The following entry is a conversation between Joe Cicero, The Yard’s founder, and George Hribar of Parry Athletic Recovery Center, written from Joe’s POV.
—
PARC’s Founder George Hribar and I sat down to discuss the origins of each of our businesses and how we landed on this unique collaboration. Check it out!
George, what are the origins of PARC?
George: Well, I have an apparel brand called Parry Athletics. We focus on premium-quality gear for strength and conditioning and grappling, and right now, we’re exclusively online. All of our marketing is through Instagram and working with athletes. But we don’t have a physical space to showcase the brand and its story, which is where the idea for PARC came in.
I started the brand because I wanted training shorts that fit the way I wanted them to. I had a very specific vision, and that same desire for something specific carried over to the origins of PARC. I wanted access to recovery services — things like sauna, contrast therapy, and compression boots — but nothing like that existed where I live. I realized that this could be a real business opportunity, something I could focus on.
Then I came up with the name PARC — Parry Athletic Recovery Club — and it clicked. It was the perfect way to have a physical space to tell the Parry Athletics story without the risk of opening an entire retail store this early on.
Joe, tell us a little bit about your background and how The Yard came about?
Joe: I played football throughout college, and after graduating, I moved to Boston and worked in consulting for six years. Eventually, I ended up in the Bay Area around 2018, working with startups, investing, and launching new companies. Three years ago, I left that world to start The Yard. I’ve always been passionate about fitness — being a former college football player, I kept training even after I stopped playing. But I always ran into the same problem at gyms. Whether it was a CrossFit box or an Equinox, if I was following a program that needed barbell movements, the equipment was rarely available when I needed it. I’d end up doing my workouts out of order or backwards, just trying to make it work.
That’s the problem we’re solving with The Yard. We want to ensure our members — individuals and trainers alike — have the equipment they need when needed. And beyond that, we’re thinking about how to maximize the gym’s usage, especially during peak times. Adding a service like PARC is a great way to do that. It brings in a new revenue stream, but even more importantly, it adds another dimension to the fitness experience. Recovery is such a key component of training, and this partnership allows us to offer something comprehensive.
George, can you elaborate on how PARC fits within The Yard’s model?
George: The way Joe runs The Yard is unique. When you book a pod, that’s your space. You have the barbell, the weights, and the whole area to yourself for the entire hour. You know that every time you come in, that equipment is there waiting for you. It makes the gym incredibly efficient. People book their slots, they come in, they get their workout done — you’re really maximizing the space and the equipment.
Think about a typical CrossFit gym or Jiu-Jitsu studio. They have a class at 7 a.m., maybe something at noon, and then another class at 5:30 p.m. All that other time, the space is just sitting there unused, not generating any revenue.
So, when Joe and I started talking about bringing PARC into The Yard, it just made sense. Gyms often have extra space — maybe a backyard area or something — that isn’t being utilized. We saw the potential for a “plug and play” model where PARC could come into an existing facility, partner with the gym, and transform that unused space into a revenue-generating amenity. It’s a win-win: existing members get access to recovery services, it attracts new members, and it helps the gym make better use of its space.
Joe, why partner with George and PARC?
Joe: I used to go to a similar service in the city called Reboot. It’s a room with a sauna and a cold plunge, and you go back and forth between the two. That experience is very similar to what people do here at The Yard and PARC. They’re booking a space, and it’s theirs for the hour. Our users are familiar with that kind of experience, and these wellness services are in high demand. They’re also very complementary to working out in the gym.
George actually joined the gym as a member, and that’s how we met. We connected over this idea, and it blossomed from there. Our partnership is very similar to our arrangement with independent personal trainers. We provide the space, some back-office functions, and support around sales and marketing, but we’re really just providing space and letting experts run their businesses independently — whether it’s a trainer, an amenity provider like George and PARC, or our physical therapists. The idea is to empower independent wellness practitioners across the spectrum of services. This not only serves the practitioners well by empowering them to run their businesses, but also the community, their clients, and our members. Offering a comprehensive set of services around their health and wellness journey is valuable to everyone.
What are the visions and goals for The Yard and PARC?
Joe: Our plan is to expand and add PARC to our other locations. Adding more wellness amenities, like a cold plunge, to PARC would be super valuable. You really get that contrast therapy experience. Continuing to expand both services in tandem is our goal.
George: The other reason I’ve been so interested in recovery spaces within a fitness facility is that as I get older (I’m 45 now), and I’m training regularly and lifting pretty hard, my body can’t do what it used to. The importance of recovery — sleep, diet, stretching, mobility, and extra services like this — has become much more important if I want to stay active. To me, as I age, longevity, quality of life, and movement are really important.
Going forward, most fitness facilities should take a holistic approach to strength, conditioning, mobility, access to physical therapists, and recovery services. These shouldn’t be separate. Partnering with Joe at The Yard and figuring out this process will be really interesting, and then we can take it to other facilities.
What are your thoughts on the future growth of PARC?
George: As Joe and I developed this idea, I saw two paths for PARC’s growth. First, integrating PARC into existing fitness facilities like The Yard. But I also have a vision for a standalone flagship PARC recovery space.
This flagship space would have bookable sauna and cold plunge rooms, larger communal sauna and cold plunge rooms, an area to stretch, really nice locker rooms, and maybe even a workplace.
There’s this new term post-pandemic: “third space.” We spend so much time at home, or we used to spend so much time at the office and at home. Now that many people aren’t in the office as much, they want a space with a sense of community outside of their homes. I think PARC could be that space.
Who is PARC for?
George: It’s funny, contrast therapy and sauna cold plunges have been used by many cultures for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. They’ve recently gained popularity in the United States thanks to people like Joe Rogan and Andrew Huberman. But somewhere along the way, it got co-opted by the “hippie” and Burning Man crowd. There’s this idea that using a sauna has to be in a zen-like spa. That’s not my goal.
I aim to provide a warm, comfortable facility for athletes who take their health and physicality seriously. This isn’t for the Burning Man; it’s for athletes.
What can someone expect when they reserve recovery services at PARC @ The Yard?
Joe: Everything is booked through The Yard App … So whether you’re booking a pod, sauna, or compression boots, you book it through our app, and it’s completely yours for that time slot.
George: Like Joe said, you can book our recovery services through The Yard App. When you book a pod to work out in, that’s your private space. The sauna and compression boots work the same way.
Here’s how it works:
- Sauna: When you book a sauna session, you’ll get towels and a private locker room with a bathroom and shower. That locker room gives you access to the sauna, and you can move freely between the sauna and the locker room to take a cold shower between sauna sessions. You can leave all your belongings in the locker room, and that’s your dedicated space for the time you reserved.
- Compression Boots: If you book compression boots, we’ll set you up in a nice, quiet corner of the gym. You can wear your headphones and relax in a zero-gravity chair for 30 minutes — all to yourself.
How does PARC at The Yard foster community?
George: On Sundays, we’ll host run clubs and other team-building activities. People come in and book our services for a few hours. A run club might go out on a 10-mile run, and then we’ll open up the recovery services for the group that booked it for 1–2 hours. They can freely navigate between the sauna, compression boots, and cold plunges. It becomes a communal event.
Joe: Community is a buzzword across fitness and many industries. Like George said, people are definitely craving community post-COVID. One thing we have to be careful and mindful of with our reservation system and exclusivity with our pods is to avoid the relationship becoming very transactional and people being siloed.
I like to say there’s a community here if you want it. There are some days when you show up to the gym with your headphones in and you don’t want to talk to a soul. Or you can just pop in the sauna and talk to no one. But there’s also a warm and friendly community here if you do want to engage with others. We don’t force it on anyone, but most people opt to interact with one another, and it makes for a good workout and wellness experience.
