The Refinery

Call Directions Contact the business

The Refinery Located at 12 1st Street SE in Beach, ND.

What if the thing standing between you and the progress you want has nothing to do with your workout?Sometimes it’s resi...
10/07/2026

What if the thing standing between you and the progress you want has nothing to do with your workout?

Sometimes it’s resistance.

Sometimes it’s an uncomfortable conversation you really, really don’t want to have.

And sometimes it’s the assumption that your coach should just know what’s wrong without you having to say it.

But coaching is a relationship, and relationships require communication.

My clients don’t have to agree with me. They don’t have to like every recommendation. They don’t even have to be happy with me all the time.

They do, however, agree to bring the hard stuff to me (it’s literally in the contract they sign when we start our work together).

We can work with honesty, with frustration, and with disagreement. What we can’t work with is silence and resentment because neither one helps you move forward.

Good communication isn’t always pretty and it doesn’t always feel good but avoiding the conversation rarely makes the problem better.

And a great coach should be able to give you enough safety to have that conversation without fear of judgment or worrying about hurting their feelings.

Then comes the other half:

You have to be willing to try.

Read through this one. There might be something in it you need to confront - not in your workout, but in the way you’re approaching the work.

Fear of getting hurt. Fear of failing. Fear of not knowing what they’re doing. Fear of watching someone else pursue thei...
10/06/2026

Fear of getting hurt. Fear of failing. Fear of not knowing what they’re doing.

Fear of watching someone else pursue their health + goals while they keep standing still. Maybe there’s even a fear of their own complicated relationship with their body.

Strength training isn’t some reckless activity we need to protect people from. READ THAT AGAIN.

It’s literally one of the most well-supported things you can do for your health, function, bone density, muscle, confidence, and ability to keep doing the things you love as you get older. It’s just about the closest you can get to the proverbial fountain of youth. True story.

When someone tries to discourage you from getting stronger, it’s worth asking:

Is this actually good advice… or is someone handing me their fear and asking me to carry it?

You don’t have to inherit someone else’s fear of what your body is capable of. Get curious, get educated. Get strong AF.

And the next time someone tells you that you shouldn’t strength train, don’t automatically accept their fear as your truth. Go find out what your body is actually capable of.

Coaches! Parents! Athletes! And really anyone that is involved in the care of acute injury for someone else… have I got ...
08/26/2026

Coaches! Parents! Athletes! And really anyone that is involved in the care of acute injury for someone else… have I got a topic for you…

Has anyone else noticed that when we get an injury, the advice often stays the same? For decades, RICE has been the go-to. But did you know that the medical world has adopted a more comprehensive approach?

“PEACE and LOVE”. This isn’t necessarily about throwing RICE out, but about refining the process. It’s about understanding how compression, elevation, and OPTIMISM play a crucial role in healing, especially after the first couple of days post-injury. And that ultimately, all roads lead to load. If you want to adapt and recover well and build a more resilient body, we have to give our bodies the stimulus they need to adapt in that way.

Let’s be open to new information and start conversations. Learning about “PEACE and LOVE” could open doors to a more informed and effective recovery journey for you, your athlete, etc.

‼️BIG TAKEAWAY HERE‼️

ICE AND ANTI-INFLAMMATORIES actually hinder the healing process in acute stages, and those are the main pieces of advice people are still receiving. Ultimately you get to decide what you want to do - what matters most is that it’s an INFORMED decision. 💪🫡

Last week, I announced that I’m taking on a tiny cohort of Case Studies for my brand-new 6-Month Health Mindset & Behavi...
08/03/2026

Last week, I announced that I’m taking on a tiny cohort of Case Studies for my brand-new 6-Month Health Mindset & Behavior Change Container (tied directly to my Level 2 HMCC advanced certification).

The initial spots filled up almost instantly, but my messages blew up with a common theme:

“I’m stuck in the all-or-nothing mindset, but investing standard rates just isn’t in my budget right now.”

I hear you. Deeply. Taking control of your health habits, overcoming perfectionism, and breaking the yoyo cycle shouldn’t feel out of reach.

Because my ultimate goal is to help you build lifetime independence - and because these case studies help me grow as a coach under world-class mentorship (shoutout to Dr. Kasey Jo Orvidas and the HMCC team!) - I’m opening up a few extra spots on a tiered, choose-your-own-rate model.

For these final spots, you pick the tier that fits your budget. Once you apply and I reach out and we decide this is a good fit, there are no awkward questions, no catch. Just pick what works so you have a little “skin in the game” to stay committed to yourself over the next 6 months. We shall call this a micro-commitment and the psychology behind it works to help you keep your head in the game.

What’s Included:

🧠 Bi-Weekly Group Mindset Calls: Practical tools to handle stress, ditch guilt, and build long-term consistency.

📩 1:1 Asynchronous Check-ins: Direct personal feedback from me to troubleshoot your specific life friction points.

🌐 100% Online & Flexible: Focused on lifestyle, nutrition, habits, and psychology

(Note: Not 1:1 fitness/rehab programming!).

Applications for these final extra spots close TONIGHT at 5:00 PM.

If cost was holding you back, this is your sign. If you’ve already applied and this was out of budget, I’ll be reaching out to you today so no need to re-apply.

Apply here: https://o757qx.fe83.fdske.com/e/c/01kz4av389vqe36p7j2y6fajsq/01kz4av389vqe36p7j30hj3c4y

If you’re telling your athletes to stop lifting during their season, here’s our PSA to help you reframe.The goal of in-s...
07/15/2026

If you’re telling your athletes to stop lifting during their season, here’s our PSA to help you reframe.

The goal of in-season strength training isn’t to set PRs. It’s to maintain strength, preserve tissue capacity, and help athletes tolerate the demands of their sport.

When appropriately programmed, resistance training doesn’t make athletes more injury-prone; it does the opposite. Research consistently shows that strength and neuromuscular training programs reduce sports injuries, with some analyses finding an overall injury reduction of roughly 30–35% in youth athletes. Some of your kids have worked super hard this summer to build athleticism and resiliency. It shouldn’t stop here.

Sport is already stressful. Why remove one of the tools that helps athletes stay resilient?

Train smarter. Adjust volume. Manage fatigue. But don’t confuse modifying training with eliminating it.

Strong athletes are harder to break.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE PARKING LOT IN THE ALLEY BEHIND THE GYM IS NOT FOR PUBLIC USE. Parking is for Refinery patrons ONLY...
07/13/2026

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE PARKING LOT IN THE ALLEY BEHIND THE GYM IS NOT FOR PUBLIC USE.

Parking is for Refinery patrons ONLY during business hours (8am through 6pm, Monday through Friday). You are welcome to use those spaces during road work outside of those times.

Thank you!

“I finished my initial package, I think I can take it from here.”I see this sometimes right around the 2 month mark. It...
06/18/2026

“I finished my initial package, I think I can take it from here.”

I see this sometimes right around the 2 month mark. It’s a textbook milestone we’ll just call the 12-session slump.

The first block of any health journey is purely about building awareness. You’re waking up to your patterns and learning the fundamentals. But right when that novelty fades, your brain realizes that keeping these results requires a permanent lifestyle change. To keep you safe and comfortable (and to avoid perceived failure), your mind throws up a wall of doubt and tells you it’s time to stop.

There is a precise reason why my professional recommendation for deep change is usually AT LEAST 30 to 40-sessions, specifically for those new to the concepts we present as Active Life Pros. True behavioral and physical mastery requires a 5 to 6-month runway.

Stopping at 12 sessions is a compromise on that timeline - it leaves you stranded right when the real work of anchoring those habits begins.

The ultimate goal of coaching is your total autonomy. I want you to have the confidence and competence to handle your training, your nutrition, and your mindset entirely on your own. But you cannot rush the time it takes to build genuine self-trust.

The next time you want to pull back or settle for a compromise - don’t shrink away from the challenge. Step into the doubts. Lean into your support system, express what you’re feeling, and get clear on what you actually need.

That friction isn’t a sign that you’re failing; it’s a sign that the real transformation is finally starting.

06/16/2026

We spend so much energy protecting our gaps - our lack of time, our lack of knowledge, our lack of skill. We treat these limitations like they are a part of our identity.

AND here is the shift you can make right now if you’re ready to get unstuck:

Recognize that you are not your limitations.

A gap in your skill is just data. It’s a status report; it’s not a tattoo. Not knowing how to do something doesn’t make *you* a failure; it just means you haven’t learned it yet.

If you want to break out of that safety trap today, here is a 2-step framework to start to separate your worth from your gaps and take action:

Step 1: Reframe it. Stop saying: “I’m bad at math” or “I’m a disorganized person.” Change your language to: ”I currently lack a strategy for that,” or ”My current system for organization isn’t working.” See the difference? You just turned a character flaw into a solvable thing.

Step 2: Take one micro-action. Don’t try to close the whole gap by tonight. Just poke a hole in it. If you lack knowledge, open a tab and read *one* article. If you lack capacity, send *one* text saying no to a low-priority task.
You don’t need to be a finished product to start moving.

The moment you stop taking your gaps personally is the moment you give yourself permission to address them.

Unless you were just in a high-impact car accident, your bones did not magically slide out of place.If a practitioner te...
05/30/2026

Unless you were just in a high-impact car accident, your bones did not magically slide out of place.

If a practitioner tells you your spine or pelvis is “misaligned” or “out,” it’s a massive red flag. That language is not only scientifically outdated, it’s dangerous. It breeds fear, makes you feel fragile, and makes you afraid to move.

You’re not stupid. You deserve to know what is actually happening.

HERE’S THE SCIENCE:
Your body isn’t a loose Jenga tower; it’s held together by some of the strongest ligaments in nature. When you get that sudden, agonizing pain from doing something minor (like sneezing or picking up a sock), your bones haven’t shifted. Your nervous system just panicked.

When your brain perceives a threat - from stress, fatigue, or an awkward movement - it pulls the emergency brake to protect you.

It orders the muscles around your spine or hip to lock down into a spasm (which can be really, REALLY irritating/painful, to say the least).

Your joints aren’t displaced; they are just being held in a protective death grip by your own muscles.

Decades of modern pain science prove that non-traumatic back pain is rarely a structural disaster. Pain is a reflection of sensitivity and emotional responses, not structural damage.

You do not need to be “put back in place.” You need to show your nervous system that it is safe to let go.

Move gently. Breathe. And fire any practitioner who tries to sell you fear instead of empowerment. 💪

05/28/2026

How many times have you told yourself:

“I can’t workout with my kids running around”

“It’s not the same at home”

“I’ll start once things quiet down at work next month”

If you rely on the perfect environment to make progress you will never get the results you’re looking for

AND

you might check in with yourself here, because when cling to these narratives, we are doing that because that means it can’t be our fault if we aren’t reaching our goals (hi 👋 self sabatoge). Also, spoiler alert - it IS your responsibility.

Blaming things on your environment without changing anything or being flexible is a choice, my friends. Don’t get trapped here.

Life is inherently messy. There will always be a kid asking for a snack, a messy living room, a late meeting, or a bad night’s sleep.

If your routine requires 100% silence, the perfect temperature, and zero distractions, you aren’t building a habit. You’re waiting for a freakin’ miracle.

The secret sauce is to stop waiting for the stars to align and start embracing what you have.

An interrupted 15-minute home workout beats a perfect 60-minute gym session you never actually go to.

Doing planks while your kids climb on you is still working out.

Walking around the block in your work clothes is still movement.

Consistency isn’t about finding the perfect setup. It’s about being flexible enough to win with a flawed one.

Drop the “all-or-nothing” mindset. You might be using it as a crutch to stay stuck, because then it’s “not your fault” if you aren’t getting what you want.

What’s one small thing you can do today, exactly where you are, with the setup you have?

Address

12 1st Street SE
Beach, ND
58621

Telephone

+14069410288

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when The Refinery posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to The Refinery:

Shortcuts

Share

Category