Laura Matuszak has been there for 15 years. She owns and operates the USA Swimming club, and she’s also the head coach. The team, which competes as far away as California, began doing CrossFit as part of its so-called “dry-land training” in the last year and a half. It’s a great departure from previous conditioning work that included 20 minutes of running and 3 sets of 10 of basic exercises.

According to Matuszak, the swimmers, who range in age from 6 to 20, got into it pretty easily.

“There’s no doubt their measurable strength changes,” she says. “They have such a greater, broader range of movement that they’re confident with and they’re comfortable with. I think they have a better understanding of their body and how it works, and that’s always going to help them eventually push their limits.”

She adds: “I think we’re giving these kids athletic potential that we’re going to see … in the future.”

Video by Again Faster.

12min 55sec

Additional reading: Pukie at the Pool by Roy Wallack and Brian Nabeta, published April 18, 2009.

Prep all the body parts beforehand and create this insect with your kid. Make its legs out of anything you have handy. We chose colorful carrots and red peppers.

“When I snap from arch to hollow, in the back of my swing I find this little weightless moment only if I come to an aggressive stop,” Galassi says. “If your rhythm is correct and if you’re tight, there is a moment.”

The feet should be in front, and you become weightless. From there, you can jump your hands off the bar.

“That’s the moment when you’re the lightest” and when you want to pull, she explains.

Galassi also advises to have as much of your knuckle on top of the bar to shorten the distance you have to pull.

To cycle through multiple pull-ups, remember: chin over, feet forward, reset, arch back, pull again, she says.

In terms of the butterfly pull-up, Galassi says the positions are no different than a kipping pull-up.

“It’s still an arch, hollow—that’s the foundation of your pull-up. And midline stability,” she says.

13min 8sec

Additional reading: Above the Bar: A Weekend Pull-Up Summit by Lisa Ilka Abrams, published Dec. 8, 2011.

August marked the end of my sixth year of CrossFit, and let me tell you, it has been one hell of a ride. Since 2005, I’ve gone from watching Greg Amundson’s WOD demos on CrossFit.com while working a real-estate job that I did not enjoy to working for CrossFit Headquarters, teaching Level 1 Seminars and meeting CrossFitters from around the world.

I truly enjoy the many aspects of my current position at CrossFit Headquarters; however, my favorite by far is explaining CrossFit methodologies to an audience. That audience may be a random person I strike up a conversation with on an airplane, 50 to 100 people at a Level 1 Seminar, or tens of thousands of people tuned into the media coverage of the 2011 CrossFit Games.

After six years, I have lots of experiences to share that will hopefully help newer athletes and coaches get on the right path a whole lot sooner than I did. Anything that you can do wrong in CrossFit, I’ve probably done. I’m a slow learner. I usually try to break the wall that is in my way before I decide to go over or around it. So, I’ve decided to share some of my lessons learned in the hope of making other CrossFitters’ learning curves better than mine.

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 about how the 26-year-old found CrossFit and how it changed him, physically and mentally.

“It was a fantastic journey watching him … shed weight, become a better person, be more alive,” Eric O’Brien says.

Part 2 focuses on Miller’s accident while attempting a deadlift PR. Miller ended up walking four months after the injury.

“I just said to myself, ‘There’s too many good things in my life for me not to be able to walk again.’”

In Part 3, Miller is back at CrossFit, easing into things with two or three workouts a week and plenty of modifications at first. He’ll keep doing CrossFit forever, he says.

“CrossFit has transformed my life, and made me feel really, really great,” he says. “CrossFit didn’t screw up my life. I screwed up my own life by getting myself to be a head case.”

Part 1
6min 11sec

Part 2
10min 52sec

Part 3
11min 52sec

Additional reading: CrossFit—and My 10-Year-Old—Helped Me Beat Leukemia by Rick Reifenberg, published Dec. 19, 2011.

“He was lookin’ pretty nice. He had a nice body. He was lookin’ pretty tough, pretty ripped,” Callejas said.

Turns out his brother had been CrossFitting. At that time, Callejas was 5 foot 8 and about 205 lb. For the previous five or six years, he had been “sitting down on the couch watching TV … and not really exercising,” says the former high-school and college soccer player. So he hopped on the computer and searched for a CrossFit affiliate near his home in North Carolina. What he found was CrossFit Vitality in Concord, N.C.

Today, Callejas is 172 lb. and on CrossFit Vitality’s coaching staff. For the time being, he wants to keep improving as a CrossFitter and as a coach. Within the next two years, he’d like to open his own gym.

“I just enjoyed all aspects of it,” he says. “I just fell in love with it right away.”

6min 37sec

Additional reading: Coaching Fitness From Scratch by Stephanie Vincent, published Oct. 7, 2011.

“I had the drive. I really wanted to learn lifting, and I really wanted to go do it,” she says.

She either ignored the stares or tried to be assertive and talk to people. But not all women are like that, notes Abdullah, who last year became the first woman to lift in sanctioned U.S. Olympic-weightlifting competitions while wearing traditional Muslim dress covering the head, arms and legs.

That’s why it’s important to reach out and be encouraging to women of all cultural and religious backgrounds, she says.

“Maybe go out to communities and try to encourage them to do it because a lot of times … they just don’t have that initial motivation or encouragement, and I think that would definitely … help the CrossFit sport to grow.”

In general, it’s always going to be intimidating for women to walk into a gym “because when they see the workouts and they see what people do, they still don’t think that it’s something that they can do,” Abdullah says. “It’s always hard for me to convince even women that I know personally to go and do this kind of stuff.”

5min22sec

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Additional reading: Girls Ride Horses, Too by Bill Starr, published March 1, 2011.

Ever watched in awe as someone obliterates a workout?

Ever seen a human juggernaut explode through barriers?

It’s not only inspirational, but it also has the ability to compel you to action unlike any written article, spoken word or AC/DC record. It’s the power of example.

With childhood obesity rates becoming super-sized and the problem creating widespread social and economic concerns, the country’s most popular, profitable and influential sport is aiming to educate children about exercise and nutrition.

The NFL’s Play 60 message is simple: implore children to play 60 minutes a day, every day. It’s as long as National Football League athletes play on Sundays and is a national initiative funded by the league, which has committed more than $250 million to the cause.

“It grew really fast, really quick,” Steve says. “That first year was a blur.”

Before that, Jessica had been a stay-at-home mom.

“This is actually the first time I’ve had a regular outside-of-the-home job,” she says.

Today, the couple has 11 coaches who help run the business, and the pair bring their 3-year-old daughter to the box as much as possible.

“There’s not a better place for (her) to grow up other than a CrossFit box,” Steve says. “She’s around strong, motivating people. It’s teaching her that fitness can be fun, being healthy can be fun.”

He adds: “Plus, if she can snatch 200 lb. and do a double-body-weight squat, I don’t have to worry when she turns 18 or 20 and she starts dating. She can take care of herself, right?”

8min 1sec

Additional reading: One-Year Reflection by Leon Chang and Paul Estrada, published May 30, 2011.

Birthday milestones never meant much to me—30, 40, 50 years old—bah, who cares?

But 60? That’s a serious number. One can no longer claim to be middle-aged, and Social Security, Medicare and other indices of old age are looming realities. Thus, as my 60th birthday approached, I found myself contemplating how I could whip my body into shape and get an additional decade or two of use out of it.

I found TwinTown CrossFit primarily because it was located two blocks from my home. I talked to Teddy Kim, the owner, who told me his own before-and-after story. Before: 5 foot 7, 245 lb., pre-diabetic, micro-fractures in his feet from carrying all that weight. After: the chiseled hunk of granite I saw before me. I did the baseline workout and, of course, it was brutal.

Sign me up.

The WOW (Workout of the Week) is from CrossFit WV.

Five rounds for time of:
9 chest-to-bar pull-ups
12 pistols
95-lb. power snatch, 15 reps

2:45 George Ryan has developed a system of striking and self-protection that he teaches to law-enforcement officers around the country. In the CrossFit Striking Trainer Course, attendees are not only introduced to this system but also learn how to incorporate striking into their CrossFit programming. Ryan explained what people will learn at his seminars and how a CrossFitter would benefit by attending. He shared a little of his background and how he found CrossFit. As a law-enforcement officer, Ryan says he benefits daily from his CrossFit training, and he spoke about why it’s important for those who serve and protect to attain elite fitness.

29:50 Bob Weeks is a man on a mission: to raise awareness and money for the Wounded Warrior Project. In order to do that, he’s planning on running 444 miles across North Carolina in May. He spoke about why this means so much to him and why he wants so badly to help the cause. Weeks is an endurance athlete who has used running and CrossFit to overcome life’s trials. He spoke about running a marathon in each of the 50 states, plus Washington D.C., and described how he found CrossFit and why he loves the community so much. He ended by explaining what the Fix 4 the Day Tour is and how CrossFitters can get involved.

58min 38sec

As a member of CrossFit Reston in Virginia, the former model ditched her old image for a new one.

“I would not say that being muscular or being fit was encouraged as a model,” Dziak says. “It was all about being skinny, being a Size 0, double 0. That whole skinny-fat thing that exists where a girl is a Size 0 but she’s got no tone on her was completely acceptable.”

Not only has her body changed “for the better” since starting CrossFit, but Dziak also competed for the first time last year. In the end, she didn’t make the box’s team, which finished 23rd at last year’s Games, but she was an alternate.

“Just daily activities, I feel so much more confident doing things, lifting things that I think the average girl would shy away from,” she says.

5min 45sec

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Additional reading: Get With the Program by Monique Ames, published Feb. 14, 2010.

I am talking, on the phone, to Jordan Levin. Normal. Mundane, even.

When I emailed Jordan, I wasn’t sure how this would go, how we would do the interview. Maybe it’d have to be done through email. Or a chat window. Here’s the thing: Jordan Levin was born deaf. And he still is.

“Right now,” Jordan says, his voice sounding pretty normal after having traveled 700 miles from Michigan to my cell phone, “I am talking to you on my iPhone, and everything you say is showing up on the screen.”

This is just all so “normal,” I think. This is not about faking normal with an iPhone. It’s not being made normal through the technological advancement of hearing aids. It’s not about making do with sign language. Jordan became normal through the to-the-core stubbornness of his parents, through his own striving and persistence and insistence.

It took Jordan every minute, hour and day for many years, but eventually he broke down abnormal. He pinned disabled to the mat.

Jordan Levin earned normal.

The video and audio articles are not contained in the PDF.

The articles included here are:

CrossFit Akwesasne: Done With the Blame Game - Beers
CrossFit Kids “Switch” - Martin
Made in the U.S.A. - Burton
Out of the Box - Achauer
Think Like a Bumblebee, Train Like a Racehorse - Bergeron
Bringing Nutrition Home - Jones
Squash This - Brown/Dazet
Full Reverse, Admiral - Center
Tales of a 40-Year-Old Superhero - Erickson
Building Mental Toughness - Hermiz
Saved by the Barbell - Beers
Where Are Your Knees? - Martin
You Were Saying ... With Nicole Scott Smith - Burton
Trunk Full of CrossFit - Achauer
A Beginner’s Perspective - Parker
What Can Your Kid Do? Are You Sure? - Edelman
Sweet Cauliflower Mash - Brown/Dazet
Moving Beyond Muscle - Kula
I Am Not Cancer. I Am CrossFit. - Achauer
You Were Saying ... With Nathan Chmura - Burton
Grief and Pull-Ups - Taylor
Are Repetition and Novelty at Odds? - Martin

In this video, Kids Seminar Staff member John Brown explains how to teach the press series: the press, the thruster and the push press. That’s right: thruster before push press.

“Once we sort of set kids in motion with this explosive opening of the hips … the push press is now just a shortened range of motion for the thruster,” Brown explains.

After teaching kids how to hold up the sky—i.e., the press—the thruster is broken down into four steps: bottom of the front squat, stand up, transition the elbows to the press position and press, then return to the front rack position. The last step is particularly important.

“Practicing it this way when you’re a kid solidifies those movement patterns. … We don’t see crashing into the bottom of the thruster because this is the way they learned how to thruster,” Brown says.

Then, teaching the push press is easy: “Oompa-Loompa and press.”

Video by Again Faster.

10min 27sec

Additional reading: Throwing Down the Gauntlet by Hilary Achauer, published Nov. 19, 2011.

At the CrossFit Kids Trainer Course, we discuss some teaching methodologies based on how kids learn. They learn primarily through imitation and shared attention, and retention is then further enhanced through repetition, novelty and complexity. Novel experiences are more likely to be retained.

Likewise, youngsters with short attention spans learning perishable skills will also benefit and retain more through repetition. Think of it as a kind of insurance that important concepts and movements will be embedded through the development of neural and motor pathways that will be retained through the period when “pruning” begins.

Upon first glance, these concepts of repetition and novelty seem to be at odds with each other. This is where creativity comes in.

The Bethel Park, Pa., box is more than 3,000 square feet inside a building that includes a 4,000-square-foot court for basketball hockey, soccer and volleyball. Originally, Integrated Fitness worked out of a 1,100-square-foot space, says Jim Crowell, head trainer and one of the gym owners.

“We wanted to do some sport-specific training on top of CrossFit, and we really wanted to take our CrossFit classes to a much bigger level and do a lot more things that would help us train a lot more effectively,” he says.

Inside, the gym’s equipment includes many items typically used by powerlifters. With the variety of athletes training at Integrated Fitness—tennis players, football players, baseball players, mixed-martial-arts competitors, BMX racers—Crowell says the focus is on strengthening clients’ weaknesses.

“We do … a lot of different lifts and special-exercise work,” says Crowell, who played tennis at Pennsylvania State University.

5min 21sec

Additional reading: Sport-Specific Training Using CrossFit Fundamentals by Kevin W. Cann Jr., published May 14, 2011.

About three-and-a-half years ago, I slammed into my first real-life monster. I lost my husband, Josh, in an accident. At the time of his death, I was 24 years old and five months pregnant with our first son. The year following my husband’s death was a lot of things—confusing and sad at first, and then exhausting and sad once I had my son. I spent a lot of time crying in my bathrobe and feeling like I was aging at an exponential rate. I loved my new baby, but my own identity was deteriorating at an alarming speed.

Somehow, I realized that exercise was an essential part of recovering my former self and that internal strength and endurance were directly proportional to external strength and endurance.

My older sister kept pushing me to start CrossFit. When she was home for the holidays, I couldn’t believe how much stronger she looked just from a few months of CrossFit. Slowly, she got me started on CrossFit despite the fact that I had every excuse in the book.

As months passed, I bought one more small thing to add to my gym. And while my son slept, I would be in my garage using some pretty awful form to try to resurrect my broken body and soul. The craziest part is that it actually started to work.

A fast, efficient pull-up has three key ingredients, she says: the hollow-body position, the appropriate grip on the bar and the right timing.

“This arch is an opening of the shoulders. It has very little to do with your lower back,” Galassi explains. “If your ribs come out, it means that your butt’s not turned on.”

Tension in the entire body and keeping it locked in one piece is the first part of the lesson.

“It is how fast can you get from one shape to the other—that’s what’s going to make you pull,” she says. “Any delay, any bent piece of your body, you’ll completely stop moving. And at that point, the pull-up’s over.”

She adds: “Going from the tight arch to a hollow is the pull-up.”

Next, she talks grip, as well as the timing of the pull.

“Think about coming to a really distinct end shape: … your feet are in front of you. Open up those shoulders!”

12min 38sec

Additional reading: Above the Bar: A Weekend Pull-Up Summit by Lisa Ilka Abrams, published Dec. 8, 2011.

“Marathons and all that,” he says. “When I got past 40, I stopped. I’m 63 now. I stopped doing all that and started running to the refrigerator—and it started to show.”

Menjou began working out at CrossFit Ero in Torrance, Calif., on a recommendation from a friend who had made major life changes.

“The last time I saw him he could barely get through the … doorway without turning sideways, so I said, ‘What the heck have you been doing?’ and he said, ‘CrossFit.’”

“It’s been great,” he adds.

Because Menjou has had cartilage removed from his knees, running and the prowler aren’t his favorite movements.

And despite his wife’s initial aversion to sweating, she now accompanies him to CrossFit.

“It’s something we can do together. Isn’t there a saying that the family that sweats together stays together?” he says with a laugh.

Together, the couple lost 20 lb. in three months and was able to cut cholesterol medication in half “just by exercising. We’re doing the Paleo Diet also,” Menjou says.

“We’re converted. We’re going to do this as long as we can keep moving.”

3min 54sec

Additional reading: Training Silvers by Joey Powell, published May 28, 2010.

One is a logistics manager at a stationary plant, another stays at home, and the third is a middle-school principal.

All three women say the same thing: There’s no good reason not to come to CrossFit—specifically Oceanside CrossFit in Oceanside, Calif.

“I have to make it here. This is how I relieve my stress,” the logistics manager says. “We make time. It’s not an option. We have to work out.”

She adds: “If a working parent can do it, anybody can do it.”

The key is making working out a priority, the middle-school principal says.

“You build it into your calendar, and that’s kind of a sacred time,” she advises. “Don’t let the … grind of the day distract from that.”

The stay-at-home mom brings along her toddler, who sits in a stroller during the WOD.

“I love playing with him … but this is important for my sanity, too. So that’s why I come,” she says. “This is an appointment. I don’t miss doctor’s appointments. I don’t miss times that I have scheduled for (my son) for daycare.”

Oceanside CrossFit trainer Gabriel Kessler echoes those sentiments. He has a job and a 5-year-old daughter.

“I’m here,” he says with a smile. “No excuses.”

7min 36sec

Additional reading: Fast Food by Greg Glassman, published Dec. 1, 2002.

The CrossFit Journal is pleased to present another profile designed to help you get to know some of the best people in our community.

Nate Chmura is a Level 1 trainer at CrossFit Nor’Easter, in Hartford, Conn.

He has a soft spot for Bill Murray.

For nine years, he was a deputy sheriff in Santa Cruz County, Calif., and he worked at the Drug Enforcement Administration for four years. Today, he still serves as a reserve officer in Santa Cruz. In this video, he speaks to members of the Richland County Sheriff’s Department in Columbia, S.C., about what CrossFit can do for them.

“What studies have shown us about lethal confrontations and those cops that survive (is that) many times it’s not just physical fitness or physical ability. It’s the belief they had in themselves—that belief that, ‘I will overcome any threat I face on the street.’”

CrossFit is tough, Amundson concedes. But “what it also does is it builds this tangible belief in the physical ability that the officers and deputies, the agents, the law-enforcement profession needs to win the unknown and unknowable challenge on the street.”

Law-enforcement officers, Amundson argues, are professional athletes more so than UFC fighters.

“When you hit the street, when you’re behind your patrol car, do you know when the fight for your life will be? Do you know how many opponents you will face? Is there a referee? So you tell me, which athlete has more demand?”

Click here for more information and a list of upcoming CrossFit Goal Setting Trainer Courses.

11min 2sec

Additional reading: CrossFit Training for Law Enforcement: Jacksonville Five Years Later by T.J. Cooper and Phil Canto, published Sept. 1, 2007.

When Kelly Knight turns on her phone, the first thing she sees is this quote by Martha Washington: “I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may find myself.”

Knight, a 48-year-old registered nurse, has found herself in some dark situations lately. Her son, now 25, has been sick for the past five years. Nobody could figure out the problem until a recent visit to the Mayo Clinic uncovered a tumor in his adrenal glands. In the midst of caring for and worrying about her son, Knight was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in December 2010. The cancer spread to her lymph nodes, and she went through two full rounds of radiation.

In October 2011, Knight visited RSA CrossFit in Kennewick, Wash. Owner Joey Sanchez, a cancer survivor himself, greeted her and showed her around. Sanchez was diagnosed with synovial cell sarcoma when he was 15 years old. He almost lost his left arm, but after several surgeries and chemotherapy, he has been cancer-free for 15 years. Knight started slowly but was immediately hooked.

The WOW (WOD of the Week) is from CrossFit 413 in Ft. Smith, Ark.

Start a 10-minute running clock.
15-12-9 reps of:
115-lb. thrusters
Chest-to-bar pull-ups
Complete as many burpees as possible in the time remaining. Your score will be total burpees performed.

4:00 Kasey Marble started CrossFitting by following CrossFit.com and doing the WODs in his high-school weight room before joining an affiliate. Marble described how CrossFit is now his sport and explained what it was like to compete in a CrossFit competition for the first time. His goals now include making it to the Reebok CrossFit Games Regionals as an individual or as part of a team, and he talked about how his training and diet will help him reach his goals.

18:05 Dr. Ken Gall is a professor of mechanical engineering at Georgia Tech. He came on the show to talk about being more effective in your workouts by keeping in mind the principles of power output and work capacity. Dr. Gall talked about science and how it applies to CrossFit. Take, for example, dropping a weight or lowering it down. Dr. Gall discussed which choice would lead to an increase in work capacity based on science, and he explained fascinating studies and mini-experiments he conducts during WODs. He also talked about different Games competitors and how size can either be an advantage or disadvantage depending on the exercise.

57min 43sec

Ramadan is a month in which participating Muslims don’t eat, drink, smoke or have sex from sunrise to sunset; it is intended to teach patience, spirituality, humility and submissiveness to God.

“The fasting means you’re not even drinking water. There’s no fluid, no foods, nothing from those times,” says Abdullah, who works out at CrossFit Atlanta.

When Abdullah does met-cons at the start of Ramadan, they are definitely a shock to her system, she says. Thus, she scales and takes breaks as needed.

“Weightlifting is a little bit easier … because you get your breaks and you’re not losing as much water,” Abdullah explains.

Still, the beginning is rough.

“I could barely do as much as I could,” she says. “But then when my body got acclimated, I was doing OK.”

When it’s time to eat, Abdullah says she eats protein, fat and sometimes low-carb vegetables.

7min 29sec

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Additional reading: The CrossFit-Oly Hybrid by Bob Takano, published Aug. 8, 2011.

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 deep-tissue massage?

Individuals partaking in an exercise program like CrossFit can benefit from understanding the difference not only between isolation exercises and functional movements, but also between muscle-based therapies and those that address the body globally in a functional way.

The poor flexibility and orthopedic imbalances many CrossFitters display aren’t a result of CrossFit—as some contend—but from poor work posture and old injuries. While movement patterns improve with CrossFit, it is my own experience from coaching athletes, teaching self-care and providing soft-tissue work to CrossFitters that some of these imbalances do not just go away with CrossFit but are chronic and continue to limit performance. It is these chronic restrictions that muscle-based therapies fail to resolve and only are addressed with a fascially based approach like structural integration, or SI.

All told, there are roughly a dozen members of Brenda Glidden’s extended family who work out at CrossFit Relentless in West Hartford, Conn.

“I knew that they would like this,” she says of her two sisters.

Others took longer to convince.

“My parents said, ‘Absolutely not. There’s no way on Earth we’re going to do this.’”

“At first I thought she was crazy,” her dad blurts out between breaths while doing a WOD.

“We were like, ‘I don’t know if that’s for us. We’re too old,’” says Glidden’s mom.

But Glidden’s dad came in and was hooked. And when his wife saw how happy he was, she decided to give it a try. For Glidden’s husband, CrossFit has been like returning to childhood, he says.

“I feel like we’ve turned the clock back about 15 years,” he says. “It’s awesome.”

16min 36sec

Additional reading: Beyond the CrossFit Games: Part 4 by Jack Goodson, published July 25, 2011.

Turn a bland head of cauliflower into a sweet and crunchy mash and soon your kids will ask you to make them vegetables!

In Part 4, Blauer talks about the Trojan Horse Concept.

The drill involves two people simulating hand-to-hand combat postures and develops “non-telegraphic explosiveness,” he says.

“This is extremely empowering if you connect to this.”

In the seminar, Blauer instructs one set of participants to grab at balls of blue tape affixed to other participants’ T-shirts. The goal is to try to push away the danger of being hit or punched.

“What do we know about sudden danger and the human survival system? It pushes away danger. Does that work for the bad guy, too?” he asks. “Yeah.”

The hand isn’t quicker than the eye, and the eye isn’t quicker than the hand, Blauer says. Instead, the hand is quicker than the mind.

“You need to process the risk or the threat and neuromuscularly say, ‘Hey, get the fuck outta dodge. Incoming.’”

10min 39sec

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Additional audio: CrossFit Radio Episode 191 by Justin Judkins, published Sept. 28, 2011.

We are near the end of CrossFit Brand X’s Teen weightlifting class. Fifteen-year-old M. tightens his belt and steps onto the platform. In pursuit of a one-rep max back squat, he has already PR’d, so this 285-lb. attempt is gravy. He positions himself under the bar, lifts it and steps out of the rack. Jeff Martin spots him from behind. M goes for it. Nothing looks right. He is wiggly, buckles and gets buried. To the naked eye, it appears he bit off more than he could chew.

Martin helps him back to the rack. “You want to try again?” he asks as M. undoes his belt. The young man blinks, nods.

A few minutes later, M. belts up, unracks the bar and backs out. Big breath, hips back and down. Rock solid. Boom. M. explodes out of the hole and stands with a huge PR.

“Nice lift,” Martin tells him.

Later, with a nonchalant fist bump, I tell M., “Way to get back under the bar.”

“I knew exactly what I did wrong,” he tells me, smiling, “and how to fix it.”

Bellis trained with a boxing coach and at Reebok CrossFit Canterbury but wasn’t prepared for a hospitalization two months before the fight. She recovered, trained hard and really invested herself in her training. She recalls thinking, “I know I’m working harder than she is right now.”

Despite her setback in the hospital, the reporter felt more than prepared to enter the ring at the Fight for Christchurch event on Nov. 25, 2011.

“Going into the night, I was so confident,” she said.

When the leather started to fly, Bellis was in control of the bout, and she went on to win by unanimous decision. She also raised about $8,000 for charity.

4min 56sec

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Additional reading: Got Striking? by George Ryan, published Dec. 29, 2010.

“By the end of that car ride and the end of the day, we’d made the agreement that when we got back, ‘Hell, we’re going to start our own box,’” Andy Ruddick says of how he and co-owner Peter Davis schemed CrossFit HG3 into existence.

Davis adds: “Our business plan got written on a whiteboard for like a night, and that was it.”

Today, the Harrogate, North Yorkshire, box is 1,500 square feet of working space that came about after the two men visited about 20 boxes in the country to see what worked for others. It has nearly 40 full-time members and is starting a CrossFit Kids program and a class targeting mothers.

“It’s the community that I come for really,” one member says. “I used to go to one of the ‘normal’ gyms … and no one would speak to you. You come here and everyone’s cheering each other on, pushing each other. … The atmosphere’s totally different. I mean you could do a lot of this stuff on your own, but where’s the fun in that?”

11min 3sec

Additional reading: It’s All for the Boobs by Hilary Achauer, published Oct. 25, 2011.

“You just have to let go,” she explains. “You have to just take a big breath and … hope for the best.”

But it wasn’t always like that for Moran. Her first two months at the box were marked by anxiety.

“For the first two months, I was terrified of everything,” Moran says. “I was really scared of the weights and when they would slam down.”

These days, her deadlift is about 260 lb. Not only does she feel better physically, she says, but CrossFit has made her a better musician.

“The way that I sing after doing CrossFit is totally different than I used to sing. I wasn’t physical on stage. I didn’t use my body. It just didn’t move through me the way it does today.”

The training methodology also inspired Moran to write the song Fight.

“I wasn’t in a great place before I came here,” she says, holding back tears. “I just kept fighting through it in that first year. You just fight every time you come in here.”

9min 52sec

Additional reading: Staying in the Fight by Mark Divine, published Sept. 12, 2011.

A little more than two years ago, I attended my first CrossFit class. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. My friend, who suggested I go, called it “bootcamp.” He said he loved it because it lasted an hour, there was some stretching, and the workouts were short. That’s all I knew about CrossFit. Nothing more.

I also knew I needed some form of exercise badly. I was 44 years old. I had played rugby until I was 41. I had barely exercised between the ages of 41 and 44. I had gained enough weight—well, a lot of weight—so I could no longer run without pain. From rugby, my back was so stiff I could barely bend over to pick up things. I felt old. I felt stuck. No team sports. Lifting weights alone would not fix things, and running any long distance was out of the question.

Today, I find myself thinking about what it was like as a CrossFit beginner and what made me come back time and again. In this article, I share those thoughts in hopes that a view from a “consumer” will help affiliate owners, coaches and other beginners.

The WOW (Workout of the Week) is from Element CrossFit.

Squat, 5 reps
Then complete as many rounds as possible in 15 minutes of:
135-lb. power clean, 5 reps
5 burpees
135-lb. thruster, 5 reps
5 burpees

4:30 Jordan and Paula Gravatt own CrossFit by Overload. They also create media for CrossFit HQ, and Paula is CrossFit HQ’s Affiliate Manager. Because Paula’s plate isn’t full enough, she agreed to be the coordinator for the upcoming CrossFit Tour, which kicks off Feb. 3-5 in Gold Coast, Australia. Paula explained what the tour is and why CrossFitters should attend. Jordan related how they started their affiliate in their garage and grew into the space they now occupy, and he described the challenges they have overcome to find success.

29:50 Dan Bailey won the 2011 Reebok CrossFit Games Open competition and went on to place sixth at the Games. He described what that experience was like for him and then talked about his 2012 training with past champions Mikko Salo and Graham Holmberg. Bailey talked about his programming and his strength training, as well as things he has learned from Salo. Interestingly, Bailey recently got a position as a graduate assistant strength-and-conditioning coach at Tennessee Tech and is now working out with yet another CrossFit Games champ: Rich Froning Jr.

50min 5sec

“I thought I knew how to deadlift. I thought I knew how to squat,” says Schneider, who is the faculty adviser to Pitt student organization Panther CrossFit.

As he searched for a strength-and-conditioning program, a friend told him about CrossFit.com.

“Did my first workout, was wiped out and knew I was onto something that was totally different, and (I) went on to have the best competitive year I had in judo in my career at that point.”

Everything got better, Schneider says.

“I got 20 pull-ups for the first time after doing CrossFit.”

He shaved a minute off his 3-mile time and felt better prepared for new challenges faced in the Physical Screening Test—known as the PST—he endured as a member of the military.

“When I started I didn’t know anyone else was CrossFitting,” Schneider says. “I did it in the gym and everyone looked at me like I did something crazy, and I thought I discovered this new magical thing that nobody else knew about.”

5min 52sec

Additional reading: Toward Better Military PT Tests by 1st Lt. Matthew Hoff, published June 24, 2009.

The most common places to do CrossFit are in an affiliate, a home gym or a Globo Gym. Derik Ledesma does CrossFit out of his car.

Here’s a standard equipment loadout that fits into Ledesma’s Honda CRV:

• Bumpers: four 45s, two 35s and two 15s
• Rogue bar
• 11-foot rope he braided himself
• Olympic-lifting shoes
• Chalk bucket
• Squat stand
• PVC pipe
• Jump rope
• 1.5-pood kettlebell
• 2 rubber pads to save his seats and for bumpers to land on instead of concrete
• Two toddler car seats.

What’s the most gear you've piled in your vehicle for a WOD? Post lists to comments!

After 12 years in New Zealand’s national women’s game, she found her training stale. Enter Reebok CrossFit Canterbury, which recently opened in Canterbury, New Zealand.

“I just wanted to try something different,” Bowden explains. “I came along and fell in love with the concept.”

A different workout each day is what she loves, she says.

“And I love competing against the boys,” Bowden says with a big laugh. “I try to beat them.”

Denise Leggat, manager of Bowden’s netball team, says CrossFit “relates to netball superbly.”

“It’s fast, it’s dynamic,” she says.

A former player, Leggat says she’s noticed a difference in herself when she trains with the team. Her feet are faster, she can change directions quicker and her passes are stronger, she says.

CrossFit has elevated Bowden’s game as well, Leggat says.

“She’s a supremely fit athlete anyway—she always has been. But she’s noticed that she’s just got a different sort of dynamic in her netball training already,” she says. “And she’s definitely finding that she’s stronger and she’s gotten sort of quicker off the mark.”

6min 35sec

Additional reading: If the Shoe Fits … by Kevin Daigle, published Feb. 7, 2011.

The CrossFit Journal is pleased to present the first in a series of profiles designed to help you get to know some of the best people in our community.

Nicole Scott Smith is a Level 1 trainer at CrossFit SoMo in West Plains, Mo.

When she grows up, she wants to be Chuck Norris’ shadow.

If someone has trouble with an overhead squat, the split snatch might be a great option when it’s time to pull a bar overhead. Similarly, if an athlete can’t produce a vertical torso in a squat, the split snatch will create a much better receiving position.

Josh Everett, who’s known as one of CrossFit’s best Olympic weightlifters, uses the split snatch himself and goes over its finer points.

The first and second pull are the same as in the squat snatch, and the footwork for the split snatch is similar to that of the jerk: the feet go into a lunge position. In a split snatch, the loads will be lighter than in a max clean and jerk, so the lunge will be deeper than it is in a jerk. The back knee, however, must stay off the ground in competition.

When snatching, you have to pull the bar about 6 inches higher when using the split technique, but it’s a little bit more forgiving of form errors than the squat snatch. That means the variation is well suited to fast, powerful athletes who can pull a bar very high and get under it quickly.

And even if you have a great squat snatch, why not try the split once in a while? CrossFit, of course, is all about variety.

18min 53sec

Additional reading: Burg’s Eye View No. 4 by Mike Burgener, published March 7, 2011.

“Knees out! Knees out!”

If the workout has squats in it and you are in a CrossFit box, you will hear this cue—or you should hear it—being yelled out throughout the WOD. When we teach the mechanics of the squat, we discuss that the knees must be in line with the feet. This is the most efficient and safest way for us to squat.

Most of our kids begin squatting by letting their knees fall in. With teenagers, this can be due to inflexibility, weakness or just a lack of kinesthetic awareness. Whatever the reason, we cannot allow it to continue; it is neither efficient nor safe in the long run. But with a little focus work, these teens will have beautiful squats.

Before discussing the fixes, though, let’s discuss how and when to cue knees out.

In Part 3, Blauer talks about “in-action,” which is very different from “inaction.”

The bad guy, he says, is always “waiting, waiting” until he can strike.

“The way you beat action is through in-action,” he says. “In-action is the art and science of going, ‘I see that.’ It’s having tactical awareness—not just the scenario, but the pre-contact view.”

In-action beats action, Blauer says.

“If you got a bad feeling about something, immediately address it as quick as you can,” he explains. “You think you’re being followed, stop, turn around and look.”

Most bad guys don’t want to get caught or hurt, Blauer says.

“If you’re going to shine the spotlight on them early, there’s a statistical chance that they’re just going to bolt if it’s opportunistic.”

Follow the three Ds, he says: detect, diffuse, defend.

“Real self-defense is, really 66 percent of it, is about having your awareness and your shit together here,” Blauer says, pointing to his head.

10min 10sec

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Additional video: A Natural Self-Defense Tool Box by Tony Blauer, published Aug. 10, 2010.

“The Flower that Blooms in Adversity is the most Rare and Beautiful of all…” was written by Chris Schaalo of CrossFit Taranis, and it told the story of two-time individual CrossFit Games competitor Alicia Connors.

In the post on the Old Country Strong blog, Schaalo went on to reveal that Connors attempted suicide a few years ago after a long battle with depression, anxiety and eating disorders. When I read Connors’ story, I subconsciously found myself back in that place—to a day I had blocked out for years.

All of a sudden, I am 10 again and at gymnastics practice. I see the scale under the coach’s arm; I know what it’s for. I rush to the bathroom, panicked. Then I decide to try it: I cautiously stick my finger down my throat for the first time. To my surprise, it works. I throw up.

I don’t feel any better. I know that I’m still about to be exposed on the scale as the heaviest girl there. There’s no way out of this. I leave the bathroom shaking and join my training mates in a line.

One by one, girls step onto the scale. Finally, it’s my turn. Heart pounding, red-faced, I cautiously mount the scale. It spits out a number. I weigh 96 lb., a solid 30 lb. more than the others

I am horrified.

“Time and intensity is how you want to look at things,” he says. “First, we look at how long you can literally last.”

A common problem, he says, is an insufficient warm-up.

“Trail running is a very athletic thing. It’s not just running.”

For those who want to compete, his advice is to look at the length of the race and where you can handle running a specific time “at a really good clip.”

“There’s progressing into these things that allows you to have more success in it versus going out and just slogging something out, blowing up in the first 20 minutes and then having to walk the rest of the time,” he explains.

MacKenzie adds: “It’s not the aerobic base that’s going to get you to the finish line. It’s that ability to go hard and be able to do it repeatedly, which is stamina.”

Video by Again Faster.

Click here for more information and a list of upcoming CrossFit Endurance Trainer Courses.

5min 7sec

Additional reading: Lessons From a Pose Seminar by Paul Eich, published Dec. 14, 2011.

The focus is on fun at the 10,000-square-foot facility that’s home to four female CrossFit Games competitors, says affiliate owner Michael Latch. The box was the 27th affiliate to open.

“I always operate with the saying, ‘People will pay more to be entertained than they will to be taught,’” he says. “We’re trying to educate people and get ’em fit, but we have fun while we’re doing it.”

Even when Valley CrossFit athletes are training for the Games, the mood isn’t serious, he says.

“Everybody’s laughing and having fun, and they go out and they do well in the Games. I kind of think the proof is in the pudding.”

Latch started training people in a park, then moved his business into a 2,300-square-foot space before finding the current one. Without a loan or investors to help him start up, he acquired a piece of equipment whenever he got paid, becoming known as a “craigslist junkie.” It’s there he finds things like balance beams.

“I want them to be exposed to a lot of different things. ... It’s the definition of CrossFit,” he says.

6min 44sec

Additional reading: Get With the Program by Monique Ames, published Feb. 14, 2010.

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 creative about adapting the exercises to make it doable for her.”

Thomas faces physical challenges, but that doesn’t stop her from giving her best effort in every workout. Her teachers and care providers say improving Thomas’ ability to do functional tasks is critical to helping her live with cerebral palsy.

“CrossFit changed me by making my body feel stronger,” Thomas says through a computer.

Mother MaryAnn Thomas says Maddy’s goal is to always live at her best and experience everything, and it’s sound advice for just about anyone.

“Anybody can do anything their mind sets,” Maddy concludes.

10min 11sec

Additional reading: “U Die Slower If U Work Out” by Peter Jordan, published June 10, 2011.

My first encounter with CrossFit was about two years ago. It was dramatic, ugly and changed my naive self-image of being in shape.

Soon after the workout started, I was in complete shock. My heart was racing. I thought, “What the hell is happening?” and “I can’t finish this workout.” I believed these thoughts, and subsequently my emotional state was affected.

I was terrified, stressed and anxious. Of course, that didn’t help much. Because I was in a group, quitting wasn’t an option, so I saw the damn thing through in a near-death experience. Then I crawled into the fetal position, where I stayed for another 10 minutes.

My ego was bruised. How could I consider myself fit when I couldn’t handle a workout like that? I decided to change my ways and have since followed a CrossFit regimen that has done wonders for my physique. Interestingly enough, there has been a side effect to my changed exercise routine, as well. CrossFit—in combination with techniques I learned while studying to become a psychologist at Stockholm University—has developed mental toughness.

“We all moved into a loft that used to just hold transmission parts,” says the co-founder and director of production at Life As Rx. “So we scraped it down, we painted everything, and all three of us moved up here.”

The space is cramped and missing a window, and those who are taller than 6 feet can’t move about comfortably.

“We saw such a future in it that we had to give up our jobs, put everything into it,” Kurz says of the 4-year-old company.

The former warehouse is packed with shelves of apparel and accessories, as well the “shipping dragon” and bike preserved for superstitious reasons—both have been there since the company’s inception. And there’s also an Every Second Counts poster commemorating the 2009 CrossFit Games, the first year Life As Rx went to the event.

“A lot of us laugh about where the Games used to be, to where it’s at now—’cause it’s a whole different story,” Kurz says with a laugh. “We keep those friendly reminders of what used to be.”

Life As Rx itself continues to grow—even graduating to have its very own area for photo shoots.

“We iron our shirts now. We make sure there’s no fuzzies,” Kurz says, holding back laughter. “We do all the good stuff and we take all the time to do it. This is kind of the growing up of Life As Prescribed.”

9min 50 sec

Additional audio: CrossFit Radio Episode 13 by Neil Anderson, published Dec. 14, 2008.

To say that CrossFit changed my life is an understatement. It might even sound a little overdramatic to some people. But for those of us who love CrossFit, it’s completely understandable.

I was a moderately fit and athletic young person, but because of health problems and life in general, I spent the better part of my 30s more than 100 lb. overweight. I was married, had two children and was just getting by on a daily basis. I finally hit rock bottom one hot summer day at SeaWorld. I was so heavy my knees hurt and I was a sweaty mess. I went to the rental counter to rent an electric scooter. All of a sudden, I realized I was so fat and miserable I was actually going to rent a scooter. I was beyond disgusted with myself.

The next day, embarrassed and unsure, I and my friend Jena Pickard (aka G.I. Jena) walked into a Globo Gym and signed up for a membership and personal training.

I didn’t know it then, but my life was about to change.

The WOW (Workout of the Week) is from CrossFit Recoil.

Row: 5 minutes for calories
Turkish get-up: 4 minutes for reps
Push-ups: 3 minutes for reps
Squats: 2 minutes for reps
Ball slams: 1 minute for reps
Post total points to comments.

1:55 Nicole Tanzillo, also known as “Paleo Betty,” is a self-described foodie at CrossFit Central. Her transition into a dedicated CrossFitter and Paleo pro was a difficult one because of her love for all the wrong kinds of food. She told the story of her transition and how she even gave up her cake-designing business because of her dedication to the Paleo lifestyle. She described her failed attempts at losing weight and keeping it off before trying CrossFit, as well as how her life has changed since starting CrossFit.

25:40 CrossFit Radio correspondent Emily Beers presented a segment with Corey Auger, who told his story of having a $100-a-day addiction to drugs. Auger explained how fitness, specifically CrossFit, has helped him to turn his life around, end the addictions and start living a healthy life.

36:45 Annie Sakamoto started CrossFitting with Coach Greg Glassman in Santa Cruz, Calif., in the early days of CrossFit. She explained what it was like to be trained by the founder of CrossFit and how the programming was so simple yet beautiful back then. Annie placed ninth at the 2011 Reebok Crossfit Games and described her competitive experience before talking about how she plans to stay sharp for the upcoming competition season.

1hr 1min 33sec

“For two years prior to that I was doing absolutely nothing physical,” he says. “I felt like I was an 80-year-old man. I couldn’t pick my daughter up without pain. … I had to make some kind of a change.”

So at 8 a.m. on the Sunday of his 48th birthday, he woke up his wife, son and two daughters for a trip to CrossFit Charlotte.

He dragged the family down there and “told them that this is my birthday present—to myself,” he says.

A year later, Hussman is 160 lb.

“It’s just been life changing for me and my entire family,” he says. “I went from not being able to press 35 lb. over my head due to some back injuries to now I can put 155 or so over my head and not skip a beat. And it’s been the same type of effect for my family.”

His 20-year-old son, Cory; his 16-year-old daughter; and his wife all CrossFit. His 10-year-old daughter isn’t yet sold on the idea, but, Hussman says, “She’ll come.”

Cory joins his father for the 6 a.m. class four days a week.

“It’s awesome,” the younger Hussman says. “It’s great to see him getting in shape. It’s a whole lot better now than it was. I like that I can mess around with him every now and then—just doing stuff instead of sitting around and doing nothing.”

And the experience helps them bond, the older Hussman says.

“The results that I’ve seen within myself physically, emotionally, mentally—I see the same effect in my family,” he says. “We bought into the entire CrossFit idea.”

7min 35sec

Additional video: Meet CrossFit Charlotte by Andy Hendel, published Jan. 24, 2011.

I couldn’t get up from the floor.

My body—270 lb. and just 63 years old—lay prone because I lacked the strength to command it upright.

Rising from the floor is such a basic capability, a natural motion first achieved before most of us could even walk. And it was now a capability that existed only in my past. As a retired rear admiral in the U.S. Navy, this was a new and alarming experience. You don’t get to command warships with hundreds or even thousands of crew because you are incapable. My career took me to such a rank precisely because I’d always been so capable. I routinely surpassed a Navy-mandated level of physical fitness decade after decade.

Now, after leading destroyers and aircraft carriers through times of war and peace, I could not lead my own body to simply stand up.

How did this happen? How did I ever get like this? And, if I couldn’t even stand up on my own, how could I get back to being a capable, physically active person?

Not your typical CrossFit facility.

Panther CrossFit is a group of University of Pittsburgh students who came together over their fondness of CrossFit to form a club. It all started in 2008, when John Schneider hosted Fight Gone Bad 3 at his box, ThreeRivers CrossFit in Verona, Pa., just outside of Pittsburgh.

A Pitt student by the name of Zach Miller showed up and ended up scoring a “430-something” on the workout, Schneider says. Miller finished second in the country.

“And he said, ‘Hey I want to start this.’ And I was working at the university, so I was like, ‘OK, I’ll be the adviser for the club, and we’ll get it going,’” Schneider says. “All it is is a group of kids that come together, and they come to the local gyms which aren’t set up as (CrossFit gyms), but we find a way to make it work within the community we have here at the university.”

Most of the time, the group does WODs in the basement of the college’s Trees Hall, where the gym is shared with faculty and other community members.

“It’s a challenge,” Schneider says. “We have other people working out in the facility that aren’t accustomed to CrossFit ... . So whenever we’re making noise and the weights drop, people get scared or offended. And so we’ve had some conflicts with that. So we try to be polite and not upset anybody, but we still get our workouts in and improve our fitness.”

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8min 56 sec

Additional video: The Zach Miller Story, published Dec. 7, 2011.

This recipe is a great carbohydrate side dish to serve with lean protein and a hearty helping of leafy greens.

In Part 2, Blauer talks about things that are personal, passionate and present. These things are critical in finding motivation and the strength to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

When confronted with a threatening situation, what will get you moving to defend yourself? What will make you ferocious rather than frightened?

For some, it’s thoughts of a specific loved one, and for others it’s something very different.

What would it take to make you win a fight against all odds?

Think of something personal, passionate and present.

10min 55sec

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Additional audio: CrossFit Radio Episode 174 by Justin Judkins, published June 1, 2011.

An integral component of CrossFit Kids programming is a focus on nutrition, which is vital to facilitate healthy levels of activity. However, nutrition can be a sensitive topic.

While some of us CrossFit Kids trainers might possess strong opinions on how children should eat, we need to remain cautious in how we present our nutritional information so as not to alienate our clients’ parents. Our most imperative message to families is evolving bodies need prime fuel to learn and grow. Therefore, nutrition is one of the key building blocks for health and fitness in children.

I often get calls from parents unfamiliar with CrossFit requesting information about our CrossFit Kids Zone program because their child needs to “lose some weight.” They see exercise as the most apparent quick fix to this more deeply entrenched problem of childhood obesity. While they are absolutely correct that regular physical activity can help their child gain an advantage—both mentally and physically—what they are often overlooking is the need for proper nutrition inside the home to support physical activity.

But how do you get this message across to parents in a way that will take root?

In Part 2, the brothers are training on the beach, and it looks a little like the harsh tests of SEALFIT’s Kokoro Camp. With two competitive, powerful beasts going head-to-head at the highest level of their nation’s sport, you can expect the occasional punch-up, but father Ken Franks says his sons are always friends after the whistle.

After shaking the beach with vicious tackles, the brothers talk about the earthquake that hit their hometown in February 2011 and damaged or destroyed much of the city, including the rugby stadium. Despite never having a home game, the Christchurch Crusaders finished near the top of their league.

If the early part of 2011 was hard, the Franks brothers were rewarded for their perseverance at the Rugby World Cup, where the New Zealand All Blacks had the once-in-a-liftetime chance to claim gold on home soil. They did so on Oct. 23, 2011, in Auckland, beating France by a single point. It was the nation’s first championship in 24 years.

In addition to their sports-specific training, both brothers are dedicated CrossFitters and run their own affiliate: Reebok CrossFit Canterbury. They believe CrossFit helps them on the pitch.

“I use CrossFit as the icing on my cake,” Ben says. “It’s the thing I use to give me that edge. ... We use CrossFit as our edge.”

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18min 27sec

Additional video: All Black in Bonsall by Mike Burgener, published March 16, 2010.

In Part 6, Salo and Bailey hit ring dips ... with a weighted vest, of course. Interestingly, Salo feels the effects of the dips more in his triceps, while Bailey says it’s his chest that gets worked harder.

Working out at the Rogue facility has a few perks, so the champs pull out a prototype “football bar” based on one of Louie Simmons’ inventions. According to the Westside Barbell website, the bar will reduce stress on the rotator cuff and work all stabilizing muscles hard.

Perhaps most critical of all, Salo and Bailey answer the all-important question: “How often do you bench?”

After that, it’s time to test the football bar in a couplet of presses and pull-ups before discussing training intensity and skills days.

14min 12sec

Additional reading: Additional reading: Building a Strong Shoulder Girdle by Bill Starr, published Aug. 26, 2011.

A retired professional football player, Gallagher has owned a gym, Sonora Sports and Fitness Center, for the past 20 years. He already has a CrossFit affiliate, CrossFit Sonora Sports and Fitness Center, inside his gym, and classes are run by CrossFit trainer Allison Autrey. Temple is another personal trainer at the same gym.

For Gallagher, fitness has been a lifelong passion.

“I started working out when I was 14. I’d say from 14 to now 51, I’ve always done some kind of activity,” Gallagher says.

Gallagher says he wants to learn more about CrossFit because he is expanding the CrossFit program at his gym.

After the Level 1 workout, Temple says he is a CrossFit convert.

“I never was a CrossFit believer until now,” he says. “I used to just be one of those guys who just curled in front of the mirror.”

“It was fun. I enjoyed it,” Gallagher says of his experience at the Level 1 course. “I always like to know what it feels like to do it. So today I got that chance—it was good.”

Click here for more information and a list of upcoming CrossFit Level 1 Trainer Courses.

9min 22sec

Additional reading: Where I’ve Trained, What I’ve Learned by Russell Greene, published Dec. 27, 2010.

One of the most powerful and motivating coaching mantras I have ever stolen (yes, I steal from other coaches) was given to me while I was a triathlete training for Ironman in my former life.

Joe Friel, a world-class endurance coach and author of The Triathlete’s Training Bible, has a powerful message he uses to get his athletes to stay focused and believe in themselves during the long training season.

His message is “think like a bumblebee and train like a racehorse.” This message works as well, or even better, for CrossFitters as it does for endurance athletes. I have employed this message with every top-level CrossFit athlete I have coached, and I believe it is enough to bring an athlete from good to great.

Last spring when I was coaching the CrossFit New England Team to prepare for the CrossFit Games, this was a constant theme at every practice. The women on the team even got bumblebee earrings to remind themselves of this powerful message.

“These kids cues work great across all spectrums of client, whether it be the 3-year-old or the 73-year-old who’s never exercised before,” Brown says. “It’s really easy to get somebody even if they’re brand new off the street to squat moderately well if not really well following these cues.”

Brown walks his demonstrator through the squat using simple cues. For kids, he first defines the anatomy: shoulders, which help position the feet, and hips, which initiate the squat movement.

Next, he adds speed and intensity with an explosive hip movement. Then, he addresses common faults and their fixes.

For kids, front squats add a cue to keep the elbows elevated: “Use your elbows and shoot the wall like laser beams,” Brown says. He uses verbal and tactile cues to fix elbow faults.

The overhead squat is reserved for advanced kids and teens. Brown goes through his cues for the movement. According to him, the goal for kids coaching is to reward good movement and mechanics.

Click here for more information and a list of upcoming CrossFit Kids Trainer Courses.

Video by Again Faster.

15min 29sec

Additional reading: Will CrossFit Make American Kids Smarter? by Lisa Bakshi, published Jan. 26, 2009.

Ocean Beach is a coastal town in San Diego, Calif., known for its funky, hippy vibe. The main street, Newport Avenue, is full of antique stores, head shops, tattoo parlors, bars and surf shops. Most of the businesses are independent and locally owned.

The residents of Ocean Beach are so committed to locally owned businesses that when they got wind of a Starbucks opening in their neighborhood in 2001, they organized a grassroots protest to block the chain. They were unsuccessful, but the addition of the ubiquitous green logo has not altered the one-of-a-kind feel of this laid-back town.

When Chad Timm and Philip Kavanagh decided to open CrossFit Ocean Beach in October 2011, they knew they would need to embrace the local culture. Rather than setting up in an out-of-the-way warehouse, they found a place not far from Newport Avenue and just two blocks from the beach.

They opened their doors Oct. 1 and—not wasting any time—held their first outdoor WOD on the beach on Saturday, Oct. 5.

The WOW (Workout of the Week) is from Wasatch CrossFit:

For time, 21-15-9 reps of:
115-lb. power cleans
Hand-release push-ups
Rest 2 minutes
15-12-9 reps of:
115-lb. power cleans
Hand-release push-ups
Rest 2 minutes
12-9-6 reps of
115-lb. power cleans
Hand-release push-ups

3:45 In addition to being a trainer at Practice CrossFit, Mindy Coby is an elementary teacher and girls basketball coach. She came on the show to talk about how women are influenced by society’s definition of health and beauty. She explained how her attitude and self-image changed once she started CrossFitting, and she described how rewarding it is for her to help the young women and clients she coaches understand how beneficial it is to have a proper outlook on health and fitness. She also talked about her athletic background and how she became a trainer at Practice CrossFit.

30:10 Greg Amundson is the original CrossFit Firebreather and has now become a subject-matter expert (SME) on goal-setting and motivation for CrossFitters. He came on the show to talk about how to set and accomplish difficult goals no matter how hard they are. Amundson described how he started giving the CrossFit Goal Setting Trainer Course and talked about what it’s like to present this curriculum around the world. He described the new job he has taken with CrossFit in addition to being an SME, and he said everything he has accomplished outside of CrossFit is because of CrossFit.

1hr 4min 2sec

Join Orlando, owner of Hybrid Athletics, as he teaches tire-flipping technique to CrossFitters in the U.K.

Orlando asks his assistant, Carey Kepler, to demonstrate proper tire-flipping technique, and she sets up with her chest and shoulders against the tire, gripping underneath.

“We’re not going up and we’re not sliding forward. We’re going somewhere in the middle. We’re looking for 45 degrees,” Orlando says of the drive into the tire.

The first step is extending the hip without changing the arm angle. Next is a stutter step and kick with your dominant leg so the tire never stops moving. Keep your grip underneath the tire.

“If you can get the tire to your thigh, you should be able to get the tire over. You’ve done most of the work. All you have to do is get a little bit lower and keep driving up,” he says. This might take the form of ratcheting the tire up if it is really heavy.

Orlando drills his class through the movement and addresses mechanical issues that arise with different body types and different tires.

Click here for more information and a list of upcoming CrossFit Strongman Trainer Courses.

12min 15sec

Additional audio: CrossFit Radio Episode 135 by Justin Judkins, originally aired Sept. 1, 2010.

I played a small part today in creating an American job. I donated $5 at my local Starbucks to their Create Jobs for USA program. They estimate that once 599 other people make the same donation, one job will be created.

A small contribution, granted, but it felt pretty good; the Opportunity Finance Network administers the fund to provide micro-financing opportunities for people who deserve them. But it started me thinking. Giving someone a job is one of the most direct ways you can help someone: you are improving his or her capacity to provide for the necessities of life.

Most affiliate owners know a thing or two about this. There’s a shift in thinking that occurs between being dependent on others for a job and making a job for one’s self. There’s another shift that takes place when you hire someone else.

How cool would it feel to create a bunch of jobs? But is it even possible or sustainable in an economic climate that has been nothing less than chaotic in the years since 9/11? Rogue, Oakley and American Apparel say it is.

“I’ve had it ingrained into my head by some coaches in the past that champions are made in the offseason, so I still put in a lot of work,” Bailey says. “It’s definitely dialed back a little bit, just the volume.”

Bailey says he plans the year with strength training early on and then ramps up the intensity and trains more specific to CrossFit as he gets closer to competition.

Salo has a different training plan.

“I don’t think there is an off-season,” Salo says. “For me, like I focused on … my weaknesses, doing a bit different kind of strength training,” he says. “I believe you should be, like, 85-90 percent of your maximum results all the time.”

The two discuss their training and that of Graham Holmberg, who finished fourth in the 2011 Games and first the year before. Bailey says he himself might have pushed too hard and not rested enough before the 2011 Games. He finished in sixth place. Salo says there isn’t a one-size-fits-all scheme to training.

6min 27sec

Additional reading: Get Ready for 2012.

Sometimes the simplest things are the most engaging for kids. Think empty refrigerator carton vs. expensive, high-tech toy.

We recently tried this game with our CrossFit Kids classes, and the kids responded by asking for it over and over again. It is easily adjustable for all age groups by varying the difficulty of the exercises.

Bill Grundler, founder and co-owner of the San Luis Obispo, Calif., affiliate, talks about the journey that started with $50 Olympic bars bought off craigslist, econo-bumpers and homemade plyo boxes.

“We started small with stuff that we made and then just grew. It was a very, very organic kind of set-up,” he says. “It was very low end, and what I liked about that is, in the true heart of CrossFit, … you don’t need a lot of money, you don’t need a lot of equipment, and you can do all the same stuff.”

Inferno’s space is a tin shed, says Grundler, who finished seventh in the 2011 Southern California Regional. It’s not glamorous or glitzy; the temperature has dropped as low as 43 F and has climbed as high as 104 at times—like the day the WOD was Fight Gone Bad. Battling the elements is what CrossFitters have become accustomed to, Grundler says, and that grittiness is part of what characterizes his box and start-up affiliates like it.

“When you grow through like what we did, it’s actually like you’re growing up. I mean you start through the infancy phase and you become a teenager and then grow into a man in that whole CrossFit world,” Grundler explains. “There’s a lot more soul to that, I think. I mean that’s the way CrossFit was supposed to be.”

He added: “If you don’t have the CrossFit heart-and-soul part down, then I think you just lose the community, you lose the whole feel, and you just become another gym, and I don’t think that’s the point. We already got plenty of those.”

9min 18sec

Additional reading: Taking Age Out of the Equation by Hilary Achauer, published July 22, 2011.

There’s no point in sugarcoating the truth: Life for many indigenous people in Canada is rough.

Diseases like diabetes are four times more prevalent among the indigenous population than the rest of the country. Life expectancy on a reservation is eight years less in men and five and a half years less in women. Suicide rates are also three times as high among indigenous people. Alcoholism is rampant and so is obesity. And proper nutrition is often not understood, let alone followed.

Despite federal incentives and funding to improve the living conditions and health of First Nations people, year after year statistics show that, as a whole, they rank low in most socio-economic measurements.

But on at least one First Nations reservation in Canada, you’ll find a group who are tired of the blame game, tired of spending time analyzing exactly why and how their people got where they are today. The members of this group are choosing to take problems into their own hands and are committing to improving their lives.

In addition to their sports-specific training, both brothers are dedicated CrossFitters and run their own affiliate: Reebok CrossFit Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. For them, both rugby and CrossFitting are a family affair; their father Ken is the director of coaching for Reebok CrossFit Canterbury.

In this Part 1, the family and their coaches share how the brothers became professional rugby players.

“From a young age, we were always training down at the park and going for runs, and Dad had us throwing all sorts of stuff,” Owen says. Once they reached their teens, the boys decided they wanted to be professional rugby players.

“For me, there was no other option in life but to become an All Black, and it was always in my head, you know, growing up and playing rugby,” Owen says.

The brothers show how hard they train and how training together has helped them both succeed.

“Pretty much we’ve always trained together,” Ben says. “It’s pretty special … having two All Blacks in one family. It’s pretty unique.”

HD file size: 476 MB
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18min 27sec

Part 2 will be published Sunday, Jan. 8, at 4 p.m. PST. It covers the Franks brothers throughout the 2011 rugby season and includes events such as the devastating earthquake in their hometown and their victory at the Rugby World Cup.

Additional video: All Black in Bonsall by Mike Burgener, published March 16, 2010.

The video and audio articles are not contained in the PDF.

The articles included here are:

Boxes and Bars - Achauer
The Deeper Side of Coaching - Bergeron
In Search of a Programming God - Beers
CrossFit Kids Community - Various
The Forgotten Part of the Deadlift - Zimmer
Above the Bar: A Weekend Pull-Up Summit - Abrams
My Experiments With Intermittent Fasting - Berardi
Survival of the Fittest - Harris
Flower Power - Brown/Dazet
Lessons From a Pose Seminar - Eich
Breaking the Cycle - Achauer
The Right Kind of Fit for Teen/Advanced Class - Edelman
CrossFit—And My 10-Year Old—Helped Me Beat Leukemia - Reifenberg
Staying Safe With CrossFit Kids - Martin/Strametz
Functional Fitness in Iraq - Holden
Finding the Fire - Achauer
Happy Holidays! - Staff
Pumpkin Soup - Brown/Dazet
From Pain Comes Pleasure - Beers
World of WODs 6: San Diego, Calif. - Warkentin

“The thing we love most about CrossFit was we were competitors; we were born to compete. So in the YMCA and some of the other gyms that we were in after we got out of pro baseball, we had no opportunity to compete,” David says. “So when we got to CrossFit, I won that first WOD, and we knew it’s on.”

Jason says CrossFit helps a person meet his or her genetic potential.

“When you’re doing those functional fitness movements combined with that Paleo Diet, your body is getting to a place where it was genetically coded to be,” he says. “Your body becomes what it should be, and in doing that it helps you in every facet of life.”

According to the brothers, CrossFit can definitely benefit professional baseball players.

“Lengthening your career, lengthening your game—the most important thing is strength and conditioning,” David says.

The brothers say they see CrossFit integrating into the sport and share how they push CrossFit and the Paleo Diet with their continued involvement in baseball. The two coach businesses now and have brought CrossFit to their own employees. They say they’ve seen CrossFit benefit their business with increased productivity, self-esteem and energy levels in their employees.

8min 8sec

Additional reading: The Marlins Go CrossFit by Paul Fournier, published March 1, 2010.

In Part 5, Salo and Bailey move on to metabolic conditioning with front squats (the same movement the pair went heavy on earlier that day) and sled pulling.

Salo says his met-con training often incorporates a heavy lift from earlier in the day. He says he likes that programming because the body is primed by the heavy lifting, although he concedes that his met-con time will be slower due to fatigue from the preceding lifts. The Finn says he’s used this system for several years and had a lot of success.

“There might be another … training program that might give me better results, but I’ll stay with this because I’m getting good results with this,” Salo says.

Salo says this is his first time running with a sled, and Bailey shares coaching points, including Pose running tips.

After their workout, they analyze their performance and the workout itself, including the sled pull, which allows for fast recovery because it’s a concentric movement only.

“That’s the good thing for training with sleds: you don’t get sore from that. You feel now like you’re totally done, but tomorrow you’re not sore at all,” Salo says.

13min 43sec

Additional reading: Additional reading: The Basics of Pose Running Techniques by Brian MacKenzie, published Dec. 1, 2007.

“I could totally do a pull-up on that branch.”

Indeed, all the world is a CrossFit gym with the right pair of eyes and a little creativity.

This article, set in San Diego, is the sixth in a series where we’ll publish some of the best workouts from locales around the world, giving residents and travelers a chance to test their fitness outside the box.

If you have a set of landmarks, natural features or outdoor “equipment” suited for a great WOD, please view the submission guidelines on the last page of this article— then send us your workout!

Malz says her husband introduced her to CrossFit, and once she adopted the program, she quickly got her mother on board too. Rackliffe says she was not athletic since playing high-school sports years ago but saw her athleticism blossom later in life through CrossFit.

Malz says she helps keep her mother focused on her training, especially with accessory work after class to practice different movements.

“I welcome the challenge. I think I can get better at some things. I think probably there’s some things that I just will not be able to do, and, you know, that’s OK,” Rackliffe says.

According to Rackliffe, she is probably the healthiest she’s ever been.

“It’s because of CrossFit,” she says. “I’ll keep doing it to whatever extent I can for as long as I can.”

8min 4sec

Additional reading: CrossFit After 40 by Dr. Allison Belger, published Jan. 30, 2010.

The WOW (Workout of the Week) is from CrossFit.com.

Three rounds for time of:
35-lb. dumbbell squat snatch, 15 reps right arm
15 GHD sit-ups
35-lb. dumbbell squat snatch, 15 reps left arm
15 toes-to-bars

0:50 Justin read a post from Lisbeth Darsh titled “Holiday Advice You Didn’t Ask For.” He also reflected back on CrossFit Highlights of 2011 and played parts of interviews with Matt Chan, Rich Froning Jr., Leah Polaski and Amber Wilson.

20:40 Monique Ames is the owner of CrossFit Evolution. She came on the show to talk about lessons she has learned as a business owner and how she’ll approach the New Year with those lessons in mind. She gave advice to her fellow affiliate owners so they can start 2012 on the right foot. Sharing her knowledge, Ames explained why she doesn’t allow drop-ins at her box, as well as how she promotes the right kind of culture and integrates new clients into normal classes. Ames recently had Original Firebreather Greg Amundson do a goal-setting seminar at her box, and she shared what she took away from the seminar.

58min 58sec

Amentler says he was first exposed to CrossFit in 2007 in Iraq and used the program “to keep in shape.”

He discusses how he joined the military later in life and why he chose that profession. Before entering the military, Amentler was chief photographer at MuscleMag International and photographed gym members in Los Angeles. He says he worked out irregularly.

“I was never really that motivated to do it,” he says. Then Amentler started CrossFit and saw results.

“I just made tremendous strides in fitness, being in much better shape, body fat lower, stronger than I’ve ever been,” he says.

Amentler describes the success of CrossFit in the military and how it’s growing. He says CrossFit helps prepare Marines for the combat fitness testing they undergo twice a year.

“The things that we do here translate directly over to the things that we’re doing on the battlefield,” he says.

Amentler also describes the personal success he has had through the help of CrossFit and how it benefits him in his current positions as a military and non-military instructor.

“I’d say that I am probably in the best shape of my life—and just getting better,” he says.

Click here for more information and a list of upcoming CrossFit Level 1 Trainer Courses.

8min 44sec

Additional reading: A Concept for Functional Fitness by USMC, published Jan. 1, 2007.

When CrossFitters from different boxes gather together, it usually becomes one of those rare moments in life where strangers feel like friends. But for the people around us, our presence can be overwhelming.

We check into our hotels and immediately get noticed. Some people look intrigued, others intimidated, and others confused. They start asking questions as if we belong to some distant Amish community:

“Who are you? What is CrossFit? Where did your legs come from?”

This wasn’t the case in Victoria, B.C., Nov. 4-6. Our group of CrossFit athletes came from all over British Columbia, Alberta, Washington and Oregon for the Third Annual Taranis Winter Challenge, a competition of 180 competitors that sold out in just 36 hours.

When we checked into the host hotel, we were immediately overshadowed by another community, a group draped in black leather and fishnet stockings, a group holding ball gags and chains.

The first cue Sweatt has Phelps-Sweatt demonstrate is to set her shoulders back in their sockets, pinching her shoulder blades behind her so her shoulders are well supported to reduce the risk of injury. She gets under the bar and lifts it to hold it over her chest, not her eyes. From there, she uses a straight-line path for the bar as she presses over her chest.

Sweatt points out how important grip is to the bench press.

“On the way down, she is breaking the bar. On the way up, she is spreading the bar,” Sweatt says. “Pretend like it’s a rubber band and you’re trying to stretch it—your hands aren’t going to move, but you’re pulling as hard as you can.”

Sweatt also points out Phelps-Sweatt’s wide legs and foot position.

“She is pushing into the ground. She is spreading the floor with her feet,” he says.

Sweatt demonstrates common faults with the bench press, including set-up, and provides points of performance coaches can use to maintain safe lifting.

According to Sweatt: “If you go to Westside Barbell, nobody has shoulder problems.”

He says the key is proper positioning.

“It takes the pressure off the shoulders and lowers your injury rate dramatically … and it allows you to create as much power and torque as possible.”

Click here for more information and a list of upcoming CrossFit Powerlifting Trainer Courses.

10min 16sec

Additional reading: Building a Strong Shoulder Girdle by Bill Starr, published Aug. 26, 2011.

Chock full of pumpkin-pie spices, this dish will please your kids, who won’t even realize they’re sipping on a healthy soup instead of chowing down on sugary pie.

To enter the U.S.A. National and American Open, the required attire is a singlet. According to her religious beliefs, Abdullah wears a traditional outfit including headscarf, so she inadvertently found herself standing up for her religious rights. Her plight became a human-rights case that created a media frenzy over Olympic-weightlifting standards for attire.

“The idea of the Olympics is you want to include as many people as you can,” she says. “I didn’t know my situation was that big.”

Abdullah submitted a presentation to the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) on alternative dress codes, and the IWF ruled in her favor.

Abdullah’s case has also won her public and financial support for her competitions. In addition to being funded at the nationals and the worlds, Abdullah was even accepted into the Pakistan Weightlifting Federation as the first woman on their team and competed for them in the 2011 World Weightlifting Championships.

Abdullah is happy with her success and says she felt obligated to speak up for those who couldn’t.

“Not everyone is going to have this opportunity,” she says. “I should keep sharing my story, and if it’s gonna help with the global issues and other women, I should just keep doing it.”

7min 49sec

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Additional reading: New Friends by Mike Warkentin, published Oct. 4, 2010.

Mark Bennett, the head strength-and-conditioning coach for the Ospreys, and his assistant, Kevin Morgan, discuss how beneficial CrossFit has been for their athletes.

“It’s not just the physical ability,” Bennett says. “It gives us that mental edge, hopefully.”

Bennett says they decided to share their facility with CrossFit 365 for mutual benefit.

“We felt that those values that they would bring to us would help us because those are exactly the values that we want to develop in our squad,” Bennett says.

McLean credits CrossFit more than the coaches for helping CrossFit catch on and grow.

“This thing is so infectious and is something within the human spirit that once you’ve done a WOD with somebody as a complete stranger, you get up as brothers—it’s a bit spiritual where you go with these WODs,” McLean says.

“I think we’ve opened the door to professional sporting bodies and for other CrossFit boxes and affiliates … to do much the same because it’s a conditioning program we know works, so it’s a very easy thing to push,” he says.

8min 14sec

Additional reading: Rugby and the Rotational Kettlebell Swing by Nicolas Rithner, published Oct. 5, 2009.

In Part 3, the pair talk about their certifications and seminars, lifting gear and nutrition while they finish front squatting.

“After this year’s Games, I decided to get rid of the belt, doing every squat and deadlift without the belt,” Salo says. “It’ll get my numbers a bit lower, like 5-10 kilos, but I feel I’m getting stronger from the midline.”

He adds: “I should have done that years ago.”

Salo and Bailey talk about their pre-workout breakfasts, and Salo admits to being a coffee “addict.” Bailey says he’s taking after Rich Froning and eating more peanut butter.

“I actually like it,” Bailey says. “I’m actually more full throughout the day.”

In Part 4, Salo and Bailey share pointers for front-squat technique as they get to their heaviest lifts of the workout. They discuss how important elbow position is to the movement.

“When you’re on the bottom position and you’re starting to squat up, put your elbows to that ceiling … . (The) upper back goes in the right position,” Salo says. “It’s not about your leg strength. It’s about the upper back.”

Part 3
6min 35sec

Part 4
9min 15sec

Additional reading: Get Ready for 2012.

Gary McLean, owner of CrossFit 365, talks about the progress she has made.

“She is like a cat—she moves very, very well, naturally gifted with the barbell, but quite inexperienced at the moment, so we can do a lot with Em,” he says. “Her strength is her engine—she just has no stop.”

Still new to CrossFit, Keen is focusing on her technique, especially at advanced movements like the muscle-up, handstand push-up and snatch. She says her goal is “to make myself as efficient as I possibly can.”

Keen also enjoys competing. She has been participating in the Again Faster Competition Series, and her CrossFit coach says she has been competitive with elite athletes like Samantha Briggs. He sees her continuing to do well into the 2012 CrossFit Games season.

“She is seriously driven at this point,” McLean says.

“The more it hurts for me, generally, the more I kind of enjoy the workout,” Keen says.

7min 20sec

Additional reading: Rugby and the Rotational Kettlebell Swing by Nicolas Rithner, published Oct. 5, 2009.

In Part 8, Starrett discusses the RICE protocol to treat acute injury: rest, ice, compression and elevation. Starrett adds the 24-Hour Rule for how to reintegrate after injury.

“Something is good to go pretty much when you can load it up and 24 hours later you still don’t have a problem,” he says.

This test allows you to see if there is any latent swelling. Starrett calls swelling “insidious” and explains how and why it occurs, how it’s helpful and how it can lead to more problems if it persists.

Starrett discusses how to manage swelling appropriately and cautions the use of anti-inflammatory drugs without doctor supervision. He also discusses the benefits of ice and describes his icing protocol. Finally, he suggests using intermittent compression.

“We’ve gotta deal with pain and we’ve gotta deal with swelling somehow, and I want to kind of have the effects of the swelling and the inflammatory response, but I want to kind of minimize the kind of detrimental effects,” he says.

Click here for more information and a list of upcoming CrossFit Mobility Trainer Courses.

13min 31sec

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Additional reading: Hamstrung by Kelly Starrett, published July 1, 2007.

Panita Thanatharn had her eye on home plate. It was Feb. 9, 2003, and Thanatharn, a sophomore at California State University Long Beach (CSULB), was having a great season. In the first seven games of the campaign, the outfielder was hitting .526.

Thanatharn’s team was playing Loyola Marymount. She was on second base, and Thanatharn knew if she made it home she could tie the game. Her teammate hit the ball into center field, and Thanatharn sped off around third base. Just as she slid into home, the catcher from the opposing team stepped in her way and Thanatharn slammed into her.

The impact was so brutal that a spectator later told Thanatharn she had heard the sound of breaking bones. Thanatharn severely fractured her tibia and fibula. Part of the broken bone stuck out of her left leg.

Now she’s competing in CrossFit.

What about you? Have you overcome any injuries? What keeps you coming back to CrossFit? Post your stories to comments.

The WOW (Workout of the Week) is from Beaverton CrossFit.

Every minute on the minute for 15 minutes:

185-lb. power cleans, 2 reps
70-lb. kettlebell swings, 5 reps
Double-unders for the remainder of each minute
Score is total number of double-unders.

4:50 John Berardi of Precision Nutrition came on the show to talk about intermittent fasting (IF). He began by sharing his background in fitness and nutrition and explained that even though he is a specialist as a masters-level sprinter, he uses CrossFit to supplement his training. IF is a hot topic, and Berardi explained exactly what it is and how it could potentially benefit a CrossFitter. He also detailed his six-month experiment with IF and shared his results. For more info, read Berardi’s article My Experiments With Intermittent Fasting.

33:50 In addition to managing a household and being a mother of two, Meghan Russell owns and runs CrossFit JAX while her husband is on deployment for the U.S. Navy. She described how she and her husband made the decision to transform their small friends-only space to a thriving, successful CrossFit affiliate. Russell talked about developing and fostering the right kind of culture and attitude at the box and described how she conducts their nutrition challenges.

1hr 2min 8sec

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 says.

He talks about chemotherapy and coming to CrossFit even during his treatment. According to Hamilton, CrossFit helped him get through it.

“If I couldn’t lift a weight, then I had camaraderie of everybody else just taking care of me in that emotional way,” he says.

Now cancer-free, Hamilton is still feeling the effects of chemotherapy, but he’s pushing hard to regain his lost strength and endurance. He’s also setting new goals for himself.

“I just want to compete in the Open, you know, and see how I stack up this soon after chemo,” he says. Hamilton also plans to start a foundation for men diagnosed with male cancers.

9min 31sec

Additional reading: It’s All for the Boobs by Hilary Achauer, published Oct. 25, 2011.

My first cup of coffee in Iraq was as a brigade battle captain in Mosul with 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division. As a young captain without much seniority on the brigade staff, I got stuck with the night shift. Anyone who has done shift work before knows the drudgery involved, especially in a Brigade Tactical Operations Center.

After my shift ended, I would immediately go to sleep for about six hours, then wake up to a cocktail of supplements. My workouts? Six-days a week, five of them involving only upper-body movements, with a leg day thrown in for good measure. I never wanted to breathe hard during the lift because it could reduce the amount I could bench press. I didn’t worry about breathing hard because I mixed in at least two days per week of cardio. That dwindled to zero days of cardio because I just didn’t like breathing hard on the treadmill.

This cycle went on and on, continuing through redeployment to Fort Hood, throughout my year and a half in home station where I would sneak off during lunch to get a lift in, all the way through to my next deployment to southern Iraq.

Then, something strange happened.

Massie suggests “getting everything ready before you go to the stove.”

He uses 41 blocks of cooked rotisserie chicken for the protein and four cans of coconut milk for the fat. For the carbohydrate portion, Massie prepares mirepoix, a classic soup base of carrots, onions and celery. He also adds a host of spices. The curry broth consists of chicken broth, coconut milk, red curry paste and more.

To put it all together, Massie preheats olive oil in two pans and starts by adding ginger and garlic to both. After, he adds the vegetables, dividing them between the two pans. Once the vegetables cook down, he whisks the curry paste in half the coconut milk before adding it to the vegetables along with the rest of the coconut milk and chicken stock.

Massie shows how to prepare the spice, including lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves. Once the pans come to a simmer, he adds chicken, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, herbs, limes, jalapeños and fish sauce.

“This should make, I don’t know, pretty close to 10 meals. We knocked that out in about … an hour, hour and a half of work,” Massie says.

To download the recipe for Thai-style chicken curry, click here.

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12min 50sec

Additional reading: The Kitchen WOD by Nick Massie, published Nov. 2, 2011.

CrossFit Brand X began as Brand X Martial Arts in 1999. Things have changed a great deal since then, but our roots still firmly grip the concept of self-protection and of teaching children that it is OK to fight back and how to do so.

One of the most common attacks on children by bullies and adults with bad intent is the wrist grab. In our CrossFit Kids classes, we use focus work to learn techniques to defend against wrist grabs, and the game portion of the class—about 10 minutes—to practice the following:

• Identifying the danger (the grab).
• Defending against the attack.
• Escaping to safety (emphasis on the direction to run and to whom).

In November 2010, Rackliffe broke her foot on a rope climb. However, she didn’t let that stop her from competing. She completed the Open workouts in an orthopedic shoe and qualified for the Games.

“I had three goals. I said I wanted to have fun, I tried the very best I could, and I wanted to beat Jill Spealler,” she says. Chris Spealler’s mother had edged her out by one spot in the Open, and at the Games Rackliffe finished one place above Spealler.

Malz says she is so proud of her mom. She says she felt a role reversal cheering for her mother and keeping her focused during the Games weekend.

“I’m really glad that Mom put herself out there. Mom can sometimes have some confidence and self-esteem put-downs of herself, and I think CrossFit in general has really helped her to resonate as a person. And it might have taken 60 years, but she’ll now speak up for herself, and I’m really glad,” Malz says.

Rackliffe says she enjoyed her Games experience, especially being among her peers.

“It was an absolutely phenomenal experience. I’d do it again in a heartbeat,” she says.

11min 43sec

Additional reading: Masters Event 2 Results.

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 was just starting my 11th year at what I felt was my dream job: working as a primary-care physician in a community health center.

My own health had been excellent. As a lifelong exercise fanatic, I had been strictly adhering to a CrossFit-based regime of working out and following a combined Paleo-Zone-type diet based on maximizing lean protein, fruits and vegetables while limiting processed carbohydrates. At age 45, after two years of diligently adhering to this program, I literally was stronger than when I was in my 20s.

Unfortunately, everything in my life was about to change.

According to Taubes, obesity rates have increased dramatically in the past 50 years, which goes along with the increasing diabetes epidemic. He says both are related to a whole host of metabolic diseases.

Taubes’ argument is simple: “The same thing that makes people fat is what causes all these diseases.”

According to Taubes, conventional medical wisdom explains obesity as a caloric imbalance: consuming more calories than we burn. Taubes critically evaluates this explanation and challenges it with examples of obesity unconnected to a toxic environment of overconsumption. Cutting calories or exercising more should reverse obesity if calories out are greater than calories in, but Taubes shows that research does not support such a conclusion.

His conclusion is that obesity is a disorder of fat accumulation, which is regulated by insulin and dietary carbohydrates.

“Carbohydrates … drive insulin, and insulin drives fat,” he says. “That’s the simplest explanation for what’s going on.”

“The only non-pharmaceutical remedy is to restrict or remove the causative agent—i.e., the carbohydrates,” Taubes says.

For the full presentation, please click here.

24min 22sec

In Part 1, CrossFit founder Greg Glassman introduces Taubes and shares how the journalist’s research dovetails with CrossFit’s passion for fitness. Taubes says he appreciates the support nutrition-minded CrossFitters have given his publications, and he explains how he chose his career path.

“I’m interested in trying to get the medical-research establishment to change the way they think about the foremost medical issues of our day, which is obesity,” he says.

According to Taubes, the current energy-expenditure hypothesis says that obesity results from caloric imbalance due to an overly prosperous “toxic environment.” He provides examples of how this hypothesis falls short of explaining obesity prevalence in malnourished populations with high activity levels.

In Part 2, Taubes continues reviewing the obesity literature and its contradictions, including the paradox of fat disposition. Despite conventional wisdom, Taubes says that eating less and exercising more don’t work to reverse or protect against obesity.

“We’ve been throwing money at the energy-expenditure hypothesis for a century. This is the best we can say about it: it’s probably wrong,” he says. “Practicing energy balance is impossible.”

In Part 3, Taubes provides an alterative hypothesis: “obesity is a disorder of fat accumulation.” He shares the research on this hypothesis and his conclusions.

Taubes explains that fat accumulation is regulated by insulin, which is the “fat-storage hormone.” To lose fat, you have to lower insulin levels. Because insulin is secreted in response to dietary carbohydrates, Taubes suggests restricting carbohydrates, especially high-glycemic, starchy carbs.

For the condensed version, please click here.

Part 1
25min 47sec

Part 2
25min 31sec

Part 3
30min 8sec

“I’m more fit than I was 30 years ago,” she says. “I feel great.”

Rob Orlando, owner of Hybrid Athletics, is proud of her success.

“All of her critical numbers have changed pretty drastically. Most importantly, her blood pressure was down from 150 over 110 to 119 over 79, I believe. She is off of all medications that she was taking, and she’s down 30 lb. in one year,” he says.

“I think the biggest changes is the lifestyle changes, taking control of my health,” Pepe says. “I’m seeing the results.”

However, Pepe had a tough time starting CrossFit. She says she felt intimidated and outside the rest of the group because of her age and fitness level. Orlando says he helped her become a part of the community and scale her workouts accordingly.

“I was so overweight and so sedentary that it was an effort just for me to even walk,” she says. “It was just starting off with the small steps first and then working my way up to where I felt comfortable even being in a group of CrossFitters.”

Pepe’s original CrossFit Journal video has inspired others, and Orlando says Pepe isn’t the only one who can turn her life around.

“It’s just regular people doing extraordinary things, and I think that she is the shining example of that,” Orlando says. “This program works, and it works really well.”

10min 38 sec

Additional reading: A CrossFit Grandma by Mary Conover, published Oct. 1, 2004.

The Rays began CrossFitting in 2004 out of their home. In 2006, they formed a garage affiliate, then moved into a gym, finally finding their current location two years ago. Lisa says they bought a 10,000-square-foot building and use it for adult classes, CrossFit Kids and their private home.

Lisa says her husband, Mike, taught himself how to weld so he could fabricate CrossFit equipment, such as boxes and pull-up structures. Their pull-up bars are unique because they attach to the walls instead of being part of a freestanding structure.

“We keep the floor space nice and clear. It just seemed to make more sense to us than putting it into the floor as a cage system,” Lisa says.

Their love of projects didn’t end with gym equipment. When the Rays bought the building housing their affiliate, it came with office space they converted into their home.

“My dream has always been to have a live-work space, and we had that with the garage,” Lisa says.

She adds: “The close proximity to the gym I think for our personal life can be somewhat challenging. We’re trying to work through that.”

Nevertheless, Lisa says the arrangement is working out really well.

“Our clients are completely respectful of our space and of our privacy,” she says.

12min 37sec

Additional audio: CrossFit Radio Episode 69 by Justin Judkins, published June 1, 2009.

The front door slams behind her with a smug finality. The noise is lost in the clamor rushing at the woman and her son like a tsunami. It’s kids’ racket, happy racket.

After a brief chat with a trainer, a waiver is signed and two free trial weeks sprawl before them. Hands delicately on her son’s shoulders, the woman steers him ahead of her.

The roll-up doors are open, and a swarm of preteens chatter seemingly all at once. From behind the now slightly distressed mom and baleful-eyed boy strides Coach Jeff Martin. One kid, then another sees Martin and dutifully begins moving toward the PVC pipe in the corner of the gym. One by one, the kids demonstrate their technique, get the nod, then head to the platforms.

It’s Tuesday—that means deadlifts. And the boy and his mom learn rather quickly that despite the air of levity, this is no nonsense. This is the weightlifting program for the CrossFit Kids Teen/Advanced class. It is serious business. CrossFit Kids Teen/Advance is underpinned by a methodology deliberately designed for the preadolescent and adolescent age group, a methodology that is entirely CrossFit Kids, entirely CrossFit.

In Part 1, Salo says a typical training day consists of warm-up and strength training, then a met-con. He often warms up with a row, then prepares for the strength movement. Salo explains his choice of rowing settings and discusses the technique he uses and where he breaks down. He also explains his use of weightlifting shoes and how they help his performance.

Bailey logs his workouts diligently and says he includes not only workouts and times but also “how you felt, where you failed, where you struggled.”

He adds: “All that can be really helpful when you look back on it.”

In Part 2, Bailey discusses his weaknesses and how he programs them into his training. He looks back on his sixth-place Games performance in 2011.

“I had one or two bad events, and I think I let that get to me a little bit—and I shouldn’t have. But you live and you learn,” he says.

Salo says he benefits from working out with Bailey.

“I’m chasing him, and sometimes he’s chasing me, so that’s a good thing,” he says. “I believe this gives me a lot and it gives Dan a lot.”

Part 1
6min 24sec

Part 2
6min 24sec

Additional reading: Get Ready for 2012.

“This mess” refers to the state of Lesinski’s health in March 2008. The 31-year-old office manager weighed 230 lb. Her lifestyle and food choices were harmful, and she was unhappy and lost. She was scared to do anything about it because she didn’t want to fail at one more thing. Lesinski had previously lost 50 lb. in high school and then 60 lb. after a break-up. But the weight came back every time.

This time around she was determined it would be different. She started by slowly changing the way she thought about food. Then she changed her actions toward food and began going to the gym. But life really changed for Lesinski when she discovered CrossFit.

The WOW (Workout of the Week) is from CrossFit Local.

21, 15 and 9 reps for time of:
Wall-ball shots, 30-lb. slam ball
275-lb. deadlifts
Burpees
Then immediately complete as many toes-to-bars as possible in two minutes.

4:55 Ben Bergeron is the owner of CrossFit New England, and he was the driving force behind CFNE’s Affiliate Cup victory at the 2011 Reebok CrossFit Games. Bergeron talked about his team’s experience at the Games and what it was like to coach the athletes all year long. Recognized in the community as a great programmer, Bergeron described how he creates the workouts at his box, and he touched on CFNE’s Elements class. Finally, he described what CFNE’s training camp is and why it’s so popular.

36:40 Rob Orlando owns Hybrid Athletics and is CrossFit’s expert for all things strongman. Orlando came on the show to talk about the Strongman Seminars he conducts around the world and described how the seminars have evolved. Orlando explained how strongman movements can benefit a CrossFitter before moving on to talk about his experience at the Reebok CrossFit Games last summer. He described what happened to him during the swim and how he ended his competition on a positive note despite having to pull out of the first event.

1hr 4min 51sec

For preschoolers, Brown says the deadlift is all about the set-up position. To teach it, CrossFit Kids uses the angry-gorilla posture.

“Preschoolers are not going to be moving any load. We’re going to make a game of this. We’re going to do animal walks, animal relays where we throw the angry-gorilla walk into the game,” he says.

The kids group starts picking up light loads—“the lowest stimulus that we can use to actually generate a response,” Brown says. Once they show consistent mastery of technique, they are ready for heavier loads.

Brown explains the kids cues. Back position is paramount, so he says he’ll raise the object off the ground if doing so will create a good back position.

Teens use the barbell and either kids or adult cues depending upon maturity. Brown says the importance with this age group is teaching readiness of the whole body before lifting.

For those with position challenges, the sumo deadlift or elevating the weight are acceptable alternatives and are accompanied by mobility work. He emphasizes safety first.

Says Brown: “If they lose lumbar curve during (the lift), you are simply going to yell at them, ‘Drop the bar!’”

He adds: “You’re there to protect these kids. We want to make sure they stay safe. We want to make sure they’re getting stronger.”

Click here for more information and a list of upcoming CrossFit Kids Trainer Courses.

Video by Again Faster.

11min 49sec

Additional reading: Will CrossFit Make American Kids Smarter? by Lisa Bakshi, published Jan. 26, 2009.

Running is a cycle of three things: pose, fall, pull. That sounds easy, and it is. But it is also much more difficult because to run well you must sustain and embrace the falling. The pose is how you transition from one foot to the other. If you stand on one foot, bend the supporting knee and pull the other foot up under your hip, you’re in the runner’s Pose.

The best runners in the world are running from pose to pose with precise timing such that their supporting foot contacts the ground directly under their center of gravity. When watching the slow-motion review of the seminar participants, though, it was clear we were running from pose to pose with poor timing. We were moving slower, with less efficiency because we were using muscles to do what gravity could do for us. We were running with fear, running with a desire to be in control, running with the equivalent of one foot on the brake and one on the gas.

The good news was we could all be taught to see the waste in our movement in just one session of “coached watching.”

Castro asked Matossian how he gets his subjects to leave their comfort zone.

“I make people feel comfortable. That allows me to ask uncomfortable questions,” Matossian said. “I thrive on sort of questions that I’m uncomfortable asking.”

Matossian described how he is one of CrossFit’s biggest fans.

“I love human beings,” he said. “With CrossFit, I really get to see human beings on their physical level ... really perform. And then, by the grace of the CrossFit executives, they allow me free rein to approach the top elite athletes and ask them questions and pursue their psyches.”

Matossian went on to talk about his CrossFit Games experiences and discussed his current interests and future projects, including his passion for photography.

“I pursue things relentlessly without knowing where they’re going,” Matossian said.

14min 34sec

Additional audio: CrossFit Radio Episode 186 by Justin Judkins, published Aug. 24, 2011.

And who doesn’t like flowers?

“This program’s a lot different than CrossFit,” he says. “A lot more is expected of you all the time.”

Cerrillo leads the class through a typical warm-up, a strength component, a WOD, a stamina component and an endurance component—including a buddy swim and buddy carry.

“I’m trying to show them there’s a different thing you need to be capable of,” he says.

Cerrillo describes how he runs the program. He has interested clients start the program gradually only after they have been CrossFitting for at least a year.

“Basically the one rule is if you’re going to do the entire SEALFIT thing, you can’t quit, because if you quit, you can’t come back,” he says.

According to Cerrillo, his goal is simple: “send a good quality candidate … because a person who didn’t show up in shape, they’re a waste of time.”

He adds: “If you think pull-ups, push-ups and sit-ups are going to get you in shape, you’re wrong.”

9min 16sec

Additional reading: Staying in the Fight by Mark Divine, published Sept. 12, 2011.

In July 2009, I was at about 3,500 feet when the hopper presented me with the challenge: “Avoid a potentially devastating and body-mangling skydiving accident.”

I suppose a better word for “accident” might be “incident,” mainly due to the fact that the latter implies a freak occurrence, which it was, as opposed to something that was a mistake on my part. What went wrong was not a result of my actions. Of course, it was still up to me to save my own you-know-what.

In fact, up to the decisive point, I had made all the right decisions and done everything I’d been trained to do. While in freefall, I deployed the main parachute, and as it opened, I looked overhead to ensure it was square, stable and steerable. Gliding through the air under a square and stable canopy high above the earth—much like I had done only 10 times before at that point—I reached up to pull down the steering toggles, which are loops attached to two lines that allow a parachutist to steer with ease. To my shock and dismay, the left toggle disconnected from the line, leaving me with a useless fabric loop in hand and its abandoned line trailing pathetically in the wind a good 15 feet above my head.

In the first segment, Blauer tells the story about how his seminar first began. Upon addressing a group of women about whether or not they could survive an attack, only one took the initiative and hesitantly told him she would fight to defend herself. He said she would have been the only to live if the rest wouldn’t do anything.

“If you cooperate with a mugger, you get mugged. If you cooperate with a rapist, you get raped. If you cooperate with a murderer, you get murdered,” he says.

When the same women were given a different scenario of their children in danger, they reacted much more aggressively and wouldn’t hesitate to fight.

“What did you see yourself doing to protect your kid that you didn’t see yourself doing to protect yourself?” Blauer asks. “Everyone here is a VIP,” he says.

According to Blauer, you already have the skills to defend yourself; you just need to manage your fear, don’t get discouraged and find your courage.

“I’m not telling you what to do,” Blauer says. “I’m just an options facilitator.”

11min 31sec

HD file size: 255 MB
SD wmv file size: 144 MB
SD mov file size: 67 MB

Please note: These files are larger than normal Journal videos. For smoother viewing, please download the entire file to your hard drive before watching it (right-click and choose Save Link As...).

Additional audio: CrossFit Radio Episode 174 by Justin Judkins, published June 1, 2011.

“The whole essence of CrossFit is play, and, I mean, it’s a natural fit,” he says.

According to Harkey, the first hurdle was getting trainers qualified to coach kids because, at the time, the only seminars were held in Ramona, Calif., at CrossFit Brand X, where CrossFit Kids began. Then, he says he had to organize his kids program and start it from scratch.

“It’s an entirely separate program,” he says.

At one point Harkey had 20 kids attending class, but it took hard work to maintain.

“It was a 24-7 effort to coordinate with them to keep on getting them back, and it took us a little while to work out the kinks in our programming.”

Harkey introduces his trainers and describes how they have grown the program over the years. He says the next step is to take the program into schools. Harkey sees an opportunity for CrossFit Kids to benefit youth fitness, especially in schools where P.E. has been canceled and the food served is “terrible.”

“It’s such an important developmental component to kids,” he says.

Click here for more information and a list of upcoming CrossFit Kids Trainer Courses.

8min 5sec

HD file size: 357 MB
SD wmv file size: 96.8 MB
SD mov file size: 45.6 MB

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Additional reading: Grant Writing for Kids Programs by Lura Poggi, published Nov. 21, 2011.

Massie steams the sweet potatoes by wrapping them in foil and roasting them on a sheet pan for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes in a 350 F oven. Then he allows the potatoes to rest and cool.

“We’re going to have a really moist skin and a moist inner,” he says.

After the sweet potatoes have cooled, Massie peels off the skin, trims them, and then slices each into discs. He wraps each puck in bacon. Next, he sears the side with the bacon seam for about five minutes, then flips them and continues cooking for 3 to 4 minutes or until the bacon is crisp.

“These are good cooled down, just kind of like finger food, something to snack on, something that’s nice and healthy,” Massie says. “If you put a dish full of these at the Christmas or the Thanksgiving table, (it) won’t last long.”

To download the recipe for Bacon-Wrapped Sweet-Potato Pucks, click here.

9min 36sec

HD file size: 437 MB
SD wmv file size: 120 MB
SD mov file size: 106 MB

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Nutrition is a really hot topic in the CrossFit community, but with the debate centering on whether to eat Paleo or Zone, I’m afraid another eating style is completely flying under the radar.

Careful, folks. You don’t want to miss this one.

It’s called intermittent fasting (IF), and while it’s certainly not for everyone, there are athletes in the CF community who would absolutely benefit from playing around with it.

Now, before you pick up your Zone or Paleo toys and go home, here’s the interesting thing: you can still Zone or Paleo while experimenting with IF.

I’ll tell you how.

Dr. Berardi will answer nutrition questions live on Dec. 12 from 11 a.m. to noon EST on the CrossFit Journal's Facebook page.

“This bar is great for stabilization. It’s great for shoulder rehab—also teaches you a really good release (the negative phase of the lift),” Sweatt says.

Sweatt spots a lifter using the bar with bands and kettlebells to safely work on the athlete’s stabilization. Sweatt says you can perform reps or just hang out at the top for static-hold competitions. The drills can be performed with a light barbell but, according to Sweatt, the best tool is the bamboo bar.

“The thing with the bamboo bar is the bar is so light, the kettlebells are moving and you don’t have the extra weight to help slow it down at the top,” he says.

Sweatt says he used kettlebell benching to rehab after a shoulder injury and afterward, when he went back to the straight bar, his shoulders felt “phenomenal.” Phelps-Sweatt says the specialty bar can even speed up recovery times.

Sweatt says the bamboo bar also teaches you to lift consistently over your chest to maintain balance and speed. It forces you to place your forearms at a 90-degree angle to the ground or else you’ll lose the bar forward. Similarly, the bar forces you to fix lifts that drift too far backward and gives you a faster reaction time.

Finally, the bamboo bar loaded with kettlebells isn’t just for benching; it can also be a useful tool for overhead squats and other movements.

Click here for more information and a list of upcoming CrossFit Powerlifting Trainer Courses.

6min 57sec

Additional reading: Shake Hands With the Fat Boys by Daniel Hersee, published June 20, 2011.

Many women remember a time in elementary school when someone said, “Girls can’t do pull-ups!” Maybe it was the schoolyard bully, or even a misguided P.E. teacher. We were led to believe that because we were female, some athletic feats were unattainable.

That idea was proved wrong on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, 2011. Ten female athletes participated in an Rx STAR Pull-Up Summit, sponsored by Ventana CrossFit and facilitated by Aly Willier, founder and CEO of Rx STAR.