As you've all learned through CrossFit, you would have been more successful in the weightroom in High School had you adjusted your routine slightly. My memory of High School fitness was my friend and I hitting up the local gym for spin classes, logging hours on the elliptical trainer, and doing our 7-minute ab routine at the end. We wanted to be thin and lean with flat stomachs and thought this was the way to do it.

In contrast, the men of our age started dabbling with bench press, bicep curls, lat pulldowns, and quickly established routines they called "chest day" or "shoulder day."

We were all becoming conscious of our self-image, and ultimately self-conscious of who we were. And most of us had a couple goals in mind: To improve at our sport, and to attract the opposite sex.

I often wonder what things would have looked like had I spent my time at the gym squatting, deadlifting, pressing, and doing pull-ups, push-ups, handstand push ups. Had I only been given proper lifting fundamentals when I was 15. Sigh. 

This thought is the impetus behind my "Intro to Strength Training" for pre-teens and teens ages 12 to 16. A one week course (Monday July 13th to Friday, July 17th) at CrossFit Vancouver aimed at helping teens become stronger or improve their strength for their specific sport. The program will cover the most foundational lifts: Squats, Deadlifts, Presses, as well as some foundational gymnastics movements.

Tom Sarosi—The Competitive Coach at CrossFit Vancouver - is designing the program, and I'll be helping him coach the course.

Check out the CrossFit Vancouver website for more details, or REGISTER HERE:

Sign-up now as we're limiting it to 12 teens. And email, or get your teen to email, Emily (eunice@madlab.ca) and/or Tom (tom@madlab.ca) with your name and age and what you want to get out of the program.

Date: July 13th-17th (Monday to Friday)

Time: 9 am until 11 am

Cost: $250

Ages: 12-16 (we’ll break into two groups - older and younger - if need