Chris Sinagoga | Saturday, July 29, 2023 at 12:51PM Simplicity was the key for this one today; plans of counting, wallballs over the fence, water balloons, and a different med ball course were ditched in favor of the traditional format for the Hawaiian/Shark Week Mashup 2023. The only thing that changed this time around was the location: instead of going to the hill, all 38 in attendance took a jog down to Dorchester.
It started raining right around 10:15, and I was sure the weather gods were going to bless us with a sustained drenching for the workout. But even though it stopped, it still mucked up the terrain enough to make for an interesting time on burpees and over-unders.
To my memory, this proved to be the best Sharking course we've ever done. It was safer than 2021 in the gym, more aggressive than 2014 or 2018 at the Hill, and more crowded than 2022. The setup also allowed for some patented Mr. Webster "TomTommery" on the wallballs. Mr. Malak was, by all accounts, the most dangerous shark of the group today, as he relived his glory days of Oklahoma Drills and wraastling practice. However, while everyone was busying themselves with plans on avoiding the solitary hunters, poor Mr. Ron was caught completely unaware that two orca were coordinating a team attack.
The rest of the photo gallery can be seen here (click one one picture then scroll through, thumbnails aren't showing still).
No scores again this year, but the attendance can be seen here.
... Wait, did that say "Sabal" in the attendance list?
Highlights:
In other news, today was the last Champions Club workout for Madison Bettys before she heads off to Toledo to play soccer this fall. Ironically, and partially intentionally, it took place at a location where she put in so much work during a time when most of the area (and world) stayed locked inside. Rain, snow, winds, sunshine, and sometimes all of them combined during the same hour did not stop Madison from missing a single day during lockdown. No doubt Madison will go down as one of the fittest high schoolers during our 2020-2029 All Decade List, and I can't wait for her to come back during Christmas break to let us know how her season went.
Thank you for everything you've done for us Maddy!
Mad"d"ison's first Shark Week Theme Workout - Summer 2019
A little more muscle this time around
Thank you guys again for another great Theme Workout, and, more than anything, being willing and ready for whatever random dumb stuff gets thrown your way at the Champions Club. Be ready to turn right around this weekend for another Theme.
Chris Sinagoga | Tuesday, August 11, 2020 at 1:18PM In accordance with the nerds in glasses at the Discovery Channel, the Shark Week Theme Workout will see it's 10th Summer being featured with the Champions Club. We're going this Saturday at 8 am. Here's the recap from last year.
The format will be a little different this year and the exercises will not all be the same, but expect to have some expression of a violent sharking station either on the turf, in the parking lot, or at the hill. You may bring any body armor or non-deadly weapon as a means for protection. You may even be able to use Mallory as a human shield.
For real though, Limbo Lifts, Alternating Alohas, and Samoan Sit-ups are surely going to be either replaced or alternated so we're not breathing in our partner's face. The sharking will be somewhat spaced out.
Chris Sinagoga | Sunday, February 2, 2020 at 11:05PM Previously: Best Beast Modes
Change of plans here. I am going to save the All-Entertainment session for a Mock Election post, as this one took on a life of its own. This is not a list for an overall session time (9 amers, 2019 Rookie Crew, 2010 Mom's Club, 8 pm Jarrod's session). This category includes any one single session that occured in the Champions Club. The location (hill, Fieldhouse, this gym, etc.) does not matter. This is partly based on who was actually attending the session and partly based on the significance of the session overall. As with the Best Beast Modes, I'm sure I missed a few, but here's what I got. I'm sure there are plenty of typos too.
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When: Saturday August 19, 2017, 1 pm
2017 is the year I hit the reset button for the Champions Club. In order for us to thrive, we had to develop a farm system to feed into our gym and keep this thing permanently healthy for the long term. We actually started our first babies session in 2012 and it was a waste of time. I threw Sydni Golfin and Aly on task of running it because I didn't want to, but it turns out they didn't want to either. Then in 2014 I had the opportunity to run CrossFit at the Day Care for an entire school year - which allowed me to learn a skillset to actually coach (ha, "coach,") a babies session. So I was finally ready to start coaching a session, I just needed... you know... a session.
Help with this came in the form of Matt Fecht inviting me to coach at the Warren Basketball Camp in 2016, where we picked up Jacqueline Asmar. I knew with her as a staple, it would just be a matter of time when we would recruit enough good families to make a consistent crew. The 2017 bball camp saw us pick up Ender and Conamora (who brought their sisters, Lilly and Zeena). Soon after the camp ended I kept stalking by this house on my way to the gym until I invited the family. That turned out to be the Bennis household and the next week they brought Josh and their friends from the neighborhood - a family from the Nevarez descent of primates. Add in a few more here and there and I was suddenly staring at a 13-person Babies session a mere 4 months after I could not get enough consistency around Jacqueline to hold any sessions at all. The day they got their Summer shirts is the day I knew the Champions Club was changed for good.
When: Friday, June 26, 2015, 1:30 pm session
Last night Mrs. Steinwascher and I were talking for an hour about some of the nuances of soccer; having watched Cecilia play a few times and seeing her work out, I would honestly never be able to tell she was a 3-time All-American. I just don't have the experience with the game to understand that the things Cecilia makes look routine are actually insanely difficult.
The Freaks Generation can really be boiled down to making insanely difficult things look easy. 4 Banets, 2 Jabaras, Jason, Sap, Higgins, Bromm, Ricky, and JZ can make a coach look really good. This was the case in 2015. Two Summers removed from their rookie session, the Freaks locked down the 1:30 session from the second Monday in June till August 31 with form that made Brand X go "WOW!" and an intensity that made me throw my hands up and give in. On June 26, 2015 our workout called for AMRAP in 12 minutes of: 10 dumbbell snatches and 20 box jumps. Looks easy on paper, looks easy on video, but get through two rounds of this thing in the first minute then SHEEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIIT I Still Got 11 Minutes To Go! The touch-and-go box jumps fry the hell out of your calves and quads, and the Foam of Shame was required between the feet for most athletes; there are about 8 reasons why dumbbell snatches to end range of motion are the most difficult movement in the CrossFit arsenal but no amount of buzz terms like unilateral loading or loss of connection would make sense until you actually try one. Lauren did 10 rounds - which was a very Lauren thing to do during those years. Carter also did 10 rounds, but at that time he both acted and counted like a dog, so we can assume he was in the 7ish ballpark. The Banets - especially Elizabeth - and Ricky made the full squat look routine and still had the energy to go unbroken on box jumps. You also have to remember that, other than Jacqueline and Lauren, you are watching all high schoolers. Add in names like Master P, Joe Wonsil, and Katie Bromm, plus two one-Summer wonders in Ryan Anderson and Jack Clouse and you have a normal daily workout that we still remember 5 years later.
When: October 20, 2016 @ the hill - all the sessions but especially the 6 pm session because I thought Reggie was going to feloniously assault me.
If you guys had any idea how often I think about you it would certainly creep you out. I probably think of NuNu and Mrs. Hana during any given day more than I think of my sister and my mom. So I'm sitting alone at the gym right now at 7:19 pm on Super Bowl Sunday looking at this picture above and wondering, with all sincerity, what the hell is wrong with you people.
The mini-editorial linked in the title does a great job of summarizing this infamous Hill session, but I still don't think it does complete justice. First off, you got Carter holding onto an umbrella. Secondly, we have the only family present that can make a session we can claim "racially diverse." Thirdly, here is the text message exchange Mr. Warthman (MR WA!) and I had that morning:
Mr. Warthman 8:03 AM: Today is Snoop Dogg's 45th birthday. I assume you have planned the WOD accordingly. LOL
Chris 8:04 AM: I did until I saw the rain
Mr. Warthman 8:05AM: Snoop Dogg would never let the rain get in his way.
Chris 8:05 AM: Fair enough.
Fourthly, Carter is holding an umbrella, not sure if I mentioned that. And fifthly... do you see the weather? Do you see that giant lump in the background? Do you see smiles on these faces? Yeah. We're not right in the head.
When: July 6, 2011 @ the Fieldhouse; 11:am session
In the Summer 2011 we initiated an "Advanced Session" to help give our more experienced kids a better environment to work out in. That ran until 2015 - about which point we realized whatever session The Freaks were at was really the Advanced Session. But the Fieldhouse Summer was hopping at 11 am with Emma, Ryan, Mackenzie Kaiser, Sydni Golfin, Murley, Pip, and Jack invited to work out with Brian and I. This was also the first time the Champions Club was getting a "vibe" due to kids staying all day - something that wasn't possible in our first Summer's spread-out format.
At the time our high school crowd was really embedded into the CrossFit culture - especially with benchmark workouts. When a workout like Helen or Filthy Fifty came up, there was a certain nervous anticipation that would go around Bishop Foley during the school day and would leak into the Old Weight Room or Fieldhouse. A few months before this, Ryan Richard - then a 15-year old - actually beat my best Fran time, getting 3:32 with the men's rx'd weight. When we saw Fran was coming up this time around, I had a little extra incentive.
When: Sunday, February 8, 2015; 12:30 pm Parents-only Team Workout
This was back when we split up the kids and parents team workout sessions on Sundays. On this day we went to the Hill with the kids group and did some sledding at 11 am. When it was time for the parents to start their thing, we did a few things in the gym as our normal warmup to prep for a normal workout. Then something in my brain - probably the same something that was responsible for #9 on this list - made me believe the snow plow dude made that mound back there for a reason. The post linked in the title says it all.
When: July 11, 2013; 5 pm session
/strong exhale
Whoa Long Johnson, where do I start with this one? I guess I'll go person-by-person. Jacob is the one who you would point to if I said, "Point to the person who is doing what Jacob would most likely do in the picture." Alex Faust is the one to the right, grabbing his tenders and staring sensually into the camera. Our proud history also tells us this honorable gentleman was our Athlete of the Fall once. AJ Morey is behind him to the right, who had more concussions than I did and had the best Raz from Monster's Inc. impression known to man. Next to AJ is Dave Banet, who is a Banet. The first Banet, in fact. This was coincidentally his last workout at the Champions Club. Cam Jackson is the one you would point to if I said, "Point to the person who's named Cameron Jackson." And we are rounded out with Brian Kim on the far left, a Catholic man seduced by Jacob's backside who coached volleyball at Bishop Foley at the time.
This is the 5 pm session handed to us on that fine Summer 2013 afternoon when the workout called for 3 rep max front squat. Given the nature of our workouts and the crowd recruited here, never in the history of the Champions Club has Jacob Augustine and Alex Faust ever been assigned to the station that did not contain the heaviest weights. They topped out at 235 (Faust) and 265 (Jacob) on the day. Cam topped out at 300 and AJ at 320.
This session epitomized the athlete influx of spring 2013. Shannon, DeJour, Josh, Cam, Buzz, Faust, and AJ stepped in an immediately became the best athletes in the gym. But they were so dang friendly it was impossible to be mad at them.
When: Christmas Eve 2019; 9 am.
The actual workout did not go as good as I wanted, but 60 freaking people, dude. This is fresh in everyone's memories so not a lot of explanation is needed. But from my perspective, this is the culmination of #11 on this list. Look at the group, perfectly mixed with Babies, middle school kids, high schoolers, college kids, and parents. Also count out the people who came to us - directly or indirectly - from the Babies session.
The Champions Club is in a great place right now.
When: Some time in June 2010. 11 am
The importance of this workout cannot be overstated. I was going into my junior year of college basketball, so I was even less about having fun than I am now. Brian had the idea on the Thursday before this workout that we should do a Theme for this team workout - a Hawaiian theme.
I was against it because it sounded like it could be fun. But he pushed for it and we tested out the format on Friday night. The following morning we woke up to a torrential downpour. Since half of the workout was done outside, we weren't sure how the kids were going to react. Needless to say it became an instant classic. After performing the exercises in the weight room, we ran out to the football field then did Wahiki Wheel Barrows, Crab Walks, Leap Frogs, and Forward Rolls to retrieve our leis before running back in to start the next exercise. I have yet to hear of another gym that 1) disregards the elements and 2) runs Theme Workouts to the extent we do. Those standards started with Hawaiian Workout 2010.
When: February 1, 2014; 11 am team workout
Forget the names. Forget the faces. Forget the actual workout. Forget the pictures. This is the closest the Champions Club has ever got to reinacting Super Smash Bros. If I could describe Amy Potter's cunning, manipulating nature I would, but I can't. However in the picture below does a pretty good job of it.
Mariah Fielder is tied with Aaron Sexton as my favorite person in the history of the Champions Club. She is deathly loyal to us, supportive of even my most egregious mistakes, and is right up there with Mrs. Pip in terms of positivity shown at the gym. And Amy Potter brought this blatant cheating and disrespect out of Bubs. Shannon, who loves Bubs just as much as me, is in sheer disbelief. Jason, Bromm, and both Kavanaughs are all fixated on Amy, taking mental notes. EP is like, "Bubs, what is wrong with you!?" Elle Laurencelle is biting her nails and hiding fearful of getting hit from Mariah's rage. And Saporito is just ducking his head around the corner impressed by the entire thing.
At this point in the workout there was a tie somehow and Bubs was trying to explain to Amy that she - Amy - had to subtract points here or there. Amy basically did the Randy Marsh, but instead of solving their problem in the stands of a little league baseball game, we held a tiebreaker: Bear Crawl Relay in the snow that ended so close Adrian Bozman was called in to judge the finish.
You could clone 10 Mrs. Taras and 10 Mrs. Nevarezes into one session and still would not get the kind of all-out chaos we saw on this infamous day.
When: December 29, 2014; noon session over Christmas
This session contained Matt Fecht, James Rogers, Shannon, Murley, Elizabeth, Ricky, Bromm, Emma, Alyssa, Tyler, Bubs, Carter, Jacqueline Banet, and Tara Taylor. That's 2 Athletes of the Summer, 3 stud Champions Club coaches, an NFL player, and a professional marathon runner. Jacqueline Banet and Alyssa Jabara were after thoughts, despite being two of our fittest kids at the time. In terms of names, talent, and fitness level at a Champions Club session, I don't think any other session could come close. It's also one of the nastiest benchmark workouts CrossFit has to offer.
When: September 7, 2012; 3:30 pm until like 11 pm at Mongolian BBQ
/strong exhale again
So to try and put this into context for our 2020 crowd is going to be more difficult than the Handsome Gentlemen picture above. It's now 9:55 pm on Super Bowl Sunday and I've used up a lot of brainpower trying to illustrate how Amy Potter turned Mariah Fielder from a beautiful mermaid to a heathing shebeast; trying to convince anyone that a 30-year old dude who teaches burpees altered the course of Champions Club history is going to be a tough sell here. The Editorial linked in the title talks about it, but it still doesn't give the full scope. So let's skip the CrossFit celebrity status, skip the Mongolian BBQ dinner, skip the boost of confidence in a time of doubt, skip the phone call with Kelly Starrett, skip the shoutout on the website, and skip the ongoing relationship Carl has had with myself and members of the gym. Let's, instead, talk about Jacob Augustine.
Jacob has been my neighbor since I was in 7th grade, he started to be in my friend when I was in 10th grade, and he was one Mario Baseball loss away from being the Best Man in my wedding instead of Jay. We've bumped heads often in this Champions Club setting for a number of reasons, none of which are important in the grand scheme because they usually get resolved. But the one thing we both share is that feeling of insecurity. Every time I step on a basketball court I feel the need to prove myself, and Jacob feels the same thing in a weight room. If he comes up to a workout or movement that does not play to his strengths, then he gets defensive. He likes deadlifts, back squats, and bench press. Or really anything where his feet stay on the ground and he is operating at midrange.
On September 7, 2012, Carl Paoli got Jacob Augustine to climb a rope in front of 30 of his peers. Then Jacob handed Carl a Handsome Gentleman's Club business card.
CrossFit has attracted the best coaches on the planet due to their open-source/best practices model. I have followed every one of them since 2005 and met everyone in that top echelon. Carl Paoli is simply the best coach CrossFit has ever seen in its ranks. I got to spend 3 hours at the gym and 2 hours at a dinner table downloading everything he offered - his content, delivery, mannerisms, tone, and decision-making. The Chris you see coaching you every day since then would not be the same Chris without that experience.
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Honorable mention: Disney Doozy 2012 Juuuuust missed the list, SpongeBob Theme Workout 2018, Mr. Joshua Summer 2016, first Super Bowl workout, Old Weight Room 2011, Finding Nemo Theme Workout, Anita Partyka's Valentines Day Heartbreaker 2014, Lifts 4 Gifts 2017, Thanksgiving 2019, this rain-soaked session in 2017, Lifts 4 Gifts 2017, Mario Theme Workout 2014, Murley's Goodbye FGB.
Chris Sinagoga | Thursday, August 8, 2019 at 12:00PM I wasn't sure how the parents would take to the violence and cheating that comes with our annual Shark Week/Hawaiian Theme Workout. I can assure you this will be the last time I doubt the parents in that regard.
We had 11 turn out last night for the workout and Owen jumped in to spare me of having to work out. It was absolute chaos and I could not have been more happy.
It seems Mr. Bennis and Owen won, but their counting was under suspicion from at least one red-t-shirt-wearing dad in the group. The last round of their sharking relay was caught on camera.
The full workout results can be seen here.
And there are 33 pictures added to the Shark Week/Hawaiian Photo Gallery.
Great job again parents. Be ready for Toy Story coming on one of these Wednesdays.
Chris Sinagoga | Sunday, August 4, 2019 at 11:10AM Another theme workout in the books for Summer 2019 and another great turnout. 24 people showed up today and were in for a treat. We stayed home this year instead of going to the hill and used the parking lot for Limbo Lifts, the blue mat for Somewhere Over the Rainbow Wallballs, and the turf for one of the most intense Sharking relays we have ever seen. We also extended back to 4 rounds after a recommendation from Noah. Here's the highlights from round 3.
With a narrow alley entry into the Sharking loop, there was a lot of knocked med balls on exchanges, and the nets and narrow walls meant we had a few close calls. But no accidents on the whole. The crowded nature of the Somewhere Over the Rainbow Wallballs meant there was an added element of violence there that was good for the soul. Apparently Evan Pugh was the instigator of most of it.
There was a lot of controversy over the final number count. Andre and Sara lost count but assumed their number was around 10,000 - give or take. Shakes and Aaron claimed their number to be in the 900s, even thouhg Noah and Evan clearly mopped up on the Sharking front (Noah recorded a whopping 14 Shark Attacks, giving his team an extra 140 points and poor Karissa nightmares and PTSD for a week.) So I can't really say for sure who won this workout, but I will go out on a limb and say not Dakota, who had to drag half-asleep Conor through all four rounds.
You can see the full workout results here.
You can see the full photo gallery here.
Again, I am humbled by your constant and consistent turnout for our Theme Workouts. It's been a great streak so far and let's keep it going. We have Harry Potter on September 1st, and our next one will be on the 17th and is still undecided. Rumors have sprung that it might be the return of the Superheros workout. We'll see.
Thank you again!
Chris Sinagoga | Tuesday, June 4, 2019 at 10:11AM This is something I have thrown by a few of you recently, but seeing as we're less than a week away and shirt designs will be in the works, I need some closure.
The first day of the Champions Club was June 14, 2010. This will be our 10th Summer, but we haven't been around for 10 full years yet.
Is this our 10-year anniversary?
First ever Champions Club Theme Workout - Hawaiian Workout in a complete downpour
Hawaiian, anniversary, summer 2010 in Poll Chris Sinagoga | Saturday, July 21, 2018 at 1:31PM What a great workout this morning!
We started with a drizzle around 10 am while we were setting things up in the cars, but by the time we got to the hill all precipitation stopped unfortunately. Still, the soaked grass provided a great setting for the return of our Shark Week/Hawaiian Mashup. Other than the drizzle stopping, things fell perfectly for this workout. We had 20 kids on the dot, teams paired up really well, and the sharking zone was shrinked to keep the feeding frenzy as intense as possible.
The winning team this year came from the dynamic duo of Shakes and Fry!
The shark suit did not last the entire workout for obvious reasons, but Shakes was responsible for the most shark attacks during the sharking station, which surely helped her cause. And Fry is getting back into Fry form as well. Usually we do 4 rounds of this workout, but everyone was pretty emphatic that 3 would be just fine this time around, so we kept it there. Also, shouts to 10 am rookies Emily and Abby Walker, NuNu Diattara, and Noah Heide for participating in their first Champions Club Theme Workout!
Full results can be seen here.
Photo gallery can be seen here.
Video highights...
Next week's theme will be announced in the coming days. Great job to everyone and keep this Saturday momentum going!