Special Populations

Peter Jordan examines why kids at Saratoga High are embracing CrossFit. Whatever the reason, fitness is becoming more important for many students.

There are a number of stereotypes associated with Saratoga High School. One is the relative importance placed by the community on academics (very high) as opposed to athletics (not so high). Marching band falls somewhere in the middle, if not in reality, certainly in the mythology.

Our rival… Continue Reading

“The Olympic lifting has been a challenge all the way around,” says John Van Every, owner of CrossFit Longevity in Santa Cruz, Calif. He’s offering CrossFit to a specialized segment of the population: athletes 50 years of age and older.

“I think the biggest challenges faced by this age demographic for especially the Olympic lifting is the set-up, always the set-up position,” Van Every says. He notes that the flexibility… Continue Reading

“I am not breast cancer,” says Liz Anderson, co-owner of CrossFit Blaze in Naples, Fla. She has been battling breast cancer for two years, and CrossFit has helped her find the strength to fight.

Anderson says she has been through multiple treatments, chemotherapy, radiation and surgeries.

“I actually did CrossFit during chemotherapy,” she says. “The energy level goes way down when you’re going through something like that. So it helped me to keep… Continue Reading

John Van Every, owner of CrossFit Longevity in Santa Cruz, Calif., is bringing CrossFit to athletes 50 years old and older. After Van Every began training his father, both were quickly sold on the idea of bringing CrossFit to others in this demographic.

“We started thinking that offering CrossFit to his age group would be something that would be very beneficial,” John says.

In Part 1, Van Every talks about the success of his… Continue Reading

Josh MacDonald offers tips for working with special-needs children.

Nobody works with kids for the money or fame. Each of us began teaching kids how to CrossFit with the hopes of improving the general health and fitness of as many of them as possible. We want to have full classes, and we want the kids to have a ton of fun in the process.

Our programming is designed to teach proper movement… Continue Reading

“People just don’t have any idea what these lawyers, garbage men, teachers are capable of doing. Superhuman feats, that’s what they’re doing, and they get support to do it, and they get this loving, supportive community to stand behind them,” says TJ Belger, co-owner of TJ’s Gym in Northern California. TJ’s Gym recently hosted the Norcal 40s CrossFit Competition for athletes in the 40-49 age group.

Belger says that the response was so positive… Continue Reading

“Right now, like, I love my life. I do. I am so fortunate and so grateful for everything I have,” says Tanya Wagner.

In this video filmed in January, seven-and-a-half months into her pregnancy, Wagner was still CrossFitting. The 2009 Games champion still has kipping pull-ups and works on keeping her upper-body strength.

“Handstand push-ups and muscle-ups were such a hard thing for me not pregnant, so… Continue Reading

On Episode 164 of CrossFit Radio, host Justin Judkins interviewed Keetron Breece, owner of CrossFit Fairfield County, and Reebok CrossFit Open competitor Annie Fowler. This episode was webcast live at 6 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, March 23, 2011.

3:40 Keetron Breece has been an affiliate owner for the past four years. He shared his story about turning his life around and explained how CrossFit played a significant role… Continue Reading