Medical/Injuries

Kevin Miller was 325 lb. when he found CrossFit through a chance encounter in a bar. Once he started, he was gung-ho, working out five times a week and wholeheartedly adopting the Paleo Diet. It was that attitude, arguably, that got him into trouble.

During a CrossFit Total, Miller had an accident that threatened to leave him without the use of his legs.

In Part 1, Miller and CrossFit New Haven trainers Eric and Carla O’Brien talk… Continue Reading

Kevin J. Kula asks why CrossFitters use muscle-based soft-tissue therapies. For chronic problems, he says fascially based therapies are the solution.

CrossFitters demand more from their exercise program than the average gym rat schooled in the outdated exercise science of the biceps and leg curls. Why, then, do we have exercise standards consisting of high-level gymnastics movements and Olympic weightlifting while relying on outdated muscle-based therapies like trigger-point therapy and… Continue Reading

CrossFit has been a part of the curriculum at Saratoga High School for two years, and the program is revolutionizing the way kids see “phys. ed.”

Teachers Peter Jordan and Richard Ellis talk about the school affiliate, CrossFit Sawmill, as well as how they adapt the program for Maddy Thomas, a sophomore with cerebral palsy.

“She comes in here and does everything that anybody else does,” Jordan says. “I find it inspiring and it’s kind of fun to be… Continue Reading

Find out how CrossFitter Chad Hamilton fought testicular cancer and is making his recovery. As he underwent chemotherapy, he continued CrossFitting as much as he could and even participated in the fundraiser Barbells for Boobs. Now he’s cancer-free and rebuilding his CrossFit abilities.

Hamilton says his attention to his own health has benefited his recovery.

“It could have been a lot worse if I didn’t treat my body as well as I do,” he… Continue Reading

Rick Reifenberg’s life was perfect. Then cancer struck. He says physical and mental fortitude helped him survive.

In August 2010, everything in my life seemed to be going great. Life was good. So good, it was frighteningly close to perfect. I had just celebrated my 20th wedding anniversary, and my wife and I were raising our 10-year-old daughter together and sharing the joys and challenges of being parents. Professionally, I… Continue Reading

On Aug. 4, Zach Miller of CrossFit Pittsburgh was in a car accident, and he remains comatose. His friends share his story.

Miller and a group of his friends started Panther CrossFit, a student-run organization at the University of Pittsburgh. As the first president and a dedicated member, he made an impact on the students as he introduced them to CrossFit.

Dave Lorenzo, president of Panther CrossFit, retells one of his first experiences with Miller… Continue Reading

Dylan, a CrossFitter at CrossFit Flagstaff, has cerebral palsy, which makes the right side of his body weaker than his left. On the advice of his doctor, he began CrossFitting to help even out his strength.

Dylan shows the equipment he uses to compensate for his uneven grip strength. At first, Dylan says he used a kettlebell for deadlifting, but then he progressed to the barbell with the help of weightlifting straps. Then CrossFit Flagstaff co-owner… Continue Reading

Skip Chapman is the owner of JSA CrossFit in Point Pleasant, N.J. He shares how CrossFit has changed his life.

As a martial artist, Chapman sustained a shoulder injury in 2004 that led him to find CrossFit as a strength-and-conditioning program to bring back his shoulder mobility.

“After the surgery, basically they told me I’d never be able to lift any kind of weight maybe more than 5 lb., never really push anything… Continue Reading