Rest Day/Theory

Does suffering in a group make it easier? Dr. Steven M. Platek believes the camaraderie of CrossFit can get you through the nastiest WOD.

What does CrossFit have to do with pain?

Quite fascinatingly, our “feeling” of pain in the physical is tightly and neurologically linked to our feeling pain in the social realm (being excluded, ostracized, etc.). The kid who does not get picked for dodgeball experiences a sense of pain… Continue Reading

CrossFitters Dr. Brooke Envick and Rick Martinez create a study designed to test whether physical fitness can improve your emotional fitness.

Health-science experts claim that the combination of proper nutrition with physical exercise will improve your emotional well-being. In other words, improved physical fitness can lead to improved emotional fitness.

Emotional fitness is defined as the state wherein the mind is capable of staying… Continue Reading

The CrossFit Journal is proud to present this extraordinary article by Dr. Jeff Glassman. Formerly the Division Chief Scientist for Missile Development and Microelectronics Systems Divisions for Hughes Aircraft, Dr. Glassman has dedicated his career to improving the quality of science methodology among his peers and the community at large.

For years he has been disturbed by the lack of credible science identifying human activity as a cause of… Continue Reading

East meets West once again in Part 2 of this discussion moderated by Greg Glassman as Pose Method creator Dr. Nicholas Romanov and Louie Simmons of Westside Barbell discuss the finer points of training.

Romanov is a Russian, while Simmons has long been using Russian research, so the two are speaking the same language even though one is looking to produce top runners and the other is working to train powerlifters to squat over 1,000 lb.

The… Continue Reading

The fastest, strongest athlete can be undone by a weak mind. Steven Shrago recommends using positive beliefs, mental preparation and mental toughness to help your mind drive your body to new PRs.

CrossFit’s 10 domains of fitness cover the full range of physical and neurological components, but do they tell the full story of fitness?

We measure fitness as “work capacity across broad time and modal domains,” which implies a necessary element of performance: you… Continue Reading

Dr. Steven M. Platek presents a scientific argument in support of the idea that naturally designed movements produce naturally attractive physiques.

Evolution has favored certain movements in different animals because those behaviors have produced two essential outcomes for possessors of the requisite species-specific movements: survival and reproduction—more specifically, being selected as a mating partner.

For example, the kangaroo and the rabbit (or hare) hop. Big cats (lions… Continue Reading

Former NFL player Michael Houghton found CrossFit and then went back to strength training. Now he’s come full circle and believes CrossFit is the best program for him.

Over the past year. I have been experimenting with all sorts of programming besides CrossFit.

I started off going to the CrossFit Football Certification. At the cert, I got an itch to try some Olympic lifting. I got some shoes… Continue Reading

Dan Williams proposes CrossFit athletes are only as strong as their weakest links and suggests a way to train these weaknesses to produce better all-around athletes.

The essence of CrossFit lies in its ability to define the previously undefined. Pioneering definitions have been created for such concepts as fitness, health and work capacity. Let’s consider CrossFit as an adjective rather than a noun. I am CrossFit… Continue Reading