Rewriting the rules.
This generation’s transition into midlife is different.
Adjacent Lab Media was founded by Jay and Donna Crain after spending most of their professional lives working together, first in fashion, then in technology. Now they're creating a movement by shining a light on midlife through storytelling, tools, and a building a community.
Their first film, GRINTA!, is being featured in festivals worldwide. Their docu-series Grinta for Life— sharing inspiring stories of midlife grit and resilience —is in production.
Who were you before life told you who you had to be? What’s your purpose? Where do you go from here? Maybe you lost yourself somewhere along the way?
(Above) March 2024, Jay Crain taking off to descend Dead Horse Point, Moab, Utah, with lifelong friends, Gary Welk and Grinta for Life co-founder, Dr. Greg Welk.
The movement.
Grinta for Life.
Grinta for Life, formerly Get Back to You, is helping 10,000 midlifers reconnect with and reclaim their identity to live longer and better through inspirational storytelling, science-based tools, and the support of an ever-expanding community.
It is based on Boulder cyclist and entrepreneur Jay Crain's personal experience of recovering from a dire health situation by first reconnecting with his identity over the past six years. Jay has since helped fellow midlife friends and family regain physical and mental health through cycling. Dr. Greg Welk has provided a foundation for the Grinta for Life program with his lifetime of scientific, evidence-based research and public health programs.
Jay's Story
Jay had been having the same conversations over and over with midlife friends around physical and mental health, careers and relationships, the stress and fear of facing their own mortality while caring for aging parents, and particularly around a loss of identity. At their core, they are all thinking about not just where, but they we are.
A part of Jay's identity had been being an athlete. This is his story of how he regained it by training to ride Skinny Tire Festival in Moab, Utah. Along the way he lost 100 lbs, eradicated his Diabetes 2, normalized his blood pressure — and got off all meds.
Eros' Story
Be transported to another place and time with a little-known story about heart and grit set in the beautiful vistas of Provence, France and Veneto, Italy in the mid 1990s.
In GRINTA!, Eros Poli, a towering Italian professional cyclist, travels back to France on the thirtieth anniversary of when he defied all odds to a solo breakaway stage victory in the 1994 Tour de France on legendary Mont Ventoux.
Thirty years later, we went back to the mountain to ask "What’s still possible?" for him in midlife.
NOW SHOWING: Across New Zealand (starting Feb. 17), Vancouver (March 4) and Boulder (March 11).
What's Next?
Make the move
Stories that Inspire Change
We’ve seen too many friends and peers suffer. Everyone says the right things about lifestyle changes, but they need support and encouragement to do it.
Here you can explore films and articles that share success and light a path forward. They're crafted to spark curiosity and inspire action now.
Grinta For Life Community
Tools and support, along with a healthy dose of reality, that drive awareness, instill motivation and accountability, and allow people to get moving. It is a science and evidence-based framework, differentiated by what Jay learned from his own personal experience. It considers what it took to address and prevail over a midlife identity crisis, how to overcome false starts, what it takes to keep going and maintain consistency, and what to do when you screw it all up and have to start over.
It takes courage and determination. It takes grit—Grinta. And for the hard parts, we’ll provide support, motivation, tactics, and tools to push through.
Meet Dr. Greg Welk
Dr. Greg Welk is a Kinesiology PHD, 25-year college professor, and a published industry expert who started his career at the Olympic Training Center. His scientific, evidence-based research is the foundation for the Grinta for Life.
