Training the Brain

On Episode 280 of CrossFit Radio, host Justin Judkins interviewed two Mid Atlantic Regional competitors who are a husband-and-wife team. Competing as individuals, Alea Helmick placed fourth and Gary Helmick placed second. This episode was webcast live at 6 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, June 12, 2013.

3:33 Alea Helmick has only been doing CrossFit for a year, but she stormed into the Mid Atlantic Regional after placing fifth in the… Continue Reading

“Go ahead, shave me.”

It takes a certain amount of temerity to say it. But you probably should.

Granted, shaving is pretty common. For many, it's an essential part of daily grooming. They say three-quarters of all men shave their faces every day without giving the act much thought.

But when it comes to having someone else do the work? It can be a little daunting.

A rather discerning friend recently mentioned… Continue Reading

What does it take to write a book? Hilary Achauer talks to Samir Chopra and bestselling novelist Eleanor Brown about the joy—and pain—of writing.

When all she wants to do is stop, Eleanor Brown breaks her task into manageable parts.

“Small goals are important. You have to make it achievable,” Brown said.

Samir Chopra doesn’t enjoy the process, but knows he’d be even unhappier if he stopped.

“I wish I could stop, but if I stopped, I’d be miserable… Continue Reading

On Episode 279 of CrossFit Radio, host Justin Judkins interviewed two first-time CrossFit Games qualifiers: Tiffany Hendrickson and Matthew Hathcock. This episode was webcast live at 6 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, June 5, 2013.

4:19 Tiffany Hendrickson won the South West Regional by placing in the top four in all seven workouts. She talked about what it means to qualify for the CrossFit Games and how she’ll prepare for the… Continue Reading

Mike Warkentin collects a list of terms that will help you communicate in boxes all over the world.

Throughout history, people of different mother tongues have communicated via lingua francas, or a “bridge languages” that developed to allow commerce and trade.

In the Renaissance Era, Lingua Franca was used for trade and diplomacy in the Mediterranean. In the fitness renaissance we are currently experiencing, we’ve developed terms that can be… Continue Reading

Former pro cyclist Jeff King recounts the spread of cycling’s drug culture from Europe to North America.

The first thing I noticed in Belgium was the speed.

We were racing at a pace at least five miles per hour faster than anything I had ever done in North America and not taking the usual rests that would allow me to survive three-hour races like this. I was getting my legs ripped off.

It… Continue Reading

Making breakfast isn’t just about eating.

So says Lucas Parker, two-time CrossFit Games competitor from the Canada West Region. Parker is perhaps best known for his beard and body hair, as well as propensity for getting naked or rocking a tuque and Speedo swimsuit.

“I think it’s important to try to find structure and purpose in everything you do—for training for the CrossFit Games to making breakfast,” he says while… Continue Reading

Josh Bridges and Kenneth Leverich had first and second place practically secured at the Southern California Regional. The battle was for third.

On the final day of competition, two men went head-to-head for the last Games spot: Tommy Pease and Wes Piatt.

“To be real honest, there’s probably going to have to be a couple of people that maybe don’t do so well, and I’m gonna have to do really well, but I think… Continue Reading

This three-part series profiles Julie Roberts and her work in Haiti since a devastating earthquake in 2010. From amputating infected limbs to investing in pay-it-forward microcredit loans, Roberts is dedicated to helping Haitians recover.

It is January 2010. Julie Roberts finishes a long run in training for the Vancouver Marathon and rushes home to cook dinner for her four children.

She turns on the TV to find ubiquitous breaking news about… Continue Reading

Drew Canavero often fell prey to binary thinking: it was black or white, he loved it or hated it, and he was either fully committed or completely disengaged.

“Living with bipolar is a frustratingly (irritating) process. Progress is usually slow and tenuous—one step forward, a half step back. And there are times when I have the inescapable feeling that my life is in free fall. And I often choose to hasten my collision with the bottom by… Continue Reading

The individual PDF articles published in May 2013 are collected here in a single download.

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

The articles included here are:

Coaching the Low Catch - Takano
Powerball - Strametz and Martin
Want to Be Good at Oly? - Vaughn
ACSM “CrossFit Study” Fraud? - Berger
CrossFit Kids as a Physical-Education Curriculum: A Pedagogical Perspective - Eich
Don’t Neglect Your Neck - Starr
Weak Behavior: One-Upping - Warkentin

The butterflies represent medicines, the stars are surgeries, the hearts are blood transfusions and the red ones are blood draws. They’re “hero beads,” all strung together in a long rope to represent Kate Foster’s journey.

“Since it’s every single little thing, you can show them rather than telling them and hoping they’ll understand,” says the 13-year-old, who at age 12 was diagnosed with leukemia that forced the amputation of her left leg… Continue Reading

At 24, Elisabeth Akinwale had defined ideas about what it would take to achieve happiness in her career. The answer was grad school.

At the time, she was a group fitness instructor—a job she thought wasn’t “intellectual enough” to be valuable.

But there was a problem. Once she graduated, she found herself working nine-hour days.

“I felt like I followed ‘the rules’ and I was just incredibly unhappy with the outcome,” adds Akinwale… Continue Reading

Mike Warkentin advises you to find your own limit in your next workout.

Ever watch an auction and want to choke the guy who continually adds a buck to the top bid?

You know the guy. He’s the same one who ruins office pools with the ultra-clever “and one dollar” bracketing strategy learned from contestants on The Price Is Right.

He’s also the guy who ruins any poker game without a minimum raise by forcing… Continue Reading

Bill Starr recommends a host of exercises to build a strong upper back and neck.

For those athletes who participate in contact sports, such as hockey, lacrosse, football and soccer, having a strong neck is an absolute must. It can mean the difference between getting a stinger in the neck after a head-on-head collision or being carried off the field and into the emergency room.

The sad… Continue Reading

At 5 years old, Janet Ying started taking violin lessons. It wasn’t particularly remarkable.

“It was one thing among many that I did growing up—going to school, taking swimming lessons, things like that,” she explains.

Today, her Ying Quartet, which includes two of her brothers, is in its second decade of performing. The ensemble, which in 2006 won a Grammy Award for Best Classical Crossover Album, is in residence at the Eastman School of Music in… Continue Reading

Phil Eich makes a case against traditional physical education, in which sports form the foundation but provide little motivation toward lifelong fitness.

The CrossFit Kids curriculum is effective because it creates a physical learning environment that builds on the idea that all children have differing abilities and need to be challenged at their individual point of development in order for effective learning to take place. This differentiated instruction allows a… Continue Reading

Researchers at Ohio State University refuse further comment on CrossFit study amidst allegations of inaccurate data from the study’s own coordinator.

A few weeks ago, I learned that researchers affiliated with the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) had published a study on CrossFit’s efficacy in the National Strength and Conditioning Association’s Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.

The study—CrossFit-Based… Continue Reading

Two-time Olympian Chad Vaughn details four areas of focus if you really want to add weight to your snatch and clean and jerk.

Most athletes dive into the Olympic lifts without considering what really allows someone to lift the heaviest loads and move efficiently through high-rep workouts.

I have four keys to lifting the heaviest weights and moving well in the snatch and clean and jerk. They… Continue Reading

As a child, Annie Thorisdottir took ballet. It didn’t stick for long, though. Like her cousins, she wanted to try gymnastics. She made it to Iceland’s national team but quit to focus on high-school studies.

“Going from training 24 hours a week into training not at all didn’t really work out for me,” the 23-year-old two-time CrossFit Games champion says with her quintessential smile.

So she started ballet again, and dance. That, too… Continue Reading