After years of being a member at a CrossFit affiliate, I made the decision to try working out in my garage and follow Street Parking programming. While I was nervous I would not enjoy working out alone in my garage and miss the CrossFit community, I have found the complete opposite to be true.
Over the past seven months, I have found that working out in my garage has given me the flexibility to find time to work out around my hectic schedule and the Street Parking community is more than just a group of members following the same programming.
Here are my eight reasons why I love Street Parking!
Fitness Freedom. For years I’ve been at amazing gyms. But there’s always been a drawback for most of them. Either I didn’t get enough single leg or arm work, so I became anatomically imbalanced or I didn’t get enough abdominal stimulu, etc. I recognize that I could have done accessory work after a workout, but honestly it was just over the top with homeschooling 2 kids and driving 30 minutes to a gym. It just wasn’t gonna happen. I also find I’m more responsible with my workouts when all of them are shown a week in advance to choose instead of not knowing the workout until the day of. I find that I’m able to customize my schedule and body and move the workouts to what works for me that day. And honestly if we can’t trust people with their workouts how can they learn to be truly accountable?
The owner, Miranda. Miranda Alcaraz used to work for CrossFit HQ and travel around on the Level 1 CrossFit seminar team. Her personality is absolutely amazing. From her own determination to push through discomfort to helping women eat well and love themselves, her words of encouragement help Street Parking members do their very best without beating themselves up. Her words are a light in the world of obsessions over weight and mental abuse women put themselves through. Her ‘toss the scale and focus on muscle’ approach is outstanding. Miranda hosts most of the Street Parking podcast and it is so good. It helps you fully understand the programs in short episodes and gives you insight into the thoughts behind the programs themselves. I also just love hearing Miranda talk. She has such a smart, wise and encouraging personality and holds herself to a high standard which then inspires others.
Old School CrossFit. Crossfit workouts used to be short and intense but fun. In the last 5-7 years the industry has changed because of people wanting more volume despite ‘more’ not always being appropriate or necessary. This also keeps many people from trying CrossFit. Street Parking programming is so adaptable that those new to CrossFit are not as intimidated by it. Bridging the gap between full on CrossFit and the basic person at home who needs to lift and get stronger. Their demo videos are extremely detailed and their ability to fully teach CrossFit moves virtually is impressive. The workouts are VERY simple and most are 10-20 minutes long, making it very easy to fit into a busy lifestyle.
Support. Once you join Street Parking, you are assigned a coach that you can reach out to for help and advice. Street Parking also has a private Facebook group for members where you can add a tag in your post to specify that you are asking for help from a coach and a Street Parking coach will respond to your question. Street Parking also focuses on nutrition as a key element of success. For an additional fee, you can purchase nutritional templates that are very in depth and specific to your needs. They have small Group nutrition coaching as an add-on, too.
Options. You’ll never find more options in a program. Hate running? No problem, there’s a row or bike option for the daily workout. No equipment? There’s that option too. Street Parking programs a daily workout, but there are over 40 ‘Extra’ programs focusing on endurance, strength, bodyweight, odd object and more. There are even programs for pregnancy and postpartum (which I will touch on more later!). And I love that Miranda herself has had three babies and works out with kids in her garage many times. There are programs for anyone who wants to get fit. If you only have a pair of dumbbells, or if you have a full gym filled with equipment, there are programs for everyone. You can view a sample workout week here.
I liked stickers on my homework as a kid. Street Parking offers badges and rewards as well as the Monday Vault workouts. These were designed well to keep members achieving goals and to have reason to push harder. The Monday Vault workouts are 25 workouts that repeat the second half of the year to be able to see progress. You get a badge if you do all 25 in a year which leads to accountability and consistency. You also get a badge for hitting 75 days of workouts and a free hoodie. The central theme in Street Parking is consistency over everything. Consistency is Key, is their motto and the key is their logo.
Pregnancy and Postpartum Programming THAT IS REALLY GOOD. Miranda programs the pregnancy and postpartum workouts that are designed to walk you through fitness during this season of life and then help you gently move towards regular fitness programming. They have “Mama Modifications” for many of the daily workouts that are provided by the staff – and let me tell you about the staff involved in this special program for pregnant moms and postpartum females! They have a Pelvic floor PT on staff contributing to this part of their programming as well as a coach who is trained by Brianna Battles in Pregnancy and Postpartum Athleticism – which has become an industry standard over the last few years for training coaches to best serve their Mama clients!
Community. This part really surprised me. I had low hopes of liking Street Parking other than doing the workouts. But it has been super impressive how they’ve managed to make members feel like they’re in a community, albeit virtually. Groups of members will sometimes join Zoom to workout together or members in a town will host in-person meet-ups. Everyone is so encouraging and inviting. People will spot one another in public, via the Street Parking apparel and get a selfie together and post it.
What I have loved about Street Parking is how their entire programming is centered around the members. They REALLY want their members to be successful via consistency and fitness specific goals. Because they are virtual/online, they do not have to worry about competing with local gyms. Sometimes that sense of competition leads gyms to focus on creating the best programming and not enough focus on their members’ needs.
Street Parking is just $20 per month. You can sign up here.
