Exercises

On Episode 202 of CrossFit Radio, host Justin Judkins interviewed CrossFit New England owner Ben Bergeron, as well as 2011 Reebok CrossFit Games competitor and strongman expert Rob Orlando. This episode was webcast live at 6 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011.

The WOW (Workout of the Week) is from CrossFit Local.

21, 15 and 9 reps for time of:
Wall-ball shots, 30-lb. slam ball
275-lb. deadlifts
Burpees
Then immediately… Continue Reading

The lift doesn't stop when the bar is at the top. CrossFitting chiropractor John Zimmer provides advice on how to properly deadlift to avoid injury.

If you’ve ever picked up anything from the floor, you’ve deadlifted. And after you pick something up, chances are you’ll need to put it down. Returning the bar to the floor often is the forgotten part of the deadlift.

CrossFit prides itself on its training methods… Continue Reading

Concept2 master trainer Angela Hart shows how adjustments in your rowing technique can improve your power and efficiency.

At the catch, you want to achieve an acute angle of about 60 degrees, whereas at the finish, you want to achieve an obtuse angle of about 120 degrees, Hart says. While most rowers can achieve the angle at the back of their stroke, the front angle is problematic.

“You’ve gotta close the hinge so you… Continue Reading

This video series provides a fresh look at skill-transfer exercises and midline stability, combining the powers of Kelly Starrett and gymnast Carl Paoli. Both San Francisco CrossFit coaches add their expertise to refine basic CrossFit movements with the aim of improving power output.

In Part 7, Paoli demonstrates the ring dip. The same “turning out” used for the bar dip in Part 6 adds external rotation, torque and stability to the shoulder in the ring dip… Continue Reading

“We use this dynamic stretch as a way to see your body move,” CrossFit Gymnastics coach Jeff Tucker says. “So we’re gonna find some of the chinks in the armor, maybe flexibility or lack thereof, and we’re also gonna play with something else called ‘body awareness.’”

Tucker runs affiliate owners through a warm-up at the 2011 Summer Affiliate Gathering recently held in Big Sky, Mont.

His first movement is the inchworm, which assesses posterior… Continue Reading

Concept2 master trainer Angela Hart provides tips for improving your rowing efficiency. The force-curve display in the rower’s monitor is one way to evaluate the power and efficiency of your rowing stroke.

“You want it to be smooth,” Hart says. “But don’t be, you know, too hung up on the actual shape of your force curve.”

Hart analyzes common force-curve shapes. For example, a divot in the front half of the force curve shows a lack… Continue Reading

CrossFit Santa Cruz’s Laurie Galassi, a gymnast and fifth-place finisher at the NorCal Regional, shares her coaching tips for mastering the handstand. In Part 1 of the series, she focuses on body position.

“I picked handstands because they’re the foundation of gymnastics,” Galassi says. “It’s the basis for everything else.”

This gymnastics element fits perfectly into CrossFit.

“The neat thing for CrossFit is that once you can do a handstand suddenly putting weight… Continue Reading

In this series, Brian MacKenzie and Doug Katona of CrossFit Endurance share tips for improving your cycling performance. Using a Wattbike, the two are able to collect data on cycling performance and improve technique. Today’s goal is improving posture while cycling.

“Cycling biomechanically is a very, very fine skill,” Katona says. Using the analogy of a clock, he provides simple ways to look at pedaling biomechanics to see where power is generated.

“What… Continue Reading