Steve's Club Camden

Deadlifts – set a new 5 RM

 

2 Rounds Not For Time of:

15 Parallette Push Ups
15 Ring Dips
15 Burpees

Not a day goes by that a young crossfitter doesn't walk through our doors carrying a world of stress and worry on their back. The tension and anger shapes the room like dark clouds hovering in the sky before a violent thunderstorm comes clashing down. The frustration and pain is immediately apparent in their voices.  5 minutes into the warm-up, the mood starts to shift as the sun begins to shine. Workout begins, and the energy heightens. Faces change as the look of determination and content sets in while tears of sweat bounce off the floor. Dark turns to light. Adrenaline floods the system as a sense of pride and accomplishment take on a whole new meaning, Our work is done. This is CrossFit.

As its been said, If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant.

The Tabata Row Showdown between Charlie and Brandon.

MAX SNATCH

followed by:

Tabata Row (20 seconds on/10 seconds off for 8 rounds).

Pictures taken by Rosemary MacKintosh

Both athletes broke 900 meters. Brandon came out on top pulling 936 meters with Charlie a close second. 

Courtney who despises rowing due to her short stature, didn't let anthing get in her way today. She broke the 600 mark!

 

Eli, who joined Steve's Club about a month ago is doing things he never thought was possible. Today he powered snatched 95 lbs from floor to overhead. Note: in the picture above, I corrected his form to bring the handle further down above his belly button. 

Constant and Never Ending Improvement.

Power Cleans 2-2-2-2-2

followed by:

 

21 - 15 – 9  NO TIME CLOCK!

Wall Balls

KettleBell Swings (1.5pood / 1pood)

Ny learning to Power Clean from steve liberati on Vimeo.

"Effort is one of those things that gives meaning to life. Effort mean you care about something, that something is important to you and you are willing to work for it. It would be an impoverished existence if you were not willing to value things and committ yourself to working toward them."

-Carol Dweck

Work on your weakness.

Squat, 5x5 (70% of 5RM)

 

50 Reps of something that's your weakness, for time, or for max load.

 

ex: 50 Handstand Push-Ups for time, 50 reps of putting as much heavy weight over your head as possible in whatever mode possible, as much weight as you can deadlift in for 50 reps, 50 Toes-to-Bar.

Keith squatting. at Steve's Clubi on Vimeo.

A few months ago when Keith started his training back up at Steve's Club, it was very obvious that he lacked the mobility and flexibility to fully express all the strength and power that he possessed. Despite his big lift numbers, most of his reps were done with limited range of motion. So we had him do a series of mobility drills mainly to address tight hamstrings, hip flexors and ankle immobility. Everyday he'd show up early to do them no matter what workout we did that day. Unfortunately, I don't have it on video to show the difference, but 4 months ago his low bar squat was barely done at parallel (knees to hip crease). Fast forward, several months later with a steady diet of mobility drills, consistency, and hard work Keith can now squat below parallel..utilizing his rear, hams and glutes that he neglected for so long. Not only is Keith less injury prone now, but you can bet your butt that he'll be a lot stronger and powerful on the field this upcoming football season.

Strength

Deadlifts, 1-1-1

 

Conditioning
How Many Rounds can you complete in 12mins?
3 DB Hang Power Snatch
6 Ring Rows

9 Knees to Elbows

 “You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”

~ Marcus Aurelius

Guest Post from Tim, a Coach at Steve's Club.

Strength:

Power Cleans 1-1-1

Conditioning:

50-40-30 rep rounds of:
Tuck Jumps
Thigh Touches

Tim instructs Ralph and the rest of the group how to catch the bar in the rack position.

It is such an honor to work with the kids we have here and I am thankful every day for the opportunity.  Of course, as with anything, some days are better than others and today I got a special reminder of why we do what we do at Steve’s Club.  During some down time I was talking to a group of the guys about their history in athletics.  Jose was telling me about his experience running distance events on his high school track team and Charlie and the rest were getting into a lively conversation about basketball, both in high school and pick up games played in the neighborhood.  Then Jose said something that really hit me hard. He started reminiscing about how much fun it was to play touch football with the kids in the neighborhood before high school and how those days ended when most of the kids his age started dealing drugs. I asked him how those guys were doing now and he told me that most of them ended up in jail and two were killed. While I am aware of the type of environment these guys grow up in, being confronted with it is still jarring from time to time. It filled me with a deep sense of gratitude for my own childhood and overwhelming joy that we can create a place for them to get away from all of that. It wasn’t just that he knew a couple of guys who went down the wrong path; it was the majority of the boys his age. It made the workout today extra special because we had a few new faces and I couldn’t help but consider what they might be doing with their time if they weren’t with us getting crushed by Annie.  Then during the warm-up, Keith got his first muscle-up. He has been working on it for weeks now and was proud to right his name on the board in the muscle-up club. It could seem like a small thing but it was just a concrete example of how what we do teaches these kids that hard work and perseverance do pay off. Delayed gratification has fallen out of style in our day and age and Steve’s Club is a place where its merit is showcased on a daily basis. I walked out of Steve’s Club to today with an extra big smile on my face and I will walk in tomorrow thinking about how lucky I am to be a part of it.

             -Timothy Rourke

Sectionals for the CrossFit Games.

Strength

Press, 5x3

Conditioning

5 Rounds for time:
5 Hang Power Snatch
20 Double Unders (40 Single Unders)

Charlie has been working hard preparing for the CrossFit Games Qualifier held at Guerrilla Fitness in Montclair, NJ on March 27th. He also just found out on Monday that his girlfriend is having a baby boy. The pressure is on...but there is no doubt in my mind that Charlie will rise to the occasion.  As one of the first members of Steve's Club, I have watched him mature and develop into a fine athlete and young man.

Sage Burgener, daughter of Mike Burgener (Coach B) one of the best weightlifting coaches in the country, recently wrote a post on her blog about the impact weightlifting had on her life since she started lifting weights at the age of 4.

What weightlifting has done for me:

1) Taught me body awareness. Body awareness is SO important and can make learning new things a heck of a lot easier. Weightlifting is great for body awareness because you are lifting a heavy a$$ weight over your head, and if you have no idea where your body is in conjunction with the bar, then you're basically screwed.  Lifting teaches you to be in tune to each little movement of each little body part.  

 

2) Taught me how to focus under stress. The great thing about lifting is the competition aspect.  You work hard for months and months, and then you get to take all that hard work and perform in front of a crowd and in front of judges.  As great as it is, it is also makes you want to pee your pants from nerves! Its just you and the bar up on a platform in the middle of a huge room with thousands of eyes looking at you.  Scary or not, it is a great thing for a young kid to experience because you have to learn how to block out distraction and perform under great a deal of stress. That focus transfers over to almost every other aspect of life that requires focus. 

 

3) Learned what it meant to be dedicated to something. Weightlifting taught me how to be committed to something and how to STAY committed even if I hit a rocky road (mmm makes me think of ice cream).  that commitment did interfere with my social life with friends, but not enough to make me resent the sport. The rewards I received from the years of hard work i put in, far exceeded the sacrifices I had to make. I learned to set goals for myself and learned that I could reach each goal with my persistence and dedication. Reaching goals, is an important feeling for kids to experience and weightlifting gives you so many opportunities to do just that. 

 

4) Most importantly, weightlifting gave me confidence in myself. There is something about walking up on a platform, approaching a heavy weight, feeling afraid, and lifting that bar over your head that makes you feel such self satisfaction and makes you feel extremely proud of yourself.  The feeling of conquering your fears is a hard feeling to match. We all fear, yet we all have a choice: Do we let that fear control us? or do we control the fear? Olympic lifting allows you to feel that fear, accept that fear, and then punch that fear in the face, one lift at a time. With each fear you face, new confidence is brought about and you grow as a person. You grow as a person who believes in his or herself more and more each day. And to believe in ourselves (as children or adults) is the hardest feat that most of us will ever have to face. 

 

 

Entrepreneurship

Single leg Squats 5x5 (each leg)

followed by:

AMRAP 8 mins

10 Good morning (wide stance, straight knee)
5 Chin-ups

followed by:

50 Perfect Pushups for time (hands on bumpers; chest to deck; full lockout)

 

Kids frequently walk in my office (my door is always open) before class or after class to talk shop, seek advice or just share their thoughts with me. I consider it one of the best parts of what I do and a huge reason why I invest so much time and energy into Steve's Club. Young people need people from the outside whom they can respect as role models and can turn to for advice and provide the stability and comfort that might be lacking in their own life. 

The other day it was brought to my attention that one of our members was having some issues at home and he wasn't sure where to turn. I knew something was up too as it was apparant in his attitude over the last few weeks and lack of motivation in the workouts. We all know it's hard to do things (at least well) when you are stressed with a million thoughts going through your mind.

So I had the opportunity to talk to him one on one in my office to get a better feel of what was really going on in his head. Of course without going into too much detail, basically he told me that he was expecting to get a lot of money when he turned 18 yrs old as a result of an accident that happened to him by the doctor when he was born. With less than a year away from when he starts recieving the money, mom and other family members are putting a great deal of pressure and guilt on him to share the wealth. This family member wants a Cadillac Escalade while the other is demanding that she deserves a new house and its his duty to buy it for her. It gets worse but I'll save the details for confidential purposes.

Its really sad that this young man has to deal with this pressure and put in a position to make such decisions. I told him to do only what he believed was right thing and that no body deserves a penny, except himself. His only real responsibility was to make a smart financial decision for his own future and avoid the temptation to accumulate a bunch of material possessions that will provide a false sense of happiness.

After advising him to talk to a financial planner, he shared with me one of his goals to start his own business in his neighborhood. It's something he dreamed of since he was a little kid. So we talked for a while about his vision and I agreed to help him write a business plan to make his dream a reality.

Discipline

Snatch skill work

(6) 400 meter run with 2 minute rest in between.

Vern Gambetta poses a very good question on his blog.

Discipline – Outdated Concept or Necessary?

“For the young athlete to learn discipline demands guidance. We as coaches must provide that guidance. We must set the standards by fair rules that carefully lay out the behavioral expectations involved in being part of the team. These must be written. They must be clear so that there is no room for debate. Essentially as the coach you are providing a structure to begin to improve their abilities and their enjoyment of track and field.

Remember as coaches we have a responsibility to teach our athletes. Very few will compete past the high school level, but they all can have the great growing-up experiences of testing their limits and being part of a team.

Discipline will help insure a positive experience. It is not outdated, and it never will be.”

Strength of Will.

Squat, 3x5

Press, 3x5

 

10,9,8,7,6…2,1

Sprint indoors (door to wall is 1)

KB Swings (Go Heavy!)

Your determination can give you the strength of will and the courage necessary to pursue challenging endeavors. Often, the way in which we approach a problem is as important as the practical steps we take to address it. A positive mind-set (we call it the IRON MIND) and a belief in your capability can help one face difficult situations or get around obstacles that block our paths.

Strength of will is a required skill for the course of Life. The weight room has much to teach our youth.