SISU Year in Review & Looking Ahead

January 11, 2018
Uncategorized

Welcome to 2018, SISU-ites!

As you read this, we are in sunny Miami participating in the Wodapalooza Fitness Festival, where some of the fittest from around the world workout fast! This annual competition in South Beach is second only in size to the CrossFit Games, and in addition to watching top athletes from around the globe workout, we will be attending a Leadership Summit held by top CrossFit box owners, like Jason Khalipa, Founder of CrossFit Norcal and JP Perelmutter, Founder of CrossFit Brick. Both of these companies were early adopters in the CrossFit market and have successfully navigated the evolving marketplace. Learning from our peers is always good, and Miami in January just seemed like a fantastic way to do it.

With this thought in mind, our top priority at SISU is to continue offering the most inclusive and effective fitness program around. As we enter our 9th year in business, it’s fun to look back at where we started in a 600 sq. ft. broken down shopping mall in Wayzata and compare to where we have grown to today. Like in all companies, the market is constantly changing and evolving into something new. Recognizing the evolution in demand, we shifted our business in 2017 in order to bring YOU more!

The biggest change was expanding our brand to offer more than just CrossFit. CrossFit at its core is the most effective and potent form of fitness available when programmed correctly, and SISU has made structured programming a top priority for that very reason. Of course, we can’t all like everything (like thrusters), but you do it because it’s good for you. That being said, as our SISU Community continues to grow, the pursuit of programming for the masses becomes more challenging. We want to continue to add variety and engage our community.

So in 2017 we set out to revamp our existing gyms. We expanded the Plymouth location by 3,800 sq. ft., adding the SISU-X room and a permanent open gym room. We also remodeled our Excelsior location by adding an extra gym space downstairs.

We now offer the following class types:

  • CrossFit
  • SISU-X
  • SISU Power Yoga
  • BuTT Camp
  • Open Prep/Comp Training
  • Kids Summer Athlete Camp (seasonal)

Each of these classes offers their own unique program, with movement skills to match the level of each athlete.

In addition to an expanded class offering, we spent much of 2017 beta testing our SISU Nutrition Service. Our philosophy is to promote nutrition that will help you perform at your highest level in and out of the gym. Our program promotes human performance and is focused on you and your goals. SISU Nutrition is a balance of macro-nutrition coupled with your lifestyle, workout schedule and overall health goals. The program is individually prescribed and allows you to eat the foods you like. We had great success through the beta development. The program is complete, and ready for you!  Click here for more details.

2018 will be our best year ever, and we are excited for what lies ahead. We will continue our events throughout the coming year.  

  • 2018 Friday Night Lights – February/March
  • 5th Annual Memorial Day Challenge – May
  • 3rd Annual SISU Summer Throwdown – July
  • 3rd Annual SISU Santa Bash – December

To wrap this up, I wanted to share some fun facts from 2017:

  • We had 6,800 PRs in 2017
  • 17,100 WODs were performed RX
  • We lifted 2.7 million pounds
  • Back squat was the most PR’d lift
  • Daniela Duque lead class attendance for the women for the year, logging in 260 times
  • Max Carideo lead class attendance for the men, attending 253 classes in 2017
  • Jerry Martin, Drew DeWitt, Alyssa Larson, Allison Kraus, Christy Nix and Nick Johnston lead the PR board with an average of 75 PR’s (each) in 2017!

Hopefully you enjoyed reading this! On behalf of the entire SISU Coaching Team, I can tell you we have a strong passion for what we stand for. We have one of the most coveted CrossFit communities around, and I am grateful for our SISU Family. As you get to know more members, you find that all those who make up the SISU Community have the 4 values in common.

CORE VALUES OF SISU

  1. Always be HUMBLE
  2. Be AMBITIOUS
  3. Be EMPOWERING
  4. Stay GRITTY

If you read this far…Thank YOU for your support.  

Make 2018 your best year ever!

3…2…1…GO!

Pat Crosby

President/CEO