R3VIVE’s Member of the Month, March, 2022

Joel Zayas • March 10, 2022
Man lifting weights in gym, wearing green shorts and white shirt. Text reads

Introducing our Gym M.O.M. (Member of the Month) for March, 2022 … Jonathan Salzman !⁠

Jonathan is easily one of our most consistent, coachable and approachable athletes. His work ethic extends beyond the hour in class and you can always catch him putting in extra work to get closer to his goals.

Jonathan’s ability to speak through his actions , is something we extremely value, which is why choosing him as this months Gym M.O.M., was an easy choice.

Learn more about Jonathan below!

Q: What made you decide to start functional fitness training?
I first started CrossFit when I was living in Chicago a few years ago–and fell in love with having a community around fitness. I moved back to Boston without a new gym to call home. During the Pandemic, I herniated a disc in my lower back. Derek and R3’s programming literally got me to move again (literally)–and saved me from feeling low, old, and incapable. I’m so much stronger now than I was before injury.

Q: Are you a student/working professional/both? What do you do for a living?
I run operations for a med device startup called FEND. We’ve done research at R3VIVE that will be published in the next month! Can’t wait to share what we found about exercise, hydration, and COVID safety.

Q: What are your hobbies/interests outside of the gym?
Sailing, rugby, playing with my nephews, biking around the city (…when it’s warm)

Q: What are some of your favorite movements (name up to three)?
Easy answer: Friday night Barbell class is my happy place. Nothing quite like lifting with a good (and growing!) crew, poking fun at coach Pat, and hitting PRs.

Q: What are your least favorite movements?
During the pandemic when gyms were closed, I lifted weights using borrowed equipment in a friend’s garage–and I threw out my back. Damn you, ‘Rona.

Q: What movements do you want to improve at?
 Double-unders are my nemesis. I have never been able to string many together–and I’d love to get better.

Q: What advice do you have for someone considering our gym?
 Most of CrossFit’s value comes in the support, accountability, and fun of the community you compete with. I’d encourage them to really imagine the people and environment they are going to succeed in–doing physical things they probably never imagined they could! R3VIVE is absolutely that for me; I bet it is for a lot of people.

Q: What’s your favorite “cheat” food?
 Peanut butter chip ice cream from Picco on Tremont St.

Q: What is your guilty pleasure?
 Playing SimCity for way too many hours.

Q: Do you have any nicknames?
 Some pronounce it “Sal-zee”; some “Saulz”; others “Jackass”–I respond to all

Q: Tell us an interesting fact that we probably don’t know about you!
 I lift best when I’m mouthing the lyrics to 70s disco songs.

Why Can't I Always Lift My Max?

By Derek Saffold • February 19, 2026
Strength expression is our ability to show or utilize the strength we have. We call it expression because in the world of lifting, CrossFit, functional fitness, or training, our ability to show that strength varies. Even though our potential strength is the same, we are not always able to fully express it the way we want. Whether that is hitting a max back squat, doing heavy thrusters in a CrossFit style workout, or hitting that heavy clean complex when olympic lifting, we will not always be able to hit our maxes, this is because of factors outside of just our strength itself.

Introducing EL3VATE

By Derek Saffold • January 27, 2026
Ever walk into the gym and not sure what to do? We put together a program to help eliminate that feeling and give you confidence and the accountability to reach your goals. Introducing EL3VATE where we want to EL3VATE your strength, habits, and mindset!

Apex Training Cycle

By Derek Saffold • December 26, 2025
Hey R3VIVE Athletes, The Apex training cycle, going from January 5th to April 3rd, is our next training cycle! This will be the firt training cycle of the new year! this is a chance to refocus and get in some good work to help you reach your goals! lets all work together to crush this training cycle! Functional Fitness: The Apex Cycle is designed to make your year-long strength work truly functional, focusing on controlled, powerful movements, complexes under fatigue, and mandated touch-and-go reps to prepare you for mixed-modal workouts. Our strength culminates in the classic CrossFit Total and the "R3VIVE Other Total," while conditioning features a wide variety of time domains, movement volume builds (like wall balls, toes-to-bar, and burpees), and regular Friday retests of past workouts to track your progress and ensure you perform your absolute best. Build: Designed to bring together all your training from the past year and prepare you for your strongest performance yet. Our strength work will focus on controlled, powerful movements, building you up to test your limits with both the classic CrossFit Total and the "R3VIVE Other Total," which challenges your skill and strength balance. Expect a well-rounded program including unilateral strength, skill work, and core stability, with dedicated days for deadlifts, squats, gymnastics, and varied accessory work to keep you healthy and constantly progressing. For conditioning, we're tailoring the work to challenge you in new ways, featuring a wide variety of time domains and movements, and a specific volume build on common movements like wall balls, toes-to-bar, and burpees. Instead of a standard test/retest, we'll be performing regular retests of past workouts on Fridays, allowing you to easily track your progress and see how far you've come. Our weekly template balances intensity—with short, fast metcons on Mondays—with recovery, incorporating lower impact endurance work on Thursdays, and a strategic taper toward the end of the week to set you up for success on Friday! Partner workouts will wrap up your week every Saturday, bringing the whole community together.
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