Kill Cliff East Coast Championships 2015Dec 17, 2014 by Lauryn Lax
The Bergeron Way: Excellence Is Not An Act, But A Habit
The Bergeron Way: Excellence Is Not An Act, But A Habit
Bergeron, the head coach of CrossFit New England, has built quite the name for himself and his programming over the past X-years that he has been coaching and a part of the CrossFit community.
He regularly posts his programming for aspiring competitors at http://CompetitorsTraining.com and this year, will hold his third annual elite fitness competition, the Kill Cliff East Coast Championships, in Boston at the Seaport Trade Center the weekend of January 24-25th.
As many former Games and Regionals competitors prepare to put this year’s hard work and training to the test at the two day competition, Bergeron is preparing to give athletes a one-of-a-kind experience.
“The thing that separates the ECC from many other local competitions, ore than anything is that the primary focus is on fun. I really wanted to put on an event for some of the best athletes in our sport to have the opportunity for some really great competition, a competition that won’t leave them beat up, but still get to see where their training measures up to one another,” Bergeron said.
The competition is open to approximately 50 female athletes, and 50 male athletes, and will comprise one full day of Individual competition, as well as one full day of Team competition (2 male/2 female teams). Back this year, the powerhouse team, comprising Rich Froning, Chris Spealler, Stacie Tovar and Elizabeth Akinwale have verbally committed to bringing the heat. Other notable names include: Noah Ohlsen, Nate Schrader, Jeff Evans, Rachel Martinez, Rory Zambard, Kenny Leverich, Dani Horan, amongst others.
Bergeron has most certainly invested in the training up of the elite of the flite of the sport of fitness. And while many of the elite athletes in the sport have been covered, FloElite wanted to get to know a bit more about the man programming and hosting the East Coast Championships.
Name: Ben Bergeron
Age: 37
Title: Father, Husband, Affiliate Owner, Coach
Location: Natick, MA
Years you’ve been CrossFitting: 8
Years you’ve had an affiliate: 7
Q. What was your athletic background and how did you originally even find the sport of fitness?
A. High School - Football, Skiing and Basketball. College - Rugby and Skiing. After College - Ironman Triathlons.
Q. How did you get you into coaching for the sport of fitness?
A. I was a strength and conditioning coach at an elite New England Prep School when I found CrossFit. At the time I had about a half dozen training Certifications from NASM to the CSCS. I learned more about strength, conditioning, health and wellness in the first week of researching CrossFit than I had in the previous 3 years. After seeing the results in my own fitness and my clients I left my previous position as a strength and conditioning coach to become a full time Affiliate owner.
Q. What inspires you in your programming? Do you have any coaches, mentors or philosophies that have shaped you?
A. I like to think my programming is simple, potent and authentic to the roots of CrossFit. For the first three years of programming for my athletes every time I programmed a workout for my affiliate I would ask myself if Greg Glassman would approve. I would imagine that Coach Glassman was reviewing my programming every week and would look for holes or areas of improvement. I like elegance in my programming; couplets and triplets with simple rep schemes and similar demand on every movement and every round.
Q. Over the past several years, what have you learned about yourself as a coach?
A. Over the past 10 years of coaching I have learned that I don't know much.
Q. What have been some of your most memorable moments as a coach?
A. I really enjoy the day before the Games starts. I always sit with my athletes in the hotel and and talk to them about the upcoming week. This talk is about mental toughness and focus strategies, but it is more than that. The athletes and I have been through so much by this point. So much emotion, so much determination, so much sacrifice to get to that point. It is a special moment that I always look forward to, and always remember.
Q. Many athletes—and coaches— are on the lookout for ‘the best programming’—you’ve been in the fitness community for a little while—what, in your opinion, should an athlete or coach look for in a good training program?
A. It sounds obvious, but athletes should be looking for a program that is targeted on helping them reach their goals. Many Games athletes follow programs that are too biased. Many people looking for better health and fitness are following a program with too much weight or volume. The best program is well rounded, but geared to bring the athlete to a certain end point.
Q. What inspired you to start hosting the ECC?
A. I didn't set out to create the KCECC to be what it is today. When I started the ECC I simply enjoyed running competitive events and took pride in running them as professionally as possible. The event started in my affiliate for competitors in the North East and has since snowballed into an elite competition with over 60 Games athlete and 6,000+ spectators.
Q. What separates a ‘good event’ from a great ‘event’ when it comes to the vast amounts of fitness competitions held annually nowadays?
A. The first thing I look at is their time line. If they are running on time, not rushed, and not keeping athletes late into the evening, they probably have a lot of the other processes in place for a well run event. Second would be the layout of the competition floor. Have they set up the venue and events so that it is easy for spectators to see the race and know who is winning, while keep the competition floor safe. Third is the little things - the warm up area, the athlete wranglers, how organized the volunteers are. And fourth would be the programming. Is it a balanced test of fitness without smashing the athletes? Is it simple and elegant? Is it entertaining?
Q. When you are not coaching or programming, you are ______.
A. Thinking about coaching or programming.
A few faves of Ben:
Favorite Healthy Eat: Cobb Salad
Favorite Treat/Cheat: BBQ Chicken Pizza
Goats: Dead Lifts
Strengths in the gym: Ring Dips
Pet Peeves: Chewing with mouth open, not waving "thank you" when you let someone go in front of you in traffic
Bad Habits: Drive too fast
Fav movie of all-time: “True Romance”
Workout music of choice: Rob Zombie
Favorite inspirational quote: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."