By Ryan Touhey
Staff Reporter
The Big Red Club CrossFit team at Sacred Heart University participated in “the Cam” Workout of the Day on Tuesday, Feb. 28 in the CrossFit gym in Bergoglio Hall.
According to Fairfield’s Hamlethub, the team and other CrossFit gyms across Connecticut competed in the challenge either that Tuesday, or on Saturday, Feb. 25.
“‘The Cam’ is actually a 19-minute workout, that we call an AMRAP or, ‘as many reps as possible’ in 19 minutes,” said Channing Vidal, head coach of the Sacred Heart CrossFit team and Dircetor of Student Conduct and Community Standards.
Within that interval, athletes would do 10 different exercises consisting of 19 reps. These exercises include pull-ups, sit-ups, push-ups and box jumps. If the athletes completed the entire workout before time ran out, they would start all over again.
“The Cam” was created in order to raise funds for the Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood (AHC) Foundation.
According to its website, the foundation’s main objectives are to expand research on AHC and to support families who are affected by it.
According to the Sacred Heart website, the 19 reps and same number of minutes were specifically chosen because AHC causes a defect in the nineteenth chromosome. The disease leads to health problems such as short-term paralysis, stiffness, and unusual eye movements. There’s no cure for AHC and it’s rare.
Fairfield’s Hamlethub reported that “the Cam” workout was named after one year old Cameron Simpson of Trumbull, Conn., who suffers from the disease.
Vidal became aware of this workout through a friend of his named Maura Crossin. Crossin is a victim’s advocate and attorney who typically represents people who are involved in sexual misconduct cases.
She is also the cousin of Simpson’s mother, Corie.
“As a gym, if we can all donate a few bucks and work out and sweat together and everything, all of that is pretty minor compared to what this family has to go through on a day-to-day basis,” said Vidal. “I think a lot of our members face their own challenges in their families.”
Some participants in the challenge feel that people should be grateful to be able to do the things they want to do without anything holding them back.
“You should be aware of people who are less fortunate and might not be able to work out,” said junior Sean Zaremba.
This is the inaugural season for the CrossFit team and “the Cam” workout is the most recent case of Vidal motivating his players to work as hard as they can.
“I personally have never had a coach that has genuinely loved the sport and participated in it,” said freshman Nicole Maseroni. “I’ve had coaches that just did it for the money and they never really played with us.”
Vidal has connected closely with other participants as the season has progressed.
“The man waits up for me every morning at 6:30 a.m. to come work out with me, when sometimes it’s just me,” said junior Nico Treglia. “That’s all I can say about Channing, he’s incredible.”
The team is currently competing in the CrossFit Open.