Planning summer activities and camps?  Make sure IronWorks is on your list of “must do’s” this summer!

New for 2012!

-Age based class and time slots

-Family Discounts

-Adult classes

-Friday competitions and team workouts run by Coach Wunderle

-3 New Coaches for every class

-New Head Coach Jen Conlin of CrossFit Legitimus (learn more here)

IronWorks is a comprehensive training program the features movements and activities that the human body is designed to perform at high intensity to deliver the best holistic fitness and athletic results your daughter or son can possibly accomplish in less than an hour. This program is the same one that drove the Westminster School to their first and second New England girls’ hockey championship as well as the Simsbury boys’ High School lacrosse team to the state finals in 2009.   Most workouts last less than 20 minutes and feature dynamic warm ups, targeted cool downs and hands on teaching of proper nutrition, form and movement to ensure safety and efficiency.

IronWorks Athletics was founded by Kris Arnold and Max Wunderle in an effort to create opportunities for athletes of all ages and skills to learn how to best train, fuel and recover their bodies.  Drawn together by a desire to offer such holistic programming to as broad an audience as possible, Kris and Max call upon their backgrounds in team sports (hockey, lacrosse) as well as endurance endeavors (marathon swimming and running, Ironman triathlon) to offer the most comprehensive fitness training available.

Our objective is simple:  to deliver the highest quality fitness in order to provide a foundation for excellence in any sport.  We use barbells, bumper plates, medicine balls, jump ropes, tractor tires and bodyweight in various modalities including power lifting, Olympic weightlifting and gymnastic movements.  This is done through hands-on instruction, education, active game playing and communal support elicited from competition amongst one’s peers.  We further accomplish our fitness objective by tracking, ranking and publishing all of our workouts to allow for personal calibration and competitive assessment.

We are proud to offer elite fitness programming all summer long for athletes interested in achieving their best.  Each session lasts one hour and will be offered Monday-Friday from June 25th-August 24th.  Details of age based classes and schedules are below.

Location

Simsbury Farms Ice Rink
100 Old Farms Road
Simsbury, CT  06070

Programming is broken down as follows:

June Introduction Sessions                              Cost $50
(June 25th-June 29th)
-These sessions will be run Monday-Thursday with classes from
11AM-12PM          5th grade-8th grade boys and girls

12PM-1PM             Adults, male and female

1PM-2PM               9th grade-College boys and girls

Fridays 4-6PM      For all classes (team workouts and competitions)

This session is designed for all athletes with special pricing and opportunities for those interested in trying our program for one week before committing for an entire 4 week session in July or August.

July Sessions                                                      Cost $200

(July 2nd-July 27th)
-These sessions will be run Monday-Thursday with classes from
11AM-12PM          5th grade-8th grade

12PM-1PM             Adults

1PM-2PM               9th grade-College

Fridays 4-6PM  For all classes (team workouts and competitions)

August Sessions                                                Cost $200

(July 30th-August 24th)
-These sessions will be run Monday-Thursday with classes from
11AM-12PM          5th grade-8th grade

12PM-1PM             Adult

1PM-2PM               9th grade-College

Fridays 4-6PM  For all classes (team workouts and competitions)

Summer Session                                               Cost $400
(June 25th-August 24th)
Save $50 when your athlete signs up for the entire Summer session!

Monthly Family Package                                                Cost $500

(June, July and August Sessions)

-This package includes membership for up to 4 family members

-These sessions will be run Monday-Thursday with classes from
11AM-12PM          5th grade-8th grade

12PM-1PM             Adult

1PM-2PM               9th grade-College

Fridays 4-6PM  For all classes (team workouts and competitions)

Summer Family Package                                                Cost $1000

(Includes June,  July and August Sessions)

-This package includes membership for up to 4 family members

-These sessions will be run Monday-Thursday with classes from
11AM-12PM          5th grade-8th grade

12PM-1PM             Adult

1PM-2PM               9th grade-College

Fridays 4-6PM  For all classes (team workouts and competitions)

Anytime Weekly Drop In                            Cost $75
(June 25th-August 24th)
Can’t commit to a full month?  Choose this option for attendance to any weekly session

 

We have much more to announce in the upcoming weeks including “free sample” sessions during this Spring and early Summer!  We are also very excited to announce huge changes in our annual IronWorks Games which will be held in a new venue and feature even more excitement, activities and competition from all of New England!  Stay tuned for more and “Like” IronWorks Athletics on Facebook for the latest in announcements, videos, articles and fitness tips!

Team IronWorks

 

The following passage is from our friends at Whole9, some of the best folks in the world to listen to when it comes to Paleo eating…enjoy

We get a lot of questions in our workshops, on the website, and from consulting clients about the benefits of Paleo nutrition for kids of all ages.  Based on our background, education and consulting experience, we are sharing our thoughts on raising happy, healthy kids and providing your children with optimal nutrition.  However, to give you some real-life perspective from real-life parents, we are also going to be publishing a succession of articles that address the methods, benefits and challenges of raising “Generation P”… Paleo for parents, written by parents. Our “Kiddo Manifesto” is the introductory post in this series.

Read the rest here.

 

What a great day!  We  had 30 athletes competing at this year’s 2nd Annual IronWorks Games.  We will be posting hundreds of pics on our Facebook site (“IronWorks Athletics”), so make sure you like us and look for your friends and family who were among those in attendance!

In the meantime, here are the final results

Copper Division (girls 10-under)

1.  Sage Sutton-Hall

2.  Caden Lyons

Copper Division (boys 10-under)

1.  Cole Chapman/Torben Wunderle (tied for first)

3.  Jack Cavo

Steel Division (girls 11-13)

1.  Claire Bettor

2.  Mimi Fairbanks

Steel Division (boys 11-13)

1.  Hagen Wunderle

2.  Jake Arnold/Tommy Jacobs (tied for 2nd)

Iron Division (girls 14-17)

1.  Maddi Nicholson

2.  Sutton Wunderle

Iron Division (boys 14-17)

1.  Jon Epstein

2.  Hunter Chapman

3.  Stirling Brandt

Congratulations to all of our athletes and thank you for your donations to the James Stover Scholarship Fund!

IronWorks is back!  We are proud to announce our Summer 2011 program is back at Simsbury Farms!

IronWorks is a comprehensive training program the features movements and activities that the human body is designed to perform at high intensity to deliver the best holistic fitness and athletic results your daughter or son can possibly accomplish in less than an hour. This program is the same one that drove the Westminster School to their first and second New England girls’ hockey championship as well as the Simsbury boys’ High School lacrosse team to the state finals two years ago. Most workouts last less than 20 minutes and feature dynamic warm ups, targeted cool downs and hands on teaching of proper nutrition, form and movement to ensure safety and efficiency.

IronWorks Athletics was founded by Kris Arnold and Max Wunderle in an effort to create opportunities for athletes of all ages and skills to learn how to best train, fuel and recover their bodies.  Drawn together by a desire to offer such holistic programming to as broad an audience as possible, Kris and Max call upon their backgrounds in team sports (hockey, lacrosse) as well as endurance endeavors (marathon swimming and running, Ironman triathlon) to offer the most comprehensive fitness training available.

Our objective is simple:  to deliver the highest quality fitness in order to provide a foundation for excellence in any sport.  We use barbells, bumper plates, medicine balls, jump ropes, tractor tires and bodyweight in various modalities including power lifting, Olympic weightlifting and gymnastic movements.  This is done through hands-on instruction, education, active game playing and communal support elicited from competition amongst one’s peers.  We further accomplish our fitness objective by tracking, ranking and publishing all of our workouts to allow for personal calibration and competitive assessment.

Summer Programming Now Open for Registration!

We are proud to offer elite fitness programming all summer long for athletes interested in achieving their best.  Each session lasts one hour and will be offered Monday-Friday from June 20nd-August 26^th.  Each athlete will have the choice to attend any one of 5 one hour sessions from 12-2PM, Monday-Friday, 5 times per week at Simsbury Farms.

Simsbury Farms
100 Old Farms Road
Simsbury, CT  06070

Programming is broken down as follows:

June Introduction Sessions                              Cost $50
(June 20^st-July 1)
-These sessions will be run Monday-Friday with classes from
12PM-1PM
1PM-2PM

Athletes can attend any class they wish, or as many as 10 classes over the 2 weeks.

July Sessions                                                      Cost $200
(July 4^th-July 29th)
-These sessions will be run Monday-Friday with classes from
12PM-1PM
1PM-2PM

Athletes can attend any class they wish, or as many as 20 classes over the 4 weeks.

August Sessions                                                Cost $200
(August 1^st-August 26th)
-These sessions will be run Monday-Friday with classes from
12PM-1PM
1PM-2PM

Athletes can attend any class they wish, or as many as 20 classes over the 4 weeks.

Summer Session                                               Cost $400
(June 20st-August 26th)
Save $50 when your athlete signs up for the entire Summer session!
-These sessions will be run Monday-Friday with classes from
12PM-1PM
1PM-2PM

Anytime Weekly Drop In                                               Cost $75
(June 20st-August 26th)
Can’t commit to a full month?  Choose this option for attendance to any weekly session
-These sessions will be run Monday-Friday with classes from
12PM-1PM
1PM-2PM

Athletes can attend any class they wish, or as many as 50 classes over the 10 weeks.

Click here to sign up and save your spot today!

It should come as no surprise to most that the plight of many school districts and their budgets has repeatedly had a great toll in the realm of physical fitness.  Just the other day I asked my 14 year old daughter how many days a week she had gym class and she replied “twice”.  When I asked what classes she had everyday, she replied with English, Math, Social Studies and the like.

“Well, of course!” you may reply.  After all, it seems so intuitive that more time in the classroom should illicit more intelligence in the field that our children are exposed to most, right?  Well, sort of.  What would you say if I told you that being physically active just prior to such academic activity could actually make your kid retain the information better?  That is, what if I told you your child could actually get smarter by being more active?

This video by CrossFit Kids outlines the startling evidence behind this phenomena.  So, take 5 minutes out of your day to watch this video and help make your kid smarter by giving them opportunities to engage in physical activity!  Happy training!

Much has been made over the years in the world of fitness regarding various movements, activities and their proclivity to inflict damage or harm.  One of our favorites is the concept of not squatting below 90 degrees.  Whenever this concept is shared with us, we happily retort, “So your doctor/coach/friend said you shouldn’t squat below 90 degrees?  OK.  Do us a favor and please confirm with him how we should move our bowels!”  All kidding aside, such urban myths are founded in absolutely zero science and prevent athletes from reaching their potential.

A similar myth that exists in the world of strength is that kids should not lift weights as doing so may “stunt their growth”.  While this sounds very ominous and intimidating, the facts show quite the contrary.  Follow the link below to get the latest insight as to the role of growth plates in kids and potential damage to these areas.

Weightlifting and Kids

Ironworks is back for a limited time to get you ready for your Spring sport.  12 Sessions during the month of March to get you ready to hit the fields in April.  Come experience the training regimen of the Westminster School’s hockey teams and the best way to get fitter, faster and stronger.

Start your journey to elite fitness today.  This Monday, March 7th will be a FREE trial for anyone interested–all ages are welcome starting at 4:30PM!
Our objective is simple:  to deliver the highest quality fitness in order to provide a foundation for excellence in any sport.  We use barbells, bumper plates, medicine balls, jump ropes, tractor tires and bodyweight in various modalities including power lifting, Olympic weightlifting and gymnastic movements.  This is done through hands-on instruction, education, active game playing and communal support elicited from competition amongst one’s peers.  We further accomplish our fitness objective by tracking, ranking and publishing all of our workouts to allow for personal calibration and competitive assessment.  We will hold our sessions at the following address:

220 West Main Street
Avon, CT
(location of old Sleepy’s Mattress store-Look for our big, black Ironworks truck!)

Programming is broken down as follows:

Gold Program  3X per week ($169)
(March 7th-April 1st)
-These 12 sessions will be run Monday/Wednesday/Friday from 4:30-5:30PM

Silver Program  2X per week ($139)
(March 7th-April 1st)
-These 8 sessions will be run Monday/Wednesday/Friday from 4:30-5:30PM simply pick 2 days per week to attend

Have questions or concerns?  Don’t hesitate to contact us at info@goironworks.com.  Click here to sign up and save your spot today!

Many parents (and athletes) come to us with aspirations of find that elusive training program that is “sport specific” and features drills and training modalities that mimic the same movements found in their children’s athletic activities (think swinging a heavy weight in a golf swing arc to build a stronger golf swing).  Unfortunately, it is our experience in kids from 6-18 including national level athletes in ice hockey, field hockey and lacrosse that few of these same athletes even have the rudimentary skills to train aggressively with their own bodyweight.  Hence, we introduce a 5 step foundational structure to help them understand the value of a good foundation.  This pyramid is the same one prescribed by CrossFit:

Too many times athletes skip to the point of this pyramid as the allure of “sport specific” training somehow implies more relevance to optimal performance.  In reality, there is nothing more important than a sound foundation of proper fueling, cardio respiratory endurance, overall strength and then sport specific skill work.  It is our experience that the most rudimentary of activities, when ignored, can be the richest source of growth when re-introduced into an athlete’s repertoire.  In fact, we have a world class hockey player and NHL draftee who spent the entire summer revamping his nutrition while incorporating aggressive hill climbing on a bike–suffice to say he is now the #1 defenseman and leading scoring defenseman on the NCAA national championship for Boston College.  Sometimes the basics can yield the biggest return on investment.

To further this point, enjoy today’s video of a 12 year old aspiring ice hockey and lacrosse player trying to work on “sport specific” foot speed.  Then go outside and try to beat him!

54 Consecutive Double Unders

Our friends at Mark’s Daily Apple posted the information below which does a wonderful job of outlining the absurdity of the shoe industry and why less is more in the way of shoe technology.  Here’s the intro:

The Inherent Absurdity of Barefoot Technology

Vibram, Vivo Barefoot, Softstar, and the other shoe companies making an honest attempt at creating a viable shoe alternative aren’t the only entities capitalizing off the nascent barefoot trend sweeping the nation (and I’m not referring to podiatrists, as much as they like to claim barefoot running will create thousands of new patients). Several shoemakers have taken the barefoot ball and run the opposite direction – down the path of more shoe and more meddling into how the foot works – claiming to have improved upon the near-perfection of the naked human foot with (get this) bulky odd-looking shoes that weigh more than traditional running shoes.

Read on here The Absurdity of Barefoot Technology

The world of supplements is one filled with potholes, shenanigans, false claims, empty promises and plain old bad information simply designed for you to help drive our economy!  So, having said this, what is one to do should one be interested in optimizing one’s performance with the use of the “right” supplements?  Well, let’s first review what “supplement” means.

Wikipedia defines this word as…A dietary supplement, also known as food supplement or nutritional supplement, is a preparation intended to supplement the diet and provide nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, fiber, fatty acids, or amino acids, that may be missing or may not be consumed in sufficient quantity in a person’s diet.

What does this mean to us?  It means that supplements are supposed to be just that, supplements!  A fault of many aggressive fitness enthusiasts is turning this concept upside down and relying on supplements via pills, shakes, bars and the like instead of finding the majority of their macro (and micro) nutrient sources in their everyday nutrition.  This is a major, major oversight and should be corrected before even engaging the thought of dietary supplementation.  So, get on the Zone or Paleo bandwagon and then start looking for supplementation enhancements.

Assuming you’re on the right nutrition path, the next step is too define any deficiencies you may have and identify strategies on how to fill such gaps.  Click on the links below to get a great crash course on what supplementation is (and isn’t) and how best to use this strategy to enhance your performance.  Enjoy!

Supplementation Part I

Supplementation Part II