Steve's Club

Staying positive.

Strength: Deadlift 3-3-3

Metcon – 4 Rounds For Time:

20 KB Swings (53/35)
10 Up and Over Box Jumps (24/20)
Max Rep Unbroken Pushups

*Rest 1 Minute after each completed round…

I'm going to be happy. I'm going to skip. I'm going to be glad. I'm going to smile a lot. I'm going to be easy. I'm going to count my blessings. I'm going to look for reasons to feel good. I'm going to dig up positive things from the past. I'm going to look for positive things where I stand. I'm going to look for positive things in the future. It is my natural state to be a happy person. It's natural for me to love and to laugh. This is what is most natural for me. I am a happy person!

-Abraham-Hicks

Group success increases the likelihood of individual success.

Strength: Press 3-3-3

Metcon - 10 Minute AMRAP:

1000m Row For Time

With remaining time complete AMRAP:

10 Burpee Box Jumps (24/20)
10 Toes to Bar

 

“In a coaching sense it was something I read in John Wooden’s book, where he said that he never talked about winning. He always talked about the process. If you practice well every day and give a great effort, it’s the daily, minute-by-minute acts that lead to performing well. And really after reading that, the last several years that I coached, I don’t ever recall mentioning winning to our players either. Probably the most important advice that I got from my dad was to finish what you start. He had a good work ethic and he always wanted me to follow through on whatever I had begun.”  

 -Tom Osborne

 

Such a great piece of advice. Finish what you start. So often that doesn't happen when pursuing goals or tackling assignments and tasks. People get lost in the shuffle and things fall in between the cracks. All too often people disappoint by failing to live up to their full potential or giving up before the job is done. There are more failures each day than successes. This is not me being negative, this is me being observant. Just watch the nightly news and you'll see what I mean. Keep count how many times you hear someone say I'm going to do this or I'm going to do that....and it never happens. Count how many times you witness someone you know start something and never finish it. Happens more times than you thought. People quit. 

Where is the silver lining in the cloud?  The good part of there being so many quitters in our society is that it creates many opportunities to stand out, excel and be great. Finish when the rest of the pack gives up. 

After today's workout was over, every athlete said they felt a strong urge to quit during the 1K Row. "I just wanted to stop rowing and take a rest"   "that row sucked" "I can't believe I finished it"

No one quit. Quitting in front of your peers is not cool and can easily lead to public ridicule. 

The takeaway message: Groups success increases the likelihood of individual success. 

Rebecca Brown of Steve's Club Nashville

Strength: Clean 1-1-1-1-1

Metcon - “Fran”

21-15-9

Thrusters (95/65)
Pull-ups

 

Please check out the video below. Coach Rebecca Brown of Steve's Club Nashville is doing an amazing job running a Steve's Club in Nashville, TN. I was fortunate enough to get to meet her on Monday as she stopped by to visit us on her way home after getting her CF Kids cert at CrossFit King of Prussia over the weekend.

Thanks for the great work Rebecca and we appreciate your hard work and committment in changing the lives of others and helping to make a difference in your local community.  

More here:http://www.stevesclub.org/blog/post/feature_steves_club_nashville

http://www.tubechop.com/watch/441675

Who have you astonished today?

10 minute AMRAP (As many rounds as possible):

10 One Arm DB Snatches

20 Tuck Jumps

30 Sit-ups

 

I get a kick out of watching people get astonished. Not astonished from watching a skyscraper collapse but astonished when they are surprised from having their expectations exceeded. You know that look on a person's face when they are thinking "their is no way this person can do this" or "I highly doubt this can be done" That look of uncertainty before you knock the ball out of the ballpark and restore someone else's confidence in you.

A lot of people are doubters. I think that is a good thing as it creates any opportunities to surprise, wow and astonish others.

It happened today in a class in a minor way. The SC veterans were teaching the athletes a new movement they have never seen before. On their first try, everyone seemed to struggle on the movement showing really bad form. Then it was some girls turn who never attempted the movement before. You can see the look on everyone's face pretty much thinking there is no way this girl is going to get that dumbell over her head let alone do it with grace and proper execution. 

Everyone turned and watched as she crouched into an partial squat position, chest held high, head forward, feet in place and then glided the weight through the air as if it was a paper airplane. It looked effortless. You should of seen the look and reaction on everyone's face.

The girl did her best to hold back from smiling ear to ear and just made a little smirk with an expression as if she was thinking, "Ha how do you like that one punks...thanks for letting me show you!"

Who have you astonished today?

 

Each leaf,
each blade of grass
vies for attention.

Even weeds
carry tiny blossoms
to astonish us.

          - Marianne Poloskey 

 

Fun experiment having kids make up the workout.

Team WOD 

12 minute AMRAP 

8 Bar Muscle-ups

60 Sit-ups

8 Rope Climbs

60 Pushups

Today I have the class 5 minutes to convene and come up with their own workout. My only 2 rules were everyone had to agree on the workout and they had to come up with a sub or scale if someone could not perform an exercise. The workout they came up with was a partner WOD with scaled movements for each exercise. If someone could not do a bar muscle up, the sub was a chest to bar pullup or a ring row. 

It was a neat little exercise as it got everyone working together collaborating as a team and thinking through the entire problem. Rather than always be given instructions, I thought this was a great way to turn the table and give them the authority to be creative and work on solving a problem in a team format. 

 

The Future of The CrossFit Games for our Youth.

21-15-9

Deadlifts (#225)

Pushups

Air Squats

I was lucky enough to attend the 2012 Reebok CrossFit Games in Carson, California this past weekend. It was an incredible weekend as I excepted, as I got the chance to watch many amazing athletes perform and got to meet a ton of friends and new faces in the community. 

This was my fourth year going to the Games since the first one was held at the Ranch in Aromas in 2007. I was fortunate enough to bring out a few SC athletes that year and see Caity Matter and Jason Khalipa win the titles before they both became household names in the CF community.

The landscape of the Games has changed a great deal in only a few short years as the sport has grown exponentially in participation and popularity throughout the world. 

As the sport of CrossFit continues to grow, I can see many new opportunities for young boys and girls to enter the sport with the hopes of being crowned the fittest man and women on Earth. Just like other sports, CrossFit will provide a platform for generations of kids to grow up chasing the dreams of competing as an elite athlete in front of thousands of spectators. 

While a huge part of greatly values the community of CrossFit more than the sport of CrossFit, I do beleive the sport of CrossFit will give many young kids and teens a goal to go after in an effort to be as physically and mentally fit as they can be.

Steve's Club Camden: 2nd Location

"That was the hardest workout of my entire life, and...It was fun. I'd like to do it again."

We're thrilled to bring you this video of the amazing young adults from our SECOND Steve's Club location in Camden, NJ. THANK YOU for your support!

Five Steve's Club athletes earned their coaching certifications this year, and will be taking on leadership and coaching roles in the new location.

2012 Reebok CrossFit Games

Urban Promise Tuesday Class

12 minute AMRAP

8 DB Push Presses (#45)

10 Burpees

12 Goblet Squats (#45)

If you have been following our blog and support our program in same way or another, I just wanted to take a minute to say thank you. Steve's Club is a labor of love for me, and I am very fortunate to have such a great community of supporters who believes in our mission to help young teens realize their full potential in life through CrossFit, coaching, mentoring, guidance and support.

We are leaving on Thursday morning for the 2012 Reebok CrossFit Games in Carson, California. Please stop by our booth this weekend in the vendor village to say hello. Look forward to meeting you!

Steve 

Be Daring!

Strength: EMOM For 7 Minutes complete 2 weighted pull-ups (Unweighted Deadhang/Band Assisted or Ring Row as needed)

*during rest period hold 20 second plank hold

Metcon - 12 Minute AMRAP:

5 Power Snatches (135/95)
10 Burpees

Level 2: 115/75
Level 1: 95/65

“Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.” -Cecil Beaton

 

First day of class at Urban Promise in Camden, NJ.

12 minute AMRAP

8 DB Push Presses (#45)

10 Burpees

12 Goblet Squats (#45)

Today was our first day of class at Urban Promise. This is the start of a new collaboration with the local non-profit high school located on Federal Street in Camden, NJ. This is the second Steve's Club location serving the young teens of Camden.

With the help of our major funder, Steve's Original, and other generous Steve's Club supporters, we purchased matting and equipment to outfit the basement of Urban Promise. 

Steve's Club senior athletes Kevin and Jose will assist me with running the new club until they get CrossFit certified in September at which time they will teach the classes at Urban Promise on their own. Until then, I will continue to mentor and spend extra time on helping them to become trainers to the degree they can successfully run classes without me there.

The big goal is to build a handful of Steve's Club around the city of Camden and have older Steve's Club athletes teach the classes and run it as if it was their own business.