CrossFit Goes to College

When Jeff Tucker speaks, he’s passing on two decades of gymnastics instruction—delivered in a friendly southern drawl, of course.

At CrossFit Gymnastics Certifications, Tucker demystifies movements that seem impossible at first, and he emphasizes how the focused strength development in gymnastics movements will carry over and help athletes meet the core stability demands of CrossFit training. Training aside, the ability to move one’s body weight effortlessly and with confidence… Continue Reading

Austin Begiebing trains top athletes including 2008 CrossFit Games champ Jason Khalipa, and he also runs CrossFit Unlimited in Milpitas, Calif. With the cameras rolling, he shares some of the wisdom he’s acquired since getting involved with CrossFit.

Google Documents is Begiebing’s preferred medium for passing training plans on to athletes, and he also covers topics such as pull-up structures, partnering with someone to get a box off the… Continue Reading

Todd Widman is a CrossFit HQ “flow master” who can be seen all over North America and around the world at Level 1 and Level 2 certs. A former Marine from Montana, Widman discovered CrossFit in 2005 and fell in love with the program. Todd’s passion for CrossFit soon had him on a path to becoming one of the top trainers at HQ.

In this three-part series, Todd shares his story with the community.

Part 1… Continue Reading

Affiliate owners Peter Egyed and Kevin O’Malley share how CrossFit helped them beat drugs and get a new lease on life.

The CrossFit community is full of amazing triumphs. In this regular feature, the CrossFit Journal compiles the most extraordinary stories from a community built by extraordinary people.

In this edition, we feature an athlete and affiliate owner who beat amphetamines to finish sixth in the CrossFit Games, as well… Continue Reading

You could argue that picking up a stone or other awkward object is even more functional and realistic than picking up a barbell, so it’s no surprise some CrossFit affiliates are integrating strongman movements into their WODs.

Kurtis Bowler of Rainier CrossFit is a strongman competitor and one of the first affiliate owners, and he’d love to see stone shouldering or tire flipping thrown into the occasional main-site WOD. At his box he regularly adds strongman… Continue Reading

In front of a chalkboard for a discussion on exercise theory, Coach Greg Glassman suggests it’s possible certain muscles of the body can lift loads that can do damage to other parts of the body by compromising midline stability. To save us from ourselves, the body might short-circuit and fail before those loads severely injure an athlete.

For example, many people can lift one leg in an L-sit, but both legs fall to the floor… Continue Reading

Do you remember your first CrossFit seminar? Thinking about taking the plunge? Well, four clients of CrossFit by Overload decided to attend the Level 1 cert on Jan. 9-10, 2010, at the University of San Diego in California.

Jon and Kathryn Hults, Michele Smith, and Nick Benavides all took their CrossFitting to the “next level” in spite of their worries of not being “ready.” They have all had excellent training in their box… Continue Reading

Many CrossFit athletes start with a PVC pipe before jumping to a training, women’s or full-size Olympic bar. Inventor and CrossFitter R. Don Hollinger introduces one more step to help smooth the transition from PVC to metal.

After a good warm-up, I overhead squatted 400—a PR. I’ll never forget that day.

An OHS of 400 isn’t bad for a 62-year-old who has been CrossFitting for about a year. One little detail is… Continue Reading

CrossFit and Powerlifting may seem at odds at first glance, but the constantly varied training methods at Westside Barbell certainly have something in common with the CrossFit program.

Training above 90 percent of your 1RM is tremendously hard on the body, so Louie Simmons constantly changes the movement he’s maxing out on, which prevents overtraining but also keeps athletes in competition shape. While many competitors have to use a lengthy… Continue Reading

In December 2009, Chris Spealler traveled from Utah to India to visit Sri Ram Ashram. Rashmi Cole talks about the trip and explains how Speal traded CrossFit coaching for cricket instruction and inspired many young athletes along the way.

After spending one year training with Jim Baker at Crossfit Santa Cruz Central, I returned to India full of Crossfit gusto only to face the realities of training… Continue Reading

Maggie Dabe from CrossFit Fairfax is one of CrossFit HQ’s traveling seminar trainers. Originally from Ecuador, she explains our standard cues and faults for the press entirely in Spanish.

The press is the foundation for all overhead movements. With the feet under the hips, the athlete will grip the bar just outside shoulder width. The elbows will be down and slightly in front of the bar, and the entire body should be… Continue Reading

The 40-yard dash is the gold standard for measuring an athlete’s ability to accelerate, and his official time can make or break a prospect at the collegiate and professional levels. Shaving a few hundredths of a second off the time can often mean scholarships and millions of dollars at the NFL Draft. Being able to run a hot 40 can also be the difference between a Super Bowl touchdown and being tackled on the… Continue Reading

The individual PDF articles published in January 2010 are collected here in a single download.

The video and audio articles are not contained in the PDF.

The articles included here are:

Thiel - How to Succeed as a CrossFit Affiliate
Ray - The Truth About Rhabdo
Amundson - 2851 Research Park Dr., Santa Cruz, Calif.
Berger - Judgement as a Virtue
Starr - Learning How to Do Full Snatches
Christie - Tuning the CrossFit Athlete—Part 1
Kilgore - Adaptation for… Continue Reading

For under $350, Tony Budding and Rory McKernan traveled to Tuscon, Ariz., on the Southwest Airlines Ding program. While there, they visited affiliate owners Jennifer Higgins and Carl Wells of CrossFit Works.

When Jen and Carl opened their box, perhaps the most surprising thing was the fact that they were often introducing people to CrossFit for the first time. They were initially worried that seasoned firebreathers would… Continue Reading

Dr. Allison Belger turns 40 and finds that masters events provide a new outlet for her competitive spirit.

Throughout the past year leading up to my 40th birthday, I had been reflecting on many things, as one often does in the face of such a milestone. Beyond the typical musings, I had thought a lot about my life as an aging athlete and how I would continue to challenge myself physically given the… Continue Reading

“Be ready for the pain but relaxed deep down inside, but most of all, enjoy yourself.”

Maj. Shane Finison might be directing a WOD at CrossFit Durham or he might be preparing the Duke University Ranger Challenge Team for the 10K ruck march.

In Part 3 of this series, the cadets from Duke set out on a 10K march carrying a rifle and 35 lb. of gear. It’s a harsh end to the competition, and it demands endurance… Continue Reading

What better way to train for an upcoming CrossFit Games Sectional than with 2008 men’s champ Jason Khalipa and his coach, Austin Begiebing, cheering you through a workout?

With sectional events only months away, Sevan Matossian stopped by CrossFit Unlimited to check out a WOD featuring two potential Games athletes going head to head. Megan and Chyna will both be competing in the NorCal Sectional at the end of March, and… Continue Reading

The best teachers can simplify the most complex concepts, and Coach Greg Glassman always did so by including a session at the whiteboard before workouts at the original CrossFit gym in Santa Cruz.

Back in front of the board, Coach Glassman and Tony Budding discuss the basic concepts that hold up CrossFit’s definition of core strength. A line—the midline—can be drawn through the integration of the pelvis and the spine, and this line is profoundly important to… Continue Reading

With several simple exercises, Daniel Christie believes you can create a routine that will improve both your posture and your CrossFit performance.

In Part 1 of “Tuning the CrossFit Athlete,” we discussed how common postural traits are evident in virtually every gym and CrossFit box worldwide.

Faulty posture known as “upper and lower crossed syndrome” can affect strength, stability and performance and negatively impact our ability to use ideal form during key… Continue Reading

As with any CrossFit movement, technical proficiency can be the catalyst for more productive, more efficient application of force in your training and competition.

Dr. Nicholas Romanov, inventor of the Pose Method for running, bases his training on the simple concept that gravity can be your friend. Gravity is a constant force, and the best runners don’t fight it but rather position their bodies so gravity can do some of the work… Continue Reading