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ARTICLES & VIDEOS

Since 2001, CrossFit.com has provided daily workouts, articles, and videos in support of the CrossFit community and methodology. For older content, visit the CrossFit Journal archives from 2002-2016 and 2016-2018.

What Is a Clean?

1

The clean is used to lift a load from the ground to the shoulders, where frequently the object is being readied for lifting overhead. In the clean, the hips and legs launch a weight upward from the ground to belly-button height and then the lifter drops under the weight quickly to catch it. The full movement finishes with the hips and legs working by squatting the weight and standing up to full extension.

Read MoreWhat Is a Clean?

The CrossFit Coach: Kelly Kelly

11

Kelly Kelly (CF-L3) was a competitive soccer player focused on sport-specific training for much of her athletic career. Kelly, who became a well-known coach and competitive CrossFit athlete under her maiden name Kelly Clark, says her fitness lacked balance before she found CrossFit.

Watch The CrossFit Coach: Kelly Kelly

What Is a Squat?

5

The air squat is the cornerstone movement of CrossFit and represents one of the most functional ranges of motion a body can go through. To put it simply, a squat is standing from a seated position. It demands midline stabilization, posterior-chain engagement, and core-to-extremity movement, and it can be used to move your bodyweight or very large loads held in a variety of positions.

Read MoreWhat Is a Squat?

The Inertia of Aging

15

The loss of function, the increase in perceived pain, the comfort of limiting range of motion and avoiding activities that may increase aches — even transiently — and the resultant lack of activity becomes and is considered unavoidable and the new normal for the rest of our lives. Societal and cultural influences and stereotypes reinforce resignation to and acceptance of being old and feeble. When governmental and health-professional organizations say that walking or gardening — or any random movement — is enough if you do it often enough to accumulate an arbitrary number of active minutes mathematically associated with a loose collective of "risks," why would the general public disbelieve them?

Read MoreThe Inertia of Aging

Air Squat to a Target

9

CrossFit Seminar Staff trainer James Hobart demonstrates various ways to squat to a target. These options are helpful if an athlete is dealing with an ailment that prevents them from squatting to a full range of motion (crease of the hips below the top of the knees). Find an implement that allows you to squat without pain.

WatchAir Squat to a Target

Teaching The Push Jerk

11

At the CrossFit Level 1 Certificate Course, three overhead movements are taught together: the press, the push press, and the push jerk. All three take a barbell (or another object) from the shoulders to locked out overhead. The difference is in the use of the hip.

Watch Teaching The Push Jerk