Gymnastics/Tumbling

CrossFit Santa Cruz’s Laurie Galassi, a gymnast and the fifth-place finisher at the 2011 NorCal Regional, shares her coaching tips for mastering the pull-up. In Part 2 of the series, she focuses on timing—the moment of weightlessness, to be specific.

“When I snap from arch to hollow, in the back of my swing I find this little weightless moment only if I come to an aggressive stop,” Galassi says. “If your rhythm is correct and if you’re… Continue Reading

CrossFit Santa Cruz’s Laurie Galassi, a gymnast and the fifth-place finisher at the 2011 NorCal Regional, shares her coaching tips for mastering the pull-up. In Part 1 of the series, she focuses on body shape.

A fast, efficient pull-up has three key ingredients, she says: the hollow-body position, the appropriate grip on the bar and the right timing.

“This arch is an opening of the shoulders. It has very little to do with your… Continue Reading

Jeff Tucker and Dusty Hyland of CrossFit Gymnastics set the standards for basic gymnastics movements.

A question I am often asked is what are—or what should be—the standards of movements for gymnastics skills we use within CrossFit?

Although we are not being subjected to a panel of USAGF judges under the scrutiny of USAGF standards, we agree that the time has come for some solid standards of movement and judging standards for the… Continue Reading

Ready to take your push-ups to the next level? Try them on rings.

Jeff Tucker, CrossFit Gymnastics coach, uses ring push-ups to develop midline stabilization.

To demonstrate the progressions, Tucker introduces Jeannie Bassi, who overcame childhood scoliosis through gymnastics. Today, she is an accomplished gymnast who helps Tucker coach the CrossFit Gymnastics Seminars.

Using “ins and outs,” “rights and lefts” and plank drills, Bassi demonstrates how athletes can build strength… Continue Reading

CrossFit Gymnastics coach Jeff Tucker shared his expertise at the 2011 Summer Affiliate Gathering in Big Sky, Mont. In this video, he takes athlete Hayley Parlen through a muscle-up progression.

After watching an attempt, he starts Parlen in a progression using low rings. She kneels underneath the rings to use her legs for as much support as is necessary to scale the movement.

Instead of jumping through the muscle-up, Tucker says he wants “a… Continue Reading

CrossFit Gymnastics coach Jeff Tucker shared his expertise at the 2011 Summer Affiliate Gathering in Big Sky, Mont. In this video, he instructs an athlete on the kipping muscle-up to help refine her movement.

“What I look at as a coach are angles. If you’re creating angles and popping the hip in the movement, I’m wondering if we have a strength issue here,” he says.

Tucker has the athlete use her swing on… Continue Reading

At the 2011 Summer Affiliate Gathering recently held in Big Sky, Mont., CrossFit Gymnastics coach Jeff Tucker instructs an athlete on the technique of the kipping pull-up.

Tucker addresses whether the kipping pull-up is driven by the hips or the upper body. The gymnastics expert says it’s smoother when the upper body is the prime mover.

“When you throw your lower body into it, you gotta have a shitload of muscle to control that negative… Continue Reading

Jeff Tucker and Dusty Hyland look at the finer points of turning your world upside down.

The handstand can be one of the most undervalued movements within the CrossFit community or where sport is concerned. Nevertheless, its application and regular performance for skill sets can be applied to better movement within any field of sport where athleticism is involved.

To the novice or within our community, the handstand is sometimes seen merely as… Continue Reading