Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Workout of the Day:
TESTING DAY – Weighted Pull-Ups
(Please report your scores for your 1-RM Weighted Pull-Up.)

In six attempts or less, find your 1-RM Weighted Pull-Up
Rest at least 3-4 minutes between attempts, and spend that time working on hip mobility, glute activation and foam rolling;
and then,
As many rounds as possible in 12 minutes of:
Pull-Up Complex (2 Strict + 4 Chest-to-Bar + 6 Kipping)
Run 200 Meters

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RASA!!!

Today’s Birthday Girl – The Amazing Rasa Dusa
Written by Michele Vieux

I started my interview with Rasa with all the usual questions hoping to learn more about why she is who she is (i.e., amazingly kind, genuine, extremely cheerful, and about the cutest gal you’ll ever meet). What I got was insight into an attitude on how to choose your own destiny and create happiness for yourself and others.

Me: Rasa, tell me why you are so cheerful all the time.
Rasa: Ha! Cheerful? Some call it annoying.

Me: Screw them! I like your cheerfulness! You are always a pleasure to be around.
Rasa: Well, I think you have a choice in how you experience your life everyday and I choose to be cheerful and focus on the positives. I’m generally a happy person. My mom says I’ve been this way since the beginning.

Right off the bat I knew I was onto something but wasn’t quite sure what it was yet so I questioned on.

Me: You are usually here early in the mornings, how much coffee do you drink to get here so early and still bring the energy?
Rasa: None!

Me: So how do you get all that energy?
Rasa: Lots of sleep! I go to bed really early so I can get up at 4:30AM and be here to open the gym.

Note to self, never call Rasa after 7:30PM.

Me: What made you want to work at Invictus?
Rasa: I love the community aspect. People are always checking on each other and asking to help others. In a world where there’s not much community left, it’s nice to be a part of one. Plus, I just kept harassing them until they let me.

Personally, I think Rasa is perfect for the position she holds at Invictus because she IS always on alert and looking for ways to help others and to improve the facility for both the staff and the clients. But her helpfulness doesn’t stop here.

Me: What do you do when you leave Invictus?
Rasa: Right now, I help a friend out babysitting her two boys. Since I don’t have a “big girl” job, I like to spend my free time doing small things for people here and there when they are having a hard time.

Rasa calls it being a “secret angel” and she learned how to be one early on when she had many secret angels of her own as a child from a very modest upbringing in Mississippi. Throughout the years, teachers, school friends, guidance counselors, and co-workers took her under their wings and helped her not only get by, but succeed.

This has given her a special insight into others’ souls, sorrows, and needs. She is an expert at identifying when a friend, or stranger, needs a helping hand and loves to be the one to step up to do something nice for them (even if they don’t know the nice gesture is coming from her). She truly just enjoys doing nice things for others.

Rasa moved to California in the .com days for a job and eventually made her way to San Diego where she met and really got to know her future husband, Matt, when he had to drive her to the ER after splitting her head open in a wakeboarding accident.

Me: How did you and Matt meet?
Rasa: A friend invited me out on a wakeboarding trip and it ended up being Matt’s boat. Matt still insists to this day that I flirted with him the entire way to the hospital and he thought I was crazy because I was nearly bleeding to death!

Me: That’s a great story! You guys have another great story in the works, don’t you?
Rasa: Yes! We’re excited to have our first child in January!
Me: Great news! One more pregnant lady waddling around Invictus will be awesome!

Don’t think pregnancy is going to slow Rasa down. Behind the scenes, she is busy keeping the entire staff organized and on-track with our duties and goals. She has also been tasked with creating and implementing systems to provide all of our members and prospective members the best service possible – from confirmation emails to checking up on anyone who hasn’t been in the gym for a while. The machine that is Invictus has definitely run smoother since she came aboard, and it is only going to get better.

When you see Rasa sitting at the front desk, she will almost certainly shoot you a smile and a cheery “hello” to help you start your day off right. But she is also there to assist you with almost any need you may have whether it be questions about merchandise, upcoming seminars, your billing, scheduling appointments, or pretty much anything else you can conjure up.

Rasa is the little woman with all the big the answers and she wants to be your secret angel so just ask her for help with anything!