Rest Day/Theory

After getting caught with a suitcase of cocaine in November 2011, Karl Thorson was sentenced to 30 months in prison. From a penitentiary in California, he talks about finding fitness behind bars.

“When released offenders feel isolated from the community and blocked from society’s opportunities and freedoms, they are more likely to return to a life of crime,” Rebecca Greenberg wrote in the sociology journal Verstehen.

In Karl… Continue Reading

Former WADA head Dick Pound rejects claims sports have purged themselves of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs.

The Director General of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) commended Major League Baseball in August for cracking down on doping in the wake of suspensions handed out to some of the sport’s best-known players.

“The MLB has approached the matter in a professional manner throughout, and we look forward to maintaining our close… Continue Reading

Pat Sherwood isn’t lost in Central America and doesn’t want your god-damn help.

Mistakes made and lessons learned.

As I write this, we have been living on motorcycles for 64 days and covered nearly 8,000 miles across seven U.S. states and nine countries. It has been amazing and overwhelmingly positive.

I could lie to help my pride and say that we’ve been prepared for everything and nothing has gone wrong… Continue Reading

Canadian Karl Thorson currently resides in a California penitentiary. Emily Beers explains how he got there.

The story of the convict has been told many times before.

Usually it’s recounted after the fact, once the former prisoner has proven to the world that he’s abandoned his old shady life and reformed himself.

This isn’t quite that story. This is the story of a man who is still in… Continue Reading

Motorcycle nomad Pat Sherwood says he understands the lure of gangs—and he’s proud to be a member of the CrossFit crew.

I understand why people join gangs. In my mind, your gang is simply the crew you share common interests with. It could be as tame as your neighborhood book club or as extreme as the local chapter of the Hells Angels.

Before anyone loses his or her shit because I’ve implied that I understand why… Continue Reading

With MLB playoff battles raging, Mike Warkentin looks at the anatomy of the bench-clearing baseball fight.

A precisely manicured ball field is a thing of beauty, and the best are gorgeous temples built in honor of the sport of baseball.

There’s a geometric elegance to the ball field, which is home to skilled specialists who run the spectrum from amazing physical specimens to freakishly talented trolls… Continue Reading

For five weeks, Emily Beers obsessed about the CrossFit Games Open. She tied her self-worth to her performance. Then she went to Haiti. And things changed.

“Today I’m surrounded by poverty and hunger. The Open is the furthest thing from my mind,” she says only days after completing the final workout of the five-week competition.

At a school, Beers dishes out a salty cornmeal paste for children. The meal includes weeds, leaves and dirt.

… Continue Reading

Pat Sherwood explains the delicate balance between pupusa and push-ups.

On my current incredible CrossFit motorcycle adventure, I’m constantly exposed to new local food and drink at the affiliates we visit. Each country, region or town has some delicious delicacy that the local CrossFit athletes insist we try.

There have been grilled steaks, chicken and seafood that even the strictest nutrition-crazy athlete would have eaten… Continue Reading