Street Parking: Giving You the Keys to Success

We sat down with Kaitlin Hamilton, Community Development/Partnerships, and Kim, Operations Manager, from Street Parking to learn more about their programming, how they use Concept2® Ergs in their workouts, and how they use Concept2 online challenges to motivate their own virtual Facebook community. To learn more about Street Parking, head to: Street Parking Daily Programming 

Can you tell us a little bit about Street Parking, the history of the community, and what makes it unique? 
Street Parking was founded by Julian and Miranda Alcaraz in 2016. The concept was born when they found themselves in a new season of life – busy with work, traveling often, and starting a family. They noticed that their social media followers were most responsive to the simple at home workouts they were sharing. This sparked the idea to create a program that would help others take control of their fitness despite limitations in time, space, or equipment, because spending hours at a time training every day is not realistic, or necessary, for most people to live healthy, fit, capable lives. Street Parking helps members stay strong through every phase of life. 

What makes Street Parking unique is our focus on convenience, leading to consistency. Our Daily Workouts are designed for convenience. They typically take 20 minutes or less and require minimal equipment, making it easy for our members to exercise anywhere - in their garages, living rooms, even while traveling. With our workouts, there is no need to go to a gym if that is not your preference. We offer multiple Daily Workout options (Programs A, B, C, and SHIFT) to accommodate different equipment availability and fitness levels. Our team of coaches provide guidance through Coaches Notes, Demo Videos, and movement/equipment customizations featured in the Street Parking App. 

Convenience is also found in our philosophies, with emphasis on our "consistency is key", “more than nothing,” and “simple, not easy” mentalities. Using these mantras, we strive to help people transform their mindset. The ability to have "fitness freedom" can remove barriers of complexity, perfection, or anything else that so often gets in the way of consistency. For most people, the missing piece of the fitness puzzle is not knowing what to do – it is being able to do it consistently. 

Beyond programming, we have created tools that help make fitness a sustainable part of daily life. Members have access to over 60 specialized "Extra" programs, a personal logbook to track progress, and our Trophy Case which gamifies consistency with badges and rewards. We provide nutrition programs, tools, and resources that align with the same values of consistency and simplicity so that their efforts outside of the gym are just as sustainable. 

But perhaps most importantly, Street Parking offers a supportive community where members and coaches connect, share their journey, and motivate each other. Our members range from fitness beginners to experienced athletes. The programming is customizable with multiple scaling options that make every workout accessible regardless of fitness level or background. Everyone brings in different experiences and faces unique day-to-day challenges when creating and sustaining consistency with their health and fitness. Community support, even if it is just simply knowing someone else is in it with you or like you, can make all the difference. The Street Parking community has grown into a supportive global network that connects through social media and at local meetups in their hometowns to be that support and connection for one another. 

What inspired the creation of the Street Parking Concept2 Facebook Group? 
Over the years, I kept noticing something really inspiring in the Street Parking community: members posting their Concept2 Challenge certificates. These posts would rack up tons of engagement, and the more I read through the comments, the more I realized—this wasn’t just a one-off moment. People were logging thousands of meters, sharing their progress, and showing real consistency. That’s where the idea started to create the Street Parking Concept2 Facebook Group. 

At first, it was just about the meters accumulated during the Concept2® online challenges, and then I started recognizing the same names over and over. I got curious, so I checked out the broader C2 community, and sure enough, many of the Street Parking members posting those certificates were also deep in the C2 world. They were participating in Concept2 challenges year after year. It clicked- we had a specific group within Street Parking who not only had Concept2 equipment but had years of experience using it. 

So, I created the Street Parking C2 Facebook group—a space for Street Parking members to connect, share, and help each other. And it has grown fast. Every day new people join, and what is amazing is how the community has taken on a life of its own. 

I help moderate and run giveaways and challenges, but the real value comes from the members themselves. They are the heart of the group. We have people like Sue Burton and Kathleen Distaso who regularly step in to troubleshoot monitor issues, guide others through challenges, and share tips from years of experience. They are the go-to people in the group—and they do it all because they care. 

The community is what makes this group so special. It is more than just workouts or machines; its like-minded people coming together around fitness, experience, and support. Whether you are new to Concept2 or have been rowing for years, this group is here for you. 

How does the Street Parking C2 Group support Concept2 challenges and build momentum for members? 
Since starting the Street Parking C2 Facebook group, we’ve noticed a cool shift happening—more and more members are not only using their C2 machines regularly, but there is a buzz about them too. You will see posts where someone casually mentions, “Yeah, I used Program C with my RowErg® today,” or a member shares that they just finished an intense rowing challenge like a marathon row or the April Fool’s 15-day meter grind. 

What is exciting is that these challenges act like catalysts. They help members build consistency and endurance, without it feeling forced. After six weeks of a rowing challenge, people come out of it feeling stronger, more confident, and in the groove with their machine. That kind of momentum is huge, especially when paired with our daily Street Parking programming. 

We have also seen the group become a great recruitment space—in the best way. Anytime someone in the main community sees a post about a challenge or a huge accomplishment on the rower, they ask, “Wait, where’s that from?” And we can say, “Head on over to the Street Parking Concept2 group—we’ve got more going on there!” 

At the end of the day, these machines and these challenges are just tools—tools that help people stay motivated, explore their potential, and chase their goals in a new way. The group simply gives those tools a home and a community to make them even more powerful. 

We are excited to hear more about your 13-week Endurance Focus — can you tell us what that's all about? 
Our 13-week Endurance Focus is the second phase of our year-long "Built to Endure" series, where we are spending 12-13 week blocks at a time focusing on Strength, Endurance, and Grit. This year is all about exploring and expanding our experiences with fitness, challenging ourselves out of our comfort zones, and redefining what we are capable of through consistency. 

The Endurance Focus specifically is designed to help members develop greater cardiovascular capacity and stamina in a way that aligns with one of our core values of fitness freedom. It is not about turning everyone into marathon runners or subjecting them to endless cardio sessions — it is about making everything in life more accessible, whether that is confidently exploring hiking trails, joining friends in a local 5K, outlasting the kids at the park, or proving to ourselves what is mentally possible.  

What makes this programming special is its accessibility. Like all Street Parking programming, we have removed the obstacles that typically keep people from starting (or in some cases, staying consistent) — whether that's limited equipment, time constraints, or mental hurdles. We have created options for everyone, regardless of their current fitness level or preferred modality.  

Like we mentioned before, we believe in our mantras, "simple, not easy" and that "consistency is key" — so even one focused session per week can be effective and powerful when done consistently. 

This is what you see in our programming:  

• One Endurance “Daily Workout” programmed weekly on Wednesdays
• Six different versions of the workout to choose from: Run, Bike, Row, Mixed, Timed, and SHIFT
• A conversion chart is given for those who want to use alternate equipment such as SkiErg®, BikeErg®, or even swimming 
• The SHIFT version = shorter time domains and fixed work/rest periods, making it perfect for developing consistent pacing skills without intimidation for beginners or those who "only run if chased”
• “Timed” version uses fixed intervals that let you know exactly how long you will be working, which is great for those with time constraints and for tracking improvement over time.
• Each session runs about 20-40 minutes — no hour-long slogs required 
• Each session includes targeted warm-ups, assistance exercises, and recovery cool-downs all laid out with Coaches Notes and Demo Videos in the Street Parking App 

With our principle of "fitness freedom," members can stay with the weekly Wednesday sessions or explore more personal goals by incorporating endurance work from our Extra Programs like Endurance On Ramp for beginners, 52 Week Endurance for year-round development, Extra Endurance for time-crunched folks, Rowing Stamina for Concept2 enthusiasts, or specific goal-based programs like our 5K and Half Marathon options. 

Throughout the 13 weeks, we emphasize that endurance is not about suffering — it is about strategy.  

We provide pacing guidance, educational components, a Trophy Case (in SP App) badge to track progress for the commitment to the focus, and a supportive community where members share and celebrate their experiences right alongside the SP team and coaches.  

Our comprehensive approach helps members build sustainable, injury-resistant fitness that enhances their overall quality of life, all while staying true to what makes Street Parking unique: making fitness accessible to everyone, regardless of their starting point or their circumstances. 

How do you incorporate Concept2 equipment into your regular and specialty programming, along with the Street Parking App and Facebook Group? 
We design our Daily Workouts to be accessible and flexible, no matter what kind of equipment (or experience) you have. We stay true to our philosophy that you can get fit with minimal equipment (and many of our members do!), but we also know some people have built incredible garage gyms—and we want to help everyone make the most of them. 
 
Therefore each Daily Workout is broken down into four versions: Program A, B, C and SHIFT—each tailored to different equipment setups so that anyone can choose how they want to approach the workout on any given day. 

Program A is the dumbbell version – with customizations (equipment swaps) provided so anyone can use just a pair of dumbbells and still get all the benefits of the workout.  

Program B is the barbell version of the same workout, where some of the reps might change, but that’s it!  

Program C is the same workout but where we bring in machines — like the rower, bike, or even a SkiErg can be swapped in.  

SHIFT is the simplified version of the same workout – perfect for someone just starting out with fitness, returning from injury, youth, or pregnant/postpartum.  

Our “Extra Programs” have 10 Endurance programs/training options including: Rowing Stamina for building overall stamina; Fan Bike “Wave” Program for improving capacity, pacing and performance; and 5 additional Endurance program options that can be done with any piece of equipment (RowErg, Echo bike, BikeErg or SkiErg). 

What makes the setup of the Daily Workouts so effective is that it is all about accessibility and removing obstacles so that there is never a circumstance where someone would say “I don’t have what I need in order to do a workout” – whether it is time, skill, or equipment. On top of that, providing programming options within the Daily Workouts and the Extra Programs allows our members to take ownership of their fitness (feeling like they have freedom and control to make it work for them on any given day.) They can mix and match using the equipment or program variety that THEY want to use – whether for fun or for focused training and reap the rewards of CONSISTENCY in their fitness.  

Bonus: for our members who love a good challenge and love their C2 equipment, they have the option to join the specific SP x Concept2 Facebook group to tackle the C2 challenges together – and each challenge is added into our notable workouts so members can log and track their progress.  

Speaking of logging, our proprietary SP App was not just built as a tool for members to access all the workouts, coaching content, and resources – it features a logging and tracking system for members to track their workouts and milestones. With the primary goal of consistency, members can earn free gear for hitting milestones of logged workouts, see the visual representation of how many days they work out whether it’s in a month or all time, and of course track their results to compare to previous scores and reinforce fitness is “you vs. you” in the long haul.