That percentage on your workout board — 75%, 80%, whatever it says — was never meant to be gospel. It's just a starting point to get weight on the bar; the real programming happens when your coach watches you move and adjusts based on how you're actually performing that day, not what a spreadsheet calculated six weeks ago.
ESSENTIALS
The CrossFit stimulus—constantly varied high-intensity functional movement coupled with meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and no sugar—prepares you for the demands of a healthy, functional, independent life and provides a hedge against chronic disease and incapacity. This stimulus is elegant in the mathematical sense of being marked by simplicity and efficacy. The proven elements of this broad, general, and inclusive fitness, in terms of both movement and nutrition, are what we term our CrossFit Essentials.
Setting a New Standard: Preparticipation Exams for the 2026 CrossFit Games
Published on December 12, 2025Starting in 2026, all CrossFit Games athletes will be required to complete a mandatory preparticipation medical exam before competing. Here's why this matters and what athletes need to know.
Don't Eliminate CrossFit Movements As You Age (Do This Instead)
Published on December 10, 2025Fitness advice tells you to eliminate exercises as you age — first this movement, then that one, gradually restricting yourself until you're doing nothing at all. But the real risk isn't getting hurt doing a deadlift at 60; it's being 75 and unable to pick up your grandchild because you haven't practiced that pattern in 15 years.
Movement and Nutrition As Medicine: Kristin Savage Fights Lupus Through CrossFit
Published on December 9, 2025When Kristin Savage started CrossFit 13 years ago, she had one goal: to gain weight and get stronger. But in 2024, CrossFit and nutrition proved to be the key to fighting Lupus.
The Weight-Loss Journey the Internet Can't Look Away From
Published on December 8, 2025Ethan Benard has always loved who he is on the inside, but now he’s fighting to love his physical body. After reaching 600 pounds, he began sharing his weight-loss journey publicly, pushing for a future built on health, purpose, and grit.
Build Resilience, Not Fragility: The Science of Training CrossFit Safely Through Every Decade
Published on December 6, 2025The biggest risk you face as an aging athlete is not training at all. Here's why the strongest bodies are the safest bodies, and how CrossFit builds the physical capacity that protects you in the gym and in everyday life.
Join Our Cult(ure)
Published on December 3, 2025People call CrossFit a cult — and honestly, we get it. But if fighting disease, building real community, and staying strong enough to play with your grandkids at 80 makes us a cult, then maybe it's time to reconsider what you've been calling "normal."
When Life Got Hard, CrossFit Showed Up
Published on December 3, 2025One day, as Aly Hagglund walked up her parents’ driveway, she suddenly lost all feeling in one side of her face. The diagnosis came soon after: small fiber neuropathy — a painful and rare condition that attacks the body’s nerve fibers. But Hagglund refused to let it define her. Through sound nutrition, relentless movement, and sheer grit, she’s kept her symptoms at bay and her spirit unshaken.
Progressive Overload: How CrossFit Does It Better (Without Even Trying)
Published on November 29, 2025Critics say CrossFit lacks progressive overload because you can't track it on a neat spreadsheet — but that's exactly the point. Constant variation creates a 10-year adaptation window where you're getting stronger, faster, and more skilled across every domain simultaneously, which is why you have athletes who can clean 400 lb and crush Fran in 2 minutes.
Why This Games Athlete Went Back to School
Published on November 26, 2025Two-time CrossFit Games athlete Harry Lightfoot is always chasing growth — in competition and in coaching. Recently, he attended the CrossFit Level 2 Seminar at CrossFit Cardiff in Wales, United Kingdom, leveling up his knowledge and skill on the coaching floor.