34° NORTH GYM: Training System & Philosophy

our Way is simple. We live and teach it every day. Following this system puts you on the path to self mastery! 

The cost of our modern and convenient lifestyle is high. Our country faces record levels of obesity, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, cancer, chronic pain, anxiety and depression. When looking back at the millions of years of human genetic evolution, it's clear to see that our digital-age lives are not aligned with the design of our bodies. We're not suggesting you go back to living in a cave, but will ask for a little introspection and a lot more movement and stillness. 

  • Physical fitness (and health) is an aspect of self mastery that encompasses mental/emotional fitness and self-awareness.  Successfully and sustainably attending to one of these aspects requires engagement with the others. 

  • Self mastery is a journey and an aspiration; not a destination or a fixed point.

  • Enjoy movement like you did when you were a kid. Don’t overcomplicate things when it comes to building out a movement practice. Most of your “practice” should feel like play.

  • Fill in the rest of your practice with training that supports and balances the movement you love. Learn to appreciate these parts of your practice for what they do for you and extract out of you.

  • A crucial supportive element is "Bulletproofing" - Body conditioning techniques make you resilient to injury

  • The strongest thing is the most pliable.

  • There are no bad movements, perhaps there are some you’re not prepared for, but none are bad.

  • Tension should always be balanced with an equal measure of relaxation. 

  • Rather than focusing on future achievement use that energy to be present for every rep.  

  • Approach your training with a “Beginner’s Mind”

  • Train using a full, and pain-free, range of motion because it’s superior for improving mobility, strength and muscular development.  (There are specific times to use partial ranges of motion).

  • Movement and breath are intimately connected.  You can’t comprehensively train one without the other.   

  • Eat like your ancestors (for longevity, energy, athleticism, and function)!  Realize there’s variation on this depending upon your ancestry. 

  • Surround yourself with people that bring out the best in you

  • Train a path of success.  Making things too hard, or hard for the sake of being hard develops a tense, rigid body and develops bad habits and movement.

  • Learn skills to improve your movement vocabulary then use it for deeper, more complex levels of expression. What kind of skills you acquire is up to you. Let what you enjoy guide you in this regard.

  • Enjoying our bodies is serious business and should be treated as such with plenty of humor and paradox resulting in change.

  • Approach each practice session like a game to play and a performance to put on. The gym is your sacred circus.

 

more than fitness…

At 34° North, this isn't our job or even our career.  It’s our Lifestyle. We move, we eat, we work, we rest, and we live in harmony with our bodies because we want to be better athletes, family members and human beings, but most importantly because we want to enjoy our bodies. There are no secrets. Our coaches can lead you to the path they walk daily, but the choice to take it belongs to you.

Community

A good training partner is priceless. They hold you accountable, keep you consistent and push you to do your best. When you join our community you instantly tap into a network of incredible training partners. If the saying is true that you are the average of the people you spend the most time around, then our community will raise your average.

The Transformation

34° North is not a destination or a fixed point. It is a journey and an aspiration. If you consistently approach your training with the intention to have an experience rather than checking some box, your transformation will be physical, mental, spiritual and never-ending.