By Spenser Mes Our toes, especially our big toe, which bears twice as much weight as the other four combined, rarely get the love they deserve. When we run, our toes maintain contact with the ground 75% of the time, elongating the foot and allowing us to go faster. And when we deadlift, squat, or do kettlebell swings, they help stabilize the body. Yet we often forget about our toes, which Joey compares to forgetting about your fingers when trying to hold a handstand.

By Spenser Mes Like the rest of CrossFit Virtuosity, James Kozlakowski did Murph on Monday, and like those of us who were able to fight through the lingering soreness, he also worked out on Wednesday. The major difference between James and the rest of us is that, days before, he placed 10th at the CrossFit Games East Regional. Only in his second year of CrossFit, James was a reluctant convert. "Looking at it from an outside point of view, it looked pointless," he says. He'd been doing these kinds of workouts for most of his life: as a football player and wrestler in high school in Lynbrook, NY and then as a lacrosse player for Long Island University, where he studied childhood education. After he graduated in 2012, though, he missed competing, and a friend suggested he try CrossFit. What hooked him was realizing he wasn't as well conditioned as he'd thought. "CrossFit opened a new goal in my life — not to be the most ripped or best looking, but rather to be in the best shape possible."

Perhaps you've noticed that we've been programming quite a bit of gymnastics work lately. Perhaps you are wondering why. Perhaps you don't consider yourself particularly good at gymnastics and find the experience challenging. Perhaps challenging sometimes verges on frustrating. Perhaps you look at the programmed workout and feel some dismay. Perhaps you decide to skip working out today in favor of tomorrow. We understand all of these possible feelings about gymnastics. Gymnastics is HARD. But we say to you also, gymnastics is IMPORTANT.