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Matt Shriver

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June 18, 2025

To All the Gym Rugrats

Heading into Father’s Day Weekend, the CrossFit Renew instagram dropped the above photo. It caused me to pause and reflect on my first 20 months of fatherhood and think about how things are going to change in 5 months when the amount of chaos in our life doubles. I’m grateful to be a part of a gym whose culture supports the whole person including our families. 

If you’re one who frequents our Saturday community workouts, you’ve probably had a chance to meet Leo. He’s been a relative fixture of those mornings over the last ~15 months. Most weekends where Piper or I make it to community WOD, Leo is alongside in his stroller. As he’s approaching 2 years old, I know this Saturday ritual is getting more strained. His desire for… independence… is taking off like a rocket ship and is inversely proportional to his capacity for extended time sitting in his stroller. He’ll be too young for CrossFit Kids (3 years old) for a little while still and is perhaps getting too old for those Saturday mornings where we got to workout with him smiling back at us. 

As this phase with Leo ends, I want to document for myself (and y’all) what worked for us about bringing our infant to the gym so we can try this all again in 2026 with our next kid. 

  • Just try it! Early and often and when you’re comfortable and ready to do so. I think below is Leo’s first time - a chilly, New Years Day community workout. Bundled up and napping partly through it.
  • Expect to bail every time. Have an exit plan! The win is simply showing up. Whether we were able to workout at all was an added bonus. When Piper and I would go together, we’d drive separately. That way only one person needed to leave if we felt Leo was struggling through class. We wanted one of us to get that hour for themselves. Reframing our expectations kept every outcome positive for us.
  • We let him be part of class - we’d take him on the warm up 400m run and push him during the cooldown recovery lap. 
  • Ensuring he ate right before we left. If we wanted him to sit tight for a long time, we needed to be sure he was full. We planned our Saturday morning around making sure he got another meal in before we left. And our diaper bag always had a back up snack in case of emergency. 
  • We usually parked him in the back of the room facing everyone. We tried to let him get distracted by everything rather than just focusing on us. A plug for the The Alpha Box - one of Leos’ favorite books. It’s the ABCs for functional fitness. Loves to read it at home and maybe that helps him watch it in person? Who can say. 
  • After class when the floor was clear and safe, we let him crawl/run around. Let him have some fun and be comfortable at the end. 

Thank you to everyone who’s said hello to him, indulged his love for fist bumps, worked out to his crying, and let him be the center of attention during stretching. We’re beyond fortunate for the influence the CrossFit Renew community is having on his development. Excited to do this again with the next one, and to meet your growing families at the next Saturday workout.  

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Sweet & Spicy Korean Turkey Spring Roll Bowls

serving of meat makes 8 servings: Calories — 565⁣ Protein — 40g⁣ Fat — 21g⁣ Carbs — 33g⁣ ⁣ 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐲⁣ 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥: ⁣ ⁣ 3 lbs lean ground turkey⁣ 9 tsp garlic, minced about 9 cloves⁣ 34 cup brown sugar, packed⁣ 34 cup low-sodium soy saucetamaricoconut aminos⁣ 6 tsp sesame oil⁣ 1 tsp ground ginger or 2-3 tsp minced⁣ 1 tsp crushed red pepper⁣ 1 tsp black pepper⁣ Sliced green onions for garnish⁣ 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞⁣ 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥:⁣ ⁣ 10oz bag of shredded cabbage⁣ 10oz bag of julienned carrots⁣ 10oz bag of broccoli slaw⁣ 12oz bag of sea kelp noodles ⁣ 5oz greens of your choice, roughly chopped⁣ 5-10 mini cucumbers, sliced⁣ 1 bunch each of cilantro, mint, and Thai basil, roughly chopped⁣ 13-12 cup peanuts, chopped⁣ Sesame seeds and sliced green onions for garnish⁣ ⁣𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠⁣ 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥:⁣ ⁣ 12 cup olive oil⁣ 6 tbsp rice vinegar⁣ 4 tsp honey ⁣ 2 tsp minced garlic⁣ Salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper to taste⁣ ⁣ To prepare: ⁣ — Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat.