Warrior Transition Battalion, Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, TX. Photo by The CrossFit Journal.
Maj. Andrew Thompson, USMC (left) teaches
the medicine ball clean at a special Level 1 Certification
to a member of the Warrior Transition Battalion.
All photos in this article by The CrossFit® Journal.
The Wounded Warriors you see here are amazing athletes doing CrossFit without legs, without arms, or without both. Even with their catastrophic injuries, these combat-injured soldiers never focus on what they can't do. Because as army Lieut. Brian Ipock says:
There's always something you can do."
The Warrior Transition Battalion: Functional Fitness in the Face of Adversity.
CrossFit emphasizes that the physical needs of athletes differ only in degree, not kind. That's why CrossFit works so well with combat-wounded soldiers. Each injury, or set of multiple injuries, presents unique challenges. The mission of CrossFit training teams is to transcend these physical elements by "improvising, adapting and overcoming" obstacles with challenging, yet realistic training goals. Wounded Warriors need to get "back in action" by gaining confidence and essential skills to function in real-world situations, such as getting in and out of a wheelchair with coordination, agility and balance.
When these guys get injured, they don't cease to function. Instead their functional movements may change…Keep it up, guys. You're CrossFitters now, and we laugh in the face of adversity." -- CrossFit.com comment on The Warrior Spirit video series
The Wounded Warrior Project: Moving Lives Forward at Madigan and Beyond.
More than 30,000 wounded men and women are returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan to recover in military trauma centers and medical facilities, including our own local Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis. Those with brain injuries, amputations and blindness will face physical challenges for the rest of their lives. For these brave soldiers, CrossFit has created the Wounded Warrior Project's outreach program to provide "a place of healing where veterans can receive the support and encouragement they need to move forward."
If you're fortunate enough to have a healthy body with all your limbs intact, let the indomitable "Warrior Spirit" of these incredible soldiers inspire you to reach a higher level of personal motivation that focuses on all you can do. If they don't make excuses, how can we?
I'm not sitting on the sidelines. You don't have to love it or like it. You just have to do it. You've just got to keep pushing yourself." -- army Sgt. Tim Norton
For more information, visit CrossFit, the Wounded Warrior Project, and Operation Phoenix.
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