Exercising cross fit

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ssbmacdaddy
ssbmacdaddy Posts: 124 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
When people do crossfit type calisthenics workouts don't they excercise the same body parts daily. Is that bad? Should they be doing different exercises for different body parts daily to prevent overtraining and injury. Yet runners run daily. Is that bad should runners also vary and do something else like swim alternate with running days. Seems logical to vary but what is the correct way to excercise? I was doing bodybuilding/weight training then a trainer told me if I want to loose weight do cardio as I am muscular and do not need any more muscle. He said if I do want to weight train to do circuit type exercise with multi joint movement- like cross fit. He even said I could do similar movements daily effecting the same body parts. I am now doing insanity workouts which I like and doing some back, bis, shoulders, chest, tris supplemental workout as insanity does not hit the pulling muscles well and don't want imbalances that I am prone to and have gotten injured in the past from. I was doing daily supplemental workouts on all those body parts- but started to feel overtrained and now started to split to push and pull days. Sometimes I add hip hop abs to the mix too. Trying for more aerobics now. Used to do p90x yet it is very muscle building focused. Insanity is a very intense aerobic cardio workout. I do like it. Is what I'm doing correct? Lost 14 lbs so far but don't want to get injured. Trying to listen to body too. Maybe there's something new I don't know. I always learned vary the body parts. Opinions, ideas, and knowledge appreciated.

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  • edwardkim85
    edwardkim85 Posts: 438 Member
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    I've done bootcamp type workouts to start and moved onto crossfit... both are very tough, but bootcamp type workouts are def. better for speedy fatloss & cardio.

    As for crossfit, I know guys that workout twice a day, 6 times a week at the box(or gym) and they don't get injured. Their bodies can handle it + it's used to the strain.

    Some elite athletes can even do three a days in any given sport.

    You just need the right stretching/mobility/rest period + nutrition/supplements ... and most importantly, you have to learn how to listen to your body.

    If you do too much shoulder exercise and your shoulder feels 'odd', skip the next shoulder workout. Tell your coach/trainer.

    Same with lowerback/knee pain, etc.

    If you consider 'overtrained' simple muscle soreness, that is not being 'overtrained'. Overtrained is when your body part or parts feel weird and you feel overly fatigued in daily life... elevated resting heart rate, cold sweats, can't function well outside of gym, drastic drop in cardio/lifting or plateau, etc.

    That could be considered overtraining.

    Most guys don't spend time on mobility issues(shoulders/arms/legs, wtv) and stretching. Get a foam roller, lacross ball, some elastic bands and spend time stretching warming up every day before and after the workout.

    This will signifiantly decrease your chance of getting injured and it will also decrease the 'feeling' of being overtrained the next day.
  • edwardkim85
    edwardkim85 Posts: 438 Member
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    In my hey day playing college sports and for team canada, I sometimes spent up to 6 - 8 hours a day , 7 days a week for months at at a time just running around, working out, working on mobility, stretching, physio, etc.

    I didn't feel overtrained and rarely got injured. My body got used to it.

    Your body will get used to it as well as long as you listen to your body and increase the load slowly.
  • Krustpie
    Krustpie Posts: 25
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    I cross fit 2-3 times a week and one of the things I love about it is that the work outs are varied and challenging, I find you have to listen to your body and you push yourself more. It isn't for everyone, but always worth a try if it means you commit to something you love and benifit from. Warming up and stretching out appear to be the best way of avoiding injury.
  • ssbmacdaddy
    ssbmacdaddy Posts: 124 Member
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    So each day you do cross fit the exercises are different?
  • edwardkim85
    edwardkim85 Posts: 438 Member
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    So each day you do cross fit the exercises are different?

    Nope one time there was a deadlift EMOM where I deadlifted 315 pounds 3 times every minute(it was about 15 sec on/ 45 sec break) x 8... So a total of 24 reps.

    Then the very next day there was a WoD where you had to do box jumps, row, pullups, burpees & Deadlift at body weght.... 50 times each.

    Since I weighed 255 lbs then, I ended up doing 255lbs x 50 reps...

    So two days, back to back, I did 315 lbs x 24 , then 255 lbs x 50.

    I stretched, warmed up/cooled down, and took the proper amount of supplements to help with inflamation(and vitamins).

    I felt 100%.

    Again, it's all relative to how you feel. This time I felt fine, but sometimes I will feel extremely sore after 315 lbs x 24 and I will do a diff workout like superman rather than to do 255lbs x 50 the next day.

    I only did it because my body felt fine and I wasn't 'overtrained'.

    There's no such rule as you can only squat once a week/ deadlift once a week. Listen to your body
  • vanguardfitness
    vanguardfitness Posts: 720 Member
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    you don't need to jump through hoops and do ridiculous things to lose weight and be in shape. I'm a big fan of basic compound movements with slow, controlled and deliberate sets and proper form.

    You definitely want to avoid muscle imbalances though. I have never done crossfit but I am leery of high volume fast paced compound movements.

    You also have to worry about overlapping muscle groups when developing your workouts. But you'll know you're in a state of overtraining when you're excessively fatigued and your strength plummets for no reason (for example I had a plummet of about %30 one time and had to take a break from lifting for about 2 weeks)
  • edwardkim85
    edwardkim85 Posts: 438 Member
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    you don't need to jump through hoops and do ridiculous things to lose weight and be in shape. I'm a big fan of basic compound movements with slow, controlled and deliberate sets and proper form.

    You definitely want to avoid muscle imbalances though. I have never done crossfit but I am leery of high volume fast paced compound movements.

    You also have to worry about overlapping muscle groups when developing your workouts. But you'll know you're in a state of overtraining when you're excessively fatigued and your strength plummets for no reason (for example I had a plummet of about %30 one time and had to take a break from lifting for about 2 weeks)

    Yea, I do crossfit but I wouldn't say crossfit gives people the best 'physique'.

    If you want to LOOK muscular and strong, bodybuild.

    Crossfit is just more so for people that like going 'intense'... Just like why people run marathons or do tough mudder.

    Running a marathon isn't good for your body & heart, tough mudder? it's dangerous and you can get injured but it's a goal, something fun.

    Crossfit is the same.

    Any high impact/ high volume/ high weight exercise has higher chances of injury...

    Navy seals probably do 100000000 pushups every day, you see them crying and complaining?
  • Krustpie
    Krustpie Posts: 25
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    We all find our own path to the fitness we want, I like the variety, I like the challenge. But I can certainly see the results from when I started cross fitting to now.
  • ssbmacdaddy
    ssbmacdaddy Posts: 124 Member
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    My focus is not muscle building but aerobic exercise/ cardio to burn fat. The supplemental rubber band and calisthenics I set up to prevent imbalances as I have been prone to imbalances and resulting injuries in the past. Trying to listen to my body and changing it up or just resting when starting to feel overtrained. The ultimate would be if I could avoid overtraining altogether- I tend to be a over doer. Trying to be smarter about it this time.
  • BigGuy47
    BigGuy47 Posts: 1,768 Member
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    Trying to listen to my body and changing it up or just resting when starting to feel overtrained.
    Waiting until you start to feel over-trained is a poor strategy in my opinion. If you are exercising at a high level of intensity you should build rest days into your schedule.

    Monday - exercise hard
    Tuesday - rest day (light cardio such as walking)
    Wednesday - exercise hard
    Thursday - (rest day)
    Friday - go hard

    If your exercise isn't quite as intense you can go 2-3 days before needing a rest day if you're not doing strength training. If you're doing strength training (full body) you should have a rest day between work outs to allow for recovery. Depending on your level of fitness and your routine, you have to figure out how much rest you need.

    Plan some rest days into your routine and you'll avoid over-training.
  • ssbmacdaddy
    ssbmacdaddy Posts: 124 Member
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    Thank you. My main goal is weight loss and injury prevention. I use Insanity workouts for cardio and alternate push and pull days. Ie chest and back. I try not to go to failure. I do the excercise 10 reps and do a circuit. Say push-up, tri dips, shoulder laterals. Tried some of plyo moves from insanity yet feet hurt. Plantar fasciitis. So likely will do more lower impact moves to substitute. When the do a jump squat I do a squat. Someone told me if you feel pain bit soreness change what u do. Pain is not good. I'm still heavy. 5'11" and 230 lbs. goal for now is 180. As I get lighter may be able to retry some things I wasn't able to do before. So far 20 lb loss from my highest of 250. As long as I can pace myself I will progress. Lately the intensity I've been working out at has been more so taking a few more rest days. I originally wanted to do cardio daily and pace myself at that rate but it all depends on insensity. For me consistency is important. Do u think less intense but consist is better then intense and alternate days?
  • BigGuy47
    BigGuy47 Posts: 1,768 Member
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    Do u think less intense but consist is better then intense and alternate days?
    It depends on the program. For weight training you need rest days unless you are doing splits (that's an entirely different discussion). If your doing moderate cardio you don't need as much rest. As you said yourself, you have to learn to listen to your body. Just don't wait until it's screaming at you, "hey man you're killing me - I need a day off".
  • ssbmacdaddy
    ssbmacdaddy Posts: 124 Member
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    Thank you. Very good advice

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