On January 6, 2009, Coach Glassman delivered a presentation at the National War College at National Defense University, speaking to an audience of more than 100 current and future leaders of the U.S. military. Introduced by Tony Spinosa, the university’s Health and Fitness Director and former assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Washington Redskins, Glassman outlined key principles behind his training methodology. A safe and effective program follows a strict progression: athletes must first learn proper movement mechanics, then develop consistency, and only afterward increase intensity. Because high-intensity training can be dangerous when performed incorrectly, spending time practicing movements before adding speed or competitive pressure is essential.
Coach also discusses the concept of General Physical Preparedness (GPP), arguing that broad, well-rounded fitness is often the most overlooked aspect of athletic training—even among elite competitors. Addressing weaknesses in foundational fitness frequently improves performance more than additional sport-specific work. He explains that intensity is the primary driver of positive physical adaptations such as improved bone density, muscle mass, and metabolic health, but warns that the training stimulus must be carefully managed. Like powerful medicine, the program produces rapid results but must be properly dosed to avoid serious risks, including overtraining or rhabdomyolysis.
This video, by BSI’s co-founder, was originally published in The CrossFit Journal. While Greg Glassman no longer owns CrossFit Inc., his writings and ideas revolutionized the world of fitness, and are reproduced here.
Coach Glassman named his training methodology ‘CrossFit,’ which became a trademarked term owned by CrossFit Inc. In order to preserve his writings in their original form, references to ‘CrossFit’ remain in this video.
Greg Glassman founded CrossFit, a fitness revolution. Under Glassman’s leadership there were around 4 million CrossFitters, 300,000 CrossFit coaches and 15,000 physical locations, known as affiliates, where his prescribed methodology: constantly varied functional movements executed at high intensity, were practiced daily. CrossFit became known as the solution to the world’s greatest problem, chronic illness.
In 2002, he became the first person in exercise physiology to apply a scientific definition to the word fitness. As the son of an aerospace engineer, Glassman learned the principles of science at a young age. Through observations, experimentation, testing, and retesting, Glassman created a program that brought unprecedented results to his clients. He shared his methodology with the world through The CrossFit Journal and in-person seminars. Harvard Business School proclaimed that CrossFit was the world’s fastest growing business.
The business, which challenged conventional business models and financially upset the health and wellness industry, brought plenty of negative attention to Glassman and CrossFit. The company’s low carbohydrate nutrition prescription threatened the sugar industry and led to a series of lawsuits after a peer-reviewed journal falsified data claiming Glassman’s methodology caused injuries. A federal judge called it the biggest case of scientific misconduct and fraud she’d seen in all her years on the bench. After this experience Glassman developed a deep interest in the corruption of modern science for private interests. He launched CrossFit Health which mobilized 20,000 doctors who knew from their experiences with CrossFit that Glassman’s methodology prevented and cured chronic diseases. Glassman networked the doctors, exposed them to researchers in a variety of fields and encouraged them to work together and further support efforts to expose the problems in medicine and work together on preventative measures.
In 2020, Greg sold CrossFit and focused his attention on the broader issues in modern science. He’d learned from his experience in fitness that areas of study without definitions, without ways of measuring and replicating results are ripe for corruption and manipulation.
The Broken Science Initiative, aims to expose and equip anyone interested with the tools to protect themself from the ills of modern medicine and broken science at-large.
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