OUT OF HIS HEAD, SHOULDERS, KNEES & TOES by BEAR (Future Fittest's WOD)

We worked on keeping the weight on
the heels and those knees out.

Bear made up his own WOD!

I didn't ask him to.  He just enjoys doing the CrossFit thing with me and I often have to impose rest days on him.

Lately he's been touching my arms and saying,"When I get older I'm going to have muscles like you" Usually when daddy's in the room. Um, OK but I don't know how Daddy feels about that? Though he (Daddy) has also been bitten by the CrossFit bug.  Lucky him. One opened up just below his work.  Awesome! Anyhow, back to Bear.

The idea behind CrossFit Kids, is to pair fitness and fun. I know, I know, strength training for kids, the initial thought is, "Are you crazy? Kids should not be lifting weights." But strength training can be great for kids. That idea gained momentum in 2008, when the American Academy of Pediatrics revised its policy statement on weight training for children and adolescents. The AAP used to recommend against weightlifting, but after considering new research it determined it's safe for kids and beneficial.

Lyle Micheli, M.D., the director of sports medicine at Children’s Hospital Boston and professor of orthopedic surgery at Harvard University, as well as a co-author, with Dr. Faigenbaum, of the National Strength and Conditioning Association’s 2009 position paper about children and resistance training. “That’s true for children as well as adults. There was a time when children ‘weight trained’ by carrying milk pails and helping around the farm. Now few children, even young athletes, get sufficient activity” to fully strengthen their muscles, tendons and other tissues. “If a kid sits in class or in front of a screen for hours and then you throw them out onto the soccer field or basketball court, they don’t have the tissue strength to withstand the forces involved in their sports. That can contribute to injury.” NY Times

Several more scientific studies show that any age is a good age. Here's a great post siting three more scientifically studied reasons to assuade your fears. Strength Training Is Better Than Soccer for Kids. But there seems to be something special about the the age between 7 to 12. The nervous system is very plastic. The kids are very eager. It seems to be an ideal time to hard-wire strength gains and movement patterns. And if you structure a program right, like I have it can be so much fun that it never occurs to the kids that they’re getting quote-unquote ‘strength training’ at all.”

SO...here's what we did and any adult could do this too just add more weight or reps (21-15-9) or both!.
First we started with a warm -up
5 minutes of Skills (each)
Jump rope and squats
then we warmed up our shoulders for those wallballs by doing some dynamic shoulder movements.

Out of my Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

by Bear
3 rounds of:


6 pull-ups (scaled horizontal row)
The row is a progression of strength and skill to achieve a pull-up. It all starts with good movement in a body row. Things to look for...

• Squeeze shoulder blades together
•  This is not an arm curl
• Torso is rigid, no bouncing out of the bottom
•  Controlled eccentric recovery—not a rapid drop.

**Everybody will do body rows in the "On Ramp" to help strengthen the connective tissue (even if they can
already do pull-ups).*

9 toes to rings (scaled knee-ups)

Knowing how to kip helps but if not try knees to elbows or just to waist. Things to keep in mind...

• Solid grip
• Keeping long arms and not bending elbows in process.
• Pulling down on bar/rings (similar to kipping motion)
• Keeping head in neutral position.

12 wallballs (no walls yet? Volleys)
Things to look for...

• butt back 
• chest up 
• Keep those knees out!
• Full depth and ...

• ...full extension, with active shoulders (head pushes through)
• Drive through heels, full extension of hips for power

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