Hotel Gym FTW

“…one athlete stole the show.”

Parents Mark and Nova began CrossFitting some three years ago at CrossFit Heyday in San Pedro, CA. They approached the owner and inquired about having their son possibly try CrossFit. There was a catch though, their son had Down syndrome. They had their concerns with having him jump into classes with the large groups but Coach Eddie, inspired by the works of Sam Dancer who had worked with an athlete under similar circumstances, volunteered his time and coaching to help this young man begin his fitness journey in early 2016.

Fast forward to a few weeks back, when Dane competed at the Realty Games. As he fought through his final reps of the competition, he showed what it means to never give up and how to turn his disability into an ability to overcome.

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So does Andrew Killion, owner of District CrossFit in Washington, D.C. Remember when we were all apart of that secret society like “fight club” working out in parks or anywhere we could find a pull-up bar. Anyone ever remember doing Murph in a public park? Andrew shares three things he miss about the good old days, and three things he doesn’t.

“The Church of CrossFit” by Julie Beck, The Atlantic

“You always know if someone goes to Harvard or if they go to CrossFit—they’ll tell you,” said Casper ter Kuile, a ministry innovation fellow at Harvard Divinity School. “It’s really interesting that evangelical zeal they have. They want to recruit you.”

CrossFit is his favorite example of a trend he has noticed: how, in the midst of the decline of religious affiliation in America, and the rise of isolation and loneliness, many ostensibly non-religious communities are “functioning in ways that look a little bit religious,” he explained on Friday at the Aspen Ideas Festival, which is co-hosted by the Aspen Institute and The Atlantic.

“Strikingly, spaces traditionally meant for exercise have become the locations of shared, transformative experience,” ter Kuile writes in “How We Gather,” a paper about this phenomenon. These are not places where you go run on a treadmill with your headphones blasting Carly Rae Jepsen and make as little eye contact as possible with the people around you. They are inherently communal. With CrossFit, that community includes accountability for your actions, something religion also offers.

“Stay Tight. How to Breathe, Brace and Save Your Spine” by Athlete Daily

Do you remember the first time someone cue’ed you to stay tight? It’s a common expression in weightlifting and CrossFit but unfortunately, most novice (and intermediate) athletes have no clue what that actually entails. But not breathing correctly and creating the proper tightness under heavy weight can lead to back pain, poor midline stability, weak glute activation, tilted pelvises and a host of other issues.

We talked last month about the importance of midline stability, urging people to re-think their core routine beyond sit-ups. But, assuming you’re working on midline stability, how does that carry over into a heavy squat session? How do you avoid overextension on a press or know how to use a belt properly (no, it doesn’t just keep you tight by itself) for a max deadlift?

Staying tight is essentially asking you to brace your core and one of the easiest —and most common— ways to explain that is to tighten up your stomach like you’re about to get punched there.