One of the first things people notice when they start checking out CrossFit, is that the tools and equipment we use for conditioning are a little bit different than traditional gyms. Of course barbells are everywhere, and you can usually find a place to do pull-ups in any fitness facility, but something like a climbing rope is usually only found in a CrossFit box! Maybe you can remember 6th grade gym class, when climbing up a rope might have happened once or twice a year. Perhaps, you went away to summer camp and they had a rope to swing on there. But rarely as an adult have there been opportunities to take to the playground in the spirit of fun and health. Its CrossFit workouts like todays, which make me feel like a kid again. They make me think of long summer days running around and climbing on anything I...Read more

The holidays can be a crazy time for everyone. What once seemed like a far off date on the calendar is now less than a week away. As we get closer to the holidays everything seems to get amplified – you realize you aren’t anywhere near being done with gift shopping, you suddenly discover that your house is in no condition for visitors, you get the picture. The point is that what should be a wonderful, relaxing time is often very stressful. We have a two part solution for you to blow off some steam – first, be selfish and second, move your body. Let me explain the selfish part… with all the craziness of the holidays we often get out of our normal routine. It’s really important to carve some time out of your day for yourself. Ideally, it would be an hour down here at CrossFit Thermal but...Read more

According to the national weather service, short distinctive given names, both written and spoken are quicker and less subject to error than more cumbersome identification methods. Since 1953, we’ve been giving these types of names to our storms, CrossFit, uses that very same idea in naming some of its more notorious workouts. You may have heard of them before, Fran, Cindy, Grace, Elizabeth and Karen are a few. You may even have a friend so into CrossFit that they named their dog after one of these workouts. I remember when I was installing the leaderboard here at Thermal, and one of my friends who hadn’t started CrossFit yet stopped in He said, “Man, you’re not even open and you already have a bunch of members” While it was a nice thought, if he would have read the rest of our leaderboard, he would have thought I had a member named...Read more

I am so excited to write to our community about my experience at the CrossFit Level 1 Certificate Course. For anyone wondering what that is, it’s a weekend long course that delves into anything and everything you want to know about being a CrossFit coach, owning your own affiliate, and how to become a better athlete yourself. You can also read about the course here. Unfortunately, a weekend isn’t long enough to cover everything you need to learn about CrossFit, but it’s a great start. I was hesitant about taking this course, mostly because I am not a great athlete, and I was worried I wouldn’t belong. I thought, “Will they laugh at me because I still scale most workouts?” One minute into the certification, I knew just how wrong those thoughts were. The seminar staff was a group of warm, friendly, knowledgeable CrossFitters who love CrossFit, and love sharing...Read more

Skill: Thruster – 15 minutes to work on the thruster As many rounds as possible in 12min of: 18 Thrusters (95/65) 12 Burpees over Bar 6 Chest to Bar pull-ups The thruster is a huge piece of the CrossFit puzzle. Being efficient with it can make or break your workout. Today we will spend some time optimizing what I call the “launch” portion of the thruster. If this is your first time trying them, this will be a great way to learn the movement in detail.Read more