Lifestyle

A great photo by Jamie Brown. Nicole Hughes talks social marketing to over 40 CrossFit affiliates at CrossFit Clitheroe in England. 

Pictured from the Left: Tony Cross (Owner of CrossFit Clitheroe), Mark Felix, and Rob Orlando. 

Kelly Gray & Holly Smith (CrossFit South Hills) are warming up to train in these pics from CrossFitPhotos.com. What do you think about their choice of training gear. We think it works. Ladies would you wear it? 

#PRMusic | Click above to download "AMEN" (Explicit lyrics)

He does work with a SICFIT cap on. His name and location will be withheld. What's your most badass SICFIT pic? 

So, we live tweeted the 2011 Reebok CrossFit Games debut on ESPN2. Between bantering with HQ media, the 100's of media-savvy affiliates, and newcomers with their own fresh perspective - good or bad - these are some of the most viral ones of the night.
 































Neal Maddox's blond hair dye was not harmed in the process of publishing this blog. 

Jeremy Thiel, Co-Owner of SICFIT, interviews Reebok's Sports Marketing go-to-guy - Chad Wittman, Jason Khalipa and other top CrossFit Games athletes and personalities. Let him know what you think of his Piers Morgan skills and who SICFIT should hunt down for interviews next. 

We at SICFIT are CrossFit Games imperialists. By that, we mean that we believe that the CrossFit Games will be one of the most lucrative segments in the action sports market. What do you think? What is next year going to look like? Here is one of the best infographics that we've seen. By SocialWOD.

Click the above photo to download the CrossFit Journal video featuring Knowshon and Matt Chan

A good time to be a successful CrossFit affiliate. Pro-athletes have been training a certain way for years - cleans, bench, incline bench, squat, sprints. Just recently, they've added typical functional tools like kettlebells, battling ropes, and tires to add flair to their existing system of periodization and occassional body part training (often necessary for pre-habilitation). This is a step in a new direction. 

This type of functional training seems to be the norm in professional and collegiate training facilities but does that standard have more room to change? The video below is at the facility of David Claiborne, a L1 CrossFit coach and affiliate owner-to-be, a Zach Even-Esh protege, strength coach to Brian Cushing, and friend of mine. It would be hard to argue against the necessity of some of the elements that he uses in his training to assure an injury-free season for these NFL athletes. But is it the only optimal standard? And will sport-specific uses of CrossFit replace more traditional periodized training over time?



The question: when it comes to the training of professional power athletes, how will their training evolve in the coming years? Let's say Knowshon Moreno has a breakout year (seems likely). The usually skeptical Skip Bayless on ESPN's First Take will ask Knowshon about his new training style (that includes traditional .com programming). They'll ask Knowshon questions about his coach and whether his coach trains the same way. Likely, they'll peer over and see Matt Chan performing muscle ups with ease and then snatching heavy, moments after. Then they'll ask why Matt trains so intensely, considering he doesn't compete in a "traditional pro sport". They'll probably ask the same of his wife, Cherie, after they watch her knock out 21+ hand stand push ups in a row. They'll sit in amazement, in awe of the couple's pursuit of general physical preparedness. And they'll try to get to the bottom of how CrossFit, being the core of an NFL athlete's training regimen, could produce such broad and useful fitness. Whether for NFL athletes or us CrossFit athletes. 

Sure, Knowshon likely supplements his training with sport-specific techniques. But be honest, we never expected to watch the CrossFit Journal video of Knowshon, an NFL standout, performing "Fran" in a traditional manner. And performing "Fran" well. What if it makes him better? What if the pursuit of a more broad and inclusive level of fitness makes him perform more proficient, efficient, and confident in the performance of sport-specific tasks. 



I'd venture to guess that based on his pre-season performance, he might turn some heads and finally live up to his extremely high expectations. I've always been one of many that believe in the benefits of CrossFit for sport-specific athletes. To be clear, David Claiborne believes in the same. But what we're seeing is a further progression away from strict periodization and traditional football lifting, if you will. There are always multiple paths to the same goal. Wouldn't it be cool if this year, training at a CrossFit affiliate with an experienced CrossFit coach was widely known as another way to get to the Pro Bowl? 

If that happens, many of CrossFit's best will be influencing the training of NFL athletes - and beyond - in the years to come. 

By Web Smith