I'm 69m and spent most of my life in modest occasional endurance sports, nothing ever explosive, until trying CF at 65. I'm finally starting to explode into full extension for the OLY, and have managed to get the trick for kipping pull ups. I can crank out sets of 10 like nothing. It's fun!

Understandably, kipping CTB has taken longer. I'm finally able to string a couple, if I do <everything> just right, especially exploding out of the back swing with a strong push down, and then the powerful hip pop while pulling the bar towards my chest while still pushing down.

But for weeks now, there have been good days and bad.

I'm looking for suggested drills to help me along. Or do I just need to do more? Should I resort to a band for higher reps, or not?

It will all be worth it. I'd sure like a bar muscle up before I croak.

Hey Reddit!

I’m looking for advice on structuring additional training alongside my CrossFit regime. I go to CrossFit twice a week (Monday and Friday), and my gym follows Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 programming for strength. I’ve used 5/3/1 before CrossFit and would like to keep using it.

Here’s what my week looked like last week (Monday and Friday programming at my gym is fairly consistent):

• Monday: CrossFit (Squat focus with 5/3/1).
• Tuesday: Breathwork -> my own bench press (5/3/1).
• Wednesday: Mobility class (helping with shoulder pain, now improving).
• Thursday: Yoga recovery -> Olympic weightlifting (working on splits, cleans, and jerks).
• Friday: CrossFit (Deadlift focus with 5/3/1).

I like trying the different classes at my gym to target problem areas (like shoulder pain or Olympic lifts), and I’ve also done gymnastics.

The Issue:

While this setup feels great overall, my chest and arms are lagging behind in strength and size. I suspect it’s due to limited accessory work outside of bench press.

I’ve considered adding some chest and arm exercises after classes, but I know I need something like of a proven programme to stay consistent and motivated.

My Question:

What do you guys do to supplement CrossFit? Are there any programmes or plans that work well alongside it?

I’m looking for something that won’t interfere with recovery for my main lifts or WODs but helps fill gaps (chest, arms, core, etc.). Any advice, routines, or resources would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance! 🙏

It was kind of my only reason to do the open - see if I could make QF this year (semis are still out for at least another year). I'm not sure if I wanna do the open now, on top of all the BS CrossFit HQ has been pulling. I mean, I can still see if I move up in percentile, but eh....

For the people who are interested in this: https://games.crossfit.com/article/get-ready-2025-crossfit-games-season

Hey Reddit,

I’m dealing with a chronic sleeping issue that has completely disrupted my life, and I’m desperate for advice or solutions.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a heavy sleeper. My mom used to mention it when I was a kid, but I never thought it would become such a disaster as an adult. The problem is, I can’t wake up early—even by 9 AM—and when I do sleep, I often oversleep for 12+ hours at a stretch. There have even been days when I’ve slept for 20 or 23 hours straight without any breaks.

I’ve tried setting alarms, but I don’t hear them. I don’t notice my phone ringing, and I can even sleep through doorbells. The only way I wake up is if someone physically shakes me awake—and even then, it’s a struggle. People who’ve tried waking me up say I act completely different when I’m asleep, often scolding them for interrupting my sleep. At that moment, an extra 15 minutes feels like heaven, but it always turns into another 5–8 hours.

This pattern has completely wrecked my productivity and caused me to miss countless opportunities I worked hard for. I’ve tried everything I can think of—setting multiple alarms, joining morning commitments to force myself to wake up, and aiming for 7 hours of sleep—but none of it works. By the time I wake up, it’s already noon, and my plans for the day are gone.

Here’s the kicker: I’ve had multiple medical tests done, and there’s no underlying condition causing this. I’m otherwise healthy, and my work schedule isn’t physically demanding—I mostly have a quiet desk job in front of a computer.

Has anyone else experienced this?

Just to clarify, I’ve already tried everything short of hiring a marching band to wake me up.

Vibrating beds or fancy robotic alarms? Nope. Two reasons: 1. I can’t afford them. 2. Let’s be honest, I’d probably sleep right through that too.

I’ve gone full experimental mode with alarms—kept my phone across the room, hooked up speakers, even set my ringtone to a screaming goat. My brother has drenched me with water multiple times, and my girlfriend once blasted Metallica in my ears. (Yes, Metallica—she was that desperate). None of it worked.

At this point, I’m convinced I could sleep through the apocalypse or a live concert happening in my bedroom. If you’ve got a creative idea to wake me up or even just a way to curse my laziness drop it in the comments!z

I'm coming up on about 2 years being back in CrossFit which is the longest I've been consistent with it. I have previously done CrossFit but it was only a few months before I had to leave due to something outside of the sport. I rejoined in 2022 and have consistently gone 4 days per week taking about a week off in the late spring and another week in the early winter around the holidays, but I've just recently for the last couple of weeks been feeling dejected.

Some of the way I'm feeling may have to do with us recently having retested 19.2 which I feel like I under performed in. Then we did a retest of a 3 rep max hang squat clean with a jerk after a 12 week strength cycle and my weight was static. I have a vacation coming up so I will have a bit of a break, but I'm thinking of scheduling a longer break maybe 2-3 weeks until new years.

Has anyone else experienced something similar around the 2 year mark?

What’s his Instagram post implying? Leaving CrossFit? https://www.instagram.com/p/DCowNlJxOLw/?img_index=6&igsh=MWFjNzR6cGNpdG13aA==

Does anyone know if the Throwdown will be streamed anywhere? Trying to find info, but I’m coming up with nothing.

Want to add a weight vest to my routine, any good recommendations , or how you use it?

The CF HQ statement is devoid of any sort of summary or detail in it's post about changes it's making after the internal investigation into Lazar Dǔkic's death at the 2024 CF Games. So I went through it and read between the lines. Based on the changes that are being made, here's what I think can be inferred:

1. No one on the senior leadership team at CrossFit HQ has been specifically responsible for safety at the CrossFit Games.
2. There is not currently a culture within CrossFit HQ where athletes and staff feel comfortable raising safety concerns to senior leadership.
3. There is not currently a clear path within CrossFit HQ for athletes and staff to raise safety concerns to senior leadership.
4. The CrossFit Sport Organisation is not in a position where it can safely run open-water swimming events at the CrossFit Games.
5. Pre-event Rehearsals, communication protocols and emergency resources at the 2024 CrossFit games were inadequate.
6. There has been no safety specific element to pre-event briefings for athletes in the past.
7. There have been no documented safety measures, and protocols distributed to athletes in the past.
8. Athletes have not had a clear avenue to ask questions, voice concerns and escalate issue related to safety.
9. The use of volunteers and staff, no matter their levels of experience, was not an adequate provision of personell in the event of an emergency.
10. Paramedic teams and ambulances were only requested by CrossFit HQ to be on-site at events if they were legally required by local ordinances and regulations.
11. There was no mental-health provision on on-site medical teams at events.

There's probably more, especially around the Advisory Board and Athlete Council but these are such a transparent attempt to disenfranchise athlete run efforts like the PFAA I don't know where to start.

Hey guys,

I’ve been looking around online (and on previous posts here) for recommendations on a pair of leather grips. I have a pair of PICSIL Phoenix Grips but find that the coating on the bars in my box mean I don’t feel I’m getting as much help with the grip aspect as I should be. Maybe it’s a me problem rather than the grips, but one of the coaches mentioned material of the ones I’m currently using with the non powder coated material on the bar make it a bit slippier than it should be.

Any pointers or recommendations greatly appreciated! Cheers

Did you just have a breakthrough? Post your new PR, unlocked achievements, brags, or any other victory from the past week. Share your victory with others!

Come on in and ask any quick questions that you're burning for an answer to or just talk about your workout today!

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I start CrossFit in February, I want to see if it can help improve my health. I have lower back osteoarthritis, a torn meniscus and I’ve been pretty inactive for years.

Hello I've been doing crossfit for 2 months now. I am obese my whole life, (I'm around 5 foot 1) I lost a lot of weight during the pandemic because I was doing Keto. Went from 98 kilos to 59 kilos during those years. I gained some back and I'm 76 kilos because of my job and I stopped doing Keto. Fast forward to now, I'm already cutting my carbs, eating healthy, not buying process food, and 2 months doing CF because my partner pushed me go to the gym and I thought it was just a typical gym and did not mentioned a CF gym. The classes were a bit hard on the first week, I even have to walk like a duck since everything hurts. But now I'm fitting better but I still can't finish each class cause I either don't have the air to do it or I'm just too weak to finish it. I hated it and I want to be better. I really wanted to build muscle and I know that it will take years to do so but I want to incorporate that as early as possible. Any thoughts or advice on how I can fit 2 different kinds of work-outs? I do CF 4 times a week.

Our gym is doing a “Torture the Coaches” fundraiser on Saturday. We all donated money like $1 a thruster, $.50 a burpee etc to make our coaches do a horrible workout. I want to make some fun signs like at marathons and I need ideas!

Obviously one will say “NO REP”

I need more ideas please help! Thanks!

Was wondering if anyone has transitioned from a powerlifting/power building style program to CrossFit? I have always been a blocky/puffy looking strong dude. The muscle has always been there. I was wondering if anyone could share stories of how they ate fairly clean for a diet but decided to transition to CrossFit and ended up losing weight to look more lean. Thanks in advance. I’m scared to try it which probably means I should try it but change is daunting if I’m honest.

I'm a London-based L2 CrossFit coach and was wondering what other coaches in the UK get paid per hour?

I have an echo bike and a row erg, does any body know of any workout programs for these two machines specifically, I saw a run/row/bike program but I don’t have anywhere to run so I wouldn’t be able to follow it.

I've been passionate about CrossFit for the past three years, attending classes at my local box and seeing significant improvements in my strength and endurance. Recently, I came into an unexpected sum of money (a sports parlay I placed on Stake netted me $2,500) and am considering how to use it to enhance my CrossFit experience.

Some ideas I've been contemplating include:

Home equipment: Setting up a home gym with essential CrossFit equipment like a barbell set, bumper plates, kettlebells, and a pull-up rig for additional training outside of class hours.

Certifications: Enrolling in CrossFit Level 1 Trainer courses to deepen my understanding of the methodology and possibly coach in the future.

Nutrition coaching: Hiring a nutrition coach to optimize my diet for performance and recovery.

Competitions: Participating in regional competitions to challenge myself and connect with the broader CrossFit community.

For those who have invested in their CrossFit journey, how did you allocate your resources, and what benefits did you experience?

All the OG’s are retiring😭

Basically it’s in the header. Our box does intramural comps for the open. We do teams and get points and such. Typically points come from signing up for the open and paying the fee. Do the affiliate owners get benefits from having their members sign up for the open? Honestly I don’t care if our gym is an affiliate because I like the people and the workouts and don’t care about the CF title.

Short story: Nothing wrong with OP, just got a pretty bad case of a flu. Still recovering, but I’m already dreading the first workouts after I get well and am back to wods. I have asthma, which normally doesn’t really stop me from doing anything, but any kind of a flu seems to drag on for a pretty long time and I feel so weak and unwell afterwards. That is why I really am not looking forward to the first workouts, because I know they will suck.

My question to you, fellow crossfitters, is that how do you ease into your training after illness? What tips or tricks can you share?

Kristin will be competing in Dubai, so exciting to see her back competing!

And Sara at fitfest, I so hope to see them both back at the Games one day

I discovered not long after I started that I had an imbalance in my leg strength. My right knee used to bow in significantly on squats, and one of my coaches remarked that I was squatting one-legged. I know imbalances are normal, but it seems pretty substantial to be able to do 10 or so on my left leg and not one (full depth) on my right. My squat technique has improved but that hasn't translated to pistols yet.

What are the best exercises to work towards fixing this? Box pistols on that side? Bulgarian split squats? Something else?