Thread: Crossfit!

Anyone else doing crossfit?

I joined a crossfit gym about two months ago. I love it!! My concept of fitness has been totally upgraded. It seems like every time I go in, I think there is no way I will finish the workout, and yet I've surprised myself at what my body is capable of.

My upper body strength, lower body strength, core, and aerobic fitness have all increased. When I climb stairs now I feel like I have rockets strapped to my butt.

And speaking of butts, mine has always looked flat. But so many crossfit workouts work the glutes really hard, my glutes have gained mass and my backside is now significantly curvier, while my tummy fat has been trimmed just a bit, which also makes my butt look bigger (again, this is a good thing!)

Anyone else?

I don't think I will ever go back to the lame workouts I used to do.

YES!!!!! I am completely obsessed and love Crossfit as well! I'm on my third month now and I feel the exact same way. Don't think I could ever go back to a regular gym again. I've always been very in to fitness, lifting weights, hours of cardio, dance, etc. but, I have NEVER been in such good shape. Not to mention the amazing community that I workout with here that pushes you to push yourself harder than you think is possible. We joined Crossfit when we moved across the country and felt like we instantly had friends in the area :)

Can't say enough good things about Crossfit. I do think it is a bit intimidating to get yourself to walk in the door the first day but, after you enter, you're addicted!

I guess I was too clueless to feel intimidated when I first walked in the door.

I just went in and never looked back.

Now my pre-crossfit life seems like a slug-like existence.

Another Cross-fitter here! This January will mark my 2 year anniversary of starting, and I am continuously amazed at the progress I’ve made. In this time, I lost about 20 inches from my hips, waist and chest, and about 30 pounds. While I still take measurements, I go now because I really do enjoy it and, as ssipes said, I am constantly amazed at what I’m capable of.

There is such a community aspect to it, as others have mentioned, and while I wasn’t sure initially how I would enjoy the group aspect to working out, I find it motivating and actually, quite a bit of fun. I enjoy the complexity of the Olympic lifts- like many difficult moves in dance, these seem to always be something I can keep learning about, and hopefully improve upon!

I’ve noticed such a difference in the strength of my lower and upper body, and also in my stamina for other activities. I also feel this strength and stamina has helped improve my dancing. Another thing to mention is that it is scalable- for those who might be intimidated by it, my 62 year old mom accompanies me often, we do the same workouts, but scale the weight or movement to something that is manageable.

So nice to "meet" other dancers from the CF Community!

Originally Posted by Saideh

I enjoy the complexity of the Olympic lifts- like many difficult moves in dance, these seem to always be something I can keep learning about, and hopefully improve upon!

Yes! At first I was fearful -- too many years spent in gyms where the mentality was like "OMG mustn't lift a barbell outside of a safety rack!!", so going into a big room where 15-20 people are just out there doing these lifts, some with hundreds of lbs, was a little disconcerting.

I love clean and jerks! I think it is my favorite lift. And yes, there is skill to learn and grace to develop. A beautifully executed clean and jerk is wondrous to behold!

I loved clean and jerks until we did Grace for Barbells for Boobs this past weekend and I'm left with two huge bruises on my chest hahah...turtle necks it is this week. i hope they clear up before my dance gig on Friday

Originally Posted by ssipes

Yes! At first I was fearful -- too many years spent in gyms where the mentality was like "OMG mustn't lift a barbell outside of a safety rack!!", so going into a big room where 15-20 people are just out there doing these lifts, some with hundreds of lbs, was a little disconcerting.

I love clean and jerks! I think it is my favorite lift. And yes, there is skill to learn and grace to develop. A beautifully executed clean and jerk is wondrous to behold!

Also one of my fave lifts! I've made some good progress with the snatch lift in the past few months, and am starting to enjoy it more!

Originally Posted by Jenan

I loved clean and jerks until we did Grace for Barbells for Boobs this past weekend and I'm left with two huge bruises on my chest hahah...turtle necks it is this week. i hope they clear up before my dance gig on Friday

I hope the bruises clear up! One of the downfalls of lifting for sure :-)

Grace is killer- I think it was one of the first workouts I ever did at CF, and it's a wonder I ever went back!

My worst injury so far has been a big...don't know what to call it exactly...something between a giant blister and a strawberry that gets rubbed raw on my butt cheek every time we do really large amounts of situps. After the first time it happened, I thought I'd get some kind of butt callous after it healed, but alas, it seems to still be happening.

I've seen the videos but there isn't a crossfit gym that is conveniently located near me. But from what I can tell 80-90% of the equipment used can be found in a standard gym.

A lot of the exercises is resistance training geared towards functional strength. I think if the general public find this form of resistance training more acceptable then it is a good thing.

Originally Posted by HubicRuzz

I've seen the videos but there isn't a crossfit gym that is conveniently located near me. But from what I can tell 80-90% of the equipment used can be found in a standard gym.

Yes and no. It is totally possible to do crossfit workouts at home or a non-crossfit facility, and alot of people do. The thing that crossfit gyms have that standard gyms often don't is bumper plates, and platforms or floors they can be used on. Or maybe they have a tiny platform you can drop weights on, but the gym personnel still freak out if they see regular-looking people doing overhead squats or power cleans.

Many times, the crossfit workouts are combining limit strength exercises like heavy deadlifts with things like rowing or running or pullups, or whatever, but you are going back and forth between several exercises as fast as possible. Most gyms have most of the equipment, but the logistics wouldn't work. You can't just drop a barbell you've been using, leave it unattended, while you run out of the building and around the block, then come back and expect it to still be there (and not to get in trouble for leaving it there).

A lot of the exercises is resistance training geared towards functional strength. I think if the general public find this form of resistance training more acceptable then it is a good thing.

I agree functional strength is good, but this seems to be a little of a left-handed compliment, or feint praise? Why does its goodness stem from public acceptability, rather than the inherent health benefits of developing functional strength?

Interesting to read about this, my cousin recently opened a Crossfit gym in Georgia and I've been wondering just what the heck it's like.

Originally Posted by ssipes

I agree functional strength is good, but this seems to be a little of a left-handed compliment, or feint praise? Why does its goodness stem from public acceptability, rather than the inherent health benefits of developing functional strength?

Mainly because if it has public acceptability then ordinary folk will actually start doing it. For me I lament that in my gym where 70% of members a women, none of them will use the free weights or even the machines because they think they will turn into a she hulk. I also think bodybuilding/body sculpting has a tarnished image due to steroids and that puts people off because of that association.

A person could get health results doing either Crossfit or good natural bodybuilding techniques. At the moment it just seems to me that Crossfit is more palatable to women to encourage them to do resistance training of some form. And probably more healthy than power lifting where they prescribe a high fat diet supposedly to help boost testosterone, which would in turn increase strength.

Thanks for clarifying HubicRuzz.

We do very heavy lifting in crossfit, and usually about once per week, part of the workout will be to determine our one rep max for some particular lift (or 3x max, or 5x max).

We did fairly heavy deadlifts yesterday. The "Rx" for women was supposed to be 183lbs in a workout that included 40 total reps of that lift. That is both heavy and high volume. I could only manage 88lbs.

Anyway, point being that if someone had "issues" with going into the free weight room or "bulking up", I don't see how they'd find crossfit more palatable. I think the average crossfitter is more of the attitude of not giving a sh*t about what people think they should look like, whether the aesthetic is supermodel or bodybuilder -- both are rejected in favor of functional fitness.

Originally Posted by HubicRuzz

Mainly because if it has public acceptability then ordinary folk will actually start doing it. For me I lament that in my gym where 70% of members a women, none of them will use the free weights or even the machines because they think they will turn into a she hulk. I also think bodybuilding/body sculpting has a tarnished image due to steroids and that puts people off because of that association.

A person could get health results doing either Crossfit or good natural bodybuilding techniques. At the moment it just seems to me that Crossfit is more palatable to women to encourage them to do resistance training of some form. And probably more healthy than power lifting where they prescribe a high fat diet supposedly to help boost testosterone, which would in turn increase strength.

Originally Posted by ssipes

We do very heavy lifting in crossfit, and usually about once per week, part of the workout will be to determine our one rep max for some particular lift (or 3x max, or 5x max).

We did fairly heavy deadlifts yesterday. The "Rx" for women was supposed to be 183lbs in a workout that included 40 total reps of that lift. That is both heavy and high volume. I could only manage 88lbs.

That is interersting. So would that be 8 sets of 5 reps, 10 sets of 4 reps or 20 sets of 2 reps? How much rest is there between sets?

Originally Posted by ssipes

Anyway, point being that if someone had "issues" with going into the free weight room or "bulking up", I don't see how they'd find crossfit more palatable. I think the average crossfitter is more of the attitude of not giving a sh*t about what people think they should look like, whether the aesthetic is supermodel or bodybuilder -- both are rejected in favor of functional fitness.

Well I suppose it was my general observation looking at youtube videos that there seems to be a higher female participation rate in crossfit than what exists now for free weight training in a standard gym.

Originally Posted by HubicRuzz

That is interersting. So would that be 8 sets of 5 reps, 10 sets of 4 reps or 20 sets of 2 reps? How much rest is there between sets?

That workout was 4 rounds of: 10 deadlifts, 20 lunges (10 per side) holding a 10 lb plate overhead, 1 minute handstand against the wall.

There is no rest prescribed, but you are allowed to rest as necessary. You're trying to finish as fast as possible, so you rest just enough to keep going. I finished that one in 16:20, but some people's times were around 8 minute.

Some workouts like the one above area certain amount of work and you go for time, and some are as many rounds as possible within a certain time limit. Some workouts have a prescribed 1 minute rest between rounds. It all varies.

Also, each workout of the day is preceded by a very thorough warmup consisting of a 400 m run (or 500 m row), then 2 rounds of: 10 air squats, 10 pushups, 10 situps, 10 pullups (with assistance bands as necessary), 10 back extensions. The warmup is the same every day but the workout of the day is different.

Well I suppose it was my general observation looking at youtube videos that there seems to be a higher female participation rate in crossfit than what exists now for free weight training in a standard gym.

Yes, that is true at my facility also. It is about 50:50, whereas the university weight room I used to workout in would be about 90% men. sometimes my workout partner and I would be the only females in the weight room, whereas the cardio room would be filled with mostly young women. I just don't think crossfit is drawing from that pool.

Came back to this thread to report that today I got two consecutive kipping pull ups in a row for the first time! I got my first single kipping pull up about 2 weeks ago and hadn't been able to do even one again since. Today just felt like the day and I got 2 in a row multiple times! New goal on the goal board, 5 in a row!

OMG a crossfit thread! YES! I'm a 2.5 year crossfit addict, training for the Games in 2012 (though there are some seriously strong gymnast girls at my box and I likely won't make it, but you never know!) It's changed my body, and my life. I LOVE feeling strong and capable, and there is ALWAYS something (or a gajillion things) to work on and improve on. I'm never bored, and I work out with my now-best-friends. The community is awesome, and I always joke that I wouldn't be in this good of shape if the people in my class weren't so fun to work out with; they're a big part of why I keep coming back!

Ssipes: are you talking about the sit up tailbone rash? Does your gym have abmats? I always tuck one under my tailbone when doing situps to cushion the bone there from friction. Learned the hard way that I apparently have a sensitive tush!

Quick thoughts on doing crossfit at home or at your gym: unless you're REALLY familiar with the movements and you can execute them correctly, I wouldn't pursue the home option unless you're willing to limit the types of movements you choose in your WOD (Workout Of the Day). There is such a high potential for injury if a lift isn't executed properly, compounded with the tendency for form to break down quickly when doing a high number of reps for time. It's a recipe for disaster. At least get some coaching from a lifting coach instead of surfing youtube to find out what, say, a proper deadlift looks like to add it to your WOD of choice. Even the best athletes get injured when their form breaks down. Please WOD responsibly!

Yay Crossfit! Yay bacon!

Originally Posted by SummerSahar

Ssipes: are you talking about the sit up tailbone rash? Does your gym have abmats? I always tuck one under my tailbone when doing situps to cushion the bone there from friction. Learned the hard way that I apparently have a sensitive tush!

I don't know. Its not a tailbone problem exactly. My butt cheek flesh was geting creased and smashed somehow until it rubbed raw. We have those wedge-shaped pads that are supposed to go under your lumbar, and yes, I've started scooting those under my butt to alleviate this problem. Did ~120 situps last night with no problems.

Originally Posted by Jenan

Came back to this thread to report that today I got two consecutive kipping pull ups in a row for the first time! I got my first single kipping pull up about 2 weeks ago and hadn't been able to do even one again since. Today just felt like the day and I got 2 in a row multiple times! New goal on the goal board, 5 in a row!

Congrats! I'm a long way from that. I have moved to the second thickest assistance band, and can do a few on the next one down, but I have a ways to go yet.

You don't have as far to go as you think. We used to have to do them for a PT test- and really it was consistency that was the biggest issue. Most of the girls wouldn't practice them regularly any of the women who DID- always passed just fine.

If you are okay with lifting- you can jump on the lat pull machine- That's how I got my pull up count to 15- I rarely did actual pull ups- just got the weight up on the machine up to my own pdy weight. Worked like a charm.

I didn't realize there were actual cross fit gyms till I saw one the other day up by my boyfriend's place. I'd be interested in going in to the gym to see how they do their stuff- I have a lot of friends in the military who are into crossfit.

I'm big on bodyrock.tv bodyrocking is kind of like cross fitting from what I undrestand- but its shorter and can be pretty much done all at home. I'm a HUGE fan of high intensity training. :D

Takes way less time rather than spending hours on a cardio machine! I applaud you ladies for getting down and sweaty with it!

I just joined. I'm totally into the rope workouts. I could never climb ropes in gym class before, now I feel like super woman!