Inclusive CrossFit, Adaptive Athletes, and the Working Wounded Games
This landed on my Facebook feed and I thought, “That’s awesome! Who is this girl?”
With some internet sleuthing I was able to track her down. Her name is Krysal Cantu and she’s a CrossFit Adaptive Athlete and Trainer, and a Working Wounded competitor. The above video comes from her Instagram feed.
I know that CrossFit is a popular fitness program with affiliates across Canada and the U.S. What I didn’t know was how inclusive CrossFit is. Given what I was seeing with Krystal, I wanted to know more!
The Adaptive CrossFit Athlete program was started through CrossFit trainer, Dave “Chef” Wallach. He took his inclusive education and applied it to his Vienna, Virgina CrossFit gym. His collaboration with several adaptive athletes lead to the creation of the Working Wounded Games.
The competition was founded to meet the needs of military, police, and other former high risk professionals who have an athletic bent and a desire to work out…but require adaptations to compete in traditional sports. It’s open to all persons requiring adaptations to meet their athletic goals.
The mini-documentary below is about a half-hour long. I really enjoyed Wallach’s and his fellow trainer’s attitudes. The program has lead to the first ever CrossFit trainer with Cerebral Palsy being certified and continues to help many improve their fitness, provides community, pride, and an improved quality of life. Not bad for a fitness program!
***I am aware of the CrossFit Debate. I don’t know enough about sports medicine to have a professional opinion. If you are not aware of the debate here’s a quick recap. Many sports medicine professionals question the safety of CrossFit’s training methods. It’s said to have a high injury rate but since CrossFit is an affiliate program there is no centralized tracking of injuries. I found this article illuminating on the reasons for the controversy and why those issues are difficult to resolve. It’s an insightful read for anyone looking to join CrossFit or interested in critiquing their personal CrossFit experience. ***
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Inclusion System extends our profound respect and immeasurable gratitude to all the ancestors and keepers of the land on whose traditional territories our work takes place. We acknowledge that we are on Treaty 1 territory, the traditional gathering place of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dene people and the traditional homeland of the Métis people. This land is sacred, historical, and significant.
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