Ask any newly certified, over zealous, level 1 CrossFit Certified Trainer this question and they will recite back “constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity”. As soon as you hear this, your eyes likely glazed over and you started thinking about what groceries you needed to pick up this evening.
Let me break this down and explain what it means and why it is important for you.
Functional Movements:
These are exercises that replicate real life movements. A deadlift is a perfect example; this movement is similar to picking up your suitcase when you are getting ready for a trip or picking up your grandchild to play with them. A clean and jerk would be similar to having to put that carry-on in the overhead bin. The movements can be classified under 3 different categories; gymnastics (pullups, pushups, bodyweight movements), metabolic conditioning (running, skipping rope, biking etc.) and weightlifting (power lifting and Olympic lifting).All these movements are essential to life. Why do elderly people end up in nursing homes? It is usually because they become sedentary later in life and lose the ability to perform these functional movements.
Constantly Varied:
This is the fun part. We constantly change up our workouts so that you never get bored and your body is always receiving a new stimulus. How many times have you gone into the local gym and performed the same 8-12 rep workout with the same number of sets and exercises over and over? How are your results from doing that same thing repeatedly? Our workouts use a number of different rep schemes, time domains and disciplines. Your workout could be as short as 2 minutes or as long as an hour and can use any combination of the 3 categories of functional movements.Given the wide array of CrossFit workouts it is extremely unlikely that you will ever perform the same sequence of workouts in a given week ever again in your life.
High Intensity:
What’s with the intensity you ask? Well this is where you get the good stuff. This is where you push your body and ask it to do things that you never thought it could do, and then you ask it to do some more. This is where your body gets backed into a corner and has to fight to survive. It adapts and changes rapidly and you see muscles that you never knew existed. Performing workouts at high intensity is proven to provide results. If you can read a magazine while you are on the stairmaster you’re probably not going to improve your sixpack. If you have ever seen someone complete the CrossFit workout named “Fran” in 2 minutes I guarantee that they have a 6 pack! **I have to add a disclaimer here; 6-packs are actually created in the kitchen but we will talk about that later.
So now you know what CrossFit workouts consist of; movements that replicate real life mixed together in various combinations and performed at maximal outputs. But all that isn’t CrossFit.
CrossFit is community!
- CrossFit is about working out with a group of people and competing to win that workout but then cheering on the person next to you as they try to finish.
- CrossFit is about cheering on the mom of 3 who hasn’t been active in 3 years as she gets her first unassisted pullup.
- CrossFit is about achieving things you never thought possible, setting new personal records (PR’s) and getting results you had only imagined.
Until you get into a group class and experience that feeling of camaraderie as you all tackle the day’s workout, you won’t know what CrossFit is all about.
So what are you waiting for?
Go to CrossFit.com, find a workout, grab a friend and go try it. It’s free! Then if you feel you are ready to take your training to the next level, work out with a great group of people and find out how nutrition plays a vital role in your performance and results (**6-pack mentioned above) contact us. We can schedule a free intro workout and you can start finding out what this CrossFit stuff is all about.
Join our Community!