can work hard and recover well — for years.

Junkie Journal Mar 9 🏋️ Programming This Week Why Five Days of Strength Works This week we have five days of strength programmed !! Congrats to all the PR’s last week! We see you getting stronger! 👏 5 days of structured strength training doesn’t mean everyone should try to hit every lift at full intensity. What it does mean is that members have options. More strength days give you the flexibility to choose the lifts that fit your goals and how your body is feeling that week. If you’re a 3-day-per-week member, take a quick look at the week ahead. Ask yourself: Which lifts matter most to me right now? What movements do I want to improve? Choose your days intentionally instead of leaving it to chance. If you’re training five days a week , the same idea applies. Not every day needs to be your heaviest effort. Some days can be about moving well, refining technique, and getting quality work in without pushing the load. That’s how sustainable training works. Listen to your body. Plan your week. Talk to your coach. Train with intention. Over time, that approach builds stronger athletes — and healthier ones. Primary lifts this week : Clean Bench Press Front Squat Power Snatch Sumo Deadlift Each day finishes with a 10–15 minute conditioning piece designed to support the strength work. This week you’ll see these movements: Toes-to-bar Burpees Pull-ups Wall balls Farmer carries Rope climbs Light–moderate barbell or dumbbell reps Cardio elements include: Ski erg & Run sprints A reminder as we move through this training block: Strength doesn’t come from random workouts. It comes from repeating lifts, tracking your numbers, and adding a little weight when you can. Small increases add up over time. 🚶‍♀️‍➡️🚶 Community and New Faces One of the best things about StormKing is the environment we’ve built together over 15 years. It’s not just a room full of workouts. It’s people encouraging each other through hard things. Lately we’ve had a lot of new faces coming through the doors — people trying classes and seeing what StormKing is all about. If you’ve ever been the new person in a gym, you know it can feel a little intimidating walking into something unfamiliar. That’s where this community really shines. You’ll see it in small moments: Someone helping load plates. A quick “good job” after a tough set. Members cheering during the last round of a workout. Those little moments matter more than people realize. If you’ve been here awhile, keep being the example. Introduce yourself. Help someone find equipment. Encourage the person next to you. And if you’re new — welcome. We’re glad you’re here . 🧠 Education Why We Repeat the Same Lifts Sometimes people ask why we keep coming back to the same lifts. Squats. Presses. Deadlifts. Wouldn’t it be more interesting to do something different every week? Maybe...but it wouldn’t make you stronger. Strength comes from practice and repetition. Each time you repeat a lift you refine technique. You build confidence under the bar. The goal is progress. And progress happens when we return to the basics again and again.

Junkie Journal: Mar 2 🏋️ Programming This Week We’ve got 5 days of structured strength this week! Lifts include: Deadlifts Front Rack Lunges Bench Press Push Press Back Squat Each day will finish with a 10–15 minute finisher using movements like: Light barbell reps Wall balls Running Pull-ups Push-ups Wall walks Biking A reminder as we head into this week: This is how strength is built — progressive overload. Keep good records of your lifts. Write them down. Track them in Wodify. Make a note in your phone if you need to. Next time these lifts come around, the goal is simple: Add a little weight. That’s how we gain strength. Not randomly. Intentionally . 🤝 Community We’ve had a lot of new faces around the gym lately — people trying classes and seeing what StormKing is all about. It’s not always easy walking into something new. If you see someone new: Introduce yourself Help them find equipment Encourage them after the workout Community doesn’t happen by accident. We build it. 📲 New Members If you’re new here, make sure to request to join our private Facebook group: StormKing Junkies That’s where we post announcements, updates, events, and most of the community chatter. It’s the best way to stay in the loop. 🏃‍♀️ Lets Run! Saturday Track Workout Saturday, March 7 — 10:00am Coach Paisley is leading another track workout. 📍 Meet at the Port Angeles High School Track. 🧠 Education Stepping Back Into Our Own Story Most of us have an area of life where we know we could be doing better. For many of us, it’s our health. The strength that faded. The energy that used to feel easier. The weight that never quite came off. It’s not that we didn’t care. Life happened. We stepped up when we had to. That’s responsibility — not failure. But sometimes the season changes… and we keep living like it hasn’t. We tell ourselves we’re too busy. We assume it’s too late. Here’s the truth : Where we stand physically today is the result of small decisions repeated over time. And that works both ways. We don’t need a dramatic reset. We need structure. Consistency. Basics. A plan we can actually sustain. Real strength is built in steady seasons — by showing up again and again. If we’ve drifted, we’re not behind. We’re at a turning point. And turning points don’t require motivation. They require a decision. Maybe this spring, we spring forward in our own story — and begin building again. It’s never too late, start now.

Why Strength Training Still Wins (Even When Trends Change) We’re shifting gears a bit this week to dig into something foundational — why strength training works, and why it’s still the most powerful tool we have for long-term health. Fitness trends will always come and go. Every year there’s a new method, a new buzzword, a new promise. And most of them fade out just as quickly as they showed up. Why? Because the basics work. And they always have. No matter your goal — fat loss, muscle gain, longevity, better energy, confidence — resistance training should be part of your plan. Let’s break down why. 1. Strength Training Actually Produces Measurable Results If you want to change your body composition, there are only a few things that can actually happen: You gain muscle You lose muscle You gain fat You lose fat That’s it. Words like “tone,” “sculpt,” and “lean out” sound nice, but they’re not measurable. Muscle and fat are. “Toned” isn’t actually a thing. What people usually mean by that look is more visible muscle and less body fat. To achieve it, you don’t “tone” a muscle — you build muscle and reduce body fat so that muscle can show. Strength training is the most efficient way to do exactly that. Resistance training builds muscle. And muscle changes everything. When you increase muscle mass, you increase your basal metabolic rate — the number of calories your body burns at rest. Think of it like upgrading the engine in your car. A bigger engine burns more fuel whether it’s moving or sitting still. More muscle = higher daily energy expenditure. That’s one of the biggest long-term advantages you can give yourself. 2. Strength Training Gives You a Clear Roadmap Strength training is measurable. You can track: Weight lifted Reps completed Range of motion Rest periods Frequency You either lifted more than last month… or you didn’t. You either improved your technique… or you didn’t. That clarity matters. A structured strength program gives you direction. It removes guesswork. It replaces “just getting sweaty” with intentional progress . When people follow a real plan — with progressive overload, smart rest, and proper technique — they stay motivated longer because they can see progress happening. Progress builds confidence. Confidence builds consistency. Consistency builds results. 3. More Muscle = Aging With Strength (Not Fragility) As we age, we naturally lose muscle mass — a process called sarcopenia. That muscle loss leads to: Decreased balance Lower bone density Reduced strength Higher injury risk Loss of independence Strength training is one of the most powerful tools we have to slow — and even reverse — that decline. Research consistently shows resistance training can: Improve motor function Increase stamina Lower resting heart rate Improve bone mineral density Help prevent and rehab injuries But beyond the research, here’s what it really means: You can carry your own groceries. You can climb stairs confidently. You can get up off the floor. You can pick up your grandkids. You can travel, hike, and live actively. That’s what strength is really for. 4. Strength Training Builds Your Brain, Too Getting physically stronger improves mental performance. We often think of strength training as something that just changes our body. But it impacts our nervous system, our coordination, our reaction time, and even our cognitive health. You’re not just building muscle. You’re building resilience — physically and mentally. The Bottom Line Trends will always promise faster results. But the basics will always win. Strength training: Builds muscle Improves metabolism Protects your independence Strengthens your bones Improves brain health Gives you measurable progress It’s not flashy. It’s not trendy. But it works. And it keeps working — year after year — if you stay consistent. Train for strength. Train with intention. Train for the life you want 10, 20, 30 years from now. The basics aren’t boring. They’re powerful.

J unkie Journal — Back to Building This Week’s Training Nothing flashy. Nothing random. Just repeatable training done well. That’s how progress sticks. 🏋️‍♀️ This Week’s Lifts We’re back to 3 waves of 8–5–3 with 3 minutes rest between sets. Don’t rush the rest. That’s part of the plan. Monday — Bench Press Strong, steady reps. Use the 8s to dial in control, build through the 5s, and finish confident on the 3s. Wednesday — Deadlift Focus on position and tension off the floor. Heavy triples should feel earned — not yanked. Friday — Back Squat Depth, bracing, strong drive out of the bottom. Same structure, same intention. 🔥 Conditioning This Week Metcons include : ✔️ KB swings ✔️Pull ups ✔️ Push-ups ️✔️ Light barbell work (SDHP, thrusters) Cardio: ✔️ Running ✔️ Ski erg ✔️ Bike Simple pieces. Short metcons. High heart rate. 💣 Thursday — Fight Gone Bad Benchmark WOD! Don’t miss this test! Three rounds. Five stations. One minute each. This one tests pacing and grit. Stay steady and finish strong. 📅 Community + Events 💕📚 Ladies Night Out + Book Exchange (Galentine’s Edition) Friday, Feb 20th @ 6:00pm Hosted by Debbie Givens + Danielle Sily. Bring a book to swap and come hang out. Good conversation, lots of laughs, strong women. ✨ 5:30pm ladies — come late if you can! 📍 Address details on event page in the Junkies!! 👀 Quick Community Reminder If you’re newer here — or feel like you’re missing info — make sure you’re following us on Facebook and Instagram. And request to join StormKing Junkies on Facebook. That’s our internal group where the chatter, updates, announcements, and last-minute details live. If you’re ever wondering what’s going on at the gym… it’s in there. 🧠 To think on... You don’t build strength in one big week. You build it by showing up, lifting well, resting on purpose, and coming back again next week. That’s the game. 💪 StormKing — strong bodies, full lives, built over time.

🏔️🏂 A Note From Us This Week Sean and Dawn are out of town this week chasing snow, fresh air, and a reset! We love a good routine — but we also believe fitness should support your life, not confine it to the gym. Stepping away once in a while isn’t falling off track; when it’s intentional, it’s part of staying strong for the long haul. And since you asked... 😜 🧠 The Value of Fitness Beyond the Gym Consistent training builds strength — but strategic breaks help you keep it. When life gets busy or repetitive, fatigue can quietly build in your body and mind, and stepping outside your normal routine gives your system a chance to reset. Travel, adventure, and different forms of movement still challenge balance, coordination, endurance, and strength — just without a clock or leaderboard. You don’t lose fitness in a short break; more often, you come back sharper. This is your permission slip to let training look different for a week, prioritize recovery, and remember that consistency over years matters far more than intensity in any single week. 🧱 Training With Intention (Still Applies) Even when life pulls you out of routine, intention stays the same: ✅Listen to your body ✅Choose quality over quantity ✅Recover so you can train well long-term Progress isn’t built by never stopping — it’s built by knowing when to push and when to pause. 🏋️‍♀️ This Week’s Training Focus Even with a different structure this week, our training stays purposeful and repeatable — focused on strength, skill, and quality movement. Primary lifts this week: ✅ Monday — Front Squat Start at ~65% and build steadily toward a new 2-rep max. The goal is controlled, confident reps — not rushing the bar. Let the early sets warm you up and save your best effort for the final lifts. ✅ Wednesday — Snatch You’ll have 20 minutes to build to a strong single with plenty of time for technique work. This is about patience, bar path, and positioning — take the time you need to move well and lift with intention. ✅ Friday — Shoulder Press 6 sets of 3 reps, focusing on strict strength and consistency. Choose a load that allows every rep to look the same from start to finish. The goal with programming is the same: build work capacity and confidence while keeping your strength work high-quality and repeatable. What to expect in the workouts: Cardio: ✔️Running ✔️Rowing ✔️ Ski erg Weights: ✔️Kettlebells ✔️Wall balls ✔️Light barbell reps Gymnastics: ✔️Pull-ups, strict and kipping ✔️Burpees ✔️Box Steps 📅 Community + Events Ladies Night Out + Book Exchange (Galentine’s Edition 💕📚) Friday, Feb 20th @ 6:00pm Hosted by Debbie Givens + Danielle Sily. Bring a book to swap and come ready to connect, laugh, and celebrate the strong women in this community. ✨ Ladies of the 5:30pm class — please come late if you can! We’d love to see you there. 📍 Address details coming soon — stay tuned! 🧠 Food for Thought Rest isn’t weakness. Routine isn’t the goal. Longevity is. Train hard when it’s time. Step away when it serves you. Come back ready to build again. 💪 StormKing — strong bodies, full lives, long-term strength.

The body content of your post goes here. To edit this text, click on it and delete this default text and start typing your own or paste your own from a Junkie Journal — Weekly Reminders + What We’re Training 🏋️‍♀️ This Week’s Training Focus This week we’re shifting gears slightly in our strength work as we move into heavier, lower-rep waves with shorter rest — which means training with intention really matters. Our primary lifts this week: ✅ Monday — Back Squat ✅ Wednesday — Deadlift ✅ Friday — Push Press Strength format: 👉 3 waves of 5–3–1 reps 👉 2 minutes rest between sets For the past two weeks, we trained using 8–5–3 waves with longer 3-minute rest, emphasizing volume, control, and muscle endurance. This week’s 5–3–1 structure allows you to lift heavier, but the shorter rest demands focus: efficient weight changes, true rest between sets, and quality reps when it’s time to lift. Use Wave 1 as a primer — lighter, controlled, and dialed in. Save Waves 2 and 3 for your heavier, more challenging loads, where intent and execution matter most. Don’t forget to record your weights in Wodify. Logging what you lift gives you a clear starting point next time and is how we apply progressive overload week after week. Different stimulus. Same goal. Build real, repeatable strength. 🔥 What You’ll See in the Metcons Expect a wide variety of movements this week that challenge strength, stamina, and coordination: Dumbbell work and Barbell reps: Devil’s press, DB snatches, power cleans and push jerks. Gymnastics: Toes-to-bar, push-ups, pull-ups Explosive + Impact : Box jumps, burpees, lunges Cardio : Rowing, biking and running sprinkled throughout These workouts are designed to support your lifting, not compete with it — reinforcing durability, work capacity, and confidence across multiple movement patterns. 🧱 Training With Intention: Choosing Your Days In a functional fitness program with a strong weightlifting focus, like StormKing, training is built around intentional strength work — and that means more isn’t always better. Better is better. Look ahead at the week’s workouts and ask yourself: ❓Which lifts align best with my current goals? ❓Where do I need more exposure — strength, conditioning, or skills? ❓Where do I need recovery to stay consistent long-term? Plan your week intentionally and be sure to include at least one rest day or active recovery day . This might be mobility work, walking, light cardio, or simply showing up to cheer on friends at the gym. Your body adapts to what you recover from, not just what you train. 📅 Community + Events Feb 7 Saturday Community Workout Saturday @ 11:00am 👊 Led by Coach Paisley Come get a great workout and hang with your people. Friends and family are welcome, regardless of membership. Waivers will be available on site. L adies Night Out + Book Exchange (Galentine’s Edition 💕📚) Friday, Feb 20th @ 6:00pm Hosted by Debbie Givens + Danielle Sily. Bring a book to swap and come ready to connect, laugh, and celebrate the strong women in this community. Stay tuned for address details. ✨ Ladies of the 5:30pm class — please come late if you can! We’d love to see you there. 🧠 Food for Thought Training hard matters — but training on purpose matters more. Strength is built when effort, recovery, and consistency work together. Show up ready, rest when needed, and let time do its job.

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Junkie Journal — Gold stars for those that read to the end 😂 👏This Week’s Programming Focus This week’s programming is built around strength you can repeat and conditioning that forces you to stay sharp when your breathing gets loud, haha. 👉 8–5–3 strength waves on our foundational lifts (Back Squat, Push Press, and Deadlift) paired with metcons that test your ability to hold form under fatigue, manage transitions, and keep output high. This isn’t random volume — it’s intentional loading, solid rest, and smart progressions so you can train hard without wrecking yourself. 🧱 Why 8–5–3 Works The 8–5–3 format blends strength + muscle-building + confidence under load in one session. The higher reps build control and consistency, the lower reps let you push heavier, and the rest periods keep your lifting high-quality — not sloppy. You should leave each strength piece feeling like you built something real… not like you got lucky. This is a lot of volume...use the first wave as a primer for the next two waves. ✅ Back to the “Boring Basics" You’ll keep seeing a lot of what we’ve been leaning into since the start of the new year: a return to foundations. Foundational lifts, foundational movements, and simple training that works. We’re not chasing novelty — we’re stacking reps, building strength, and improving the basics week after week. Programming doesn’t need to be complicated to be effective. It needs to be consistent, repeatable, and done with intention. 🔥 Conditioning with Purpose This week’s conditioning hits multiple gears: short EMOM sprints, a “death by” grind, a longer Thursday piece that rewards pacing and grip, and a Friday classic (Diane) that demands strength, composure, and smart breathing. Different formats, same goal: move well, stay steady, and finish strong. 🧠 What We Want You Thinking About This Week Lift with control first — intensity comes second Choose loads you can repeat with good mechanics 📊 One Simple Challenge Log your lifts in Wodify. 🔥 New Year Challenge Check-In! Speaking of challenges… who’s doing a New Year challenge right now? 👀 Maybe it’s steps, hydration, tracking macros, lifting heavier, more protein, less screen time, or just showing up consistently. Is it working for you so far? We’d love to hear what you’re doing! Sean and I are repeating a year-long challenge we attempted back in 2021: 10,000 steps a day. (Sean crushed it… Dawn did not 😂) BUT we’re back at it and so far so good. The hardest days are definitely travel days or sick days, but otherwise it’s been awesome for getting us moving more in the afternoons and evenings since we’re both early morning workout people. It’s a simple habit — but it makes a big difference. 🚶‍♀️🔥 Want to move more this year? Join us — start today and let’s do it together! 👊💚 🔥 Saturday Feb 7th Pop-Up Workout — FREE! 🔥 Coach Paisley is hosting a FREE pop-up workout on Saturday, February 7th at 11:00am! 💪 StormKing members — everyone is welcome to join, no matter what membership you’re on. And yes… friends + family are welcome too! 👏 Come sweat, have fun, and bring someone with you! 💚 💖 SAVE the DATE! 💖 Our next Ladies Book Exchange — Galentine’s Edition! 📚✨ 🗓️Friday️, February 20th 🕕 6:00 PM Hosted by Debbie Givens and Danielle Sily...join us for community, laughs, great conversations, and books you didn’t know you needed. 💕 Bring a book you loved, swap it with someone new, and enjoy a fun Galentine’s night with the StormKing women. ☕ The Coffee Box is FOR LEASE! ☕ We have an exciting turn-key business opportunity available — The Coffee Box is officially for lease! If you or someone you know has been dreaming of owning a coffee shop (or launching a small business in a prime spot), this is your chance. 👉 Please help us spread the word! 🙌