ROD

Thursday, 19Jul12

For time:

• 100 Squats
• 20 Floor to Overhead Barbell Presses
• 75 Squats
• 15 Floor to Overhead Barbell Presses
• 50 Squats
• 10 Floor to Overhead Barbell Presses
• 25 Squats
•   5 Floor to Overhead Barbell Presses

Creating a Culture

A brief story of how we came about and why we are kicking ass and ruling Staten Island!

by Coach Donald

Incredible how times flies. It is my honor to announce that today marks our 1,000 post on the web. When Coach Juan and Chris started up Next Level Performance in 2008, they never dreamed it would escalate to what it has become today.  They started out their dream in a small 1250 sq ft warehouse around the corner at 85 Industrial Loop.

I joined the group in 2009. Juan & Chris welcomed me with open arms after I tried selling them some equipment. This is my 3rd year and I couldn’t have asked for a better group of Coaches to join as Juan and Chris. We have worked very hard as a team, to bring all of you the best in strength and conditioning.

It’s not always about fitness

While at 115 Industrial Loop, we have held parties. Our very first holiday party was our best so far as you can see from the pictures above. Everyone had a great time. It will be a tough act to follow but we will try on Saturday,  August 25th…. Save The Date!!!!  I hope to see every one there including your friends and family.  Lets’s be proud of where we train and who we train with.

All the challenges that we shared and continue to participate in have brought us all closer and  escalated growth in our little community. Our clients realized that fitness doesn’t always have to be serious; you have to break loose and enjoy life.  I would say this attitude sets us apart from most gyms in the area.  Not only were we offering a great service that yielded incredible results, we were creating an atmosphere that people wanted and still want to be a part of.

Even our logos have changed over the years. Those of you who know us or follow us,  know that our training style focuses mostly around kettlebells & dumbbells but we integrate many other unconventional training tools. That’s basically what sets us apart from all these “global” gyms and other training boxes on Staten Island.  As our training evolved, our clients were getting incredible results, and our membership continued to grow. We’ve quadrupled the size of our community within a 4 year period and blasted through buying top shelf equipment and renting more space for our growing empire. 

Challenge-Commitment-Community

The plain fact that people get immediate results from our system keeps them coming back for more. We, Juan Chris and I, have to especially thank another of the partners you rarely, if ever, see. Tom Cosgrove. This man has put in so much effort in demolition, building rooms and laying rubber flooring and practically single-handedly put Next Level House together. He is the quiet partner that runs the Next Level Batting Cage.  Thanks Tommy!!

We especially want to thank you, the members of Next Level for your continued support in our growing community. Some of you have been with us since the beginning and that say’s a lot about commitment to challenge & community. I can’t say enough about the incredible people that have walked through our doors. I just wanted you to know that we truly enjoy working with each and every one of you and we feel honored to be your chosen fitness facility. We appreciate your trust, and we’ll do our best to continue to give you the kind of challenges you need in order to meet your personal health & fitness goals.

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STRONGER THAN YESTERDAY !!!!!

by Coach Juan

I have only started using this pharse as of lately.  It perfectly describes  the commitment that I have applied to myself and to NLP.

STRONGER THAN YESTERDAY!!!!

From day one, I have been yelling from the rooftops what it is that NLP does and how we do it. There was no other gyms like us back in 2008 and there still aren’t any 🙂

Our program is not easy to describe.  How do you describe loss of breath and feeling like you want to puke your brains out without scaring someone.  As we all know, you have to experience the “ROD”  to truly understand the mind set, commitmment and determination you must have to succeed at NLP.

Chris and I never quit even when we felt that our idea of what a fitness facility should look and be like wasn’t being accepted.  But we always kept pitching our program and culture to everyone who wanted to listen.  And, it’s finally sticking.  Everyday it seems I get a call from someone telling me… “I heard about your place from my friend, cousin or friend of a  friend”.   This is why I’m certain that I  picked the best partner and friend to team up with.

One of the biggest reasons for our success is the day Mr. Clean walked into our gym.  I remember think that the first time I saw him.  Since then Donald has become my big brother.  I knew our idea and program would succeed beyond our expectations from that day on because his knowledge, commitment and passion.  Donald was a prefect compliment to what Chris and I were trying to create.  Thank you Donald!!

Each day we as a community are getting STRONGER THAN YESTERDAY !!!!

The biggest reason for our success goes to our members.  You all took a chance by trusting us and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.  Behind the scenes it takes a ton of thought and  knowledge to post our daily  “ROD” nevermind post 1000 “ROD’s”.   We will continue to post new and challenging “ROD’s” in our never ending prusit of Challenge-Commitment-Community.

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“No One Works Out Like Us On Staten Island, We Have To Open A Gym”

By Coach Chris aka NLP Nazi

When Juan first approached me with the idea of opening a gym and said those words I thought he was kidding but they were prophetic.  I initially appeased him with the assurance that if he found the right place at the right price I would be his partner never thinking it would ever come to fruition.  The one condition I had was that we had to stick it out for a year in case we weren’t an immediate success.  It was rough going in the beginning with only a handful of members but on the bright side we were in fantastic shape because we were able to join in every workout.  Juan and I were novices and were really trying to find out what we wanted to be when we grew up when a stranger darkened our doorstep offering to sell us gym equipment.  As it turned out that chance meeting with Donald would have a dramatic impact on our lives and the direction of the gym.  Donald’s gym had recently closed so we were his rebound in a sense but the relationship couldn’t have worked out better and we couldn’t be happier.  We gave Donald a place to practice his craft and he mentored us by imparting his deep knowledge of everything related to fitness and the workings of the body.  In my mind there is no better trainer out there, he is truly second to none.

There were a lot of bumps a long the way but we were able to weather every challenge we faced because we believed in what we were offering.  We literally practice what we preach as everyone who has entered our facility knows all too well.  We never ask our members to do anything we wouldn’t do which means there are no limits because we get excited about trying new things and want to be part of the action.  I don’t think it is any secret that I enjoy making the warmup as intense as the workout.  Despite hearing some grumbling from time to time (mostly from Juan and Donald) I love how everyone pushes through and performs it and then proceeds to handle the workout without any trouble.  It is another thing that separates us from all other gyms, our warmup is honestly tougher than other gym’s workouts.  We know when we tell our members to “Jump” they’ll say “Only if it is part of a burpee”.

Fast forward four years and 1000 ROD’s and we are still in business.  We are thriving thanks to a wonderful comunity of members who have come to embrace High Intensity Interval Training in the same way we did from the start.  We are energized by you our members who rise to every challenge, continuously forcing us to raise the bar and we could not be happier.  Much of our success comes from how well we all work together.  Juan, Donald and I have different strengths that we bring to the table and they seem to really compliment each other perfectly.  Also we all have full-time jobs that we need to make a living to support our families which prevents us from spending even more time at the gym but NLP is our passion and that is honestly driven by our members who are beyond compare.  There is no place we would rather be and nothing else we would rather be doing.  I think it also helps that we know when not to listen to each other, when Juan and Donald tell me to tone things down in the warmup the members benefit because I raise the intesnsity.  Likewise when I tell Juan to stop the ranting and cursing he usually responds with F*$# You or some other choice words.

I’m looking forward to the next 4 years and another 1000 posts and hope you will all be there with us.  I also hope everyone will be able to join us to celebrate on August 25th, it is sure to be a blast.  We party as hard as we train because we’ve earned the right and our parties only get better because getting better every day is the NLP way.  Thank you all.