Cross Fit?

jody664

For the past year or so, I've been fascinated with cross fit, but I'm really nervous about trying it. It looks totally intimidating. Would someone who does or has done cross fit describe what it's like? Here are my specific questions:

1) Do you need to have a certain level of fitness before starting?

2) How does your class handle newbies?

3) What does a typical workout look like?

4) Anything else I need to know?

3dogsrunning

1 - crossfit bills itself as being scaleable in all the movements so it should be doable for a lot people.

2 - there is supposed to be an "on-ramp" program that gyms give to newbies. It is a 6 class program that introduces you to crossfit and the movements. You will still continue to learn after, but this is an intro. I would be wary of any gym that doesn't have something like this.

3 - there is no typical workout, thats kind of the point. The actual workout (you do a warm up then work on some lifts or other movements for a bit, then do the WOD ) is anywhere from 7- 20 minutes depending on what it is. You can have workouts where you do as many sets as you can in a set amount of time, or you do the prescribed amount of sets as fast as you can. There are any number of variations.

4 - be careful when choosing a box. Crossfit is notorious for poor form. You want somewhere where they put an emphasis on doing the lifts correctly over how fast/heavy you can go. Talk to people who go there, go watch a class, ask them.

jody664

1 - crossfit bills itself as being scaleable in all the movements so it should be doable for a lot people.

2 - there is supposed to be an "on-ramp" program that gyms give to newbies. It is a 6 class program that introduces you to crossfit and the movements. You will still continue to learn after, but this is an intro. I would be wary of any gym that doesn't have something like this.

3 - there is no typical workout, thats kind of the point. The actual workout (you do a warm up then work on some lifts or other movements for a bit, then do the WOD ) is anywhere from 7- 20 minutes depending on what it is. You can have workouts where you do as many sets as you can in a set amount of time, or you do the prescribed amount of sets as fast as you can. There are any number of variations.

4 - be careful when choosing a box. Crossfit is notorious for poor form. You want somewhere where they put an emphasis on doing the lifts correctly over how fast/heavy you can go. Talk to people who go there, go watch a class, ask them.

Thanks! That's exactly the kind of info I was looking for.