By Fitness Editor Paula Jager CSCS
Editor’s Note: Congratulations are in order for Fitness Editor Paula Jager CSCS. Her gym Crossfit Jaguar recently moved to a bigger and better location here in Tampa, Florida! I thought it would be fun for her to share how she survived the move and stayed healthy and happy during all the chaos. She will be sharing the fabulous “after” photos in a few weeks after things settle down a bit.
If it seemed like you missed a fitness article or two, you didn’t – I took a two week hiatus during our move to the new Crossfit Jaguar location!
After some time in the same location, things tend to run smoothly especially if one has established some modicum of systems. When it finally (and I mean finally!) came time to relocate, I had no idea life was going to be a roller coaster for quite a few months!
It seemed simple enough; find a place, sign the lease, a few weeks for a build out, rent a U haul and boom you’re up and running. Well, a move is never that simple is it?
First off, securing the ideal location took us quite awhile. Initially we were not in a hurry but as we continued to grow, the classes got overly crowded, the lack of space limited our ability to conduct two classes simultaneously and we often ended up using a large portion of the parking lot.
With a new theater moving into our retail center the landlord was less than thrilled.
Since my husband/business partner is a commercial real estate broker, you would think it wouldn’t take so long. When looking for a space there were several factors to consider:
- Keeping it within a 2-3 mile radius of our current box to accommodate our existing clientele.
- Keeping the overhead affordable.
- Enough space to support continued growth.
- Enough room for outside activity.
- Visibility.
- Warehouse vs Retail–we’d been in retail space for quite some time; high ceilings and roll up doors were a must.
Over the course of about 1 ½ years we looked at warehouse (the few that existed in our “suburb”) and retail spaces, considered the pros/cons and finally found the box of our dreams.
How soon can we get in? It had been vacant for over 3 years and the owners were ready for a tenant.
“Nothing in real estate ever moves fast PJ” were the words my husband kept repeating.
He was so right! It took over two months just to get the lease signed. And that was only the beginning. . .
I had to brace myself. Things rarely went smoothly. Each and every day was fraught with issues; sub contractors were late, sometimes they did not show up at all, the weather did not cooperate–pouring rain when we finally had the owner’s workers there to fix the roof leaks, things were back ordered, arrived late, took longer than they should to get done and cost more. In addition there were many expenses that popped up no matter how well we had planned and budgeted.
My world was turned upside down. I am a type A person by nature, meticulous and very organized. Everything has a place and while our wonderful community of members pitched in and moved an entire box in a mere 3 ½ hours, when I looked at all the “organized” boxes and piles I had a moment, no to be honest an afternoon of something akin to anxiety!
While we had gotten a good deal on our location there was also a lot of work to be done. At an age when most people are planning their retirement my husband and I (64 and 53) expanded our business and took on a 6 year lease!
So how do you handle all this? Calmly. Rationally. You must be flexible– going with the flow. My “long” days became even longer (14+ hours) including weekends; there were fires to be put out constantly. I was wearing more hats than usual. I had to maintain a smile on my face and a calm and confident demeanor. Not always easy. How does one do this? 4 things stand out:
Wod. 3 days a week minimum. While still running the day to day operations of the business and coaching clients I thought I’d cut back on my workouts. Wrong. It took me 3 days of not working out to realize I was going to get arrested if I didn’t have an outlet. Take that hour, remove all thoughts/issues from your mind and pour any frustration into your workout. It will keep you sane and better equipped to handle everything.- Sleep. 7-9 hours a night. Think you don’t have time. Think again. The better rested you are the better you will also handle everything. Some evenings I was at my wits end. Shutting it down and getting a good nights sleep had me awaking like I was at the starting blocks, literally springing from bed with the answers. I would leave my house as 5:30-6:30 am and not return home until 7:30-8:30 pm. I would shower, eat dinner (thank you hubby for preparing) and fall into bed. But sleep I did.
- Eat. Real. Food. I’ll be honest, my bone broth making days came to a complete halt. Some things you have to let go for the moment. We ate simple, traditional meals. No processed or fast food. Pastured meat, fowl or wild fish was usually baked or broiled and served with a vegetable and sometimes root or tuber. No sauces or frills just simple sustenance. Strength must be kept up during times of stress through nutrition.
- Breathe!
After the first month in our new “home” I can see light at the end of the tunnel (the long tunnel). Things are becoming organized, systems are starting to be put back into place and the bigger picture is taking form. Stay tuned for the “finished” product! I can’t wait to share it with you!
About the Author
Paula Jager CSCS and Level 1 CrossFit and CF Nutrition Certified is the owner of CrossFit Jaguar. Her exercise and nutrition programs yield life changing results.
You can connect with her on Facebook by clicking here.
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