Crossfit ROCKS!

[Lozen]

Okay, I wanted to post my experience with crossfit.com because I've been so incredibly impressed with the results I've gotten from following scaled-down version of their WODs (workouts of the day) for a little over three months.

 

Before Crossfit I'd been doing the treadmill 3-5X/week thing and some weightlifting circuits for about four months, as well as a bit of bicycling and some martial arts.

 

In three months of doing crossfit, I've gotten my 5K run time (on a treadmill) from 39:56 to 28:00. I started being able to do only 28 situps in a row and I can now do 38. I started being barely able to do a 10-second L-sit and now I can do 30 seconds. I started only being able to do 10 pushups and last PT test I had, I pumped out 24 in one minute. When I started doing pullups on the Gravitron I needed 65% of my bodyweight assist, and now I only need about 30-35% (I do 30% for as long as I can and then I switch to 35). My muscles are much more defined and even though I weigh around the same, I've lost fat in all the right places and my clothes fit me a lot better (as well as having to give away clothes that no longer fit and being able to keep clothes that do.) My flexibility has increased. My hips are more flexible and stronger from doing body weight squats and my martial arts ability is much more explosive. I started out deadlifting only 24 lbs and now I can deadlift 80 lbs. My back, arms, legs, etc. feel strong. My knees feel a little off, and I'd like to get them looked at, but my back and shoulder pain is pretty much gone. My stamina has also improved.

 

I just really really highly recommend Crossfit's daily (free) workouts of the day. You can go to brandxmartialarts.com for scaled down versions or scale the WODs yourself. They are available at www.crossfit.com.

 

Every rest day (every fourth day) there are articles posted which are a bit on the conservative side that people can comment on, but if the politics bother you, you can just ignore those days and get a really kick-ass free workout. I'd recommend reading the FAQs and "Start Here" section first and to really scale down the WODs so you won't injure yourself and can do the program smartly.

[Christoph]

Okay, I wanted to post my experience with crossfit.com because I've been so incredibly impressed with the results I've gotten from following scaled-down version of their WODs (workouts of the day) for a little over three months.

 

Before Crossfit I'd been doing the treadmill 3-5X/week thing and some weightlifting circuits for about four months, as well as a bit of bicycling and some martial arts.

 

In three months of doing crossfit, I've gotten my 5K run time (on a treadmill) from 39:56 to 28:00. I started being able to do only 28 situps in a row and I can now do 38. I started being barely able to do a 10-second L-sit and now I can do 30 seconds. I started only being able to do 10 pushups and last PT test I had, I pumped out 24 in one minute. When I started doing pullups on the Gravitron I needed 65% of my bodyweight assist, and now I only need about 30-35% (I do 30% for as long as I can and then I switch to 35). My muscles are much more defined and even though I weigh around the same, I've lost fat in all the right places and my clothes fit me a lot better (as well as having to give away clothes that no longer fit and being able to keep clothes that do.) My flexibility has increased. My hips are more flexible and stronger from doing body weight squats and my martial arts ability is much more explosive. I started out deadlifting only 24 lbs and now I can deadlift 80 lbs. My back, arms, legs, etc. feel strong. My knees feel a little off, and I'd like to get them looked at, but my back and shoulder pain is pretty much gone. My stamina has also improved.

 

I just really really highly recommend Crossfit's daily (free) workouts of the day. You can go to brandxmartialarts.com for scaled down versions or scale the WODs yourself. They are available at www.crossfit.com.

 

Every rest day (every fourth day) there are articles posted which are a bit on the conservative side that people can comment on, but if the politics bother you, you can just ignore those days and get a really kick-ass free workout. I'd recommend reading the FAQs and "Start Here" section first and to really scale down the WODs so you won't injure yourself and can do the program smartly.

 

 

 

Congrats on your progress!!

One word of caution about crossfit....it is easy to break your form when you start to get fatigued and possibly get injured. On the videos on their website some of the form makes me cringe. Many exercises they do they "cheat".

[Lozen]

Yeah, your form does suffer around the end, but I think you can do it in a way that isn't dangerous. And I've done similar excercises in martial arts where they have us do kettlebell swings between rounds to create fatigue and mimic the adrenal stress response (aka shell core shunt aka adrenaline dumps) because fatigue is somewhat similar.

 

If you're talking about their pullups when you say many excercises "cheat" though, there's a reason they do them that way.

 

From the FAQ: 2.15. What's with the kipping pullups? Isn't it "cheating?"

 

There are a TON of discussions about this on the boards. Try searching for kipping and kipping pull-up via the search function. There is also an entire Crossfit journal dedicated to the kipping pullup. "if you'll read this thread on the kipping pull-up I think you'll come to see the move in a different light. It's a long read (10 pages or so) but well worth the effort. I've never seen more thoughtful or complete analysis on the movement anywhere: http://www.crossfit.com/cgi-bin/discus/sho...&post=34589

 

"Short version: Kipping allows more work to be done in less time, thus increasing power output. It is also a full-body coordination movement when performed correctly, which applies more functionally to real-life application of pulling skills. Last, but not least, the hip motion of an effective kip mirrors the motion of the olympic lifts/kettlebell swings, adding to it's function as a posterior-chain developer."

Short Version Answer courtesy of Jesse Woody

[Yoda]

Most impressive results!!! What's the theory on why it's more effective like that? Just funner so you really put yourself into each workout?

[Lozen]

Well it is more fun and people do push themselves, but the methodology is where it's at I think. It's all about variety, intensity and functionality and Coach says that it's supposed to maximize neuroendocrine adaptation, and to emphasize ten physical skills (cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular endurance, strength, speed, flexibility, power, co-ordination, agility, balance and accuracy.) They say that endurance, stamina, strength and flexibility come through training, coordination, agility, balance and accuracy come through practice and power and speed come through both. They have this PDF you can download for free called "what is fitness" that goes more in depth on this, but the theory is that if you are fit you will be able to perform unfamiliar tasks better, which is part of where variety fits in, keeping things broad and varied. And then they go in depth into the three metabolic pathways: phosphagen, glycolytic and oxidative (low, moderate and high-powered activities.)