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7 Things to Know Before Trying Crossfit
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Crossfit is hardcore
Anyone can do it, but not everyone should do it.
The heart-pounding workouts, sense of community, and amazing results are what keep people coming back for more, but you can't truly know if it's right for you until you give it a go and see for yourself.
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Crossfit Lingo
Crossfit might as well have its own dictionary.
- Box: Crossfit gyms are called "boxes."
- WOD: Stands for Workout Of the Day. This changes daily and is typically posted on a white board before class or on the Box's website.
- AMRAP: As many rounds as possible in an allotted time that is given by the coach.
- Various names of people you don't know: There are several benchmark WODs in Crossfit that are named after women (Helen, Fran, and Mary, for example).
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How to find a good coach
A coach can make or break your experience.
Read their reviews, ask friends for referrals and see if you can try a class or two before you join to make sure it's a good fit.
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Injuries are rare
As long as you're in good hands and have a good coach, the risk is minimal.
A good coach will know how quickly you should be progressing and will pay attention to your form to make sure you're moving properly.
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Most Crossfitters are women
According to numbers from The American Council on Exercise, over 60% of the Crossfit population is comprised of women.
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Your classmates will become friends
Crossfit classes are a great way to make new friends, cheer on and be cheered on by your fellow athletes.
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It can be pricey
Crossfit is fairly expensive when you compare it to a regular gym membership.
The value of what you're paying for can be worth it when you look at the type of attention you're getting from your coaches.
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SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
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Key Ideas
CrossFit definition
It's a training philosophy that coaches people of all shapes and sizes to improve their physical well-being and cardiovascular fitness through varied and challenging workouts.
Each day, t...
Scalable based on your skill
Every day there is a particular workout prescribed that is completely scalable based on your skill. For example, if the workout calls for barbell squats with 135 pounds but you can only do squats with the bar (45 pounds), then that’s where you’ll start.
CrossFit is perfect for...
- Beginners to weight training: If you have never weight trained before, CrossFit is a great place for you to start, provided you have a great coach.
- People looking for support and community: Every CrossFit gym has a really tight-knit community feel to it.
- Fitness fanatics: The general protocol is 3 days on, 1 day off, but many CrossFitters end up at the gym more frequently.
- Masochists: You’ll often be in situations where you use all your effort to finish a workout and continue to push yourself beyond.
- Former athletes: You get to compete with people in your class and go online to see how you did against the world’s elite CrossFit athletes.
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Crossfit
Crossfit’s workouts can include powerlifting; gymnastics and calisthenic type activities like ring pull-ups and rope climbing; and often cardio in the form of running, cycling, or rowing. You can a...
A training session
You can get a training session before starting classes. This will depend on your gym (your box) but some offer a free session to teach the techniques.
Boxes also let you sign up for a series of beginner-specific classes before you jump in with everybody else.
The barbells
Bars come in a variety of weights, from 15 to 45 pounds, and those giant plates are available in sizes going down to 10 pounds.
That means the barbell has about the same shape and size no matter how heavy it is.
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HIIT: high-intensity interval training
HIIT workouts generally combine short bursts of intense heart-pounding exercise (during which a person’s heart rate reaches at least 80 percent of its maximum capacity, usually for 1 to 5 minute...
The most well-established benefit of HIIT...
...has to do with heart health: Intervals can boost cardio-respiratory health with a smaller time investment compared to continuous forms of exercise.
It's not about superior fat-burning capacity or bigger muscles, but about improved VO2 max, a measure of endurance that calculates the maximum volume of oxygen the body can use.
VO2 max is one of the best predictors of overall health.
HIIT and weight loss
People can burn comparable amounts of calories in HIIT routines lasting, compared to longer continuous exercise routines. But this doesn't mean that calorie burn translates into weight loss.
This is the problem with HIIT, just like with any other form of exercise: it’s much easier to lose weight by cutting calories in your diet than trying to burn excess calories.