Bench-A-Thon 2023 Recap!

We recently celebrated the 5th Annual Coach DJ’s Memorial Bench-A-Thon, and it was a huge success! Our competitors, spotters and loaders, judges, coaches, and spectators gave it their all to make this a fun and inspiring event.

Most importantly, we surpassed our fundraising goal by A TON! Since 2021, Bench-A-Thon has raised money for the ASF Student Athlete Scholarship Fund. This year, our incredible community came together to raise $8,000! Thanks to you, we will be awarding $1,000 scholarships to eight deserving AISD senior student athletes! Scholarships will be awarded in April.

 

For our clients, Bench-A-Thon is a fun challenge that adds focus to their training and stokes a hunger for future strength gains. In the weeks leading up to the event, clients train with a specific goal of increasing their one-rep max on bench, improving technique and gaining absolute strength. It is thrilling to find yourself lifting more weight than you ever thought possible! It is also terrifying and exhilarating to put yourself out there in front of other people! Thankfully, our community is supportive, and the cheering crowd makes it easier to lift heavy!

For our trainers, competing is a way of life! We love friendly competition between the team (eg: Trainers’ Simply Fit Games), which sharpens our skills and keeps us focused and training hard. We also get the absolute joy of watching our clients work hard and surprise themselves with their own strength. These events get our team to PEAK HYPE and remind us just how lucky we are to do what we love for a living.

 

This year, we partnered with friend-of the-gym Chris Tejeda of Chris Gets U Fit. He came with a strong crew of lifters who played a big part in helping us surpass our fundraising goal. Chris also served on the scholarship application review panel. Thanks for the enormous support, Team Chris Gets U Fit!

It’s not hard to get us dancing, but the vibes were next-level thanks to longtime ASF client and Austin Music Award winner DJ Chorizo Funk, who kept the music funky and fresh. We all know how important good tunes are to successful lifts!

We had tasty treats provided by Blenders and Bowls, and exceptional hands-on care from massage therapist Larisa West of West Wellness, and Dr. Carlos Reyes, founder of Reyes Performance Institute. We love having these awesome people in our community.

Together, 43 competitors lifted a total of 7,329 lbs in their third attempts!

Congratulations to the winners of Coach DJ’s Memorial Bench-A-Thon, 2023:

• Elijah Williams (children, 12 and under)
• Genevieve Appl (youth, 13-17 years)
• Mattie League (women, 18-29 years)
• Jules Garrett (men, 18-29 years)
• Krista Bergeron (women, 30+ years)
• Chris Tejeda (men, 30+ years)