We’re proud to work out with the amazing team at InnerCity Weightlifting every Thursday morning at 8AM PST. Most of our team shows up to the zoom meeting with their workout clothes, a towel, and a big smile. It lasts an hour and it’s as easy or intense as you make it. Our certified trainer, Adam Hayes, leads us through three sets of 8 simple exercises (like pushups, lunges, and burpees.) It lasts an hour, and then we start our days feeling freaking great about ourselves.
What is InnerCity Weightlifting?
ICW’s mission is to reduce gun violence by amplifying the voice and agency of people who have been most impacted by systemic racism and mass incarceration. They partner with program participants through case management and careers in and beyond personal training. Individuals are elevated as experts in fitness and the social issues they’ve lived. ICW is a culture and community in which power dynamics are flipped, social capital is bridged, and new leaders emerge in the fight to combat long-standing inequities.
They’re just an all around amazing organization. Learn more on their website or watch their segment on ESPN.
How I Got Involved
I grew up outside of Boston, where InnerCity Weightlifting was founded, so their mission is personal to me. There’s real poverty, crime, and violence and there are too few real solutions offered to young people looking for a way out of that cycle.
I got introduced to ICW when I was working in Boston at another startup. They opened a gym right in the building where I worked about five years ago. A few of us went down for a workout.. how convenient to have a gym right in our building!
Then, we invited the trainers at ICW up to our floor to host team workouts – and everyone loved it. The team felt stronger, we were all happier and healthier, and more productive too. Our company culture became more about connecting with each other while giving back. It was a way for everyone to help make a positive impact in the world while also doing something great for themselves – a total win/win/win.
When I moved to San Francisco, away from the ICW gym, I bought a stupid peloton. But when COVID hit, I thought about the program at ICW. So I called Jon Feinman and asked if they were doing virtual sessions. Sure enough, they’re such an adaptive and “can-do” org that they were now offering this service.
So, Adam and I started working out over zoom. And I loved it. So I became a passionate advocate for ICW all over again, because I’ve seen the incredible impact they have on their trainers and their clients alike.
How You Can Join Us
I’ve got an awesome offer for you – come join the Reprise team in our weekly ICW workouts! Not only does the whole Reprise team work out together (because I work with the best people), but I’m inviting you to join too.
Seriously, it’s a completely open, no-strings-attached invite – come alone or bring your whole team, join us once or come every single week. I usually have about 12 people joining our workouts every week and getting introduced to the ICW mission and crew.
We work out every Thursday at 8 am PST – just shoot me a dm to get the link and join. It’s a blast.
That’s how passionate I am about bringing the ICW mission to everyone I know. Because that’s how incredible they are.
Love it and want to give back? Hit the donation link after the workout and keep supporting the awesome work ICW does for their community.
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
Joe Caprio is a cofounder at Reprise.
He also advocates for ICW, ask him about it!
