Cross Fit

It is like a gym...it is not something you do at home. It is with a group of people and it is VERY intense workouts.

From what I've read on Cross Fit it can be very intense. Very easy to injure yourself if you don't do the weights/moves correctly and if you try to push yourself to hard to fast. It is timed so it's not something you start out slow and easy.

You can join a gym or get workouts from crossfit.com I go to a gym (crossfit lingo refers to each gym as a box) and really like it. I actually just got back from my workout. It can be as intense as you want it to be. Don't get scared by some of the crazy videos on You Tube, the workouts can be scaled for any fitness level and other exercises can be substituted for ability and injuries. If you try a box and don't like it, try another one, they all have a different vibe and each coach programs a little bit differently. I'm 41 and I've been a life long runner, but crossfit has definitely increased my strength and fitness.

Don't get me wrong, the workouts are intense, but you control the movements and the weight. Each routine has something for everyone! Extreme, Modified and something in between.

I was actually referring to P90X...the crossfit schedule, as I understand it can be different based on your fitness level and the exercises performed vary, but it is basically a 5-6 day/week program, which is about the same as P90X.

Unless you have been taught the proper lifting moves I would not reccomend doing Crossfit on your own...you really do need a coach to make sure you ARE using proper form and pushing yourself but not to the point where it will be a burden on your system. Furthermore unless you have barbells at home...along with a spotter for some moves you may not want to try it at home...People who get hurt doing crossfit are probably the ones who try it on their own and use the wrong form or they attempt to go higher weights than what they should...

It is in it's basic sense strength training - with some strength gymnastics moves (rings, handstands) maybe a little cardio thrown in here and there in the form of running and rowing...

I attempt to make it to 2-3 classes a week...every day there is a different Workout Of the Day (WOD)

for example my Monday workout was

Deadlifts 3 3 3 3 (four rounds of 3 reps of deadlifts...)
work on handstands - so we worked on getting into tripod form and working on summersaults to get out of handstands

There are a variety of different workouts - I also do kickboxing 2x's per week and make it to my Golds Gym a handful of times during the month.

I had a few friends who did Crossfit in other states - my local gym had a Groupon ($30 for 15 classes) so I decided to give it a whirl - and I really liked it - I just signed up for 3 months - it isn't inexpensive (I am paying about $130/month for 9 classes) but I don't pay anything for kickboxing and $10 for Golds...I figure my body is important to me so I rearranged my budget to be able to afford it...

I definitely recommend not only someone train you for Crossfit, but work out in the group environment. It's a very intense workout and you can injure yourself very easily with the moves if someone isn't watching to make sure you're in the right form. I find I tend to cheat - so having a trainer barking out that I gotta get lower in my squats, or hold the barbell just so helps keep me honest.

For me, it's highly addictive mentally. Each class I'm nervous and anxious and almost talk myself out of going. Warmup, then tech work, and then the WOD (workout of the day) begins and it's just getting through the current exercise. Can't think about the next one - or how many reps of the entire WOD I'm supposed to do. Just get through the one and then move on.

By the end, I'm physically exhausted but mentally exhilarated. I survived. I did it. I did something that scared me, and I overcame.

To me, Crossfit is something that would appeal mostly to people that like to do everything to the extreme.

Personally, I have never even considered joining. I know so many people that got injured doing their intense workouts, and when they could not exercise for weeks on account of the injury, they regained a bunch of weight and got out of shape. Eventually, they all decided that Crossfit just wasn't worth the pain or expense.

Before you join, you might want to check out these articles about Crossfit:

Getting Fit, Even if It Kills You

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/22/fashio
n/thursdaystyles/22Fitness.html?pagewa
nted=all

Lawsuit alleges CrossFit workout damaging

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/08/ma

To me, Crossfit is something that would appeal mostly to people that like to do everything to the extreme.

Personally, I have never even considered joining. I know so many people that got injured doing their intense workouts, and when they could not exercise for weeks on account of the injury, they regained a bunch of weight and got out of shape. Eventually, they all decided that Crossfit just wasn't worth the pain or expense.

Before you join, you might want to check out these articles about Crossfit:

Getting Fit, Even if It Kills You

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/22/fashio
n/thursdaystyles/22Fitness.html?pagewa
nted=all

Lawsuit alleges CrossFit workout damaging

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/08/ma

Hi Rachel :laugh:

I started CrossFit in September, and I'm so glad I did.

I've never been into fitness, and I've never had success sticking to a workout regime until I started CrossFit. It's all instructor-led classes, which I love. It's way more interactive than going to a gym and working out by yourself to an iPod - you make new friends and that keeps you motivated to keep going back. Everybody I've met has been super nice and encouraging, which totally helps you finish your hard workout when you're the last one doing squats and everyone is standing around cheering you on! There are also team workouts or partner workouts, where everybody in a team or pair contributes to an average score to try and win, which is a lot of fun.

I also like the variety - I hated going to the gym and doing the same basic thing every day, even if I had 4 or 5 different workouts for a week. I'm the kind of person who always needs a change. At CrossFit, every day is different, although the basic building blocks of the workout stay the same. You're running around pushing weight sleds, carrying sandbags, jumping on boxes, doing gymnastics, walking on your hands, climbing ropes, etc. There's no way to get bored!

CrossFit is as intense or extreme as you want it to be. Common WODs will have stuff like "do as many rounds of x pull-ups, x box jumps, and x push ups as you can in 10 minutes." So you can always scale the workouts to your personal pace, and take breaks if you need them. It's all about beating your prior times, not anyone else's. And every exercise is scaleable - I can't do handstand pushups, so I do pushups kneeling over on a box. There's a way to scale everything to your ability. And the instructors at our gym are great - they really take time to teach you how to do each lift properly, so there's really no reason why you should be injured unless you aren't listening to your own body.

It IS a bit pricey - but for me, I'd rather pay $90 a month for CrossFIt when I KNOW I'll go regularly than $40 a month for a gym membership that I'll probably ignore because I can't motivate myself.

Anyway, I think whether or not you love CrossFIt depends on what you're looking for out of fitness. I personally need the motivation from other people, someone watching my every move, and the variety, so CrossFit is perfect for me, but I totally understand why it would not be for everybody!!