Steve's Club Camden

How many rounds can you do in 10 minutes?

AMRAP, 10 minutes

15 Push Presses, (#45)
15 Burpees

 

          Rick smiling through the first round.

9 minutes into the workout Rick sits down to ponder what
he got himself into it.
Note: He did get back up to finish the workout!

WEEKLY UPDATE ON THE 60 DAY PALEO CHALLENGE:

At the start of class, we took some waist measurements to check the progress of their first week following the paleo diet. That means no processed food, dairy, grains or pretty much anything that comes in a package or has a barcode. So how did they do in they're first week? Rick lost an inch, Chris lost 2 inches, Ant lost an inch and Jose lost an inch!!!!!
Although they were more interested in finding out the amount of pounds that they lost, I assured them that losing inches was much more important and a much better way to guage their progress. I told them how hard it was too lose inches and that they should be very happy to know their hard work is quickly paying off. Great job fellas!  Keep it up.

I asked them each to write a few blurps describing their first week experience, so I'm expecting to throw their homework up on the blog when I recieve it (due by Wed.). I've also come up with a great tasting, highly convenient paleo approved meal that has worked very well for them during the day at school when healthy food options are very limited.
To my surprise, the first two batches I made dissappeared like a rainbow. Who knows maybe I'm on to something BIG. Ha!

"The doctor of the future will give no medication, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, diet and in the cause and prevention of disease."

- Thomas A Edison

Learning to POSE...

run that is!  This past weekend I was lucky enough to attend CrossFit's Running and Endurance Certification presented by Brain MacKenzie and Carl Borg. Both are highly reputable coaches to many elite and professional athletes, as well as very exceptional athletes themselves. Although both have successfully competed in 50k to 100 mile races, including the Western States 100 and the Angeles Crest 100, Brian's next stop is a triple Ironman (yes, that is a 75 mile swim, bike and run...crazy right?!?!).

The certification was held at CrossFit Ocean City in Ocean City, Maryland by Steve and Kelly Rakow who did a great job at hosting and coordinating the event. As you can imagine, I learned a great deal in two full days with Brian and Carl offering a generous mix of class (theory) work, drills and skills, and video anaylsis (instant feedback to improve our technique).

I was very thrilled to walk away from the cert learning so much more that I did before about running and confident that I increased my running effeciency by 20%. That means more air, less ground and more pose!  Coming from someone with very little running background, I quickly found myself excited to carry what I learned at the cert and incorporate into my own training and coaching.

So today I ran a mini Running Seminar for the boys. First I layed out the plan by explaining the principles and theory behind learning to run more effeciently working with gravity and the laws of nature instead of against them. I drilled the three most important points into their head: Falling, Posture, and Pulling. I then explained the idea of landing your striking foot under your general center of mass under your hips and pulling your legs back to your butt. Everyone was nodding their head. Then we went outside and practiced some drills to ingrain the movement patterns in their head.

After 15 minutes of drilling we took a short 2 minute rest before doing some intervals. The goal was (4) 400 meter runs with a 2 minute rest in between. While times ranged from a 1:09 to 3:50 mins each person in the group managed to beat their previous time. They sure aren't fools when it comes to pacing ha!  All in all, a good learning day at the club and a nice way to break up the week.

PS Also very excited to annouce an inexpensive, but satisfying food item that I came up with to help the boys meet their nutrition needs while in school or when on the go (when good food choices are limited or not an option). At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I can't stress enough to them the importance of eating healthy and taking an active stance to their own general health and well being. It is their job to take full responsiblity and control over what goes into their body. The decision is yours I tell them and the choices they make today will determine who and what they become tomorrow (I know a little cheesy motivational mumbo jumbo) but always worth repeating (as it takes a million messages sometime to get through). Not easy competing with the millions of other messages from the media, peers, mother culture, movies, the entertainment industry, etc. So more on that later in another post (and no its not a healthy version of girl scout cookies! ha).

             Anthony not a fan of the paparazzi!

       

    

We are also very excited to announce that we have a new sponsor! The good folks at CrossFit Fairfax lead by Jeff Tincher and Maggie Colby, are joining our small community to help us continue to strengthen the foundation of our youth and bring a new vision to the city of Camden.

PVC mile

400 meter run
25-50 OVS Squats (PVC)
400 meter run
25 Sumo Deadlift High Pull (PVC)
400 meter run
25-50 Push Presses (PVC)
400 meter run

Life - and death -on the streets

Check it out by clicking HERE

Scary stuff!

Steve's Club 60-Day Paleo Challenge!

If you follow our blog, you know that the boys who show up each day at Steve's Club are very serious about their training and getting into the best shape they possibly can. After all, its takes a very dedicated and tough minded individual to participate in such a challenging and demanding strength and conditioning program as CrossFit. Whether the workout is scaled down to match one's fitness level or completed as prescribed, it requires a high level of commitment and self-motivation just to show up each day and walk through the door. Not easy on those days when your muscles are sore, your friends ask you to hang out on the corner, your tired from school or just lazy from being lazy.

But for the ones who do workout and participate at Steve's Club, a high level of satisfaction and sense of accomplishment is constantly achieved which brings people back for more while refusing to accept a life of mediocrity or poor health and fitness.

Unfortunately, working out is not enough if you really want to obtain all the benefits of optimal health and fitness. Busting your butt in the gym only to go home an hour later to scarf down a bag of doritos can quickly sabotage any and all previous efforts to lose weight and get in shape. It is counterproductive to the goals of the program greatly increasing the chances of failure and rate of dropout. Its results that drive success.

So with that said, I spent most of today's class talking to the boys at length about making better dietary choices and learning to eat better. To my surprise enthusiasm quickly rose with a plethora of questions and eagerness to start eating better by following a "get down and dirty" nutrition plan. A no bullshit "ok guys, just eat less" dietary advice. We're talking a strict "paleo" diet limited to meat, seafood, veggies, fruits, nuts and seeds ONLY. That means no sugar, dairy, grains, beans, wheat, corn, rice, fast food, bread and flour. Processed food is completely off limits and anything that comes in a box is a big no-no.

At first they couldn't believe they're ears when I gave them the rules ("Coach you just eliminated everything in my kitchen!) but "you-got-to-be-kidding me!" was soon followed by "Okay, I really want to try this. I'm going to give it a shot!....me too...yeah me too."

So we have 4 boys below who are up for the challenge and very excited to get started on Monday. We took some before pictures and waist measurements so we can track their progress and see the results on the last day of November.     

To say this is a big challenge is an understatement. The level of sacrifice required to complete the 60 days will be extraordinarily difficult! But the changes that will follow as a result of sticking with it will certainly make it all worth it. Let's see who really has what it takes to stay with it and do what seems like the impossible.

Our participants are as follows:   

Rick

Starting Bodyweight: 280 lbs.
Waist circumference: 52 inches.

Anthony

Starting Bodyweight: 250 lbs.
Waist Circumference: 42 inches

Chris

Starting Bodyweight: 175 lbs.
Waist Circumference: 37 inches.

 

Jose

Starting Bodyweight: 165 lbs.
Waist Circumference: 30 inches

I also asked each participant to come up with a 3 day food log prior to starting the program to get an idea of the type of foods that were being consumed to fuel their bodies.

Here is a snapshot of Rick's daily food log:

Day 1

Breakfast: Baloney and cheese on a bagel with grape juice and chocolate milk.
Lunch: 2 Tacos, 1 corn on the cob, and 2 chocolate milk. White rice with hot sauce and ranch dressing.
After-school: 1 slice of pizza and a salad with chocolate milk.
Dinner: Bowl of soup, peach juice and half of a box of cheeze-its.

Day 2

Skipped breakfast.
Lunch: Ham and cheese sandwich. Chicken nuggets. Peach juice.After-school: the other half box of cheeze-its. 2 slices of bread.
Dinner: Pizza.

Here's a snapshot of Chris's daily food log:

Day 1

Breakfast: Bagel with sausage egg and cheese. Fruit Blend juice.
Lunch: 2 soft tacos. 1 fruit blend. Chocolate milk 2%.
Dinner: Mash potatoes with chicken geezers.

Day 2

Breakfast: warm bagel with cream cheese. 1 apple juice.
Lunch: Fruit blend. 1 Milk chocolate 2%. 1 corn on the cob.
Skipped dinner.

Here's a snapshot of Anthony's daily food log:

Day 1

Breakfast: Sausage egg and cheese on a bagel. Orange juice.
Lunch: Rice
Dinner: Rice with chicken
Before bed: Cereal

Day 2

Breakfast: Ham and cheese sandwich. Peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Lunch: 2 soft tacos. Two cans of iced tea.
Dinner: 1 bowl of soup.

Please stay tuned for weekly updates!

It's a balance issue!

4 sets of 6-12 reps

Single Leg Romanian Deadlifts

Body Rows

Weighted Pushups (with sandbags)

              Chris grinds it out as Erin looks on.


              Jose warms up with a few BW reps.

Today's workout was definitely a challenge. The single leg Romanian deads more so than the other exercises. Maintaining balance on one foot is tough for many untrained people, especially young adults whose central nervous system is still developing and evolving. Despite they're determination and precision-like concentration, it became nearly impossible not to fall to the one side while lifting the sandbag off the floor on one leg. The first few reps were ugly, but after a little instruction and (gumption trying) each subsequent rep improved. It also was a great opportunity to talk about the word, balance, not only in the gym but also in life. I told the boys that in order to be successful, balance in your personal life is the key. That means doing your best in school whether you like it or not, and keeping a healthy perspective on your relationship at home with family and friends. All in all, it turned out to be a very productive day at Steve's Club!

Youth Training

Max rounds in 3 minutes of:

3 Thrusters (#25-65)
6 Pushups
9 Squats

Rest 1 minute. Repeat for a total of 3 cycles.

Post rounds completed for each of the 3 cycles.

 

                WELCOME BACK, RICK!!!

              Pooh doing thrusters with a sandbag.

             Ed returns for more fun (and pain)!

                        Ant getting it done!

"I just wanted to write you an email letting you know what an amazing job you are doing with your program.  I am a student at Rutgers Camden who recently got out of the Military where I did CrossFit on a regular basis. Once again, I just want to thank and commend you on what an amazing program you are running."

John M.

"Minute of Doom"

"Minute of Doom" was submitted by CrossFit Berks at CrossFit Kids.

With a continuously running clock do one squat, one broad jump, one ring dip the first minute, two squats, two broad jumps, two ring dips the second minute, three squats, three broad jumps, three ring dips the third minute.... continuing as long as you are able.

Use as many sets each minute as needed.


   
     Charlie and Jose have a little friendly competition.


      Chris determined to lose another 30 lbs.

RIP: My GrandPop

Tough week with my GrandPop passing away this week. He was a dedicated and inspirational track coach for Father Judge High School in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and left a lasting legacy in Philadelphia track and field history by the many Public League and Catholic League champions he developed. Most important of all, he was a great role model who was really liked and respected by everyone. He will certainly be missed by many.

Good bye Grand Pop, I will miss you and will continue to do my best to follow in your foot steps as a coach and leader on and off the field.

To paraphrase one of your favorite quotes with the kids and teams you coached, "Don't tell me you can't, show me you can!" will stick with me forever.

Thanks again for teaching us of the importance of your body/staying fit and being a leader by working hard and encouraging others to do better.

We'll see you someday.

Love,
Steve

What do you do everyday after school b/t 4 and 6 o'clock?...

Do you hang out with your friends everyday after school smoking pot while you sit around for hours playing PS2?

...or are you at Steve's Club making productive use of your time working out as you get in shape and hang around positive upbeat and motivated individuals?

Life is about choices. The choices you make today affect the life you live tomorrow.

Trojans

"Last Ascent"

5-10-15
Back Squats (bodyweight)
Box Jumps

Spartans

3 Rounds
400 meter run
12 Wall Balls
15 Pullups

                        

Pooh has hops!

          Charlie gets deep while low bar squatting.


Moses shows he has what it takes to become a Spartan.


            Anthony working hard, like ALWAYS!