What is CrossFit?

 SO what is CrossFit? (apart from addictive)

CrossFit is a training program that builds strength and conditioning through extremely varied and challenging workouts.  Each day the workout will test a different part of your functional strength or conditioning, not specializing in one particular thing, but rather with the goal of building a body that’s capable of practically anything and everything.                                                                                                                   CrossFit is extremely different from a commercial gym…and not just because you won’t find any ellipticals, weight machines, or Zumba classes. For me CrossFit is challenging,  yet it is also somewhere where I feel supported in an inclusive non-judgmental environment. This is cliched I know, but a CrossFit box or competition is the only place I have ever known where finishing last has more people cheering you on than finishing first. CrossFit is a community and I have encountered nothing else like it.

 According to the CrossFit site, this program “is designed for universal scalability making it the perfect application for any committed individual regardless of experience. We've used our same routines for elderly individuals with heart disease and cage fighters one month out from televised bouts. We scale load and intensity; we don’t change programs.”

What that means is that every day there is a particular workout prescribed (you’ll often see this written as Rx’ed) for everybody that comes to CrossFit.  Rather than having one workout for older women and another for hardcore athletes – there’s ONE workout each day that is completely scalable based on your skill.  For example, if the workout calls for squats with 60 kilos but you can only do squats with the bar (20 kilos), then that’s where you’ll start. If you’re injured and can’t do squats at all, a similar movement will be substituted, and if the number of reps is too many for your current ability, that will be reduced. As you get stronger and more experienced you’ll work your way towards eventually doing the workouts as prescribed.

Check it out for yourself and give CrossFit a try.