From unfit crossfit?

fitJoce

I meant to title this post as "From unfit to crossfit" but I can't edit the title

I am thinking about trying crossfit, but I am scared senseless! I wouldn't say I'm completely unfit..I workout 3-4 times a week, but I am no where near as fit as most of the people you see doing crossfit. I just lost 30lbs and am pretty close to my goal weight but I need a serious overhaul of my body because I could be as skinny as a rail and I would still have the same issues that I have always had with my body shape..ie..flat butt, lower ab pooch.
I'd love to hear from anyone who started crossfit pretty much in a similar position that I am in. When did you start? How long did it take for you to feel like you were were you should be. How has it changed your body?

Thanks!!

Jeff92se

I don't do that program but I do alot of the same exercises. I say jump right in. There are many diff levels you can do. You don't have to keep up with the elites.

Nikki582

I'm not a real help - but I'd just like to know what IS Cross fit?

HOSED49

go to crossfit forums, under WOD in the stickys is a complete list of the workouts they utilize. The main site has definitions and videos of how to perform the exercises. Alot of it is bodyweight and you can easily attain the equipment for a home gym, well home garage gym... The workouts are all timed...so the only person you compete against is yourself. Try some of them at home first...there are quite a few yo ucan do at home or your gym. We utilize alot of them but also adpated them t oour career field and what equipment we have at our gym in the station. They raise your heartrate very quickly and do mostly the overall body.

Health_Gal

I am not a fan of Crossfit. I've heard too many stories about extreme exercise routines and people getting injured because they feel pressured to keep up with others, all kinds of crazy exercises that no one outside of Crossfit even heard of, people being so sore from workouts they can barely walk for days....the list goes on and on.

Before anyone gets involved with Crossfit, I would suggest they read this article from the NY Times :

Getting Fit, Even If It Kills You
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/22/fashion/thursdaystyles/22Fitness.html?pagewanted=all

fitJoce

Yeah, I read that article, which is why I am a little scared. However, I also know that if you go to the right place they will make sure you get the fundamentals down with the correct form before they let you do the regular WOD's. I think my main concern though is that I have never been very athletic and I'm wondering if it is even possible for someone like me at 43 years old to just now start training myself to become more like those people who you see doing crossfit.

Health_Gal

First of all, congratulations on losing 30 pounds!

While it might be possible for someone that has been doing a moderate level of exercise to do well at the right Crossfit facility, I would suggest you check around to see what else is available first.

I am not familiar with all the fitness franchises, but I do know that many YMCAs have a good selection of classes for all levels of fitness. Also, many YMCAs and other gyms offer personal trainers at a reasonable rate that could assess where you are now, and design an exercise program to fit your needs and make sure you are doing things with the correct form so you won't get injured.

Most of the people you see on the Crossfit videos that do the full version of the WOD are their "best of the best" examples. Just like we all aren't designed to be professional football players or award winning marathon runners, the Crosssfit videos show their "best of the best," who have achieved a level of fitness that few of us could hope to duplicate no matter how long we exercised. But they use them as a sales pitch to make people think they might actually get to that level if they enroll in their program.

With gyms like the YMCA, there is always so much variety, and if you get tired of one class, you can always try something else to keep things interesting. I have been fairly active for the past 4 or 5 years, and I just started running with a YMCA group in late spring. When I started in May, I was totally new to running and could only run for about 2 minutes before I had to walk. I had been doing weight lifting, cardio, etc, but when you run, it uses your muscles in a totally different way, so it does take some getting used to. But by late summer, I was running 5k races without having to take many walk breaks. I enjoy entering races even though I will probably never win, because it's fun and I like to see if I can beat my own personal best, not the personal best of someone that has all the right genes and has been running since they were in high school

Good luck!

ukhennin

@RachelSNO Have you ever done Crossfit or are you speaking from research you've done? I'm just curious.

Health_Gal

I have not done Crossfit, but I have friends that tried it, and read quite a bit about it on account of that.

After being in Crossfit for a while, they decided it wasn't for them for all the reasons in my other post. They got tired of having to push so hard to keep up they were sore for days and could not enjoy running and other activities they wanted to do with their friends and family because they were recovering from Crossfit.

They were seeing quite a bit of mancho attitudes, people being proud of the fact they pushed until they had bleeding blisters on their hands, etc. I'm sure all Crossfit facilities aren't that bad, but from all I've heard, that seems to be the norm, as Crossfit tends to attract the kind of people that go for that level of extremeness.

I'm sure there is a lot of good information on the Crossfit website about how to do some of their exercise moves without hurting yourself (although you should have a coach or trainer when attempting many of those lifts until you get the hang of it), and anyone could find ideas to incorporate into their own exercise program, but the extreme, do-it-or die trying attitude that seems to be pervasive in Crossfit really turns me off of ever wanting to enroll in any of their classes.

getfitnfab

a friend of ours in decent shape did a 20 minute crossfit workout, and was out for 4 weeks or more

he did a 60 mile bike before he ever did crossfit

nutmeg0686

I think I was in the same position as you in June of 2010. I started CrossFit when I still wanted to lose about 15-20 more pounds. I had been going to Urban Active (A big commercial gym) a few times a week and working with a personal trainer once a week for 30 minutes for about a year. I focused mainly on cardio machines, light free weights (10lbs, maybe 15 max), lunges/squats/etc. and maybe some work on weight machines.

Some friends of ours that were really physically fit started working out at a local CrossFit gym and constantly talked about how fun and focused the workouts were. They seemed to be improving both aesthetically and in terms of fitness capabilities. Our friends were the types who were very fit to begin with and were (and still are) able to do all WODs (Work Out of the Day) Rx, or as prescribed and sometimes even at the elite level (which is above, or harder, than Rx). My husband and I decided to give it a shot and went to the mandatory 3 "elements" sessions where the owners/coaches were able to assess if we would be able to perform CrossFit movements and their modifications. Only then are you able to join in on regularly scheduled classes and I would say for the first 3 months the coaches paid pretty close attention to my form and offered lots of guidance. Some CrossFit boxes require even longer introductory periods.

It was definitely very challenging at first and I moved very slowly. I had to modify, sub or scale 100% of my workouts with more attainable movements for probably the first 3-6 months. It's a year and a half later and I have done only 23 WODs Rx or as prescribed. I log every single warm up, "skill" session and WOD in a workout journal to keep track of my progress and my thoughts. I think this is very helpful with this style of working out.

As far as results, I have lost 10 pounds since starting CrossFit and have gained a decent amount of muscle definition which I am very happy with. For this reason, I reassessed my goal weight. It's now 145 instead of 140 because I realized I value my muscles and strength over just being skinny. It's also nice to know that if I am in a situation where I need to pull my body up, climb a rope, or lift 100 pounds over my head, I could do it and have the proper knowledge (thanks to my extremely experienced, wise, educational and SAFE instructors) on how to do so safely.

Sorry if this is a long-winded response. I don't even respond on the forums often at all. I just felt the need to offer an honest, experienced opinion on this form of training or working out. As you can see, I tried working out independently at a big gym, working one-on-one with a personal trainer, and I was a high school athlete. I've even tried zumba/dance style workouts and working out with at-home DVDs. So, I'm not the type of person who just figures CrossFit is THE ONLY way to go...there are lots of options and choices out there for people looking for a workout regimen.

CrossFit is definitely not for everyone, it's just what is best for me. It has helped me achieve lots of fitness and body composition goals and has kept my attention/interest for a year and a half so far. It requires patience, a willingness to learn, and the ability to check your ego and do only what you feel comfortable doing. Like others have said, find a CrossFit box with instructors and coaches who encourage and support those things in the gym and hopefully you can have a great experience, too. If not, there are plenty of other fitness options out there!

fitJoce

Not long winded at all. This was exactly the kind of response I was looking for. Thanks!!

Health_Gal

While Crossfit does have some good basic exercise routines, they also have WOD that are filled with lifts and other exercises that most people never heard or and don't know how to do safely. I do understand the benefit of having a lot of variety in our workouts, but the extreme nature of the Crossfit program has made me not want to even consider participating in it.

I am sure some Crossfit programs are fun and the coaches make sure that people are not doing more than is safe, but from all I've heard, those gyms are in the minority. The majority of Crossfit gyms seem to focus more on military style extremism, with Cossfit participants, proudly showing off photos of bloody and blistered hands after a weight lifting routine, and making others that didn't do quite as much damage to their body to get through a workout feel inadequate.

I feel the Glassman guy that started Crossfit is the inspiration for much of this extremism, especially when he makes statements such as

"It can kill you," he said. "I've always been completely honest about that."

See "Getting Fit, Even If It Kills You" http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/22/fashion/thursdaystyles/22Fitness.html?pagewanted=all

It's sad that something that could have done as much good as a exercise franchise that offers a lot of variety has become so much less effective at helping people with their fitness goals than it would have been without the extreme workouts and tough guy attitudes.

fitJoce

I feel the Glassman guy that started Crossfit is the inspiration for much of this extremism, especially when he makes statements such as

"It can kill you," he said. "I've always been completely honest about that."

See "Getting Fit, Even If It Kills You" http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/22/fashion/thursdaystyles/22Fitness.html?pagewanted=all

It's sad that something that could have done as much good as a exercise franchise that offers a lot of variety has become so much less effective at helping people with their fitness goals than it would have been without the extreme workouts and tough guy attitudes.

You know what though? It may not be for everyone, and there's plenty out there for the ones who choose to steer clear. It does however, fill a niche for those that are looking for that level of intensity and as you call it "extremism". To each his own.

Health_Gal

I'm not saying that Crossfit should not be available, but a program like that could help so many more people if they took the tough guy extremism out of it and just made it a good, fun exercise program that helped people reach their potential without putting them in the hospital.