Steve's Club

Commitment is Key.

Strength:  2 position clean (Hang/Floor) on the minute for 8 minutes @ 70%

Metcon – For Time:

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

Overhead Squats (95/65)
100m Sprint

 

 

2011 was a great year for Steve's Club. I proudly worked with over 75 youth this year and I am very proud to say I had what I believe was a strong and positive impact on a great majority of the kids that called Steve's Club their second home. This year we also made progress carrying out our mission of the Steve's Club National Program to help bring CrossFit to at-risk youth in cities across the country. We now have 5 official Steve's Club in other cities around the country and continue to receive applications from folks looking to spread the Steve's Club concept in their local community.

Honestly I don't think I could have ever predicted any of this to happen since we started the first club in a small room of a community center around 6 years ago. I guess it is truly amazing what happens when you truly discover something you love to do, put your heart and soul into it and stay committed long enough to watch it evolve into something greater than the original idea.

But the purpose of this post is NOT to toot my own horn, talk about how great Steve's Club is or bore you with all the trial and tribulations I faced along the way. 

Instead, I want to share a piece of advice that was further reinforced in 2011 and what I believe is a very useful piece of advice for years to follow.

(please forgive me in advance if you find this too "cliche")...

Committment is key. 

Without question, if you are unwilling to fully commit yourself, it matters not how much talent you have or how great the coaching you receive. If you are unwilling to fully commit, opportunities will pass you by. The absolute greatest are always linked to their work ethic – and we aren’t just talking about basketball players. In any field of endeavor, you must work on a continual basis if you want to stay moving in a positive direction. While Michael Jordan was immensely talented, it was his work ethic that separated him from the rest of the NBA. It was obvious that he fully understood the importance of work when he said:

“I’ve always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come. I don’t do things halfheartedly. Because I know if I do, then I can expect halfhearted results. That’s why I approached practices the same way I approached games.”

Jerry Rice is to football what Michael Jordan is to basketball. He is simply considered to be the greatest to ever play the position of wide-receiver. Unlike Michael Jordan, he came from a small college into the NFL. To many, Rice is an ultra-talented receiver. But those close to him know better – they know all that he had to do to become the greatest. In his book, “Think Like A Champion,” Denver Bronco head coach Mike Shanahan wrote the following on Rice:

“Most people, for whatever reason, think natural ability is the most important power a person possesses. It’s not. People who achieve the highest level of success have an unbelievable work ethic, the desire to sacrifice. Everybody thinks Jerry Rice is the best receiver out there. He certainly is talented, but I guarantee you he’s not even close to being the most talented. He’s not the strongest or the fastest. Be he is the most determined. Jerry’s mind set was that nobody was going to work harder, prepare better, or sacrifice more. He convinced himself that he was going to outwork every receiver who came into the league relative to conditioning, lifting, studying — everything. He knew that people might not enjoy the practice, but you can’t get to be the best without.”

NEW Steve's Club video

Strength:  Weighted Pullup – 1 Rep Max

Metcon:  7 Rounds For Time:

3 Cleans (185/135)
4 Handstand Pushups

Please share our new video (2 minutes long) if you like it!

 

 

 

My 6 Year CrossFit Anniversary.

Strength:  Snatch – 3 reps on the minute for 8 minutes @ 55%

Metcon – For Time:

800m Run

3 Rounds of:

10 Front Squats (155/110)
20 Pullups

CrossFit has improved my life, health and fitness level in more ways than I count....

It was exactly 6 years from today that I discovered CrossFit from this blog post from Seth Godin. Although Seth's post also references a very unfair and inaccurate piece on CrossFit from the Wall Street Journal, it lead myself (and I'm sure many others) to discovering this life changing fitness program and community of supporters committed to bettering themselves physically and interpersonally. 

There is no question that I am as fit and healthy as I ever been in my life. I consider myself fairly strong on average and continue to compete at a competive level while still keeping up with the older kids of Steve's Club and the twenty something year old young raging bulls of CrossFit Tribe. 

While CrossFit is a solid, well-rounded fitness program for those interested in GPP (general physical preparedness), the community side of CrossFit is what makes CrossFit a world class fitness program (in my opinion). This is especially important as I strongly believe "people succeed in groups" and the best programs are the ones that people stick to for long term success.

Although I started Crossfitting in my garage alone, it really wasn't until I started Steve's Club (sharing it with others) when I found my true passion and calling in life, unlocking a treasure chest of new opportunities that would shape my future and lead me to starting Steve's Club Camden, Steve's Original (PaleoKits), CrossFit Tribe and Steve's Club National Program. 

Some nights I can hardly sleep at night as my head fills up with excitement preparing for the next day of events. Although some days can get very stressful balancing everything from work to family, I am very lucky and blessed to get to be a part of the CrossFit community and give the gift of CrossFit to others 

Thanks Seth!  Thanks CrossFit!

The Iron Bond.

Strength:  Deadlift 10-8-6-4-2 @ 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%

Metcon – For Time:

21-15-9

50 Double Unders (100 Singles)
Pushups
KB Swings (53/35)

One thing that makes me proud about the concept of Steve's Club is bringing together kids from different ethnic bakgrounds. While Steve's Club mainly serves African American teens, we have many hispanic (few korean and very few white kids) that come to Steve's Club each day. 

Many of these kids probably wouldn't be friends with each other if they met on the streets. Some would, but many wouldn't as that is just the way it works. People stick together in groups and usually hang out with other kids of the same race. I think this is becoming less of a divide now more than ever but it still much more common to see kids of the same background and race hanging out together then a mix group of kids.

I've personally witness Steve's Club break down race barriers and bring many kids together that probably wouldn't get along outside of the gym. There is a very strong bond that is formed after watching the person next to you pour their heart and soul into a workout.

There is a great deal of respect that is earned and given from watching one another suffer through a workout, battle and come out the other end victorious. 

I call it the Iron Bond. 

Those that go to battle together, bond together. 

 

Never sell out. Don't break. Don't weaken.

Strength:  Barbell Row – 2 reps on the minute for 8 minutes

Metcon – For Time:

10-8-6-4-2

Manmakers (45/25)
2 Bear Crawls (Down and Back = 1)
1 Rope Climb

*Complete 10 Manmakers, 2 Bear Crawls, 1 Rope Climb. 8 Manmakers, 2 Bear Crawls, 1 Rope Climb. 6 Manmakers, 2 Bear Crawls, 1 Rope Climb, ETC….

 

"You can get what you want. Never sell out. Don't break. Don't weaken. Don't let the kindness of strangers be your salvation, for it is no salvation at all. Unless you sleep alone, you sleep with the enemy. Never come out of the storm. On the other hand, maybe you should. You don't have what it takes to go the hard way. Come out of the cold and sit by the fire. Let them warm you with the smiles and promise of friendship's fortune. Lose your edge. A soft body and chained mind suit you. Chances are you don't have what it takes to walk the frozen trail. Stay home and relax." -- Henry Rollins, Solipsist

Teaching others.

Strength:  Back Squat – 1 rep on the minute for 10 minutes @ 80%

Metcon – For Time:

750m Row

Followed by 3 Rounds of:

5 Wall Climbs
25 Situps

Most of us end up with no more than five or six people who remember us. Teachers have thousands of people who remember them for the rest of their lives. -Andy Rooney

SC Holiday Jacket Drive

Strength:  Press 5×3

Metcon – 5 Rounds For Time:

5 Deadlifts (275/185)
10 Ring Pushups
40m Shuttle Sprints

STEVE’S CLUB HOLIDAY JACKET DRIVE starts today! Did you know that some of our Steve’s Club kids walk 2 miles to train at our gym each day? Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. We’re not sure how many of them have good coats, hats, scarfs, etc. If you have a gently used jacket or winter gear, there will be a box at our gym for donations. If you prefer to give $ towards a new jacket, please email me at Steve@stevesclub.org. Thanks in advance for your generosity!

 

NJ deploys State Police into Camden

There have been over 50 homicides in Camden this year. Crazy, right?

Start small.

Strength: Press 3x3

Metcon: 10 min AMRAP

8 Front Squats (#135)

10 Burpees

12 Box Jumps

 

December 2011 Steve's Club class

I can vividly remember the day I taught my first small group of Steve's Club kids. It was myself and 3 other kids (ages 12-15). We spent the first 15 minutes talking about what fitness means, everyone's goals, and our plans to achieve those goals. After our discussion, we spent about 15 minutes wamring up doing dynamic range of motion drills and other movements to improve mobility/flexiblity and get everyone warmed up for the upcoming task at hand. 

Every workout starts with a strength lift usually consisting of a barbell movement. For our first class, if memory serves me right we did several heavy sets of back squats. Since stength always takes priority in the quest for high level fitness every class starts with moving heavy stuff whether that means squats, deadlifts, presses, pullups, and power cleans. That was my philosophy then and still holds true today. Strength work comes first. 

With Crossfit growing like crazy and adding new affiliates every day, it is no surprise that you will find a wide range of programming and skills differing from one affiliate to the next. Some affiliates are known for kicking the crap out of their members by doing a lot of long metcon workouts that give people a feeling of achievement (but can be very taxing and counterproductive for strength gains of beginners and novices). Then there are many videos on You Tube of affiliates encouraging bad form and focusing too much on the clock at the exclusion of enforcing good technique and proper safety on the movements. 

Luckily, I had the luxury of gaining coaching experience with a very small group of kids and learned a lot about myself and how to effectively coach my athletes before classes grew in size and took on new challenges associated with bigger groups. In my opnion, this was the ideal way to learn my craft and apply all the textbook knowledge I learned from intense reading and put in practice. 

But no longer seems like the ideal way others are breaking into the fitness industry and starting their own gyms. Today it is not uncommon for a someone with a 9 to 5 job in a completely unrelated career field to start a CrossFit gym with zero experience and quickly go from training 0 clients to training 50 clients in less than 4 weeks. Scary? I know!  Not only is this a dangerous game for the clients who are learning complex movements but also a threat to the reputation of the CrossFit name. 

Of course, I realize that not everyone is going to take the same route I took to start a gym/fitness club and by godly that certainly is not the best way to start one up anway, by any means at all. But the point I want to make here is the importance for folks (not matter how ambitious they are), is to start small by training a very small group of people for a few months before running large group classes. And of course if your plan is to train kids, it is better to get your experience in the early stages training kids. Same concept applies to adults. In other words, get experience/practice training the same type of client you wish to build your business around (training your neighbor's 12 year old is not the same as training a 40 year old middle aged overweight woman with plethora of old injuries).

My advice for those looking to start a gym is to start small and learn as you grow. Experience is the best teacher and is much more valuable than an certification or degree you can buy. 

 

 

 

 

 

What I Learned at Career Day by Justin.

Strength:  5 reps of 3 position Snatch (Hang Power Snatch/Hang Snatch/Snatch) *increase load as necessary between sets.

Metcon – 3 Rounds For time of:

1 Minute Row (Calories)
1 Minute Wallballs (20/14)
1 Minute Hang Power Clean (135/95)
1 Minute Rest

*Fight Gone Bad Style.  Rotate after each minute.

 

What I learned from Career Day by CJ.

Strength:  Clean Pulls 6×2 @ 110%

For Time:

21-15-9

Front Squats (135/95)
Box Jumps (24/20)

EC:  400m Sprint