Results for “military”

Leave your tights, weightlifting shoes and iPods at the door. In this camp, your name doesn’t go on the whiteboard. It goes on your plain white T-shirt.

This is SEALFIT’s Kokoro Camp.

“The training we give is really the hardest training outside of any military organization in the world,” says SEALFIT founder Mark Divine.

On the line to accept that challenge are CrossFitters including Mikko Salo, Kristan Clever, Rob Orlando, Tommy Hackenbruck, Caity Henniger, Jimi Letchford and original… Continue Reading

Russell Berger explains how a company called 9Line works to support wounded warriors in their fight to recover from injury.

In 2006, Juan Valentin was badly injured by an IED explosion while serving overseas. The process of his recovery gave him a unique knowledge and understanding of just how difficult it can be to go from an elite warrior to having little or no ability to train as an athlete.

“I was a very active person,” Valentin… Continue Reading

Jeff Barnett finds some similarities between being an officer in the U.S. Marines and being a leader at a CrossFit affiliate.

In my life before becoming a co-owner and trainer at CrossFit Impulse, I was an officer in the United States Marine Corps. The role of the junior military officer is that of small-unit leader. The proverbial quarterback in the huddle, he is responsible for devising a plan, communicating its execution and supervising it to… Continue Reading

In May 2010, the U.S. Army published a 69-page study evaluating the CrossFit program and its effects on combat fitness. This document summarizes the findings of a comprehensive evaluation of 14 military athletes over an eight-week period.

The purpose of this study is to test the efficacy of the CrossFit fitness program and methodology to increase the physical fitness of U.S. Army soldiers. Over the past several years, the CrossFit fitness program has gained… Continue Reading

Capt. Richard Kelley offers five WODs designed to for austere environments and participants who may need incentives to put effort into intense workouts.

The Air Force gets a bad reputation in terms of fitness in the military. A lot of this seems to stem from what some call the “Bike Test Days,” referring to a period when cycle ergometry was the primary means of measuring fitness in the Air Force. While those days are gone, and… Continue Reading

On Episode 124 of CrossFit Radio, host Justin Judkins interviewed Bob Guere, owner of CrossFit California City; Pam Robles and Dave Lombardo, who are organizing the CrossFit event in the California Firefighters Summer Olympics; and Mike Moody, the owner of CrossFit Fort Benning. This episode was webcast live at 6 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, June 16, 2010.

3:30 CrossFit California City owner Bob Guere came on the… Continue Reading

Greg Halmi explains how Pathfinder CrossFit is helping produce fitter cadets in the Purdue Army ROTC Boiler Battalion.

Since the debut of our video Pathfinders on CrossFit.com, I have received numerous e-mails about how we began CrossFitting at Purdue and how we have incorporated CrossFit into our physical-training program at Purdue Army ROTC. In explaining the process, I’ll give a little history… Continue Reading

Capt. Davitt Broderick believes implementing CrossFit at the company level can produce fitter soldiers. Here’s how to do it.

Several years ago during college, I was introduced to CrossFit by a close friend of mine. During my deployment to Iraq I dove in a little further, and after returning I decided using the methods and theories of CrossFit would be the best way to train and prepare myself for life and combat. Luckily… Continue Reading

Chris Clark explains how residents in Rio de Janeiro’s Rocinha favela use CrossFit to rise above poverty and violence.

I woke up to the heavy thumping of a military helicopter circling, diving and banking hard to avoid the gunfire from the ground. I ran to my window, small and square with bars, and I could see it all when I was standing on my toes.

Rocinha, perhaps Rio de Janeiro’s most famous favela… Continue Reading

Mike Warkentin talks to the organizers of the Central Canada Sectional and shares some of the best moments from Edmonton.

Two days before the Central Canada Sectional, co-organizer Chad Williams was getting borderline hate mail from CrossFitters dying to know what WODs would test them in Edmonton, Alta. By the end of the competition on March 28, it was apparent Williams would be receiving thanks and compliments rather… Continue Reading

Lt. Jason Fernandez believes it’s time for members of the military to rethink their definitions of quality of life to include things that really matter—like fitness and health.

What is quality of life?

Ask the average CrossFitter, and you’ll probably hear something about being able to walk up the stairs, play with your grandchildren or get off the toilet at the age of 75. Now ask the same… Continue Reading

Ignorant people often blame their mistakes on a fitness program rather than their own misuse of that program. Maj. Dan Blackmon, U.S. Army, believes athletes need to get educated to take responsibility for their health, safety and fitness.

One of the most common misconceptions among military/LEO folks is that CrossFit is dangerous.

I’m a major in the United States Army and a trainer at Black and Gold CrossFit at the U.S. Military Academy at West… Continue Reading

“Be ready for the pain but relaxed deep down inside, but most of all, enjoy yourself.”

Maj. Shane Finison might be directing a WOD at CrossFit Durham or he might be preparing the Duke University Ranger Challenge Team for the 10K ruck march.

In Part 3 of this series, the cadets from Duke set out on a 10K march carrying a rifle and 35 lb. of gear. It’s a harsh end to the competition, and it demands… Continue Reading

In Part 2 of this series, the Ranger Challenge team from Duke University competes in a series of events designed to test their skills.

Trained by Maj. Shane Finison, an Army ROTC instructor at Duke and a coach at CrossFit Durham, the squad will be relying on their military education and CrossFit training to get them through events including a hand-grenade assault course, land navigation test and standard Army PT test.

The… Continue Reading

Lincoln Brigham spends about 15 bucks at the hardware store and braids his way to a 15-foot climbing rope.

Climbing a rope is a tremendously functional way to challenge the grip and pulling muscles, and ropes have long been a staple of CrossFit and military training programs.

Despite the obvious benefits of thick rope work, many CrossFit gyms do not have climbing ropes. In some gyms that do, I’ve heard complaints about the cost and… Continue Reading

In Part 1 of this series, Coach Mike Burgener taught a group of athletes the grip and receiving position for the clean. In Part 2, Coach B shows them how to put speed on the bar as they clean it to the rack position.

Drilling from the high hang position, Burgener has the athletes clean the bar, with one trainee getting holy hell for forgetting to use the hook grip. Under threat of burpees, the athlete takes… Continue Reading

Maj. Dave Maxwell of the U.S. Army and Kristopher Germain, a new affiliate owner, both appeared on Episode 88 of CrossFit Radio, webcast live at 6 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009.

2:00 Maj. Maxwell talked about a new U.S Army initiative that goes hand in hand with CrossFit and Operation Phoenix, as well as the box that’s being created at Fort Leavenworth with the help of the Glassmans, the army… Continue Reading

“It’s frigging working,” CAPT Brian Chontosh, USMC says of his experience in using CrossFit-style workouts to prepare for the rigors of combat. CAPT Chontosh followed Coach Greg Glassman to the lectern at the American Society of Exercise Physiologists national conference held April 3, 2009 on the campus of Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas.

In part 1, CAPT Chontosh said he has seen Marines with perfect scores in conventional… Continue Reading

Mike Warkentin reports that a Finnish firefighter and a Pennsylvania phys. ed. teacher are the Fittest Man and Fittest Woman in the world.

Mikko Salo and Tanya Wagner are the 2009 CrossFit Games champions.

Both athletes showed an incredible amount of skill and tenacity during the two-day event that included virtually every CrossFit movement. Muscle-ups, double-unders, handstand push-ups, Olympic lifts and a vicious trail run… Continue Reading

Todd Widman continues his coaching session with Cadet Matt Feiden during a break at a Level 1 Cert held in April, 2009 at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Matt is also an athlete at Black and Gold CrossFit. Some skill work precedes a workout.

First comes training on double-unders. Matt is told to grip two fingers and thumb at the base of the handle, hold his arms… Continue Reading