Frequently Asked Questions

> What does 34° North mean?

34° North is the latitude coordinates of the gym location. We believe that health and fitness is a journey and an aspiration, not a destination or a fixed-point. 34° North is a navigational setting on which to orient yourself for your journey of self-mastery.

> What should I bring to train?

The most important things to bring - An open mind. A desire to connect with your body in the present moment. An intention for self-mastery.
Listening ears.
Clothes that allow you to move freely.
A towel if you need one. Most do with our training.
Canteen or water bottle. We have reverse osmosis filtered water that multiple Yelp reviews say is the most delicious and refreshing they’ve ever had, but you must provide the vessel. Don’t worry if you forget. We sell water at the gym, too.
Shoes for training in case we go outside to the parking lot or neighborhood to train. Lincoln Blvd isn’t the place you want to be running barefoot regardless of how gnarly your feet are.

Please leave ego at home.

> Can I train barefoot?

Yes! We encourage it!

Still, always bring training shoes in case we’re doing something outside.

> Do you have showers and changing rooms?

Yes! We have two showers, including one with rock floors to stimulate the nerves and muscles in your feet.

We also have a vanity room with mirrors, hair dryers, deodorant, hair products and facial products.

> Can I hang out in the community area before/after workouts?

Please do! We love it when members and clients come early and stay late. Come for the workout. Stay for the community. Use the wifi if you like.

> Is 34° North Crossfit?

No! We created our own training system and continue to evolve it. We have no affiliation with Crossfit.

> Do you have any special offers?

We have a new student offer* for both personal training and group training…

A 60-minute Intro personal training session & assessment for $100.

Unlimited week of group training for $69. At the end of your week you can put that $69 towards the cost of whatever group training membership or package you buy.

*Offer only valid to new students that live locally. Only one per person. Not available to anyone who has done a trial week with us before.

> What’s a good weekly group training schedule to start with?

That depends on you, your current ability level and your intentions.

In general we recommend students take at least one of our core curriculum classes per week. Our core classes are Fluxio & Upper body, Omnis & Legs, and Libertas. If mobility is a primary concern, for instance, we advise you take Libertas twice a week.

Familiarize yourself with our class descriptions and which elements of movement they each focus on - skill, strength, mobility, and conditioning.

The other classes that fill in your weekly movement training practice are entirely dependent upon what you need to work on and what you want to work on. You also have to factor in schedule and budget.

We’d love the opportunity to give you guidance on what weekly training schedule would be best for you.

> How many times a week should I/can I train at 34° N?

Humans are meant to move everyday. Movement is the driver for so many biological functions as well as the catalyst for changing our brain chemistry and composition. (See a list of the benefits of adopting a daily movement practice below).

We encourage all of our students to adopt a daily movement practice and we support it with the way our training system is structured throughout each week and 6-week phase of training. We don’t train at high intensity every day and neither should you or anyone else unless you’re cool with mortgaging your future wellness and movement for present day glory of some sort. Our weekly program ebbs and flows in intensity and volume with regenerative mobility focused training sessions like Libertas and Yoga placed strategically at the middle and end of each week.

Following the structure of our weekly program, many of our students train with us 6-7 days a week. Most of our students train with us at least 4 times a week.

It takes new students and those that are deconditioned some time to adjust to our training system. Their bodies need time to adapt to the training stimulus to become more resilient and to recover from training more quickly.

During that adaption period two to three training sessions a week with us along with some low-level aerobic movement and mobility work will be the perfect amount of training to see results without overdoing it. As their bodies adapt to being more resilient and their conditioning level improves they gradually increase the amount of workouts they do with us.

Regardless of how many times a week you can train with us, we welcome anyone who wants to explore self-mastery through movement training and a journey into personal wellness.

Benefits of a daily movement practice -

Movement is the catalyst for healthy tissue growth and adaptive response.
Movement stimulates healing, particularly in joints and connective tissues that don’t get much circulation without movement.
It stimulates metabolic function and optimizes hormone levels.
It helps balance your circadian rhythms, which improves sleep.
It stimulates detoxification.
Daily intentional movement is the single greatest thing you can do to ward off chronic illness, like diabetes, heart disease, and Alzheimer's.
Training alters brain chemistry!
- It stimulates the release of mood altering hormones like serotonin and dopamine that make us happier and more optimistic.
- These chemicals are natural stress reducers.
- Training makes us smarter! The more complex and varied the movement the more your brain gets stimulated and the smarter you get. One 2015 study found that adults who undertook a training regime dense with complex movement skills loosely based on freestyle wrestling performed better in cognitive tasks than people who spent the same amount of time performing tiresome brain-draining workouts, like burpees, or gutting it out on a stationary bike.

> Can I do personal training and group training?

Absolutely! It’s actually very common.

Personal training is great for the hyper-focused coaching and tailored program for the individual. Training on your own also makes it easier for most people to give themselves permission to try new things and potentially fail.

There’s nothing like the energetic synergy created in group training sessions. Something about being in a group of spirited, enthusiastic people makes everyone stronger, more courageous, more committed and more resilient.

Combining these experiences is _ way to expand your practice.

> Does it matter if I’m starting mid-way through or at the end of a 6-week phase? What if it’s a deload week?

No, it doesn’t matter. We’ll meet you wherever you’re at when you come to us.

If you start with us mid-way through or at the end of a 6-week phase we’ll start you with the foundational skills that everyone else started the phase with using the current structure of the class program. If you show an aptitude for the foundational skills we’ll progress you towards where the rest of the students are practicing.

Starting during a deload week is actually great for anyone that’s new to training or deconditioned from a long break from exercise.

> In regards to Personal Training pricing what’s the difference between your Instructors and Master Instructors?

All of our instructors are experienced, talented, knowledgeable and articulate. We don’t hire any instructors that don’t have at least 5 years of full time training experience and an extensive background in physical culture.

We have an internal educational curriculum that we’ve created for our instructors to go through. The ones that have completed our curriculum or the experiential equivalents that we’ve verified have the opportunity to become Master Instructors.

> What if I’m injured? Can I still train at 34° North?

It totally depends on the type of injury and whether it’s in the acute phase. Movement of the right kind and intensity can be the best tool for healing.

There are also many injuries that can be trained around during the rehabilitative process.

We definitely want to know about your injuries before you start with us and are happy to chat with you to see what the right plan is moving forward.

Yes. We have a 34° North mobile app that makes it a 5 second process. We limit the number of spaces in class so we can’t guarantee you’ll be able to train if you show up without registering in advance. It’s also a courtesy to the instructor teaching the class so they can be prepared with the proper progressions and equipment setup.

Our policy is to charge $20 for a no show. We do this to discourage people from taking spots in class from students that want to train.

> Why don’t you have any mirrors?

We have several reasons...

The focus should never be on the result; it should be on the process. Mirrors make it harder for people to engage with the process.

So you’ll learn to feel movement rather than relying on visual validation. Real life doesn’t provide mirrors to help you ensure your pelvis is in neutral.

People are more willing to explore and put themselves out there when they aren’t so concerned about how they look doing it.

> Can I train at 34° North on my own, like an open gym membership?

Yes. We charge $20 for a drop-in workout and $300 for unlimited open gym. We have some restrictions on who and when. Inquire with Lo at lauren@34-north.com.