Just like any other fitness methodology or sport, CrossFit not only requires practice, and preparation, but also carries the risk of injury. Injuries are an unfortunate reality ingrained in all forms of demanding physical activities, and thus require acceptance. However, that being said, there are lots of things you can do to minimize or even put to a complete stop to the instances of CrossFit injuries. Here are some of the tried and tested ideas you may want to consider. Proper Warm-ups Warming up in CrossFit has two main advantages. Firstly, it enhances your performance, and secondly, it prevents injuries. Active warm-ups including dynamic stretching serves to activate your muscles as well as enhances your blood flow and body heat. When the blood flow increases, your muscles receive more oxygen, which is excellent for your performance. Furthermore, the increase in body temperature assists in the rapid contraction and relaxation of your muscles, thus making them more efficient. Research has found that muscles that receive more blood and are warm tend to be more pliable. This means your range of motion and flexibility in the gym will be enhanced. With your range of motions enhanced, you can efficiently and safely execute any movement. Post-Workout Mobilization and Recovery During an intense CrossFit training, lots of metabolic waste products are generated and lounged in your muscle cells. These products together with the fluids that surround them must be flushed out. In addition to that, your tendons and muscle fibers may have gotten damaged during the course of your CrossFit workout, and thus require time to cool down and recover. Through post-workout mobilization, waste products such as lactic acid can be removed from the body. This also decreases blood pooling, and hence reduces the instances of dizziness and fainting. Studies conducted on post-workout recovery have shown that stretching especially after a physical activity gives your muscles increased flexibility which in turn improves your performance and prevents avoidable injuries. Ensure Proper Technique, Scale, and Weight Most of the CrossFit injuries are as a result of weights, scales, and technique. As a CrossFit athlete, you must understand the type of weight you can move, the effectiveness in moving it, and when it is appropriate to move it. If you can’t perform a movement at least to the scale that you desire, do not force your system, rather scale down and gradually move up as your body acclimatizes. Work on your skills when you have free time or during open gym. Through practice, you will learn efficient and safe ways to move weights. All these will contribute to injury reduction, and improve your overall performance. Desist from Over Training During a WOD, your body undergoes incredible strain. So as to properly repair itself, it will need a combination of recovery elements including mobilization, nutrients, and rest. Some people believe that in order to boost their CrossFit endurance, they have to exercise daily. On the contrary, lack of rest wears down your muscle fibers, and instead of getting stronger, you weaken. The bottom line is for you to listen to your body and be sensitive in distinguishing the various pains experienced during workouts. Do not ignore little injuries such as rips, sprains, and muscle flares. They may be a pointer to much larger injuries. 

CrossFit is largely an individual sport, but for you to succeed, you need to partner with others in the day-to-day activities including workouts. Rarely is there any sport you can engage in where teamwork doesn’t count. In CrossFit, the following people can help you a great deal in achieving personal success and generally making your CrossFit experience pleasant. Your Coach This is one of the most important people that you must strike a strategic partnership and cultivate a personal acquaintance with. Coaches take time to understand their athletes so that they can package their instruction in a way that you can understand and follow. They know where your strengths and weaknesses are and the right words to use to give you that extra push in your workout.Their advice on nutrition, technique, recovery, and mobility are invaluable to your fitness. Personal coaching relationships can enrich your CrossFit training schedule through personalized programming. Coaches also give you an accountability platform that can help you in sticking to your diet and training plan. Your Workout Partner This is your trusty companion who ensures you come for your training sessions and even cares to find out when you are getting late. Just like your coach, your workout partner understands your strengths and weaknesses and can customize their support to propel you to work even harder.Another advantage is that your workout partner is an athlete just like you and this means they can give you that extra push when going through tough workouts because you will be able to benchmark with them and even comfort yourself that if they can do it, you can also do it. With your partner, you can share goals and keep each other accountable not just in the gym, but also out of the gym and in other spheres affecting your CrossFit performance. Your CrossFit “Rival” You may hate it, but rivals are everywhere including gyms. Rivals can make you work 100 times harder and even endure the harshest workout if that is what it will take to beat them. Because you are determined not to lose to them, you will scale up to another gear during the WOD, and that will boost your performance. Your rival brings in a competitive element to your workout, and this can serve as a motivation.In addition to the above people, you need a role model who may be an exceptional athlete or even a person who has already attained the goals you want to achieve. With these people in your network, your CrossFit fitness training is bound to be exciting and rewarding.

As much as CrossFit prescribes specific exercise moves, it gives you the flexibility to structure your own workout plan. Lots of CrossFit enthusiasts enjoy doing simple workouts on rowing machines blended with a longer stretch of lifts, rows, presses, and jumping rope. The secret to properly performing these workouts lies in accessing the right equipment.WODs are difficult workouts, and in the event, you can’t get them right the first time, don’t feel down. You can always scale down especially for beginners. Get your mind ready to have your endurance and stamina challenged hard. Murph                                                                                    This is a simple, but one of the best CrossFit WODs. Because of its simple structure, it happens to be one of the most beloved WODs. It incorporates bodyweight exercises along with cardio. If you are an athlete looking for a fairly comprehensive workout that lasts an hour or less, then Murph is bound to be a darling to you.You begin with a one-mile run and after that hop over to pull up bar for 100 pull-ups. Next are 200 push-ups, 300 squats, and lastly, you finish off by doing another mile. The advantage with Murph is that it can be done anywhere even in a running track or open field. Helen This workout comprises 3 rounds of exercises and is an excellent way to help you measure your progress. This WOD aims at perfecting your skills in a handful of areas. As you do the Helen WOD, ensure you time yourself because the goal here is to beat your record. To perform Helen WOD, you should begin with 400-meter sprint and then 21 kettlebell swings loaded with 24-kilogram weights. To finish, jump onto a pull-up bar and do 12 pull-ups. Run through this three times consecutively without stopping. Kelly Kelly incorporates challenging moves along with tiring cardio. Experience has it that only the toughest manage to get through a full cycle of this WOD. It is somewhat demanding, and for beginners, the advice is to scale especially for the first attempt.It takes 5 rounds to complete Kelly WOD. It begins with the 400-meter run then 30 plyometric box jumps and after that 30 wall ball hits done with a 20-pound size medicine ball. If you can’t complete in the first round, don’t be discouraged because even Kelly Moore herself didn’t manage it in the first round. Linda It is also known as the three bars of death. This is because of the intensity of the training. For beginners, they can scale and max at 5 reps however the goal is 10 reps as you try to outdo your best time.This WOD involves doing deadlifts which are 1.5 times your bodyweight, then bench presses sized to your bodyweight, and lastly cleans 75% your bodyweight. The structure of the reps is 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1. What this means is you will first do 10 lifts after which you do 10 presses and finish with 10 cleans before moving to the round of 9 each then 8 until you come down to 1 each.In doing these CrossFit workouts, it is important you record your time to see and even celebrate your achievements in every round.

Whenever you engage in something new, there tend to be many associated unknowns. Being a sport, CrossFit has its fair share of unknowns, and a learning curve CrossFitters must learn to excel in it. The variety and intensity of CrossFit exercises make the journey challenging in some way. As you gradually develop to a comfort level in CrossFit, there are certain mistakes you should try and avoid at all costs.  Taking in Too Much at a Go Irrespective of your background, don’t imagine yourself to be too strong and fit as you get into CrossFit. You may be a marathoner or a weightlifter, but as you come into CrossFit, you need to be gradual. Lifting heavy weights too fast can limit your CrossFit experience in several ways. For instance, taking in too much can shift your focus away from the technique, and this can severely impact your movements and overall progress. Also, lack of body preparation for high-intensity CrossFit workouts paired with weight can result in injury. Most gyms will work with you so that you can establish a beginning point, but you must be willing to put your heart and effort into it. Inadequate Rest The CrossFit community experience is certainly positive and so inspirational. However, you need to have limits so that you are not carried away into exercising for lengthy periods of time. In the beginning, it is important to allow your body to acclimatize with the workout environment and regimen. Not having enough rest can affect your recovery cycles because the high-intensity CrossFit workouts can take a toll on your muscles. In case you have a problem sitting down after exercise, you can decide to engage in something else such as swimming or walking. Whatever you do, ensure your sore muscles get some relaxing stretches. Egoism and Negative Attitude CrossFit athletes come from different backgrounds and as such have their own fair share of strengths and weaknesses. Performance varies from one athlete to another and from one day to the next. When exercising, you need to let your heart out and remove any negative energy from you. Working out with an ego to defend will most likely lead to a below performance. Give it your best and walk out knowing you have done your part for the day. Quitting Halfway Just like any other task, you begin with the aim of finishing and not leaving it halfway. It is important you commit not to be an elite all-star or a lifter of millions of pounds, but rather to a simple goal of starting a day with the aim of finishing successfully. How bad or good a day is, unless prompted by injury or other conditions, make it a goal to finish every workout you embark on. The greatest CrossFit challenge is in not giving up. This will enable you to make strides in your fitness and fortitude.

There is a dangerous assumption which you must not make as a CrossFit athlete if you want to improve your performance in the sport. The notion is that because you do core every day, you don’t need to isolate core work. When you skip core workouts, the chances are high that your overall capability will reduce and your susceptibility to injury will increase. The main reason behind this is that some specific muscles end up being overdeveloped at the expense of others. Doing sit-ups at the tail end of your CrossFit workout is not sufficient to solve the problem. The fact is, your core musculature works in lots of directions to give you stability, strength, and power for every movement you undertake. Training all the core capabilities can armor you against potential catastrophic injuries. Below are some of the top core functions and exercises. Stability In CrossFit gyms, you will mostly hear about stability as one of the core functions. When undertaking weight-bearing exercises, you require core stability. Despite this, the anterior pelvic tilt is often overlooked, and this can lead to overarching of your lower back and thus making it difficult to engage the abdomen. To avoid this, it is recommended you train hollow holds and rocks. When doing the hollow position, you should begin by lying flat on your back and press your lower back flat on the floor. Then, pull your hips by contracting your glutes and lower abdomen into posterior pelvic tilt as you lift your shoulders and feet off the floor. Compression There are lots of variations that come with compression. However, one of the favorites is leg raise variations. In its simplicity, core compression is done through bending at the hip as you gradually bring your legs towards the face. When doing the leg raise variations, hang on a bar and relax your shoulders. Then, lift your legs gradually towards your face. In the beginning, you may see limitations in mobility, but as you build your CrossFit endurance, you will be able to achieve a full range of motion. Rotation There are lots of exercises you can exploit to train core rotation. Some of them include side plank twists, Russian twists, and twisting back extensions. One of the top rotation movements in CrossFit is called L-wiper. You start by hanging on a bar with your shoulders blocked and relaxed. Then, through controlled and purposeful movement, sweep your legs from zero degrees all the way to 180 degrees. Ensure your legs are straight and in a pike position. Bowing This CrossFit exercise can help in strengthening and stretching your oblique muscle group. Getting into a side plank position while supporting yourself with your arm, bow your hip gradually towards the floor and then back up. While doing this exercise, you should maintain square shoulders, posterior pelvic tilt, hips and core tension. In addition to the above, there are other exercises you can undertake for your core functions. The golden rule is to train your core as often as you can for relatively high volumes.  

An effective diet plan plays an incredible role in anyone’s life. Without eating quality food in appropriate quantity, no CrossFitter can achieve his or her full potential. This is the reason why it’s important to have a proper diet for Crossfit athlete. Protein is an essential component of a good Crossfit diet. It not only helps to stabilize blood sugar but also provides energy for workouts. Besides protein, there are a few other essential foods to load up on when it comes to enhancing your CrossFit success. Food a CrossFit Athlete Should Add to His/Her Diet: Lentils Lentils are low in calories and high in nutrition; this combination is perfect for a Crossfit athlete. Of all the nuts and pulses, lentils are the one that has the 3rd highest level of protein.  Banana and Whey Protein Smoothie After the Crossfit workout, you need to refuel your body by replenishing glycogen stores and protein for tissue repair. A banana-whey protein smoothie helps a lot in post-workout recovery. Nuts and Seeds Nuts and seeds are full of nutrients and contain Omega-3 fatty acids. The intake of these helps to recover from tiredness that happens after an intense CrossFit WOD. These are actually the powerful pack of vitamins, minerals, and fats that boost up your heart and brain.   Chicken The health benefits of chicken include its good supply of protein content, the supply of essential vitamins and minerals, benefits in losing weight, cholesterol control, blood pressure control, and a reduced risk of cancer.  CrossFit nutrition goes hand-in-hand with both, living a healthier lifestyle and performance. You can definitely push yourself to the limits beyond your thinking during workouts, but if you are not fuelling your body properly, then you might not be able to see the results you are looking for. Whether you want to gain or lose weight, train harder or just want to be healthy; you have to focus on your diet.