Kids

Too young to learn handstand push-ups? Nonsense.

According to Mikki Martin of CrossFit Kids and CrossFit Brand X, a typical CrossFit Kids class includes a warm-up, skill work, a workout and a game—all designed to keep things fun while helping young athletes stay fit and learn how to move their bodies.

In this video, Martin takes a group of kids through a handstand push-up progression—from plank position to “stink-bug position”—giving them a foundation for one of… Continue Reading

At a Level 1 Cert, trainers break the med-ball clean down into five easily digestible steps. When training kids, you have to break things down even further.

With a complicated movement like the clean, it’s not practical to go through a host of progressions that will only confuse and frustrate the kid. Jeff Martin of CrossFit Kids says you only need a few simple and clear cues designed to encourage the most essential parts of the… Continue Reading

Can you imagine your Fran time if you hadn’t wasted 10 years doing biceps curls?

What if someone had taught you in college to squat below parallel instead of to barely crease your knees while “feeling the burn” in your quads?

How fit and functional would you be right now if you had never set foot in a Globo Gym?

Greg Glassman came up with the CrossFit Kids program to ensure young athletes don’t make the same… Continue Reading

A CrossFit Kids Cert is really about one thing: fun.

Yes, you will learn about exercise technique and how to help youngsters “bank” bone mass as they grow older, but if you don’t have fun, you’re probably missing the point.

According to Jeff Martin of CrossFit Kids, making things fun for kids is the most important part of the program. If children are enjoying themselves, it’s going to be far easier to get them hooked on a valuable program… Continue Reading

You can lecture a kid about deadlifts and lumbar and thoracic extension, or you can just tell him or her to show you the “angry-gorilla back.”

Jeff Martin of CrossFit Kids speaks a language kids understand, and he uses it to help young CrossFitters get fit safely. In this video from a CrossFit Kids Certification, Martin teaches attendees how to get children to deadlift properly with very basic instructions.

Martin has developed a simple… Continue Reading

Many parents let their children play football but believe weight training is too dangerous. Bill Starr examines the issue and explains how to train children safely and effectively.

As long as I have been involved in physical culture, the notion that lifting weights is harmful to young people has prevailed. This idea never made much sense to me.

I believe the assumption that lifting weights at an early age is harmful to… Continue Reading

Many kids squat better than their parents because they haven’t picked up 20 years of bad habits and tight muscles earned sitting behind a desk eight hours a day.

Still, some kids need help with their squats, but Jeff Martin of CrossFit Kids says they need different cues than adults. Yelling “Maintain your lumbar curve!” and “Knees out!” at five-year-olds won’t get the results you want, so Martin has devised a host of cues that are easier… Continue Reading

This is the 8th episode of the Weekend Edition of CrossFit Radio, which aired at 6pm PDT on Saturday, April 25th, 2009.

This episode features the subject of youth involvement in CrossFit.

00:00 - 27:20 Jeff Martin - co-founder (with wife Mikki) of CrossFit Kids. Dave and Jeff talk about the effect of CrossFit challenges on the character of young people, and the benefits to them in their lives outside of the gym.

27:20 - 29:50… Continue Reading