Special Populations

After stumbling across an ad on craigslist, CrossFit Salem owner Andy Bolliger succeeded in developing a fitness program designed to help seniors improve quality of life.

Square dancing was their favorite. But as Bonnie Johnson aged, her balance became unreliable. She began using a walker. Square dancing with her husband, Norman, was no longer possible. In summer 2014, the couple moved in to Hidden Lakes, a senior-living community in Salem, Oregon. Both… Continue Reading

Staff at Cannon School set an example for their students as CrossFit is set to become part of the elementary curriculum in 2015.

At 16 years old, Meredith Davis (then Wittman) was strong.

A ballerina of 12 years, her thick, sinewy thighs propelled her nimbly across the floor as music swelled overhead. Her back muscles rippling as she extended in a graceful arch, she looked to her instructors for approval.

“‘Your legs look like… Continue Reading

What makes people stick with CrossFit year after year? Long-term CrossFit athletes talk about what keeps them interested and motivated after seven, 10 or even 19 years of CrossFit.

In a recent Businessweek article, Yuri Feito said CrossFit is peerless in encouraging people to keep working out. Feito teaches exercise science at Kennesaw State University and studies CrossFit.

Statistics from the fitness industry show traditional gyms generally have a… Continue Reading

The Wellington School, located in Columbus, Ohio, is an independent private school for students in preschool through Grade 12. Four-time CrossFit Games athlete Lindsey Smith is its athletic director.

The school is also home to TWS CrossFit. When Smith accepted the job at the prep school, a Wellington parent who does CrossFit reached out to ask how CrossFit would be implemented into the athletics program.

“(The parent) gave us some restricted… Continue Reading

Old City CrossFit in Washington, D.C., is located near Gallaudet University, a federally chartered private university for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing.

“We knew there was a chance that we’d get some deaf members,” says Old City coach Erin Losie. “We had some ideas as to what we would do.”

Shortly after opening, Old City indeed became home to many deaf members. Coaches began to learn sign language, and a community… Continue Reading

K.C. Stallsmith is the owner of CrossFit AllStar in Waimea, Hawaii. When she first opened the affiliate, she was eager to share CrossFit with her community.

“I felt like I had an opportunity, as well as a responsibility, to introduce it to our community in an important way,” she says, “and that was to allow everyone accessibility to the methodology because truly I think that’s what (Greg) Glassman had in mind. ”

To put her beliefs into practice… Continue Reading

“American Ninja Warrior” qualifiers meet in Sin City to try and conquer Mt. Midoriyama for the first time.

It’s hard to catch your breath in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In a city renowned for its sights—but not its views—the American Ninja Warrior Final transformed a dusty parking lot in the desert into a glowing extension of the famed Las Vegas Strip.

Scattered across two acres were four stages; three were at eye level, and the last, Mt. Midoriyama, loomed over… Continue Reading

Athlete Kristin Auger shares her experiences with CrossFit training while pregnant.

I stand just inside the open door with one leg forward, feeling the customary adrenaline and prickly anticipation I always feel before the start of one of my favorite benchmark workouts. The familiar elements are all in place: my comrades milling beside me, bars loaded in rows behind us on the gym floor, music pulsating on high from the stereo… Continue Reading