We talked to the French teen whose power clean video went viral.
A short video of a CrossFit athlete performing a power clean began to make the rounds on reddit on Tuesday—and it's easy to see why.
It showed Armand Poreaux, a 19-year old man from France with cerebral palsy, absolutely crushing a move that took him a long time to perfect.
Here's the incredible video of Poreaux doing a 70 kilogram (or roughly 150 pound) power clean, which was originally shared on the social media accounts of Poreaux's gym, Remes CrossFit:
What's it like to do CrossFit training with cerebral palsy? Men's Health got in touch with the French teen to learn more about his journey.
He's always embarked on athletic pursuits—including judo, tennis, motocross, speed biking, and bodybuilding—but six months ago, a friend introduced him to CrossFit. "I discovered a complete sport with a tight community, which I have never seen elsewhere," he said over Facebook Messenger.
It's because of that tight community that Poreaux's video went viral: It was his coach who proudly filmed and showed off the athlete's work on social media.
“When my coach, Alex Richard, posted this video on the Facebook of Remes Crossfit, I never thought it would be so appreciated,” Poreaux said. “I am pleasantly surprised by the reaction of the people and the messages of encouragement I received. If this small insignificant video could bring motivation to people and [show] them that everything is possible, I am very proud of it.”
Poreaux explained that his disability is a “motor handicap,” which makes it difficult for him to coordinate his body during physical activity. Cerebral palsy is a neurological disorder stemming from a non-progressive injury or malformation in a child's developing brain; it causes a loss or impairment of motor function and can impair body movement, muscle control, muscle coordination, muscle tone, reflex, posture, and balance. CrossFit, Poreaux found, allows him to strengthen his muscles for better daily use.
“For example, I had a back problem due to bad posture and doing physical activity," he said. "In this case, the CrossFit allowed me to strengthen my back muscles, which allows me to correct the bad postures that I had adopted and erase the pains."
CrossFit has allowed Poreaux to achieve physical and mental strength that he couldn’t find with other workouts. It's also forced him to push himself far beyond what he thought was possible.
“When I'm going to train I think only of my bar, my movements, and I go there,” he said. “I try to surpass myself in each training to become stronger. I really like to outdo myself during my workouts, to do better than last time and push my limits.”
Poreaux said he didn’t need to adapt his training methods too much to fit his own personal needs. For the power clean, his only modifications are reducing the number of repetitions and dropping the bar rather than catching it on release.
As for what he hopes others gain from the video, Poreaux said, “I want to show that even if we are handicapped or have any worries, we can always achieve our goals with determination, will, and time.”