Steve's Club

Ralf, Danny, and CJ talk about Steve's Club at the CF Games this year (from the Reebok video booth).

Overhead Squat 8-6-4-2

Then...

For Time:

21-15-9

Burpees

KB Swings (53/35)

*200m run after 21/15/9

"Life is what you make it" 

Must Read: The Rules of Effortless Parenting from Zen Habits

Complete 5 rounds for time:

9 Thrusters 96/65 lbs
100 meter SPRINT
5 Weighted Pull Ups 

 

The Rules of Effortless Parenting by Leo 

 

“Our edge has to come from outworking our opponents in every phase of the game and this certainly includes off-season conditioning. The program is in your hands…. If you are self-motivated and dedicated, you will go to work immediately. We are going to win in Philadelphia. It is just a matter of being persistent. Go to work. The job you save may be your own.”

From the first letter Dick Vermiel wrote to his first team in Philadelphia

Pareto Principle.

Strength:  Deadlift 2-2-2-2-2

Then...

5 Rounds For Time of:

100 meter Sprint

10 Wallballs (20/14)

10 Box Jumps

Danny as he turns into Flash Gordon!

The Pareto principle (also known as the 80-20 rule, states that, for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. Stated differently, 20% of your effort usually leads to 80% of output. 

Business-management consultant Joseph M. Juran suggested the principle and named it after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who observed in 1906 that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population; he developed the principle by observing that 20% of the pea pods in his garden contained 80% of the peas. 

While the original observation was in connection with wealth and population, this relationship can aptly be applied to other aspects of life namely sport and physical culture. 

 When most people start lifting weights, the program should inevitably deliver great rewards of improved appearance, increased vigor, and reduced stress. Excited by this, most trainees start training four times a week, but the benefits do not rise in direct proportion to the added time. So they bump up the training frequency and volume until they are training daily (and sometimes twice a day)... training then starts to become an addiction; a chore. What were simply occasional minor aches and pains begin to become chronic conditions.

What was once a pleasurable and beneficial activity has become a source of pain and stress. It isn't before long the athlete gets burned out and quits the game never to return. 

This is a very sad affair that can easily be avoided by knowing that more is not always better and in fact you can get too much of a good thing.  

While I will continue to encourage and push athletes to give 100% in every workout attempted, I am more inclined to tell someone to take a rest day or limit the # of times you come in and train each week. 

"Work hard and smart." 

Tough times...

Skillwork:  Overhead Squat

 

5 Rounds For Time:

10 OH Squats (95/65)

10 KB Swings 9#53)

10 Burpees

Tough times don't last, tough people do. -Gregory Peck

Happy Birthday to the PaleoKit!

4 Rounds For Time:

5 Deadlifts @ 75% of 1rm

10 Box Jumps (24/20)

EC:  400m Sprint

 

Anthony and Rick in the middle (two of the first members of Steve's Club from the class of June 2006) pictured with the Justin C, Brandon, Justin and Jimmy (They call him "Dwight" as he is the only white kid on the block! from the class of Sept 2011).  

The very first PaleoKit, 3 years ago!

We began selling them to raise money for Steve's Club, and we're proud to say that, with your help, PaleoKits has been able to fund the creation of similar programs in New York, New Jersey, Texas, California and Philadelphia through the Steve's Club National Program. This is just the beginning, and we're looking forward to having even more of an impact in the coming years!

We started PaleoKits as a way to give back to the community, to share our passion for healthy living with those around us.  That was, and continues to be the goal - 15% of proceeds from PaleoKits, PaleoKrunch, and Steve's Original products go to fund our Steve's Club National Program.

Our products are a result of our relentless focus from day one to make the best tasting and cleanest Paleo friendly products on Earth.  And because of YOUR commitment to eating well, you've also been able to help share this gift with those who otherwise would not have this opportunity.  YOUR PURCHASE TRULY CHANGES LIVES.

We want to thank you for being the best customers in the world, sharing your PaleoKit Love with others, and making all of this possible.  Together we can continue to make a positive difference in our crazy world!

Yours in Health and Fitness,

Steve

 

 

Solid advice from Tyler Perry

Back Squat 1 Rep Max

Then...

“Jackie”

For Time:

1000m Row

50 Thrusters (45)

30 Pullups

Heat #1 gets at it!

The following comes from SuccessMagazine.com and is an article about Tyler Perry written by Roger Brooks.  

“You have to understand everything that has happened to you, especially things beyond your control, weren’t about trying to destroy you as much as they were about molding and forming you as a person,”says the creator of Diary of a Mad Black Woman, the Madea series and Tyler Perry’s House of Payne. “That’s really difficult for a lot of people to understand. But if you begin to realize every moment in your life happened for the greater good of who you are, you can use it for others. It can really elevate you and change your whole trajectory. I think that’s what happened to me.”

UTILZATION OF A JOURNAL

Perry’s experiences were enough to break most people. The pain and anger grew inside him like a fire, eating away at him. It wasn’t until he caught an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show championing the therapeutic benefits of journaling that Perry’s outlook began to change. But even on the private pages of his diary, he couldn’t be truly honest about his tragic upbringing. Fearful others might read his words, he invented characters who revealed his experiences and feelings. In the process, he let the hate and venom flow through his pen. He was still livid, but he had a place to siphon off the bile when it threatened to overwhelm him.

“Journaling gets it out of you and on to paper; it is a catharsis;” Perry says. “It helps you to understand, unload and heal. And what is amazing about it, if you go back to something you’d written a year ago—be it fear, struggles, something you couldn’t get past—when I went back and looked through all the things I thought were huge for me to get past, being able to read [about them] inspires me. It encourages me that everything is OK; this too shall pass.”

DO ONE THING WELL

Convention aside, Perry believes the secret to his career is simple, something anyone can apply to their own pursuits. For “someone who is trying to be successful—who has an idea and doesn’t know if it will happen or work—you have to find one thing,” Perry says. “I know people are jacks-of-all-trades and do a million things, but find one thing and do it so well that it affords you the opportunity to do all the other things.”

And Perry, like anyone else, has his own definition of success, his own opinion on the right path to choose to cross the dark, intimidating forest.

“Success for me has clearly been about being able to live in the present—live fully and in this moment,” Perry says. “Learning how to come down into the moment and really appreciate it and enjoy it, that’s what success is. When you can do that, every moment of your life will be successful. Whatever you’re working on, whatever your business, whatever you’re trying to be, if you can be fully in the moment, I think that will change your life.” 

Steve's Club King of Prussia

We are very proud to announce that Aimee Lyons and her staff at CrossFit King of Prussia has officially started a Steve's Club youth fitness program. Last night myself, Lee Knight (Program Director of the Steve's Club National Program) and a few athletes from Steve's Club Camden went over to Aimee's gym to show our support and help get the word out about the kick off of the new Steve's Club program at CrossFit King of Prussia.

It is very gratifying to see such a highly talented and successful fitness coach such as Aimee Lyons dedicate her time and resources to bring CrossFit to at-risk teens that cannot afford CrossFit, but who can greatly benefit from it. There is no question that Aimee and her staff will have a positive impact on the disadvantaged youth from her local community whom decide to take advantage of this great opportunity to better themselves physically, mentally and interpersonally through CrossFit. 

"In fact, I believe that if someone starts out on a challenging activity, completely confident that they're going to succeed, why bother starting? It's not much of a challenge. I think it's much better to start out on something that you're not at all sure that you can do. If you overcome and you manage to defeat the obstacles, the satisfaction is so much greater." - Sir Edmund Hillary

Be unselfish.

Power Snatch – 2 Reps on the minute for 10 minutes (choose load)
 
For Time:
 
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Goblet Squats (70/53)
 
Complete a 100m sprint after each completed set of goblet squats.

Be unselfish. That is the first and final commandment for those who would be useful and happy in their usefulness. If you think of yourself only, you cannot develop because you are choking the source of development, which is spiritual expansion through thought for others. -Charles William Elliot

The Future of Steve's Club Camden.

Power Clean – 2 Reps on the Minute for 10 Minutes @ 75%
 
Then...

5 Rounds For Time:
 
3 Clean & Jerks (Choose Load: 135/95 recommended)
10 Ring Pushups (5 for girls)

If you have been following our little tale you know we have bounced around locations quite a number of times since Steve's Club initially started in a small room of a community center in North Camden several years back. After relocating around the city of Camden more times than we could count, desperately trying to find space to keep the club going where kids could continue to train, it wasn't until about a year into running the club that we found a home to call our own on the border of Pennsauken and Camden. 

The space shared with CrossFit Tribe was away from the craziness of Camden, yet close enough for most of our athletes to walk or ride a bike to club. We occupied this place for a year before moving down the street in an industrial spot big enough to accommodate the growth of the two gyms. 

We have been at the industrial warehouse we're currently in for the last 2 years and come this August in 2012 our lease is up. After much thought about our next move and the future of Steve's Club, I have decided the next move is to bring Steve's Club back to Camden.

Thankfully we have been fortunate to have worked with a lot of kids whom many walk or ride their bikes at least 2 miles back and forth to club everyday. Of course this says a ton about their motivation and commitment to find a way to get to the Steve's Club everyday despite being located outside the city limits. 

By moving Steve's Club back to Camden, we'll be able to reach many more kids and give them the opportunity to experience this wonderful community and all that we have to offer to help positively influence the lives of these young teen's desperately in need of guidance, structure, self belonging, and something they enjoy doing and are proud to be part of.

Although it will take some time before all this happens, I wanted to share my vision with our supporters and readers of our blog.  

I don't feel like it.

Weighted Pullup 1-1-1-1-1 (working to 1 Rep Max)

Followed by...

10 Minute AMRAP:
 
200m Run
15 Butterfly Situps
10 SDHP (95/65)

Beautiful day today in NJ. 72 degrees, sunny and warm. Fall is definitely my favorite time of the year. Our athletes showed up today like every other day ready to train and vent. 

After warming-up the group, we got right into it to work on today's strength lift, the weighted pullup. Several athletes hit PR's today which always creates excitement and raises the energy level of the gym. 

One (well, actually two) athlete(s) showed up late today after we completed the strength lift. 

Then we moved on and I briefed the WOD...demonstrated the movements, and made sure everyone was doing the prescribed exercises correctly by having them practice the movements beforehand. 

Everyone primed and ready to GO, I turned on the clock and hit start.

3-2-1...GO!

Athletes sprinted out the back garage doors as if the building was on fire. 

It wasn't until I walked outside and looked over to my left did I see a kid on his bike that trains with us on a regular basis. I quickly walked over and asked, "How come you are not training with us today. Is everything okay?"

His response with a very confident smirk, "I don't feel like it. The only reason I came today was to take a bike ride with my brother."

So after going back and forth trying first to better understand his reason for not feeling like it, it occurred to me that he probably had a long and stressful day at school (stressful in his mind anyway) and simply had little mental energy left to participate in today's workout. 

But, it is days as such that can teach us so much about ourselves. 

Rather than listening to our lazy brains, there is a great opportunity to ignore the lazy thoughts that sometimes rear its ugly head and continue to go on to complete the task at hand. Turning a negative into a positive. 

The goal is to train whether you are having a good day or not. After finishing the workout, there is a very fat chance you will walk away feeling so much better. Works every time.