Special Populations

Bettina Dolinsek was born blind, but she never asked to be treated differently. That same attitude carries over into her CrossFit training, and she doesn’t shy away from movements—even box jumps.

“Growing up blind, you weren’t expected to do much,” she explains. “It honestly makes me angry. That’s not how I want to be treated. I want to be expected to do what everybody else is expected to do.”

So Dolinsek started CrossFit and recently… Continue Reading

Anna Woods describes workouts that showcase the creativity needed to provide functional movement skills to clients with challenges including cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and paraplegia.

CrossFit for people with developmental disabilities involves adapting movements for mental and physical delays while nurturing and growing a culture that encourages improved function for day-to-day life. I usually have to adapt things such as the… Continue Reading

Fourteen CrossFit-built Kenyan schools give villagers a chance to escape poverty through education. Chris Cooper reports.

If Mombasa, Kenya, is a center of trade, tourism and industry, rural Kenya is distinctly agrarian. This agriculture, however, is not the agriculture of the Industrial Revolution but rather smallholder farming mostly absent tractors and irrigation systems. The majority of Kenyans make their living by farming small patches… Continue Reading

The final part of this three-part series looks at the day-to-day lives of Haitian people and how they find happiness in a country filled with constant physical struggle and hardship.

About two hours away by car from McDonald, where Julie Roberts does most of her work in Haiti, is the tiny village of Jarvais. Because the village isn’t close to any cities, its people don’t have access to imported goods. They depend… Continue Reading

One year ago, Julie Roberts funded five microcredit loans to five struggling families in McDonald, Haiti. In Part 2 of this three-part series, Emily Beers takes a look at how Roberts’ seeds are growing.

In a concrete-walled church in the rural Haitian village of McDonald, 250 or so people gather to listen to Gabriel Nixon, the unofficial village leader.

He has gathered his community this evening to introduce the North American guests visiting… Continue Reading

Teams of warriors in Medieval armor gather in France to try to injure each other with axes and maces.

We grappled, spinning and hacking at each other, until we both ended up slamming against the fence. In a flash, the Belarusian was gone and I felt the weight of another opponent on my back.

Against the fence and immobile, I leaned into the barrier and threw one arm around a post to keep from being borne… Continue Reading

Dr. John Ratey, author of Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, talks to Chris Cooper about movement, the mind and CrossFit.

Can burpees help with math homework?

Dr. John Ratey thinks so.

The associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School in 2008 wrote the book Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain based on the outstanding example of the Naperville School Board. The book… Continue Reading

This three-part series profiles Julie Roberts and her work in Haiti since a devastating earthquake in 2010. From amputating infected limbs to investing in pay-it-forward microcredit loans, Roberts is dedicated to helping Haitians recover.

It is January 2010. Julie Roberts finishes a long run in training for the Vancouver Marathon and rushes home to cook dinner for her four children.

She turns on the TV to find ubiquitous breaking news about… Continue Reading