Questions about our Performance Fitness and CrossFit offerings
For Private Training: In the event that members arrive late for a scheduled private training session, coaches may be forced to end the session at the regularly scheduled time due to scheduling conflicts. For Group Classes: If you have missed the warmup, it is typically too late to join the class.
We permit account paid and complimentary medical holds to freeze your account. Paid holds are charged $10 per 7 day period for a maximum of 28 days ($40) for instances such as vacations. Holds must be requested in advance of an absence, not retroactively. Holds will not be placed on an account if the account's billing is overdue. Payments must be up-to-date at the time a hold is placed. Day 1-7: $10; Day 8-14: $20; Day 15-21: $30; Day 22-28: $40 Alternatively, complimentary medical holds are provided with a doctor's note for illness/injury for the amount of time prescribed by the doctor as included in the note. The note must be for the member specifically, not for a family member, etc. There is a limit to the maximum length of a hold. Depending on the illness or injury, if medical holds require extensive time off, a membership cancellation is highly advised.
We recommend individuals younger than 18 join our Scholastic Prep or Scholastic Sports Performance Training programs. Minors between the ages of 16 and 18 may attend our adult Performance Fitness classes with the signed consent (waiver) of a guardian, but again, we highly suggest anyone under 18 attend our sports performance classes as the adult classes often are not the best fit for younger participants. The waiver must be signed by a legal guardian prior to the initial session. Our normal policies and prices for Performance Fitness classes apply. Specifically, memberships require successful completion of our Foundations course or proven ability to bypass the course. Individuals must be 18 before participating in Open Gym, which requires an unlimited Performance Fitness membership.
In most cases, the answer is a resounding "yes." One of the things we do best is develop training plans that fit for every circumstance and this includes cases of injury. Research and years of anecdotal evidence suggests that recovery and return to fitness will be significantly faster if you train safely and appropriately while recovering from the injury.
One of the most common questions we receive via email or phone is what to expect from our CrossFit class. People are wondering whether it's appropriate for an out-of-shape individual. Or someone with an injury. Or for non-athletes. The answer is that it's perfect for all of the above. In our CrossFit classes, the goal is to train the everyday person, former-athletes, non-athletes and "weekend warrior" types to have fitness and functional capacity levels ordinarily reserved only for highly trained athletes. The class incorporates principles of Gymnastics, Powerlifting, Olympic Weightlifting, Martial Arts, Military, and sport training in to one hybrid training protocol to allow the member to achieve higher levels of fitness than they ever have. All activities, exercises and loads are scaled so that everyone will be able to truly challenge themselves but workout safely regardless of the fitness level they enter the program with. Instruction on technique, rhythm, and method of execution is given throughout the session to ensure safety and quality of movement. After only 2 weeks you'll notice significant improvements in your fitness, body composition, and functional capacity. If you're using the class as a means of training for another sport you'll start to see performance gains right away as well. The class will challenge you physically and mentally but once you've had a taste you'll keep coming back for more.
This depends on your goals. In most cases, for athletes competing or practicing for their sport, 2-3 times per week is ideal. 3 times per week will typically yield better performance gains as long as it can be fit in to the training schedule. At 2 times per week, performance gains will still be made however if attendance drops to 1 time per week then the best one can hope for is maintenance of prior training adaptations. The same holds true for our Performance Fitness class. Most clients attend 3 times per week however those with special performance goals will often attend up to 5 times per week. As with most things fitness related, the effect is dose-dependent. The greater your frequency and commitment the greater your rewards will be.
This is a common misconception. Without pharmaceutical intervention, women don't have the hormonal capacity to put on muscle mass like a man. With our training sessions you will lose body fat and build lean muscle mass, but you won't look like a body-builder we promise.
No. Our workouts and exercises scale to any level.
Many gyms, especially those that practice CrossFit, perform kettlebell swings so that the swing ends with the arms completely overhead. We do not. We prefer to teach what is known as a Russian kettlebell swing. The high swing is characterized by an end point where the kettlebell is completely overhead at the top of the swing and the knee and hip opened completely. This is referred to as an American kettlebell swing within the fitness community. It's motions is longer and smoother. In contrast, we teach what is known as a Russian kettlebell swing. This is characterized by a high point right with the kettlebell directly in front of the eyes. The movement is shorter, faster and more compact.We feel very strongly that this kettlebell swing variation is superior to its American counterpart. It's not only the original and most widely practiced version of the swing around the world, it's also safer and a better training method than the American version. While the American version of the kettlebell swing moves the kettlebell through a greater range of motion, it places the highly unstable shoulder joint in a compromised position at the top of the swing. The shoulder joint is the most unstable joint in the human body and bearing a load overhead in a close grip position is not orthopadeically sound. Furthermore, despite claims that the greater range of motion associated with an American swing increases work (Work = Force x Distance) and therefore power (Power = (Force x Distance) / Time)), we are certain this is simply not the case in actual application. Although the range of motion in an American swing is greater than its Russian counterpart, this also requires the athlete to [...]
When we're working on speed, power or maximal strength (rather than aerobic or anaerobic conditioning or muscular endurance) you need to take sufficient rest to ensure that the body can continue to operate at the level necessary to best train those qualities. To train those qualities you need to be relatively fresh. You can not be overly fatigued and expect to train speed, power or maximal strength well. To train these them, one needs to be able to recruit muscle fibers maximally and efficiently. When someone is overly fatigued this is not possible. So while there's certainly a time and place for fast-paced, minimal-rest workouts or portions of workouts, that would be inappropriate if the goal of that workout or portion of the workout was to train maximal strength, power or speed.
The matches are over but we`d like to congratulate Patrick Kypson on competing at Wimbledon where he earned a spot in the main draw after breaking into the ATP Top 100 earlier this year and continuing his rise on the professional tour.
Patrick reached a major milestone, earning a Grand Slam main draw victory with an impressive four-set win over fellow American Mackenzie McDonald, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.
Patrick advanced to the second round before facing world No. 6 Taylor Fritz on Court 2 at the All England Club. While Fritz earned the victory, Patrick battled throughout the match and showcased the level of play that has made him one of the country`s top rising professionals.
Athletic Lab has had the privilege of being a part of Patrick`s performance journey, and we`re incredibly proud to see his hard work and dedication rewarded on one of the biggest stages in tennis. Reaching Wimbledon is a testament to years of disciplined training, perseverance, and an unwavering commitment to improvement.
Congratulations, Patrick, on an outstanding achievement!
Congratulations to @tim_usaw on an outstanding performance at the @usa_weightlifting Junior National Championships in Colorado Springs, Colorado earlier this month, where he earned a gold medal in one of the nation’s most competitive junior divisions. Tim is a long time member of the @athleticlab_weightlifting Team coached by USA Weightlifting National Coach @j.t.nobbe_
Weightlifting National Championships Week brings together the country’s top youth, junior, U25, and senior lifters, making every medal hard-earned. Tim rose to the challenge with a personal record in the clean & jerk to secure the top spot on the podium.
Congratulations, Tim on becoming a USA Weightlifting Junior National Champion! We are incredibly proud of your accomplishment and look forward to seeing what comes next as you continue to represent Athletic Lab on the national stage.
The ALWC 2026 Nationals Schedule!
(All times listed are MDT)
Get your stretch on! Our MoMo (Movement & Mobility) classes are offered Thursdays at 5pm. In our MoMo classes, we work on asymmetries, imbalances, and restrictions that may be limiting performance or increasing the likelihood for injuries. Paying attention to these seemingly little things allows you to keep your goals big.
#athleticlab #iloveal #cary #fitness #mobility
Happy Mother’s Day to all our strong moms. ⠀
⠀
#mothersday #strongasamutha #moms #gymlife #crossfit strongmoms fitmoms fitness strength
Most coaches stop sets based on how athletes look, rather than how they are actually moving. VBT allows you to set a simple cutoff by monitoring bar speed. A bar speed drop of more than 20% from the first rep is an indicator that no matter how the athlete looks or what percentage of 1RM they are supposed to be moving, that they are fatigued beyond the necessary output they need to reach the target stimulus. We shut down the set so that we don’t keep the athlete accumulating a bunch of junk reps.
#BeTheStandard
#velocitybasedtraining #vbt #powertraining #strengthandconditioning
Top 5 Reasons to use VBT with your athletes: Reason #3: Objective load & zone prescription. Research over the years has mapped clear velocity zones for different strength qualities. Accelerative strength, strength speed, speed strength, and starting strength all live in different velocity zones. While percentage based training can target these qualities by prescribing an “ideal” load that can allow for different velocities, verifying the quality of the reps becomes a coaches visual interpretation and is subjective. Using VBT gives a clear picture of the athletes bar speed and verifies the quality of the bar speed and whether or not the target is hit on every rep. For the full series in more detail, follow @mikeyoungphd
#BeTheStandard
#velocitybasedtraining #vbt #morepower
We know there are weight room activities - squats, cleans, plyos, etc that contribute to speed development but we also know that these activities don’t come close enough to the intensity of forces and contraction speeds seen during a max velocity sprint. Therefore the best way to become faster is…..to sprint.
To reach a proper stimulus, sprinting must be done at 95%+ of the athletes max velocity. Do not confuse this with EFFORT. An athlete can be at an RPE of 10 yet not sprinting at 95%+ of their max velocity. So even if an athlete is running fast, even running as fast as they can, it doesn’t mean they are sprinting.
🔹 More in-depth speed training guidelines are found in our CHPC L1 online course #linkinbio
#BeTheStandard
#strengthcoach #sportsperformance #trainingsession personaltrainer fitnesscoach physicalpreparation coachingeducation alca highperformance ltad athleticdevelopment weightroom weightliftingcoach strengthandconditioning exercisescience kinesiology speedtraining sprinttraining
Athletic Lab
110 Competition Center Drive
Suite 150
Phone: 919.617.1472
Email: info@athleticlab.com
Web: athleticlab.com
The matches are over but we`d like to congratulate Patrick Kypson on competing at Wimbledon where he earned a spot in the main draw after breaking into the ATP Top 100 earlier this year and continuing his rise on the professional tour.
Patrick reached a major milestone, earning a Grand Slam main draw victory with an impressive four-set win over fellow American Mackenzie McDonald, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.
Patrick advanced to the second round before facing world No. 6 Taylor Fritz on Court 2 at the All England Club. While Fritz earned the victory, Patrick battled throughout the match and showcased the level of play that has made him one of the country`s top rising professionals.
Athletic Lab has had the privilege of being a part of Patrick`s performance journey, and we`re incredibly proud to see his hard work and dedication rewarded on one of the biggest stages in tennis. Reaching Wimbledon is a testament to years of disciplined training, perseverance, and an unwavering commitment to improvement.
Congratulations, Patrick, on an outstanding achievement!
Congratulations to @tim_usaw on an outstanding performance at the @usa_weightlifting Junior National Championships in Colorado Springs, Colorado earlier this month, where he earned a gold medal in one of the nation’s most competitive junior divisions. Tim is a long time member of the @athleticlab_weightlifting Team coached by USA Weightlifting National Coach @j.t.nobbe_
Weightlifting National Championships Week brings together the country’s top youth, junior, U25, and senior lifters, making every medal hard-earned. Tim rose to the challenge with a personal record in the clean & jerk to secure the top spot on the podium.
Congratulations, Tim on becoming a USA Weightlifting Junior National Champion! We are incredibly proud of your accomplishment and look forward to seeing what comes next as you continue to represent Athletic Lab on the national stage.
The ALWC 2026 Nationals Schedule!
(All times listed are MDT)
Get your stretch on! Our MoMo (Movement & Mobility) classes are offered Thursdays at 5pm. In our MoMo classes, we work on asymmetries, imbalances, and restrictions that may be limiting performance or increasing the likelihood for injuries. Paying attention to these seemingly little things allows you to keep your goals big.
#athleticlab #iloveal #cary #fitness #mobility
Happy Mother’s Day to all our strong moms. ⠀
⠀
#mothersday #strongasamutha #moms #gymlife #crossfit strongmoms fitmoms fitness strength
Athletic Lab
110 Competition Center Drive
Suite 150
Phone: 919.617.1472
Email: info@athleticlab.com
Web: athleticlab.com
Copyright 2026 Athletic Lab | All Rights Reserved
Copyright 2026 Athletic Lab | All Rights Reserved
