The Games’ first CrossFit Kids Teen Challenge exemplifies what the youth program is all about. Dan Edelman explains.
We are near the end of CrossFit Brand X’s Teen weightlifting class. Fifteen-year-old M. tightens his belt and steps onto the platform. In pursuit of a one-rep max back squat, he has already PR’d, so this 285-lb. attempt is gravy. He positions himself under the bar, lifts it and steps out of the rack. Jeff Martin spots him from behind. M goes for it. Nothing looks right. He is wiggly, buckles and gets buried. To the naked eye, it appears he bit off more than he could chew.
Martin helps him back to the rack. “You want to try again?” he asks as M. undoes his belt. The young man blinks, nods.
A few minutes later, M. belts up, unracks the bar and backs out. Big breath, hips back and down. Rock solid. Boom. M. explodes out of the hole and stands with a huge PR.
“Nice lift,” Martin tells him.
Later, with a nonchalant fist bump, I tell M., “Way to get back under the bar.”
“I knew exactly what I did wrong,” he tells me, smiling, “and how to fix it.”