It is easy to point out the bad things that are found in gyms across America, not just at CrossFit gyms — or any gym with any methodology. If there are any methods that are possibly injurious towards the ... Continue Reading
Why Becca Voigt’s CrossFit Games Streak Is a Mindblowing Accomplishment
CrossFit as a sport is young — incredibly young — so it's still difficult to gain perspective on athlete accomplishments over the years. Consistency changes definitions every year, and while it seems like ... Continue Reading
Five Characteristics Elite CrossFitters All Share
I've had the privilege to train with some of the best athletes in the world. I’m not stating this to brag or inflate myself; like many athletes, when starting the journey to being a competitive ... Continue Reading
My Week with Uzbekistan’s National Weightlifting Team: Travel, T-shirts, and Plov
If you have ever visited the USA Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, you will notice immediately that the facility is not a high end hotel. It is a conveniently located, one-stop shop for an ... Continue Reading
The One Piece of Advice that Applies to Every CrossFit Athlete
Control what you can control. It seems so simple, but how often do you worry about things you truly don’t have the ability to change? Take something as simple as driving to or from work. How upset do you ... Continue Reading
The Regional Workout Change You Probably Missed
Now that all the Events of the 2016 Reebok CrossFit Games Regionals have been released, we can talk about what we expect in the upcoming weekends. As elite CrossFit athletes evolve to become skilled across ... Continue Reading
Cardio for Weightlifters? When Conditioning Is Important for Strength Athletes
As strength, power, and competitive fitness athletes, we are always concerned with the effect of endurance training on our top end strength and power outputs. Despite the plethora of scientific and ... Continue Reading
What It’s Like to Compete at Regionals When You’re Not a CrossFit Superstar
You’ve never heard of me. My name never made it into a Regionals Recap, and my photo never graced HQ’s news feed. On the street, I don’t turn heads with my physique like my contemporaries (in name only), ... Continue Reading
Three Tiers of Responsibility: Which Strength Coach Are You?
There are obviously various levels to being a strength & conditioning coach. Let's break it down and discuss the importance at each level — and the implications thereof. First up we have the amateur ... Continue Reading
USA Weightlifting Made a Big Leadership Change No One Is Talking About
On February 13th of this year, the USA Weightlifting (USAW) Board of Directors voted to remove CJ Stockel as chairman of the board (without cause) and elected Ursula Papandrea to fill the leadership ... Continue Reading
The Growing Disconnect Between CrossFit Athletes and Coaches
Sixteen years after CrossFit.com was launched, people still find themselves walking into a CrossFit gym for the first time. But let's be real — 16 years is a long time, and things have changed quite a bit. ... Continue Reading
The Pan American Championships Just Moved. Turns Out That’s Pretty Common
You may have seen on the IWF website that June's 2016 Pan American Championships have moved locations. Do not despair, the competition will still he held in the South American country of Colombia. ... Continue Reading
Which Men Will Represent USA Weightlifting at the Rio Olympics?
The final start list has been published, and American Weightlifting is one month away from the men’s trial session at the 2016 Senior National Championships. Unlike the woman’s team, the men do not have ... Continue Reading
Which Women Will Represent USA Weightlifting at the Rio Olympics?
Update: After the 2016 USA Weightlifting Nationals & Olympic Trials in Salt Lake City (May 5-8th), we know which women will represent the US in weightlifting at the 2016 Rio Olympics. They ... Continue Reading
Why Fitness Athletes Should Focus on Hypertrophy
Like it or not, hypertrophy training (sometimes only seen as bodybuilding programs) can be very beneficial to fitness athletes and CrossFitters, possibly even necessary for long-term muscular ... Continue Reading
It’s Only April. Why Are American Weightlifters Going to Brazil?
Have you noticed over the last year how multiple international weightlifting events have popped up aside from the normal World Championships and Pan American Championships? These have happened already at ... Continue Reading
Here’s What You Don’t Know About Announcing Fitness Competitions
(Coach and MC James Quigley takes us inside his quest to enter the world of fitness announcing in this exclusive series for BarBend.) As the lights came on and the main stage lit up, you could feel the ... Continue Reading
What the Arnold Championships Mean to American Weightlifting
I am no one in the sport of weightlifting. I am not a coach, and I do not want to sell you any personal training, or a t-shirt or a supplement. For an American athlete, I had some success; but what is ... Continue Reading