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.

“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.

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.

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.

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.

“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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

“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.

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.

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.

“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.

“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.

“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.

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.

“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.

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’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.

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.

“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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

“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.

“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.

Nielsen says balancing being a mom, running an affiliate, and finding opportunities to work out is a challenge, but she enjoys having her son around during competition and training.

“As he gets older and he can actually watch, it’s gonna be even better,” she says.

Just two-and-a-half months after giving birth, Nielsen competed in the 2011 Mid-Atlantic Hopper Challenge and took first place with her affiliate team.

“It was hard coming back at first, especially because I was on bed rest,” she says. “It’s good to get back in it.”

Nielsen plans to continue training and hopes to make it back to the Games as an individual or with her affiliate team.

“You can come back from anything. Having a kid is not a reason to stop. So you just keep training during your pregnancy. You show people what you can do. You come back from it,” she says. “It’s just fodder for getting more people in, too—you’ve gotta show what people are capable of doing.”

6min 28sec

Additional reading: An Ever So Optimistic Journey.

The tongue-in-cheek question is a response to the notion of prescribed women’s weights on the CrossFit.com WOD.

“For me, in my gym, in my training, we’ve never had a set percentage or like amount of the men’s weight that we should or should not do,” Hogan says. “I’ve tried and done many workouts as prescribed. I’ve scaled some. I’ve watched men scale as well.”

In fact, she’s only done Grace at the prescribed 135 lb.

In CrossFit competition, everything has to be identical for each athlete competing. Loads, reps and distances must be exact. The top men require heavier loads than the top women. But training is different. Athletes should assess the prescribed workout, taking into account their strengths and weaknesses, where they are physically and mentally, and what their broad training goals are.

Scaling principles apply equally to men and women. Having official women’s weights that are lower than men’s for every training session imposes an artificial limitation on women that HQ doesn’t support. Budding suggests it’s a ludicrous notion that he and Rich Froning Jr. should always train at the same weights because they're both men, but somehow he and Hogan shouldn’t because she’s a woman.

Budding asks, “Should a woman’s vote count for just two-thirds of a man’s?”

5min 45sec

Additional reading: Testing Fitness as Sport by Tony Budding, published Sept. 8, 2010.