Thor's Daughter: 2011 CrossFit Champion

[Video Link] An interesting 30-minute documentary about 2011 CrossFit champion, Annie Thorisdottir. I've never been to a CrossFit gym before. The workouts look intense!

Join filmmaker Sevan Matossian as he captures the 2011 Reebok CrossFit Games winner Annie Thorisdottir back at her Iceland box, CrossFit BC Island. She reveals more about herself as an athlete and coach.
Thorisdottir credits her background as a gymnast for much of her success in CrossFit. She started coaching gymnastics at age 15 and has been coaching CrossFit for almost two years.

CrossFit - The Fittest Woman in the World: Thor's Daughter

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

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Trevcaru

She may be ‘fit’ now, but her knees arent going to be very fit in 10-15 years with her locking them like that. The cartilage is very thin there.
Matthew Speth

Weird, she’s devoted her time to this. I wonder when she has time to really live life… Next thing you know, she’s going to say she watches the kind of food she eats (!) before studying for medicine and working out.
bcsizemo

As long as they promote things like kipping pull ups I wouldn’t join:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAZaHzd6qAY
- Spinkter
  
  Agreed. Don’t even try to do kipping pullups until you can do, say, around 10 straight no-foolin’ regular overhand pull-ups. Until then, you just don’t have the shoulder strength for kipping, and even then you should really endeavor to get the kipping form exactly right.
  
  That said, CF has its issues, but if you wind up with good coaches, it can be a hellava lot of fun…
AbleBakerCharlie

As a periodic practitioner, I’ve had issues with CF, some with programming, some with politics, and have, like many, run off into the weeds to run our own experiments, to see where improvements might be made or applications to sport or work improved. In the end, though, CF has done something pretty spectacular- created a viable opposition to the utter rubbish that passes for modern physical culture, in the land of pec-decks, ellipticals, and getting “swole” or “toned” depending on gender, and re-enshrines what will always be the blood and guts of physical excellence- the big, basic barbell lifts, gymnastics, calisthenics, intervals, performance metrics, and twin foci on brutally hard work and physical play. Everything else is a waste of time.
- bcsizemo
  
  But if a male is going for that “swole” look I would hope they are focusing on those big basic barbell lifts – bench, squats, deadlifts, rows, ect..
  
  If they aren’t, I bet they are spending a lot on nice roids.
  - AbleBakerCharlie
    
    Oh, they should, but they never are. Instead they do eleventy kinds of curls and stalk the aisles at GNC and talk about “shocking the muscles.”
RJ

I can bench like half a bag of Doritos.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_FKHDCIS27XPE6ZFY6MWMN5UYRQ grima

I for one welcome our new uber-fit, cross-trained overlords.
Adam Bathe

Icelandic surnames don’t work the same way that they do in the anglo world. Calling her “Thorisdottir” would make no sense in Icelandic. This simply means that her father’s name is Thor. This is why Bjork is only known by her first name.
ernunnos

The workouts are intense. Rhabdomyolysis is a real possibility. Every crossfitter I know has ended up hospitalized at some point. Rhbado as well as more usual over-training injuries. It works well, to a point, but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you have excellent insurance. Seek the edge, you will find it.
Pawel Loj

I”ve been doing CF for five years now. The secret is – do not try to match the top performers. If you do, you will burn out…. like they do. I’ve been always shooting for average results – somewhere in the middle of the range.

Also, I do not buy into the entire theory and “religion” but have completed all workouts during those 5 years.

So start CF, but do not go too crazy. 3 times a week, shooting for average is the way to go IMO.
- hill_rat
  
  @google-72391617478ec104f95a3c36d5409adc:disqus – That’s good advice for anyone doing Crossfit. I’d also add that it’s worth shopping around for a box you feel comfortable with: any CF gym that treats rhabdo or a SLAP tear as a point of pride is somewhere you don’t want to be doing WODs.
Paul232

Looks like good living in Iceland, if you don’t mind overcast. Even their graffiti is beautiful.
MeOnBoingBoing

This is like watching the back story of a super hero training between epic escapades.
Adam S.

I’ve got 3 cousins that won a bunch of state AAU gymnastics age-group medals as they were growing up. Gymnasts are insanely fit. I went to over to the gym they trained at for a few years for a tryout day in middle school and nearly killed myself humming a few bars trying to fake keeping up. Both young women blew their knees out doing it, though.