CrossFit

capturethememories

Hi, I'm new here! Thought I'd grab some of your opinions on CrossFit and when to start something that intense or how to prepare for it. I have a friend who keeps encouraging me to come with her. Is like to go, but am very very afraid of not being able to even pretend to keep up. I have 100 pounds to lose and am very out of shape. I can just make it a little over a mile rising my bike. After that I am done. Legs shaking, knees hurting. I'd like to build up some endurance before going with her. Suggestions? Thoughts on CrossFit in general? Comments? Help!!!! Lol thx Linda

socioseguro

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/99-crossfit-love

_incogNEATo_

I'll leave my personal opinion about crossfit out of this and just tell you that most crossfit gyms can scale your workouts to fit your abilities (like any other exercise, modifications can be made to suit ability). If your knees are hurting from cycling though, crossfit may not be for you. There is a good bit of high impact movement.

Upstate_Dunadan

I resisted trying CrossFit for about 18 months after my gym started offering it. Every time the owner asked me about it, I'd tell him I liked doing my own workouts and tailoring them to what I wanted to accomplish. I finally started getting bored with what I was doing in the gym 5-6 days a week, so decided to give CF a try. I liked the idea of the team atmosphere, and the competitive element (with yourself and others).

It's been almost 5 months and all I can say is I love it. I now wish I had started 18 months ago. As mentioned, CF scales very easily. Today for example we were doing box jumps, and some people did them, some people just stepped up onto them, and some people had small stack able steps sets on the lowest level and were stepping up onto those. Age ranges from 17 all the way up to (I'm guessing, I have not asked) mid-60s?

If I were you, I'd give it a try and see what you think. I'm not sure I'd agree that you need to stay away if your knees are hurting. There are lots of stories out there about ex-runners who can no longer run due to the wear and tear it puts on their bodies, who tried to switch over to do triathlons (thinking less running, more swimming and jogging would be better) who couldn't do that and finally found a home doing CrossFit.

It may not be for everyone, but I think most people who have opinions on it and/or don't like it have never even tried it.

rybo

Upstate_Dunadan wrote: »

It may not be for everyone, but I think most people who have opinions on it and/or don't like it have never even tried it.

Truth

If your box is reputable and smart, they will be able to scale the WOD to your level, and all you have to do is try your best, you aren't going to keep up with everyone else, nor should you be worried about that. Give it a try and do your best.

ew_david

My friend dragged me to a "bring someone who's never done CrossFit" class once. I'm fairly in shape and I couldn't sit without wincing for 2 days after that class. If I had an extra $150/month lying around, I'd probably do it, but I don't.

rejectuf

The gym *should* have a foundation/on-ramp series that will teach you proper form and how to scale the movements. If they drop you right into a workout, that's a serious strike against the gym.

Crossfit can be amazing, but there are some awful coaches and gyms out there too. I went to my brother-in-laws gym one time, and they began the workout with finding a 1 rep max shoulder press. No stretching, no dynamic warm-ups, just a couple warm-up sets and then straight to your max. Then followed that up with a 45 minute wod with a recommended weight so high that most people were using horrific form to get it up.

Look at the gym's website and check out the coaches qualifications. If you see no one certified in anything other than L1 Crossfit, stay far away.

lemurcat12

capturethememories wrote: »

Hi, I'm new here! Thought I'd grab some of your opinions on CrossFit and when to start something that intense or how to prepare for it. I have a friend who keeps encouraging me to come with her. Is like to go, but am very very afraid of not being able to even pretend to keep up. I have 100 pounds to lose and am very out of shape. I can just make it a little over a mile rising my bike. After that I am done. Legs shaking, knees hurting. I'd like to build up some endurance before going with her. Suggestions? Thoughts on CrossFit in general? Comments? Help!!!! Lol thx Linda

Hi -- first, I'd definitely recommend checking out the link in the first response to the CrossFit group here.

Second, I've dappled in CF and like it (although I do a lot of other cardio so ended up using it to find a good Olympic lifting group instead), but CF is only a very loose organization and thus all the gyms ("boxes") are extremely varied. As a beginner you'd want one that has a good "onramp" or beginner program with substantial time spent teaching the various moves, especially the lifts, and the ways the gymnastic/bodyweight stuff is scaled. You'd also want to be aware of whether the coaches aren't spread too thin for the number of people and are paying attention to your form and the form of others. The entry program should start with a free session or two and have an entry rate, so you can try out a gym without too much investment and get the feel of it. (Ours also lets you stay in the entry program as long as you want/until you feel comfortable joining the regular WODs. And you can watch the regular WODs and see the variety of levels participating.)

As for your specific concerns, my personal experience is that people are at a variety of levels, scaling is expected and not looked down on, and people are really welcoming to all levels. The entry classes shouldn't be intimidating at all and will go through even movements that most may know to focus on proper form. AND, for many, the style of the workouts is really motivating and fun, as well as one place where an out-of-shape, inexperienced woman will be expected to be interested in the big lifts and not just machines or weight loss.

I have some more negative things to say too -- I think some of the common WODs can be rather silly in doing high volume, speedy reps of movements that would be better done slower and with fewer reps -- but this also will differ from gym to gym. One reason I like the one I go to is that's less so, and they tend to focus on proper form above all.

As for preparing, anything that increases strength and endurance will help with CF, but there's really no need if the CF style of activity intrigues you. IME, CF tends to love inspirational stories of people starting out really out-of-shape and making a transformation basically using CF.

capturethememories

Thank you everyone! This has been very helpful!