Fitness for a Future: Local Gym Raises Money for Military Families

Pleasanton resident Paul Southern is no stranger to the world of fitness.

After years as a fitness trainer, and owning nutritional supplement store Active Nutrition in the Trader Joe’s plaza from 2000 to 2006, he now owns the local Crossfit facility, ReActive Gym.

Paul graduated from in 1990, then Park University and was a bodybuilder, a marine and is now a proud father, as this video demonstrating a charming but unorthodox promotional strategy clearly shows.

I met Paul about 12 years ago when we both worked at .

He was a trainer there and I was the boxing instructor. I remember seeing Paul’s "before" and "after" pictures at the club and at his shop, displaying his achievement of becoming an EAS Body for Life champion.

Paul has a reputation for innovation, passion and commitment to his craft. I’ve run into Paul several times over the past decade, sometimes at the gym, downtown, and most recently at the Starbucks Coffee near Home Depot.

He was busily working on some issues involving long-range planning for his successful business, but was gracious enough to take some time to discuss his experience with using the Internet as a promotional platform when I asked him about it.

That exchange is a good example of Paul’s drive to achieve success by extending the value he has to offer to others. Crossfit represents his vision for providing a welcoming but serious and challenging fitness environment for its many members.

Crossfit is also involved in events that benefit the community in other ways.

This Saturday, Crossfit hosts the athletic event “Fight Gone Bad #6” at their Pleasanton location. A BBQ/potluck "grown-up only" party will take place Oct 8, but the primary event (the athletic competitions) will take place Saturday and the public is invited.

Fight Gone Bad raises money for several causes, including the Special Operation Warrior Foundation, which gives college scholarships to kids who lose a parent that was in the Special Operations community.  

Thirty one children lost their fathers in the helicopter crash in Afghanistan in August. More than 1,000 CrossFit locations are participating, collectively raising more than $1 million.  

People interested in sponsoring the Pleasanton team can follow this link or check the event's Facebook page.

I’m planning on stopping by with my kids, since families are welcome, and there will be a DJ and local news coverage by San Francisco-based KGO channel 7.

Hope to see you there!

Want more useful information on how to eat well and get in shape? Contact Dan at http://trivalleywellness.com/