About CrossFit Kids
CrossFit Kids is a method for teaching CrossFit to children and teens, ages 3-17.
CrossFit Kids is a strength-and-conditioning program that is specially designed for kids and teenagers and their specific developmental needs and helps them to develop a lifelong love of fitness. In a group setting, children and teens participate in fun and engaging workouts that deliver measurable results and prepare them to be well-rounded athletes.
CrossFit Kids workouts consist of constantly varied, functional movements that deliver a fitness that is broad, inclusive and general (B.I.G.) and are scalable for any participant at any level.
What Does This Mean?
Constantly varied means that, for the most part, no two workouts are the same, so kids and teens never get bored and the novelty of each workout keeps them excited about participating.
The functional movements involve exercises that are fundamental to all things that kids need to do when they play – pull, push, run, throw, climb, lift and jump. All of the movements are taught safely and effectively under the close supervision of thoroughly trained CrossFit Kids trainers.
When fitness is defined as broad, inclusive, and general (B.I.G.) it means that participants will become well-rounded athletes who will be better at any and every sport that they play because CrossFit Kids doesn’t coach them to be good at just one thing.
Our workouts will increase physical competence in 10 fitness domains: Cardiovascular and Respiratory Endurance, Stamina, Strength, Flexibility, Power, Speed, Coordination, Agility, Balance, and Accuracy.
With workouts that are scalable, CrossFit Kids can equally benefit a person who is less active or an accomplished athlete by tailoring workouts so that each participant is challenged just enough to deliver measurable results and personal athletic progress.
Important Safety Note: Start slow. Yes, we want the kids to work hard, but we never demand children to work harder or faster during a workout. This is a critically important point: With children, we always privilege good movement over speed.
- We do not want them so sore the next day that they are hurting.
- It is our long-standing experience that when children move well consistently over time, they will eventually move faster safely.
General Age-Appropriate Guidelines
Preschool (Ages 3-5): Able to focus enough to engage in supervised play that involves fundamental movement skills and the simplest foundational movements, e.g., the squat. All movements are done without weights. To make this clear: We NEVER load preschool-age kids during a workout. NEVER.
Junior (Ages 5-11): Able to focus and take instruction on the foundational CrossFit movements. Introduction to gymnastics-style resistance training with very light external objects, e.g., starting with a PVC pipe and moving toward 10-pound dumbbells contingent on capacity.
Teens (Ages 12-17): Approaching proficiency in body weight movements and seeing an increase in volume. Familiar with light dumbbell movements and beginning to use barbells with light loads. Starting to explore heavier loads with weighted movements and higher volumes and intensity more generally.
Typical CrossFit Kids session
A typical CrossFit Kids session will run for 45mins and will consist of the following:
- The Whiteboard – This is where the kids get the ‘game plan’ for the day
- The Warm-up – Gets the body moving – Fun stuff like animal walks and obstacle courses
- The Skill – Kids learn a new movement or practice a difficult one in a safe environment
- The WOD – The Workout Of the Day, this is where the kids put their skills to the test
- The Game – This can be a regular gym game, a CrossFit game, or a regular gym game with a CrossFit twist
More detailed information and FAQs around CrossFit Kids, its benefits, safety and other reference information can be found here.
CrossFit Larne 