crossfit-broken-chains

Why Barbell Club Might Be the Missing Piece in Your Training

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 18:05:03 GMT

At CrossFit Broken Chains, Barbell Club isn’t just another program—it’s been a cornerstone of who we are for over 13 years.

Twice a year, we carve out dedicated time to focus on one thing: becoming better, more confident, and more powerful Olympic weightlifters.

If you’ve ever felt like your snatch or clean & jerk is holding you back… this is for you.

What Is Barbell Club?

Barbell Club is a 6-week specialty program designed to help athletes improve their Olympic lifting technique, strength, and confidence.

Program Details:

Start Date : April 25
Duration : 6 weeks
Schedule : Saturdays, 9:45 AM – 11:15 AM (90 minutes)
Final Week : Mock Olympic Weightlifting Meet (May 30)

Each session is focused, intentional, and built to help you move better under the barbell.

We finish the cycle with a true competition-style max-out session , where athletes:

Complete an InBody scan
Declare opening lifts
Take 3 attempts at snatch and clean & jerk

Lift in front of their peers in a supportive, high-energy environment

Why Barbell Club Works

1. Master the Most Technical Movements in CrossFit

The snatch and clean & jerk are like a golf swing—small adjustments make a huge difference.

In regular classes, you might get a few reps under fatigue.

In Barbell Club, you get:

Repetition
Coaching
Precision

This is where technique is built—not rushed.

2. Train Without Fatigue

In CrossFit classes, you’re often lifting while tired—after cardio, gymnastics, or high-intensity work.

Barbell Club flips that.

You’ll train:

Fresh
Focused
With intention

That means better movement patterns, better positions, and better results.

3. Break Through Plateaus

If you’ve ever thought:

“I can’t get under the bar”
“I’m stuck power cleaning everything”
“My overhead position feels unstable”
You’re not alone—and you’re not stuck.

We break lifts down into components:

Pulling from the floor
Speed under the bar
Catching in the squat
Standing up strong

Then we rebuild them—correctly.

4. Get Expert Coaching (and Immediate Feedback)

Our coaching staff brings years of experience, including USA Weightlifting certifications and CrossFit specialty training.

Inside Barbell Club, you’ll get:

Real-time corrections
Individualized feedback
Slow-motion video analysis
Targeted drills for your specific weaknesses

This level of attention is hard to replicate in a standard class setting.

5. Build Strength, Mobility, and Confidence

Olympic lifting demands:

Strength
Speed
Coordination
Mobility
Timing

Barbell Club develops all of it.

Athletes often see improvements not just in lifting—but in:

Squats
Overall strength
Body awareness
Confidence under heavy loads

6. Train With a Committed Team

This program is capped at 10 athletes .

That’s intentional.

You’ll be surrounded by a small, focused group of athletes who:

Show up consistently
Push each other
Hold each other accountable

The environment matters—and this one is built for growth.

7. Test Yourself on the Platform

There’s nothing like stepping onto the platform and going for a lift you’ve been working toward for six weeks.

Our final session simulates a real Olympic weightlifting meet:

Structured attempts
Crowd energy
Personal best opportunities

It’s challenging, rewarding, and unforgettable.

Who Is This For?

Beginners who want to learn the lifts the right way
Intermediate athletes stuck in bad habits or plateaus
Advanced athletes looking to refine technique and maximize performance

If you’re doing CrossFit—you will benefit from this.

Investment in Your Progress

Cost : $135 for the full 6-week program (Click here to register now)

This isn’t just another class—it’s a focused investment in your development as an athlete.

Final Thought

If CrossFit builds general fitness, Barbell Club sharpens your edge .

You’ll move better. Lift heavier. Feel more confident. And walk away with skills that carry over into everything you do in the gym.

Spots are limited—and they will fill.

Let’s get to work.

After the Open: What Your Performance Was Trying to Tell You

Fri, 20 Mar 2026 14:53:52 GMT

I’ve been doing the CrossFit Open since the very first one back in 2011.

Every year, I show up, I push hard, and I test myself—just like all of you.

But over time, my perspective on the Open has changed.

It’s no longer about feeling like there’s something forcing me to compete or prove something.

Instead, I look at it the same way I would for any everyday CrossFitter:

What can I learn from this—and how do I use it to get better?

Because that’s what the Open really is.

It’s not just a competition.

It’s feedback.

You Gave a Maximum Effort—Now Pay Attention to What Happened

During the Open, you did something important.

You put your foot on the gas pedal.

You gave a true, honest effort across workouts that tested you in broad time domains, across multiple movement patterns—exactly the way CrossFit is intended to do.

That matters.

Because now we’re not guessing anymore.

We’re not wondering what our fitness looks like.

We saw it.

Under pressure.

Under fatigue.

In a real test.

So the question now becomes:

What was your performance trying to tell you?

Don’t Just Look at the Surface—Use the Hierarchy

Most people will stop at the obvious:

“I need to get better at pull-ups.”
“My conditioning needs work.”
“I need to lift heavier.”

And while that’s not wrong… it’s incomplete.

At CrossFit, we talk about the theoretical hierarchy of development :

Nutrition → Metabolic Conditioning → Gymnastics → Weightlifting → Sport

This is your roadmap.

And more importantly—it’s your troubleshooting tool .

Example: When the Workout Exposes a Wall

Take a workout where gymnastics became the limiter....26.2???

Maybe you hit a wall on pull-ups.
Maybe you couldn’t get your first muscle-up.

At the surface level, you might say:
“I need to work on gymnastics.”

But let’s go deeper.

Was it actually your engine?
Were you too fatigued by the time you got there?
Is your nutrition supporting your performance?

Because if you’re carrying excess body fat, you’re essentially doing gymnastics movements with a weighted vest on.

So now the issue may not just be skill—it could be:

Conditioning
Or even nutrition

This is how you use the Open correctly .

Use Your Percentile Rankings—They Tell a Story

One of the most underutilized tools from the Open is your percentile ranking.

If you registered for the Open, you can go back and look at where you ranked in each workout—both worldwide and within your division.

And this matters more than people realize.

For example:

Workout 1: 90th percentile
Workout 2: 70th percentile

That gap is telling you something.

It means there is a clear difference in how you perform under different demands.

Now the question becomes:

What was different about those workouts?
Was it the movements?
The loading?
The time domain?
The energy system required?

This is where real insight comes from.

Don’t just look at the number— study the difference .

That’s how you start identifying patterns in your fitness.

Stop Cherry Picking—Start Training Like It Matters

Another big takeaway:

We have to stop cherry picking workouts.

Too many people check the app and decide whether or not they’re coming to the gym based on what’s programmed.

We need to throw that mindset away.

You don’t get better by avoiding your weaknesses.

You get better by confronting them.

�� The days you don’t want to come in…
are probably the days you need the most.

Keep Testing Yourself (Not Just Once a Year)

The Open shouldn’t be the only time you test your fitness.

There are opportunities all year long:

Local CrossFit competitions
CrossFit Broken Chains own - " Battle of Narcoossee" (held in November)
Olympic weightlifting meets
Barbell Club cycles

These don’t have to be intimidating.

In reality, they’re low-risk, high-reward opportunities to:

Experience a competitive environment
Learn how you perform under pressure
Continue gathering data about your fitness

The more you expose yourself to these moments, the more comfortable—and capable—you become.

Build What Broke Down

If a barbell felt heavy—we build strength.
If you had to break too often—we build capacity.
If skills limited you—we train them intentionally.

Nothing is random.

Everything is connected.

And everything the Open exposed can be improved.

The Unsexy Stuff Still Matters Most

If your nutrition isn’t dialed in…
If your sleep is inconsistent…
If your recovery is an afterthought…

You are capping your potential.

That’s why we continue to emphasize:

Nutrition Habits Challenges
Consistency in training
Recovery and lifestyle habits

Because that’s the foundation everything else is built on.

Final Thought: Don’t Waste This

The Open gave you clarity.

It showed you exactly where you are.

Now the responsibility is yours.

Don’t let this just be something you did for fun.

Don’t let it be something you forget in a week.

Take what you learned.
Apply it.
Train with intention.

Because the athletes who improve year after year aren’t the ones who just show up for the Open…

They’re the ones who use it.

And at CrossFit Broken Chains, that’s exactly what we’re going to do.

The Magic of the Open

Tue, 10 Mar 2026 20:19:09 GMT

Every year when the CrossFit Games Open rolls around, something special happens inside a CrossFit gym.

You can feel it in the air.

The nerves are a little higher. The cheering is a little louder. Athletes push a little harder than they normally would on an everyday workout. Something about the Open brings out a level of effort and excitement that is hard to explain unless you’ve experienced it.

And after participating in every single Open workout since the beginning, I can confidently say this: there is nothing else like it in the entire fitness world.

A Worldwide Fitness Test

The CrossFit Open started in 2011 as the first stage of qualification for the CrossFit Games. It was designed to cast a massive net across the world to help identify the fittest athletes on the planet.

But what makes it so unique is that it isn’t only for elite athletes .

For about the cost of dinner out, anyone can register and take part in the exact same competition that the best athletes in the world are doing. Every Thursday a workout is announced, and athletes across the globe have the weekend to complete it and submit their scores.

Within minutes, you can see where you rank on a worldwide leaderboard against thousands of other athletes.

You can compare yourself to your age group, your peers, or even just the other members in your own gym.

That level of accessibility is almost unheard of in sports.

You can watch the Super Bowl or the NBA Finals, but none of us are stepping onto the field with those athletes. In CrossFit, however, everyone starts from the same place. The best athletes in the world and the everyday athlete in a local gym are all doing the same workouts .

That’s powerful.

Discovering What You're Capable Of

Another reason I love the Open is what it reveals about our fitness.

Every year the workouts shine a light on our strengths and our weaknesses. Some movements or workout styles will feel natural and play to our abilities. Others will expose areas where we still have work to do.

For beginners, the Open often serves as a baseline. It shows you where you are today so you can see where you're going tomorrow.

But here’s where the real magic happens.

Every single year during the Open, athletes accomplish things they’ve never done before.

Someone gets their first pull-up.

Someone lands their first box jump.

Someone lifts a weight they once thought was impossible.

Someone strings together their first double-unders.

It happens over and over again, year after year. Something about the pressure of the moment, the cheering of the community, and the

structure of a competition helps people dig just a little bit deeper than they thought they could.

And suddenly a barrier breaks.

Once that door opens, it rarely closes again.

Why It Feels So Real

Part of what makes the Open so special is the competitive environment.

When you perform an Open workout, a judge stands beside you counting your reps. Standards matter. Movements are evaluated. Your score is recorded and submitted.

It feels official.

You’re not just doing a workout — you’re testing your fitness .

And the community aspect makes it even better. Members gather to cheer each other on. Friends count reps. Teammates celebrate victories together. The entire gym rallies behind each athlete as they take on the challenge.

It turns a simple workout into an experience.

Our Intramural Open at Broken Chains

At CrossFit Broken Chains, we take the Open one step further by hosting our Intramural Open .

Each year we divide the gym into three teams and appoint team captains to lead them. Throughout the Open, athletes earn points for their team by showing up, completing workouts, hitting the leaderboard, and supporting their fellow teammates.

The energy in the gym during these weeks is incredible.

Members who might normally train quietly suddenly find themselves surrounded by teammates cheering them on. New friendships form. Veterans encourage newcomers. And the entire gym becomes part of something bigger than a single workout.

It’s one of my favorite traditions we have at Broken Chains.

The Work Doesn't Stop When the Open Ends

What makes the Open so valuable isn’t just the three weeks of competition.

It’s what happens afterward.

The Open shows you what you're capable of and highlights the areas where you can improve. Maybe you discovered you need to work on gymnastics movements. Maybe heavy lifts are your strength. Maybe conditioning is an opportunity for growth.

Now you know.

And that knowledge becomes fuel for the next year of training.

If you got your first pull-up during the Open, now the goal is to string together more.

If double-unders finally clicked, now we build consistency.

If a movement challenged you, it becomes a focus for the year ahead.

The Open gives us a snapshot of our fitness today — and motivation for where we want to go tomorrow.

Why I Love the Open

After all these years, I still believe the Open is one of the most brilliant ideas ever introduced in the fitness industry.

It’s inclusive.

It’s challenging.

It’s community-driven.

And it allows everyday people to test themselves on the same stage as the best athletes in the world.

That’s something incredibly special.

At CrossFit Broken Chains, we lean into that magic every year. We celebrate the effort, the breakthroughs, and the courage it takes for someone to step onto the floor and give their best.

Because in the end, that’s what the Open is really about.

Not just finding the fittest in the world.

But discovering what you’re capable of becoming.