CrossFit is a core strength and conditioning program created in 1995 by Greg Glassman,
a life-long physical fitness trainer and gymnast from Santa Cruz, CA. The stated goal of the
CrossFit program is to develop a broad, general and inclusive fitness, the type of fitness that
would best prepare trainees for any physical contingency. To achieve the aim of general, broad
and inclusive fitness, the CrossFit program has athletes perform constantly varied, high intensity,
functional movements. These movements generally fall into the three modalities of gymnastics,
Olympic weightlifting, and metabolic conditioning or “cardio.” In a typical CrossFit workout
athletes conduct a warm-up, a skill or strength development segment and then a “Workout of the
Day” or WOD. The WOD by design varies from day to day, but typically includes a mixture of
functional exercises conducted at high intensity from anywhere between 5 and 20 minutes.
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