Steve's Club

Real toughness is not about acting, but doing.

Front Squats

15 reps at 60%, 15 reps at 65%, and 15 reps at 70% of 1RM.

Jaws Youth Fitness Festival.

Yesterday was the first annual Jaws Youth Fitness Festival 5K held in Stone Harbor, NJ. 15 members from Steve's Club and 10 members from CrossFit Tribe woke up at 4:30am on a Sunday morning to volunteer their time and help out where needed for a fun filled day in the sun. After the event, we took the boys to the beach (first time for many) where they had a chance to kayak in the ocean, surf the waves and hang out on the beach for a few hours. To see the look on their faces was priceless and everyone will remember for a long time.

The Jaworski Family, along with the great staff of United Way among countless volunteers and helpers put on just a terrific well organized event. We were extremely excited to be a part of it and hope to be invited back next year.

Event photos can be found here.

"Whats this waiver??? You mean I can die doing this! I'm nervous Coach!"

Demo time!  Pay attention, boys!

Could not ask for a more beautiful day.

16 yr old gunned down in Ablett Village.

Deadlifts

1-1-1-1-1-1

 

 Photo below taken from the cover story in today's local paper. Yep you guessed it right, that is Rick in the picture.

Teen slain in Camden.

Several of the kids that come to Steve's Club every day reside in Ablett Village (pictured above), a housing complex in Camden known for drugs, gangs, and murders. Without getting into details, I've heard more than enough stories from the kids about the atrocities of the neighborhood that I need to know, and let's just say it is not a nice place to grow up in.

Yesterday, a 16 yr old boy was shoot several times one time in the neck that left him to die on the sidewalk of Ablett Village as Camden's 17th murder victim this year.

There were 28 homicides at this time last year. Of the 52 homicide victims last year, eight were age 19 or younger.

The kids talk about crime and murder like its no big deal. Its just a part of growing up in Camden and "the way it is."

But the more time you spend hanging out with the kids and the more you get to know them, you'll quickly find that despite what you hear in the news, you cannot make the mistake of stereotyping all kids from Camden as the monsters they are made out to be in the news.

Over the last several months, I got to know Anthony, Chris and Rick very well (all who live in AV) and there is not a day that goes by that I wonder what life would be for them if they grew up somewhere else, like in Moorestown (ranked as one of the best places to live in America) which is only 20 minutes away from Camden.

But of course, the fact of the matter is they do live in Camden, one of the most dangerous cities in America and there own perceptions of life and experiences there will largely shape the people they become and the life they live.

While some kids will use their tough upbringing as a trap and failure to their devices, others will use it an opportunity to be honest, hard working individuals willing to perserve and succeed in life despite the challenges and obstacles thrown at them.

I'm 100% sure these three young guys are included in the latter, and will hopefully will look back one day and attribute a portion of their success to what they learned crossfitting everyday at Steve's Club. 

     

Graduation week.

Complete 3 rounds (no time component)

Max Bench Press
Max Pull-ups

followed by: (2) 400 meter sprints with 1 minute rest in between.

Figgy leads the group with 21/17/9 on the bench press and 15/12/10 on the strict pullups.

 

Don't forget to drive those heels in the ground!

 

Brandon leading the pack.

 

Congratulations to all those who graduated this week from high school. I'm confident many of you will go on to find good jobs and accomplish big things. You're only limit is the limit you put on yourself. Opportunities don't magically come knocking at your door or fall on your lap. Instead you have to go out there and make things happen. Be great and take pride in what ever it is you do. Whether its a high or low paying job, a serious or not-so-serious relationship, a friend or a stranger....do the right thing and realize that your actions now have a greater affect on your future than they ever did before. Make smart decisions today, so you have no regrets later in life.

As a wise man once said, "we may not be able to control the outcome, but we can certainly have a great influence on it."

Words to live by.

Congratulations!

Steve's Club recieves a new van from United Way and the Jaws Youth Fund.

100 meter sprint

21-15-9

KB swings
Burpees

100 meter run

3-2-1 GO!

The boys showing the golfers a real swing!

Today, Steve's Club was invited to a golf outing at the Running Deer Golf course owned by Ron and the Jaworski Family. As most of our readers know from reading our blog, our van was broken into and vandalized last month in the parking lot of our gym. Although the van was already beat up and on its last leg, this was the nail in the coffin. Fortunately, some very caring souls in a our community from the United Way (special thanks to Erin Levengood and Mike M.) along with the Jaworski Family and several sponsors from the golf event, were kind enough to donate a new van to Steves Club.

As you can imagine everyone at the club were really pumped and excited about the news. Despite the costs of paying for the gas and the insurance (made possible by the generous individuals and affiliates pictured on the top left corner of our blog), the van will definately make a difference and help many kids get to the club on a regular basis. We're also excited because this means we can take the kids to the park on sunny days and other events and places outside the city.

So I just wanted to thank those kind souls who donated a van to our club and continue to believe in us and support our cause to bring CrossFit to young athetes (and non-athletes) who cannot afford it, but are willing to pay with hard work, dedication and committment.

Doc gives a speech in front of 250 people.

Doc has really come a long way. A few weeks back two lucky young men from Steve's Club, Doc and Charlie were invited to a big fundraiser event auction and dinner at Harrah's Casino in Atlantic City for the Jaws Youth Fund started by former NFL quarterback and current ESPN Football analyst Ron Jaworski.

Doc opened the event with a heart warming introduction thanks Ron Jaworski for his dedication to the Youth in Camden, NJ.

As written on the website, "Doc is a great example of the end result when you offer a helping hand to our "at risk" youth. He went on to receive his GED, has a full-time job, and had the honor of being the special host for the Jaworski family."

Great job, Doc!  Way to rise above the herd and exemplify the qualities of a mature, successful young man.

Great functional workout. No bumper or steel plates available pick up a heavy rock or sandbag.

For time:

40-30-20 reps for time of:

Press (45lb Bumper Plate)
Weighted Step-up (holding a 45lb Bumper Zercher style)

 

Complete as many rounds as possible in 12 minutes of:

95-115 lbs. Hang clean, 15 reps
12 Ring dips (sub: ring lockouts)
21 Thigh Touches (L+R=1)

Doc explosively gets under the bar with quick a turnover of his elbows.

Mike working the thigh touches. Tight belly and quick hands.

a few new faces.

"Cindy"

20 minutes - AMRAP

5 Pullups
10 Pushups
15 Squats

Jorge has found working out a good alternative to video games.

Never easy to walk away from all you know to join a small youth fitness club, but Figgy finds a place here.

Chest to bar pullups are the standard at Steve's Club.

"And what is needed to prevent them from joining gangs was ample recreation for boys as well as girls, jobs and internships for training and money, and assistance to allow their families to live in decent homes."

-Bobby Scott

Visit to Trader Joe's.

Bench Press, 3x5

Complete as many rounds in 10 minutes as you can of:

7 Front Squats  (M=135, F=95)
7 Burpee Pull Ups

Doc (real name Derek) has been busting his butt in the gym over the last few months trying hard to lean up and get back into to the shape he was in around a year ago when he first joined Steve's Club. For one reason or another, Doc will admit that his diet and training completely fell off over the last year as he let his body and mind while becoming fat, lazy and miserable. For a while there he said he just stopped caring and took things hard to the streets as a way to deal with the stress and anxiety around him. When his mother past away 2 months ago to cancer, Doc will tell you that he was really devastated and just mad at the world for that stretch of time.

Feeling like he was living in a black hole, Doc decided to give me a call on my cell to tell me he wanted to make his return and get himself back to training and spending time at the club with the right people. In only a few short months since returning, Doc has already made huge strides. Not only is he getting back into shape (tearing up Fran and the rest of the crazy CrossFit girls....if you don't know we are referring to workout names by the way!) but Doc's mind is in the right place. He's now training consistently, mentoring the younger kids at the club, making a few bucks helping out with the paleokits, actively seeking full-time employment, and has enrolled himself into school for the Fall.    

On his quest to feel and look his best, Doc has also taken in active interest in understanding nutrition and its effects on the body. As a strong proponent of the paleo diet, I am always willing to share what I know and offer dietary advice that could not only help Doc become a better CrossFit athlete, but become healthier in the process. In addition to spending countless hours talking about diet before and after class (not to mention other times during the day), I thought it would be a great idea to take Doc with me on one of my weekly trips to Trader Joe's.

Trader Joe's is a rather unique grocery store with a lot of rather unique people that food shop there. Let's just say it's an interesting experience for a young guy from the concrete jungle of Camden, NJ who's only food shopping experience consists of a visit to the local mom and pop corner store at the end of the block. 

Living in the city of Camden, one of the real challenges is finding good, high quality fruits, vegetables and meats. Instead, what you mostly find in corner stores and the one and only ethnic grocery store in town are stores stocked with cheap food products derived from flour, corn, sugars and grains. Foods that cost significantly cheaper to make and buy but devoid of any nutritional value. This brings us back to Trader Joe's where choices abound of fresh real foods and much higher quality of offerings, at reasonable prices. So we toured the store slowly learning about what foods to eat and what foods to avoid. More importantly, we learned how to read labels and spot the common culprits that we can do without in our diet (or at least in minimum amounts).

Doc will tell you it definately was a cool learning experience and will certainly help him make better dietary choices going forward. Not to mention the fact he now has access to a grocery store where he can actually find a Gala apple, a bag of raw almonds and some free range stew meats he can throw on the grill after a tough workout at the club.