CROSSFIT SUFFOLK: Powered By SPARTAN PERFORMANCE

6
Jan

CROSSFIT SUFFOLK: Powered By SPARTAN PERFORMANCE

Be advised: There is a 30 burpee penalty for anyone stating that the below was “too long” to read.  You have been warned.

A TALE OF TWO LADIES
Hopefully you all read the comments by Kelly R. and Beth from the January 3rd Blog/WOD page.  If you didn’t you missed two excellent accounts of how Kelly and Beth got started, what they were thinking and how they kept going despite their “newbie doubt”.

If you didn’t go back to the comments from that day go ahead now.  I’ll wait for you right here………..

Welcome back!  Wasn’t that awesome?

These stories and those like it mean everything to Lisa and I.  It’s why we do what we do.  Lisa and I became police officers for basically the same reasons.  We wanted to do something that wasn’t boring or routine where we could be in a position to help people.  We consider being coaches an extension of that desire to help people.  Getting positive feedback and watching progress leaves us with a feeling like no other.

We enjoy competition and enjoy training those who wish to compete.  Competition is a good way to test yourself.  For me personally though, the sense of satisfaction from helping prepare athletes for competition compares little to helping a mom, an office worker, a cop, firefighter, a military person or any “regular” person get stronger to feel better at work and make it easier for them to chase their kids around–helping people get better at “life”.

Watching the look of wonder on someone’s face when they lift a weight that they never imagined they would lift is exhilarating.  The same goes when someone gets a movement down, like a pull-up, handstand push-up or muscle-up.

Adding to Beth’s story, I’ll say this: Never in my wildest imagination did I think she would stay beyond the first month.  When I handed Beth a 15lbs. barbell she looked at me like I was crazy.  And there was terror in her eyes.  I said something to the effect of, “Do you go grocery shopping?  You know you’re groceries weigh more than this bar.”  Beth wasn’t having it though.  Fast forward to now, 10 months later.  If you have trained with Beth you know she lifts way more than that 15 lb. barbell now.  You have seen the change in her body and dare I say, her attitude.  This growth as a CrossFitter often carries over to growth as a person.  This is evident in Beth.  Beth is 2 days from taping for The Rachel Ray Show.  Something about underwear.  Yes, Beth is going on national television to stand there in her underwear.  I’m sorry, but this takes more balls than most people have.  Beth is not an exhibitionist and would not have entertained the idea of appearing on the The Rachel Ray Show 10 months ago.  I’m not suggesting your CrossFit goals should include appearing on national television, or local for that matter, in your underwear, but it does suggest a major shift, for the better, in Beth’s attitude.

Kelly R., like many others, came in with a friend…and she was still…ugh…concerned.  While she was concerned about this crazy CrossFit thing, she always has a smile on and seems to be enjoying the training process.  What Kelly is not telling you, perhaps she doesn’t realize, is that once it’s time to train she puts her game face on and is very focused.  Still, we were unsure about Kelly staying.  Her friend had other things in life come up and she couldn’t keep training.  This is often a critical point for trainees that join with close friends.  Quite often if one cannot continue a “concerned” person will use this as an opportunity to quit.

Not Kelly.

In fact, Kelly seemed to be even more driven.  While it’s true that she was often at the back of the pack it wasn’t because of lack of effort.  When a housewife and mother of three young children takes on CrossFit she probably isn’t going to be at the front of the pack from the get go.  Who cares?  We only care that you train consistently and put forth your best effort.  This is exactly what Kelly does.  Like it’s her job!  Perhaps my favorite thing about Kelly is she ALWAYS has kind things to say about her fellow trainees.  Her comments and energy are always positive.  Unfortunately the trainees who marvel at Kelly’s strength and progress don’t tell her.  They tell me.  Kelly would down-play the compliments anyway, quietly keeping out the outside world by putting her hood up and focusing on the only thing that matters at the moment–moving herself or moving heavy weight.  We can see something in Kelly’s blue eyes, when her hood goes on, that you just can’t teach people, there’s an inner-badass there.  There’s the look of “I WILL get this done and nothing is going to stop me“.

You are always encouraged to comment.  You are strongly encouraged, gentle reader, to tell your story like Beth and Kelly did.  It helps us as coaches and it will be helpful to future newbies.

I don’t know who to attribute the quote to, but someone once said, “A life worth living is a life worth recording.”  You can take this quote to heart and start with how you learned about CrossFit and how you began your journey, what was going through your mind and what you have come to learn.

See you in the gym!

 

Kelly R. back squatted 195lbs. for a new personal record last week!IMG_7577

 

 

WAS ANDERSON SILVA’S BROKEN LEG THE RESULT OF A VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY?

[Note:  There’s no proof of this, but it is an interesting theory.  I believe Silva could have been taking in all the sun and vitamin D supplement he could handle and he would have broken his leg anyway.  For those of you who don’t know, Anderson Silva is one of the best fighters in mixed martial art history.  While fighting Long Island’s own, Chris Weidman on December 28th 2013, Anderson threw a kick at Weidman’s leg.  Weidman “checked” or blocked the kick with his leg and Silva’s leg literally broke in half.  There was a video of it with this article, but it was removed.  Fear not….there’s one right here for your viewing pleasure.  If catastrophic injuries are not your thing PLEASE DON’T WATCH.  It’s graphic and not for the squeamish: Anderson Silva Broken Leg in Fight vs. Chris Weidman

The article does raise the issue of supplementing with vitamin D3 since not many of us are in the sun enough.]—George

 

 

Workout of the Day
15 mins to establish a 2RM Hi-hang Snatch

For time:
25 OHS @ 50% 1 rep max
25 Bar-Facing Burpees
15 OHS @ 60% 1 rep max
15 Bar-Facing Burpees
5 OHS @ 80% 1 rep max
5 Bar-Facing Burpees
10 Muscle-Ups  (Substitute with ring dips)

Post your scores to the Whiteboard.

13 Responses

  1. Kelly R

    1st to comment! Haha!
    George- tale of 2 ladies! :)) Beth knows I am a big fan of hers & root for her all the way ( & I know she roots for me ) so to stick us together on the page is pretty awesome,
    I knew from the moment I walked in the gym I was making a lifelong commitment to crossfit whether my friend stayed or not. If you look at the sheet you gave us the very 1st day as to why we are here I wrote on it – to get strong ( lift seriously heavy weight ) & to learn how to deadlift. So George & Lisa & Crossfit Suffolk I am here for the long run! 🙂
    ** A Million Thank You’s for embracing me! **
    I have a LONG way to go, a lot to learn and I am honored every day to walk into this gym and train with all of you. I love that all of us come from such different places to meet together. I LOVE that you called this domesticated engineer ( aka housewife ) & mom of 3- a badass! You all know I drive a mini van right? ( & it’s baby blue! )
    The past 136 WODS have been priceless! I quickly learned that crossfit requires a lot of attention, you really need to stay focused on what your doing, pay attention to the coaches and really apply what they tell you. Just because your not able to do some thing today doesn’t mean you won’t be able to do it tomorrow! My hoodie and my hat are both my security blankets, they both keep me focused on the task at hand and block everyone & everything around me out. I have 3 little kids & a hectic non-stop life so I am easily distracted, my hoodie gives me my own little space, just for the moment :)))
    **** so come on! Like George said: share your newbie moment! We all want to hear it! Jane I still want to finish hearing yours we were interrupted by the WOD haha! ******
    Fondly-
    Kelly Rosado

  2. Nick Kelly

    Kelly and Beth,

    Good for you both! Very cool stories. I must say its pretty cool that everyone at CS is always pushing and friendly with another. I will most certainly miss you guys and our box.

    Good luck to everyone in 2014.

  3. Kristen

    Yayyy Kelly and Beth!! Here’s to many more accomplishments this year 🙂

    And Nick, Where are you going? You moving or something? No one can leave! Haha. In any case, good luck to you too!

  4. Nick Kelly

    Kristen, yes I am actually moving further north within the next two to three months. John, Thanks for that bud. Will definitely miss everyone. I won’t be too far..I will be here in spirit and occasionally make my way back for an occasional WOD or two.

    PS extremely cool Beth is gonna be on RR. I do not watch this show but wish you luck! Very cool.

  5. patrick

    Ladies get down and give me 25 lol good work ladies see that’s what its all about challenging yourself to something that seems impossible never quitting never giving up all of us have this amazing thing inside of us its called will

  6. Jon

    Hey George!

    Miss you guys. Recovery is taking longer than expected with the knee, but looking forward to getting back in there!!!

  7. Beth

    Hey Kelly, Right back at ya!! And you are a badass despite driving a baby blue minivan. Congrats on the Back Squat 1RM that’s awesome!! I haven’t seen you in awhile, hopefully our workouts will cross paths. Crossfit is the one place I can usually escape the madness and mayhem of daily life. No matter how hard the WOD is I usually have an extra spring in my step when I finish. Where else can you feel like you accomplished something almost every time you go?

  8. Barbara

    My first experience with CrossFit was terrifying lol Sean and I started at the old place and the entrance was in the back of the building but no glass on the door. We stood outside by the door listening to things banging and people yelling and grunting. Lol Sean wanted me to go in first…….yeah right! We walk in and there was nothing, I had no idea what to expect but I did expect too see some kind of machine…..or so I thought. The people before us had left and it was pretty much just Sean and I and all the Vamos people who I could have sworn were watching my every move lol. George tested us in a bunch of things, similar to how he does intros now but different. I couldn’t do anything right and I am sure you all know Sean was amazing at it all. I could hardly bend my elbows on a pull-up as my body was shaking from trying so hard and I couldn’t squat. I mean really it was terrible……absolutely terrible ask George. The first WOD he gave us was wall balls and something else and I was all excited at the wall fall exercise bc I could translate it to setting in volleyball. I was hooked with wall balls…..can u believe it?!?! We started 1/18/11 and all my goal was to do a pull up unassisted by the end of February. On February 28…… Yes my very last day I did it and I will never forget that feeling!!! I still get that feeling with other exercises and accomplishments! Back then there were hardly and of us ladies. It was Janie, Amie, Jen T, Ana and Lauren. That was us. We definitely helped each other a ton along the way!!! I love the support I got back then from the ladies and even from the guys. Now the family has grown so much larger and the support sysrptem has soooo much greater. There is always someone to talk to about anything you may be going through…..it us amazing. Some people complain about the cost…..but Sean and I gave already talked about what we would give up so that we could continue with CrossFit. It was made us overall better at life!

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