CrossFit

Heart Rate Montior! I also do crossfit and the best way to really know what you are burning is by buying a good HRM that calculates your calories for you. I burn anywhere from 400-700+ calories an hour doing crossfit.

Good luck, but I am not a big fan of Crossfit. It's too extreme and they make you do things that have too high of a risk for injury.

Personally, I think it's far more important to stay free of injuries than to push myself to the extreme with a program like Crossfit.

I would highly recommend this article from the NY Times to anyone that is thinking about getting into Crossfit:

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

I have a moderate level of fitness, and I do not make Crossfit a goal because there are too many things I do not like about the organization to want to participate in it..

First of all, I do not like the highly military focus of Crossfit. They name their workouts after fallen warriors, and while I certainly don't object to honoring those who died in service, there's no way that pushing yourself to the extreme in a workout is going to bring those people back.

While this may not be true of all Crossfit gyms, while Crossfit claims to preach safety, Crossfit is known for pushing people to take workouts to an extremely intense, dangerous levels where good form and safety is sacrificed for heavier lifts and high numbers of repetitions.

Crossfit attracts a high percentage of people that like to take things to the extreme, and while a program such as Crossfit might meet a need for them, I certainly do not want to work out in a gym with that sort of a do-it-or-die-trying atmosphere..

I am not at all impressed by the photos of blistered, bloody hands I see on Crossfit websites and Facebook pages. I need my hands for many things in life, and do not want to join an organization that glorifies tearing your hands up so you can look tough.

The hardcore Crossfit people I know, and many that I've heard about from others come across as elitists that believe they are so much better than people that train at other facilities.

Congrats on finding something you enjoy doing. I love CrossFit, and have been doing CF for a few years. Every CF gym I have gone to, the instructors are right there ensuring everyone has good form and can handle what they are doing, or they scale the work-out. The major thing is just moving and doing something you enjoy - if you don't like it, why would you keep going back. Back to your original OP before all the CF "haters" got on here, a HRM is going to be your best bet. There is just no way to track calories doing "Cindy" or "Fran" or some other WOD without one. I have been using a Garmin HRM that I love, only because I didn't like the looks of the Polar ones (personal preference). Just make sure you get one that has a chest strap, as the kind without them you will need to hold the watch on your wrist with your other hand to get a reading. Not exactly do-able when you are going for time.

At my gym (not cross fit) i see bad form when people CURL! I've been to cross fit gyms where they have crappy form from dead-lifts to cleans. It doesn't matter what kind of gym you go to, there will always be people who think they have the best form ever and "OMG i can dead-lift lmao 3plate! i must have awesome form" yet the bar never touches their shins and their backs look like candy canes.

Crossfit has not invented a single lift on their own, they just use a different format of the already existing lifts to create a well balanced athlete. If someone uses bad form or works outside of their capabilities they are the ones who will pay the price. Even at west-side barbell the lifters coach each other on form every single day.

I don't want Crossfit to change my life, especially after I've seen the kind of changes it has made in the lives of some people I know.

I know people that used to have a reasonable, healthy attitude about fitness that went to the gym maybe 4 or 5 times a week,. But after getting involved with Crossfit, they became exercise fanatics that put going to Crossfit for their workout of the day above doing things with their family or activities with friends. And they don't just exercise, they think they haven't done enough unless they are so sore they can barely move or walk the next day. I've seen some people with bad bruises, scrapes, sprains, and other injuries, acting like it was something to be proud of because it happened during a Crossfit workout.

So no thanks, Crossfit. I don't need those kind of changes in my life.

At the end of the day, I'm meeting up with people to workout as a group, all of whom are the most supportive out of any other program I've seen. From all levels of skill and fitness to all walks of life, everyone helps each other to get fit and healthy. It's amazing and I love it.

That paragraph could describe ANY fitness program. The fact that it is at a Crossfit gym has nothing to do with it. It's just about the people at that particular gym. I've heard people say the same thing about "biggest loser" type programs at the YMCA where they have groups that support each other.

You just happen to be at one of the less extreme Crossfit gyms. If you went to other Crossfit gyms, including the one in my area, you would see super hardcore Crossfit people that feel like they are SOOOO much better than people that train at other gyms, people that take pride in making their hands blistered and bloody from a workout of the day routine, and coaches that preach safety in the beginning, but then go on to encourage participants to push themself as hard as they possibly can, which highly increases the possibility of injury.