​Happy Friday!  Welcome to the Iron Made Gym Newsletter.  Our goal with this production is to share information with our unique community that will help you reach your goals.
Today’s issue is purely celebration.  We have so many people and events to speak of so let’s get started.
Dominic Merolillo swore in to the United States Air Force on 5/30/18.  To say that he worked relentlessly for this achievement is an understatement.  He is a great example of failing forward and developing grit to reach his goal, he did not quit.  “The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” – Thomas Edison
You can find his swearing in video here:

https://youtu.be/gXv_UZn4Oqo
​
This is the first year Iron Made has offered a Senior Scholarship Award to three school districts:  Mohawk, Springfield, and Poland.  The top five from each school were interviewed and also evaluated from their application form.  We aimed to make our essay questions drastically different than anything else the students would encounter.  They included the following questions:
1.  Describe a circumstance in your life in which ‘Grit’ was cultivated.
2.  Do you believe in the concept of ‘Failing Forward’? Explain.
3.  Describe a time you fully immersed yourself in a goal you set for yourself.
4.  Do you believe there is a difference between motivation and inspiration? Explain.
5.  What is your ‘Why’? 
6.  Do you believe there is a difference between passion and purpose? Explain.  Have you found yours?
7.  In your entire school career thus far, what are the top three life lessons you will carry with you?
We are excited to announce the following winners:
Poland – Mark Pompeo
Springfield – Ivy Withers
Mohawk – Jeremiah Shillingburg

​We also want to say thank you to all our military men and women who have served and are serving to protect the United States of America.  Thank you for your selfless act of courage.
Follow us on our social media platforms!  
We are committed to offering free personal training sessions two times a week, and we promote these via our social media platforms.
Until next time Iron Made Community.
Micah 6:8  “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
Many Blessings,
Kevin Byers

Happy Friday!  Welcome to the Iron Made Gym Newsletter.  Our goal with this production is to share information with our unique community that will help you reach your goals.
Today I want to address the idea of brain chemistry, the battle of how you feel about yourself when you are by yourself.  Do you feel proud of who you are?  Are you happy with who you are?  Perhaps when you boil it down, the thing you are chasing is fulfillment.  So let me ask you this simple question, think hard about who influences you the most.  Got it?  Now dwell on this quote from Mel Robbins, “The most influential person in your life is you.  When you start to realize that you have the most influence over everything in your life, good and bad, it’s a game changer.”
I hope that hit home with you.  The moment you take control of your thoughts and vision of yourself, the more successful you will become.  Take responsibility for your actions and thoughts, because for good or bad, you alone are responsible.  
On May 5th, 2018 I had the honor of being inducted into the Mohawk High School Hall of Fame.  I specifically discuss: I am no one special, passion, purpose, and my life’s why.  God affirmed my ‘why’ as the privilege of serving our customers and clients in their day to day lives, to share with them their best days but also their worst, inside our four walls of Iron Made and in our communities.  I aim to treat everyone with genuine love, empathy, and generosity.  I fail daily, but that will not diminish my efforts.  I hope you all feel loved in our unique family.  You mean a great deal to me.  From the bottom of my heart, thank you!
Mr. Carr gave a warm introduction, I begin speaking at the three minute mark.  Also added is an audio tribute to my family.  I hope this inspires you to find your ‘why’.  Watch the induction speech here: youtu.be/tWIQaMbMY_0
Follow us on our social media platforms!   
We are committed to offering free personal training sessions two times a week, and we promote these via our social media platforms.
Until next time Iron Made Community.
Micah 6:8  “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
Many Blessings,
Kevin Byers

Happy Friday!  Welcome to the Iron Made Gym Newsletter.  Our goal with this production is to share information with our unique community that will help you reach your goals.
I want to share with you a new exercise we found called the Dumbbell Rollback.  It blasts your triceps and does not put an extreme amount of pressure on your elbow joints.  You can perform this at a variety of angles.  Incline, flat, decline, or on the floor.  Decline will keep tension on triceps during lockout due to you body’s downward angle.  Add this into your tricep workout and see how it works.  Exercise demonstrated here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nvyznzu1PRU

We would like to congratulate our trainer Mr. Frank Shaffer for many milestones recently.  In his most recent bodybuilding competition, Frank placed 3rd in his class as well as winning ‘Best Poser’ award, he graduated from Youngstown State University, and this week he began his internship at Pitt working with the sports teams in their weight room.  We are very proud of Frank and wish him the best.  We are also thankful he is willing to continue to serve our Iron Made community.

Happy Friday!  Welcome to the Iron Made Gym Newsletter.  Our goal with this production is to share information with our unique community that will help you reach your goals.
Everybody wants a big bench!  So how do we get it?  One of my favorite definitions of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.  What system have you implemented to increase your bench?  What has worked and what has not?  Today we are going to cover two exercises, and some variations to increase your bench press.
First, the floor bench press.  This can be done by laying on the floor in the power rack.  Follow the same bar pattern as discussed last week.  The floor press eliminates all leg drive, reduces stress on your shoulders, and isolates the chest.  Do not attempt to gain momentum by bouncing your elbows off the ground, use control through the lift, and maximum force pressing up.  Variations of this would include:   dumbbell, single arm dumbbell, and olympic bar or axle bar using the jack stands.
Second, the JM press.  This exercise is a combination of a close grip bench press and skull crusher.  Invented by JM Blakely, this exercise will assist you specifically during the lockout portion of your bench press.  Implement this into your programing and I promise you will not be disappointed. Watch it demonstrated here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09q-wob818M
Follow us on our social media platforms!  
We are committed to offering free personal training sessions two times a week, and we promote these via our social media platforms.
Until next time Iron Made Community.
“If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else.  It will spread into your work and into your life.  There are no limits.  There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.”  - Bruce Lee
Many Blessings,
Kevin Byers

Today we want to cover a simple concept that is getting completely overlooked. Full range of motion (ROM) during a lift.  During a conversation with Mr. Frank Shaffer he pointed out there is a time and place for half reps.  I couldn’t agree more, and until you have a good handle on the movement you should not be doing partial ROM.  We are seeing this trend mostly with novice customers.  Let’s break this down specifically for our facility.
Squat – the lift will not count if the crease of your hip does not reach level or bellow parallel of the height of your knee.  Last week we talked about the importance of box squats and one of the advantages being: never questioning ‘Am I low enough?’  For a bar box squat, sit on the box first and check your level of your knee vs hip, and adjust height accordingly.  If hip mobility is an issue, start with a taller box and over the next couple weeks work your way down.  You can use the same method on the smith machine.  With the leg press and hack squat machines you need to be dropping to 90 degrees or lower.  Never compromise form for more weight.  Check your ego at the door.
Bar Bench Press – in order to get the most out of this exercise touch the bar to your CHEST!  Your whole body is used during a bench press: chest, lats, delts, triceps, and core/legs for stability.  By doing half reps you are missing out on the full development of your muscles as a beginner.  Like Frank said, there is a time and place for partial ROM. 
Those are the two main movements that needed addressed.  It is important to check your ego at the door and become a learner if you don’t know what you are doing…..ASK!  We have customers who have been training for 30 years and are still learning new things.  Never forget to have fun and fall in love with the process.  The following pictures from www.stronglifts.com simplify angles, depths, posture, and positions. 

​ “There are four types of coaches:
makes the simple, complex
keeps the simple, simple
keeps the complex, complex
makes the complex, simple.” – Mark Watts
 
Follow us on our social media platforms!  
We are committed to offering free personal training sessions two times a week, and we promote these via our social media platforms.
 
Until next time Iron Made Community.
 
Theodore Rosevelt – “Far and away, one of the best prizes life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”
 
Many Blessings,
Kevin Byers