Let's Get Physical: CrossFit
The best workout ever? A lame cult? Only for crazy people? There’s a lot of talk about Crossfit lately, but it’s hard to sift through what’s fact and what’s fiction. Fortunately for you we did the research (and sweating and maybe puking) for you.
Per the official definition, Crossfit is constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity. Typical workouts are under 10 exercises and performed rapidly for time or at a set timed interval. Many Crossfit workouts involve “old school” exercises like burpees, deadlifts, squats, and sprints. It’s fueled by your own personal determination, and the community that spontaneously arises when people do these workouts together. It’s definitely not easy though, and just like anything else, there are pros and cons to this workout phenomenon.
Here are some of our takeaways...
- What We Loved:
- Challenge-based training at high intensity
- Get ready to push yourself, the workouts are very tough
- Times and reps give you metrics to track and compare your gains
- Compound movements and variety increase strength and endurance'
- Group camaraderie
- Group and community elements adds fun and helps keep you motivated to train
- Instructors and gyms can be hit or miss
- It’s easy to get certified, so do your homework on your local gym and trainers before you get started.
- Injuries
- This is high intensity afterall, but finding the right trainer who will give you proper instruction on form to prevent injuries is key. Don’t be a hero, start slow.
Because of the high-intensity-interval training nature of crossfit, you end up working really hard in bursts. This means you burn a ton of calories and lose weight quickly. Aside from the obvious health and metabolic benefits of this workout, the community and team aspects of CrossFit make it as fun as it is exhausting. So, as long as you find the right trainer and the right community to train with, get out there and start sweating. The puke bucket is over in the corner, don’t say we didn’t warn you.