Blog

This month’s member spotlight is on someone who’s been part of the Renew crew since way back — and still going strong. Meet a longtime community favorite, Lauren Bratcher, whose energy, honesty, and love of deadlifts make them an essential part of our gym fam.

Let’s be real—most of what we do in the gym lives in the sagittal plane. That’s front-to-back motion: squats, deadlifts, cleans, box jumps, push-ups, pull-ups—you name it. It’s the dominant movement pattern in most strength and conditioning programs. And don’t get me wrong, sagittal strength is foundational. But if that’s the only lane we’re training in, we’re leaving a lot of real-world strength, athleticism, and injury resilience on the table. As a coach who values not just performance but longevity—I care deeply about helping people move well for life. That means we’ve gotta train smart, train fully, and train in all three planes of motion: sagittal, frontal, and transverse.

Set it and forget it...then shred it.

We’ve shown up for people navigating grief, burnout, job loss, breakups — real life stuff. And we’ve celebrated milestones right alongside PRs. Because at the end of the day, this gym isn’t just a gym. It’s a space to be supported, seen, and reminded that you don’t have to compartmentalize who you are to show up here.

In October 2019, when I was four months postpartum with my first kid, I was hospitalized for a week with a cutesy case of rhabdomyolysis. ‍As a fitness professional, I know the recipe for rhabdo. But as a postpartum woman attempting to redefine her “normal” while rebuilding her new, soft body and navigating a hormone tornado ripping through every fiber of her baby-having being… I wasn’t working with the right recipe, and when all was said and done (read: 150 push-ups later) I had made myself a piping hot bowl of self-pity and regret. 

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.