Kids

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

Jeff Martin talks about kids participating in the CrossFit Games and in CrossFit in general. Jeff and his wife Mikki run CrossFit Kids.

Kallista Pappas received the most notoriety for her performance in the Finals. Jeff talks about her incredible competitive spirit combined with her lack of fear and commitment to great mechanics. And she wasn’t the only one. There were several teenagers competing against, and beating, adults.

Jeff also… Continue Reading

Jeff Martin talks about the challenges of working with teenagers, and the changes that happen with growth spurts. Jeff and his wife Mikki run CrossFit Kids. In growth spurts, the bones can grow faster than the muscles, and kids that move really well can suddenly have trouble. Loading up these kids right after a spurt can possibly do more harm than good.

In addition to identifying the dangers, Jeff covers some remedial… Continue Reading