Eschewing the Fat

Many trainers avoid addressing the topic of nutrition with clients. Top CrossFit coaches think that’s a mistake and explain how and why they broach the subject with athletes.

Alyssa Guenther thought her coach was crazy. A vegetarian of four years at the time, Guenther often felt sick—upset stomach, headaches, general lethargy. Still, when CrossFit Roots owner Nicole Christensen asked Guenther about her diet and suggested she consider adding meat—specifically via a Paleo challenge—she was met with skepticism.

But Christensen was thoughtful about her approach. Christensen knew Guenther’s goals included being a lean and strong CrossFit athlete. Armed with information and support, Christensen felt Guenther could start to consider making the switch. She was right. And Guenther added meat back into her diet.

Nutrition is the base of CrossFit Inc. Founder and CEO Greg Glassman’s Theoretical Hierarchy of Development pyramid. Yet, CrossFit coaches often ignore nutrition or deem it too sensitive a topic to broach.

Maggie Tincher of CrossFit Fairfax and CrossFit Reston in Virginia said coaches must go beyond only concerning themselves with how much an athlete can deadlift.

Coaches must help clients understand that “whatever they eat affects their performance, and if they want to become better athletes, they need to change the eating habits,” explained Tincher, a member of CrossFit’s Level 1 Seminar Staff.

Strength Training - It’s Never Too Late

Mrs Virginia Rizan does free weight training at Wichita Falls Athletic Club. At 91, she is still getting stronger. Discuss

Shred-telligent Design: How to Ramp Up Your Major Lifts

When it comes to developing strength and muscle mass, is your warm-up doing more harm than good?

CLICK FOR 12 WEE KS TO INCREASED MASS AND STRENGTH

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From Zero To Ultra in 12 Months: How I Did It

Follow these eight programming principles, and you can run an ultra marathon in twelve months, too.

In your fitness life, one of the greatest challenges you can undertake is to run an ultra marathon. While the thought of running a marathon (26.2 miles/42.2 kilometers) is daunting enough for most, signing up to do an ultra marathon (Anything beyond 26.2 miles and normally up to 100 miles (160 kilometers) is a truly fearful experience.

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SS Weekly Report February 2, 2015

The Starting Strength Weekly Report 2015-02-02: Topics from the Forums: “What’s the reason that the SVJ is the preferred metric for measuring power?” and “Optimal Rep Range for Strength Gains”. This week Under the Bar: Up to 11. View report in browser View report archive var addthis_config = {"data_track_addressbar":true};

Help Us Choose the Top 10 Fitness Blogs of 2015

It's time to nominate your favorite fitness website for this year's top ten best fitness blog contest!

Every year we hold a contest to determine the top ten fitness blogs on the Internet. There are a lot of sites out there, and we need your help to sort through them all and select the twenty finalists to go before our esteemed panel of judges.

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Virtuosity 4: Reclamation

Responding to our call for submissions, hosts of athletes have told us CrossFit is a fantastic rehabilitation program, and this month’s article is a perfect example of how the fitness program helps athletes reclaim athleticism they thought was a thing of the past.

And what a beautiful thing that is. Just as older athletes rejoice to find they can preserve and even reclaim function as they age, injured athletes are thrilled when fitness helps them repair their bodies and do the things they enjoy.

This month, Michael Clift explains how CrossFit helped his wife recover from a fall-related hip injury, allowing them to once again share activities they love. For telling his story, Clift will receive US$500, as well as a $500 Rogue Fitness gift card to help him outfit his basement gym.

We’re looking for more stories about why you love CrossFit and those who bring it to you. We’ll publish eight more over the next months. Tell us why your trainer or affiliate has earned your trust and your business, or tell us why your training partners make the garage your favorite place in the world.

To increase the chances of publication, read the submission guidelines at the end of the article, and review the previous articles in this series. You can find them all by entering “virtuosity” in the search box above.

Write with skill, and send your story to virtuosity@crossfit.com. We cannot respond to each submission due to the volume, but we read and appreciate them all.