Special Populations

This is the second part of a complete training session that Mary Conover, 77, had with Jim Baker at CrossFit Santa Cruz Central, where he is a trainer and co-owner.

Mary talks about some of the challenges of working out as she gets older, as well as the amazing impact the training has had on all aspects of her life. You learn to never give up, she says.

This video is the… Continue Reading

In a lighter discussion, Jim Baker, Mary Conover and Sally Stade, along with Tony Budding, talk about the term elderly, and give possible alternatives. Jim and Tony each received some unambiguous emails from folks who disliked the term, which was used in the first two of Jimmy's videos (Intro and Kathie’s Workout).

The term was placed there by Pat Barber, 22, who thinks that Freddy Camacho is old. The term passed through the editorial… Continue Reading

This is the first part of a complete training session that Mary Conover, 77, had with Jim Baker at CrossFit Santa Cruz Central, where he is a trainer and co-owner.

Mary tells a little of her history, which is also covered in her 2004 article A CrossFit Grandma. Mary has been training CrossFit for almost nine years, having to deal with a lifetime of bad posture, decades of inactivity, and some more serious… Continue Reading

This episode is a full session with Kathie Weigandt, 64. Kathie is among the fittest of Jimmy’s clients, even though she’s only been training with him for four months. They go through an extended warmup, and then work on strategies to pick up and carry heavy everyday objects.

They conclude with a high intensity workout, which was max reps in 1 minute of wallball, jump rope, and ball slams each… Continue Reading

Jimmy Baker is 61, and has been training CrossFit for over a decade. He is a co-owner of CrossFit Santa Cruz Central. His youngest client is in her mid-fifties, and his oldest is in her mid-eighties.

Jim explains that training the elderly is not simply a matter of scaling workouts. There are many considerations such as long term injuries, medications, balance, and vision that affect their ability to train. They… Continue Reading

We all have those exercises that we hope won't pop out of the hopper. Mine include heavy thrusters and Tabata pull-ups. Why? Because they test my abilities and highlight my weaknesses-- they're hard! If you gathered your potential clients into a hopper, are there some you're hoping you won't have to deal with? Maybe you dread getting a call from that client with heart disease because you have less experience or the… Continue Reading

These days, Mark Rippetoe of Wichita Falls Athletic Club/CrossFit Wichita is a 50+ masters lifter who calls himself “boneheaded and tenacious.” In an article about training for the aged, Rip says masters lifters are obviously different from their younger hard-training counterparts. He offers common sense rules, along with a few caveats.

We have accumulated injuries that have to be considered when training is programmed. And more… Continue Reading

Women respond to heavy physical stress differently than men, Coach Mark Rippetoe of Wichita Falls Athletic Club/CrossFit Wichita Falls writes in an article about sex, appearance, and training.

Women get the best results when they train for performance. Even though there are differences between men’s and women’s response to training, there is no difference in the quality of the exercise needed to produce the stress that causes adaptation.

Ignore the… Continue Reading