Cincinnati Strength and Conditioning
A good trainer keeps you safe and gives you a good workout. An exceptional trainer knows how to safely work that fine line to push you a little bit each time to reach your goals without going too far.For the second half of our City Skinny Fit Day, we introduced our participants (many for the first time) to the CrossFit world at one of Cincinnati's best gyms, Cincinnati Strength and Conditioning. Our group had just finished lunch, and some were feeling that afternoon lull (on top of having completed 3 hours of various exercises in the park that morning). CSC's owner, Stephen Flamm gave the girls a brief idea of his philosophy while they stretched. He equated what CSC does for its' clients to boxing. Many of us are familiar with using a sport like boxing to get our sweat on: you go into a class to punch a bag, get a good workout, and maybe spar with the instructor in the ring a little bit. But very few go in to get punched in the face and fight in the ring. We prefer that our opponents not be able to strike back! We just want to perform some of the exercises to improve or enhance our capacity for fitness. Stephen wants his clients to look at his gym this way. While some of his clients do compete (and quite exceptionally, I might add), not everyone walks in the door wanting to train for local or national CrossFit competitions. We walk in the door for so many different reasons, and it's his team's job to help you reach your individual goals. And Stephen and his trainers are some of the coolest around, in my humble opinion. I recently browsed through the testimonials on CSC's site. It gives you a really good sense of how versatile this gym is and what it has done for different types of athletes.
I like the way these workouts are performed. They are challenging, for sure. But there is a certain ease that goes along with it. We aren't step touching or curling our arms to the beat of the music. We are pushing our bodies in a different way. In the case of Saturday, Stephen, along with trainers Austin and Chelsea, led us through a team-based workout with groups of three. One pulled a 125-lb. sled, while another performed goblet squats with a kettlebell, and the third performed wall walks- all based on the amount of time it took for the sled puller to make it up and back across the room. And every single one of our team surprised herself with the amount of strength she had. Every single person walked their legs up the wall, picked up a heavier weight than she normally would and pushed or pulled that heavy sled across the floor. The workout was functional, while challenging the novice and the professional at the same time. It's all what you make it. A couple of people opted to play around on the ropes a little, too!
When you visit CSC, you will find a huge warehouse studio holding Concept 2 rowers, plyo boxes, dumbells, kettlebells, Olympic barbells, gymnastic rings, pull-up bars, ropes, and a staff armed with the experience and knowledge to guide you through a phenomenal program to reach your individual goals.
Our group of strong women left CSC being able to say they did something they may have never tried before, and many surprised themselves with their capabilities. Both of these are important lessons for the gym and in our everyday lives. If that isn't one of the best perks we get from exercise, I don't know what is.