Wondering what all the fuss is with CrossFit? These fitness workouts have become extremely popular and CrossFit gyms have sprouted up all over the world at a rapid rate.
We’ve asked a number of experienced CrossFit trainers to describe, in their own words, what CrossFit means to them:
So, what is CrossFit?
Troy and the team from CrossFit Kensington:
CrossFit to us is:
CrossFit is about a bunch of likeminded people getting together for awesome workouts day after day.
There’s no expectations on performance, there’s no dress code, there’s no pretension, there is only the team spirit of everyone taking on the same tough workout and giving it their best. Our CrossFit box is nothing like a traditional gym. All classes are basically group personal training sessions.The foundation of CrossFit is “Constantly Varied Functional Movements Performed at High Intensity“
In 13 years of personal training, CrossFit is the best overall training regimen I have seen. Nothing else can compare to the fun, the variety, the intensity, the results, the functionality, the addictiveness and the guidance that CrossFit offers.
A CrossFit workout will:
- Increase your aerobic fitness
- Increase your anaerobic fitness
- Increase your strength
- Decrease your body fat
- Improve your stamina
- Improve your flexibility
- Improve your core strength
- Improve your coordination
- Increase your power
- Increase your speed
- Improve your balance
Now, can you tell me if your current fitness regimen does that?
The program takes the best of short to middle distance running and rowing, basic gymnastics movements such as hand stand push ups, ring dips, muscle ups etc and the Olympic lifts of clean & jerk and snatch.
You mix that with some of the best traditional gym exercises like push ups, pull ups, lunges etc, throw in a bunch of fantastic exercises that you probably rarely do, like kettlebells swings, box jumps, burpees etc and then mix all of those exercises up into workouts that have many varied patterns of reps or intervals and you have got fun, intense, results driven workouts based on CrossFit principles.
I can assure you that will not get bored with CrossFit workouts!
The workouts are short and intense to elicit the maximum possible results in the shortest possible time.
If you are thinking “that sounds awesome, but I don’t know if I am fit enough for it” then please put that thought out of your head, because nobody has to be fit to commence any exercise program!
All workouts can be scaled either by weight or movement or both, so the only thing I can say is give it a try and you will never look back!
Our CrossFit training ethos
Imagine training in an environment where everyone is encouraged to do their best regardless of their current fitness level.
Where absolute beginners are in the same class as elite athletes.
Where you make friends that you enjoy working out with day after day.
Where there are no posers and everyone is just there to get the workout done.
Where you feel like part of a fitness family, not just a number in a fitness machine.
Fitter, Leaner, Faster, Stronger, one workout at a time.
About our CrossFit facility
We are a smaller CrossFit facility compared to other CrossFit boxes, at just over 100 square metres, so our service is very personal. Most of our class sizes vary between 6 to 12 members at any one time, so you’ll never get lost in the crowd.
At other boxes, it is very easy for CrossFit classes to include up to 40 or more people with different instructors every day of the week, but at our box, we have 3 instructors who know everyone’s name and everyone’s circumstances.
We believe that a great CrossFit box is built upon great programming and coaching, not fancy equipment and elaborate decor. When you look at our website you won’t see our full programming, you will only see the main workout of the day. We also provide awesome core conditioning and a specific strength program which is carried out in every class before the main WOD.
Our box is a friendly environment where everyone is encouraged to perform to their best, regardless of their ability.
Josh and the team from Mettle Nation Health & Performance:
CrossFit is:
For us, CrossFit is whatever you need it to be in relation to training.
It is a platform for you to achieve balanced fitness which is one of the pillars of overall health.
What is balanced fitness?
Well quite often in a gym setting many people are keen on lifting weights, heavy weights, but if we asked them to run a triple flight of stairs there is a good chance they would be huffing and puffing more than they should.
On the flip side there are folk who run and run or cycle and cycle or swim and swim to keep ‘fit’. But if I asked them to, in a safe and organised manner with full range of motion, put their own bodyweight on their shoulders and squat they would probably not be able to.
Crossfit is what we call ‘mixed-modal training‘ where a mode of training might be weightlifting or it might be running, it might be powerlifting or skipping or it might be rowing on a machine, using dumbbells or doing some basic gymnastics movements.
There are many different tools we use to train our clients and each tool or mode is mixed with another mode to create the training program.
So as you can see CrossFit is highly varying and it is adaptable to you as an individual. You will experience challenges both physical and mentally, you will have good days and bad ones.
Just like life.
Our CrossFit training programs
We have different programs and they are dependant on you and where you’re at in life right now.
Some of you might have been doing CrossFit for some time and want to improve your competitive edge where others might be gearing toward balanced health, fitness and lifestyle.
We have four training programs which all point to slightly different directions:
EARTH – This is our womens training program. They say men are from mars and women are from venus. Physically men and women have very different needs when it comes to training, what we have found is that the imbalances men experience are quite different to the ones women experience.
WIND – When first joining much of the CrossFit movements, program layout and lingo is obviously quite new. This is why we have created a program that is a stepping stone into your training. Here you will get full body training daily and a good balance between strength and aerobic training.
WATER – So you have been doing CrossFit for about a year now, things are definitely familiar, you’re moving well, you’ve found your groove. It’s time to move on to something a little more challenging. In water you’ll experience more intensity, more complexity and just plain old more weight. Now depending on your goals you may decide to hang here as WIND and WATER are excellent programs for balanced fitness and general health. But if you want to continue on to a more competitive arena WATER is yet again another stepping stone.
FIRE – Our final layer of programming is where you would live after a few years of CrossFit and you wish to give competition a proper go, AKA this is our competitive stream.
Here there is an assumption that you know your way around a CrossFit facility and are aware that like any highly competitive sporting scenario there are inherent risks that go with that sport. If you are just starting out in CrossFit your focus will be on the upper three layers of training.
How do you progress? We have benchmarks that we believe are markers that indicate that, once several of these markers are checked , we would feel comfortable in suggesting that the client move from one layer to another.
We have instructors who appreciate the art of correct movement. They are unafraid of saying a stern “no thats not quite right, slow down and do it this way” if it is needed.
And on the other hand our trainers will cajole and instruct you to “move harder and faster!” if they feel that it is the right thing for you to do at this moment. They combine knowledge, coaching experience and empathy.
Darren and the team at CrossFit Ignite Sydney:
“I just need someone I can trust, to show me what to do” – we have heard this many times from our clients.
If you’re like us, you’ve heard that losing weight and feeling good about your body is about doing a lot of cardio and going on a restrictive diet.
This is not true. In fact our experience has shown us that this method usually just leads to unnecessary stress and failure.
The good news is, there’s a fun way to lose weight. Over the past 10 years, we’ve found that the single best way to permanently change your body and truly feel good is to move to a healthy relationship with not just food and exercise but with hidden factors like sleep, relaxation and play. This is what we do, and we love it.
CrossFit is the right workout for you if:
• You’re not totally confident with what to do in the gym, and you want the instruction of a professional trainer to ensure you work out correctly, don’t injure yourself, and get results.
• You wish to be educated on the key things that help you get healthy such as food, sleep, training and play, so that you can implement them in your own life with ease.
• You want a friendly environment where people say hi to each other and there’s no ego.
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