Friday, February 22, 2013

CrossFit South Brooklyn -- Round 2!

CrossFit South Brooklyn -- revisited!

I was in New York City this past weekend and one of the gyms I wanted re-visit was CrossFit South Brooklyn.  The last time I was here was ~1.5 years ago and I remembered having a blast.  I was worried about not being able to make it since a lot of CF boxes aren't open on Sunday's, but it ended up working out perfectly as they had back-to-back classes all Sunday morning.  So I even got to sleep in a bit :)

We came at the end of their Crush cycle, so I guess they were doing a bunch of benchmarks and tough workouts.  The workout on Sunday was Barbara...  my kind of workout =P
  • Barbara:
    5 rounds for time, 3min rest between each round: 
    • 20 Pull Ups
    • 30 Push Ups
    • 40 Sit ups
    • 50 Air Squats
It's interesting to visit a CF gym pre-Reebok time and then again, later to see how the gym has changed.  The awesome thing about CFSBK is that it really hasn't changed much.  They may have 3x+ more members, but the training and the gym vibe overall still has that same spark.  I was sad to find out that Shane doesn't work there anymore but I still had a great time anyway.

Much of what I said in my original review of this gym still holds true.  So instead of reviewing it again, I'll just list what's different.


Changes:
  • 2 free drop ins!  CFSBK and Virtuosity are one of the few gyms in the NYC area that do not charge for drop ins.
  • Process and execution nailed down for super large classes.  I think there were ~40 people at the noon class.  I wondered how I would do the workout without running into other people.  However, the class ran so well.  There was no hold up.  No collisions.  The flow of the workout was streamlined and smooth.  Class even started/ended on time.  What they did was split the class up into 2 groups: Rx and scaled (ring rows for pull-ups), a group on each side of the room.  Then the groups were further divided into 3 sub-groups: 1 pull-up station area per group.  There were 3 people in each sub-group and one person started at 0, another 2 minutes later, and the last one 6 minutes later (each heat with their own clocks!).  There was a designated area for each movement.  Also, an oly class ran alongside on the platforms... and no collisions.  This makes me wonder is how our rig is 5x the size and we have an extremely difficult time accommodating 1/2 as much people.  
  • Full schedule 7 days/week.  The last time I was here they had one 7am class in the morning, next one at noon, then some in the evening.  Now they have classes running all day.... and even on the weekends!  They have classes from 8am-1pm on Saturday and 9am-1pm on Sunday.
  • Plenty open gym time.   
  • Sense of team and community.  Despite how large they got, it still feels warm and homey.  I like their detailed list of upcoming events
  • and of course, great people to work out with :)

Some pictures:
2. Barbera madness

3. More.

4. oly class.

5. Birds eye view.


6. lobby area.


7. WOD board.



8. Times.


Had a great time here again and I'm looking forward to stopping by the next time I'm in town.  It's a bummer Shane doesn't work there anymore but I'm glad the culture is still the same.  I highly recommend checking out CrossFit South Brooklyn if you're visiting the NYC area!

Other Visits: 07-08-2011
Related Posts: Travel Packing CrossFit Style 
Nearby Gyms: CrossFit Wall Street (Manhattan) | CrossFit Virtuosity (Brooklyn) | CrossFit Hell's Kitchen (Manhattan) Reebok CrossFit 5th Ave (Manhattan)