Cross Training Exercises: Respecting the Cross Training Process & Why This is Important

When you go to a CrossFit gym, you may find one of the two types of CrossFit. The first type consists of an exercise routine with functional movements performed at high intensity and targeted at our health. The second type of CrossFit is a sport for CrossFit, and basically, this is what you may see on ESPN.

The growth in popularity of CrossFit has attracted lots of athletes many of whom are coming to compete at high levels. These athletes come from different walks of life ranging from ultra-marathon runners to former college football players. Some of them have a preconceived notion that because they found success in their respective former endeavors, they will automatically find success even in CrossFit exercises.

While it is true that the potential for success exists, there is a process which athletes must adhere to so as to get better. In the same way, you can’t pick a baseball in year one and become a spectacular pitcher for the major league, CrossFit exercises have procedures which you must follow.

Being talented is a plus, but the talent on its own can only take you so far beyond which effort and discipline take over.

Respecting the Process

Everything in life has a progression, and for you to achieve results, you need dedication and hard work. In CrossFit, you must master the functional movements first before anything else. When you develop a stable base and a stronger core, then you can undertake higher skilled movements. If you skip this step, catastrophic injuries may result when doing your CrossFit exercises. On top of this, it is not proper to try out movements which are beyond your means.

Doing a movement, the wrong way is not intelligent because you will be required to go back to the drawing and develop that movement once more in the right way. What this means is additional months of strength and skills development plus the risk of damaging your form by doing workouts the wrong way.

Below are some of the effective tips that will help you respect the CrossFit process and at the same time put you on the path to achieving your goals.

Listening to Your Body

It’s important to have a routine, but getting caught in such a routine even when your body is hurting is not right. The famous 3-day-on and 1-day-off attitude were created at the beginning of CrossFit, but it is not cast on stone. When your body is instructing you otherwise, kindly listen. The body usually repairs and strengthens in between workouts, and if you continuously train without recovery, you may actually weaken instead of strengthening.

Allow Your Injuries to Heal

Injuries and tweaks are a necessary evil in any sport. As your intensity rises, the amount of CrossFit training you undertake can easily result in new injuries or a flare-up of old injuries. Staying healthy is important and ensuring that your injuries heal however small they are can enhance your form and give you more benefits than working out with injuries.

The last tip is to understand your volume. The number of reps you do in a given movement and the load you carry should be well-planned for so that you do not overburden your skeletal system.