If you have a friend doing CrossFit, chances are you have heard them mentioning terms such as WOD, PR, Angie, Fran, or Cindy. Anyone who has never stepped into a CrossFit gym or cared enough to learn the coded language of CrossFitters may be perplexed by this new vernacular. CrossFitters are easy to notice because of their body sculpture. If you are curious and would want to try out CrossFit, it is important first to know the things to put in place so that you can have the best experience in the box. Trainer Academy Understanding CrossFit Developed by Greg Glassman, the CrossFit program is aimed at improving general fitness levels. According to Glassman, fitness refers to an increased work capacity across broad time and modal domains. This simply means, as a CrossFit athlete, you can perform various activities at higher levels in both long and short durations. The workouts last about an hour and comprise lots of mobility and flexibility training. Finding the Right Gym Trainer Academy As a beginner in CrossFit, it is really important to find the right box. Remember the CrossFit organization is very strict, and anyone using the name CrossFit gym must truly be affiliated with the organization. This makes it easy for beginners because all you need to do is to visit the website to find an affiliate near you. Currently, there are over 10,000 affiliates the world over from the United States to Qatar. Since people advocate for the setting up of home gyms, CrossFit workouts can best be done in official gyms to benefit from professional training. Check-In for a Free Workout As a potential new member, you can easily get CrossFit boxes which offer you first free workouts. These initial sessions will give you the opportunity to meet the coach who will give you information about the gym, the program, as well as take you through the program details. Before you settle on any gym, do a quick survey by sampling a few boxes in your area by taking advantage of the free classes. Trainer Academy Register for an On-Ramp Program As a beginner, it is important for you to learn and fully understand the basic movements commonly done in CrossFit workouts. Moves such as the front squat, air squat, overhead squat, push jerk, push press, sumo deadlift, and medicine-ball clean are some of the workouts you should know. On-ramp programs consist of a series of classes which teach you some fundamental movements before you think of adding any weight or intensity. Get the Right Gear While it is important to always look your best, the first 30 days in the gym shouldn’t worry you about how you look. Simply, focus on getting comfortable exercise gear that gives you the freedom of movement. You can wear comfortable athletic shorts and for women, athletic leggings and a tee or tank. CrossFit Shoes are arguably the most important part of your workout outfit because they give you stability and flexibility during exercise. On top of the above, take the initiative to learn the lingo, scale your workouts and get involved in the community. Devoting your time to doing warmups, mobility and flexibility exercises will benefit you by lessening injury cases.

CrossFit benchmark workouts have their best completion time, and from the onset, these may seem impossible to attain and that they can only be held by the elite. Since these benchmark workouts are well known across the CrossFit community, they are the best when comparing times. The main purpose of benchmark workouts in CrossFit is that they give you a platform and serve as an instrument through which you can measure your progress. Workouts change from time to time, and this makes it difficult to compare your performance today with past performance levels. Using benchmark workouts, you can gather tangible evidence on the progress of your fitness level. Not all benchmark CrossFit workouts are timed, but most are, and CrossFitters have posted some amazing times. Some of these benchmark workouts have gained entries into year-end CrossFit games. What is important with these times is that they give you a comparison yardstick, but you shouldn’t feel bad if you find your times being nowhere closer to these records. CrossFit has hundreds of thousands of participants and it is a very competitive sport. Fran This is a famous CrossFit workout and a deceptively challenging one. In this workout, you will perform pull-ups and thrusters. Thrusters are barbell front squats done using an overhead press at the top. Both exercises are done in three sets and the reps for each set are in a descending order starting from 21 then 15 and lastly 9. The barbell used by men and women vary in weight with men using a 95pound and women 65pound. The best time set for this workout is 1 minute and 53 seconds and it was done by Jason Kaplan. Diane This workout shares lots of similarities with Fran. It comprises of deadlifts and handstand push-ups. The deadlifts for men comprise 225 pounds while for women it is 155 pounds. Every exercise is done in 3 sets with descending repetitions in the order of 21, 15 and nine reps. The best time was posted by Dan Bailey who did 1 minute 35 seconds in the 2012 CrossFit games. Murph This is commonly referred to as a hero workout of the day. It was named in the memory of Michael Murphy, a Navy lieutenant. This workout gives you an option of wearing a vest measuring 20 pounds to mimic military body armor. This workout is done by running one mile, then 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, and lastly 300 bodyweight squats. After you have done all of them, you run another mile. The best time was recorded by Josh Bridges in 34 minutes 38 seconds. Naughty Nancy This is slightly more difficult compared to its sister CrossFit workout, Nancy. It is a relatively newer benchmark workout and featured in the 2013 CrossFit games to give the competitors an extra challenge. Every athlete completes four sets of 600-meter runs coupled with 25 overhead squats. The best time ever recorded for the Naughty Nancy workout is 16 minutes 31 seconds by Josh Bridges.

The first time you come across a CrossFit workout, you may think it is a mix of jumping, bodyweight moves, gymnastics, Olympic weightlifting, and traditional weightlifting exercises. The interesting bit with CrossFit is that it doesn’t follow a set structure. There is no single type of training that dominates CrossFit. Regarding gender, both men and women can effectively compete in CrossFit, but with a different prescription of weights on their workouts. Weightlifting exercises in CrossFit can help you enhance your strength, muscular endurance, and size. The Olympic Lifts A huge part of CrossFit consists of Olympic lifts. Clean and jerk and the snatch are two Olympic moves that are common in many CrossFit workouts. For instance, Isabel comprises 30 snatches with weights measuring 134 lbs.performed in quick succession. Linda, on the other hand, consists of 55 cleans performed with weights measuring half your bodyweight. These Olympic lifts and many others help you build power and strength. There are derivatives of clean and jerk and the snatch which can also be categorized as CrossFit staples. These variations include power cleans, power snatches, push jerks, full cleans, and overhead squats. Kettlebell Workouts There is no single dumbbell used in CrossFit gyms, but in their place, there are kettlebells. Anyone who has used kettlebells can tell you for the fact that they are effective in building power, speed, and mobility in your workouts. You can perform derivatives of clean and jerk and the snatch using kettlebells or simply use them for Turkish get-ups and swings. Experts recommend that men should start with a 35-pound kettlebell while experienced CrossFitters should switch to 53-pound bell. Basic Traditional Lifting You may be surprised to walk into a CrossFit box and not see your regular, traditional lifting. This doesn’t mean that CrossFit doesn’t have those workouts, but they have been transformed into deadlifts, squats, and overhead presses. These three combined, form a workout referred to as the Total which is the CrossFit version of power lifting. Total comprises lifting one rep marks on every exercise. Total Body Training In CrossFit, you will do different sorts of training every day involving a variety of lifting exercises. You will start with basic workouts such as ring push-ups, kettlebell swings, and squat jumps. If you want a more strength-based circuit, you can combine clean, and jerks with leg raise. As a word of caution, the weightlifting exercises which form part of CrossFit won’t give you optimal results if you want to gain muscle. For bigger and stronger muscles, you are better off sticking to your traditional weight training routine.

It doesn’t matter whether you are a seasoned CrossFit athlete or a newbie, following the best CrossFit diet is always recommended especially for high-intensity activities. If your diet is falling away from the recommended point, chances are your performance will be jeopardized and the results you hope for will not be attained. We all know that CrossFit is such a demanding activity which can easily take a toll on your body. If you are the type that does CrossFit 5 times a week, you will need plenty of protein, calories, and micronutrients. If you are so much into weight loss, low carb or calorie restricted CrossFit diet will make your performance suffer. To lay a solid foundation, you are supposed to commit to eating real food. Since you can get away with the consumption of processed food, it is highly discouraged that you should go this way. Processed foods are nutrient poor and they bring in an instance of addiction. When you talk about real food, you mean those that will help you pack nutrients and distance you from any inflammatory instances. Calorie Composition Calories not only fuel your CrossFit workouts but also play a central role in repair and growth of body tissues. If you are planning to pack on lean muscle mass, you should take enough calories for energy. There has been a lot of contention around the issue of micromanaging eating. Tracking and counting are very important, but truly speaking, it is not fun at all. There are separate arguments that the body system has its internal calculator which is more responsive and accurate than any calorie count system. However, you must have the ability to listen to your body and the signaling powers. If you carefully listen to your body and give it whatever it is asking for, you will find yourself eating the appropriate calorie amounts. As the CrossFit workload increases, your hunger will also increase. Carbs Composition Depending on whether you are good at listening to your body, experts are of the idea that at the beginning you should not look at the carb counts on your foods. In the same manner, you tailor your calorie numbers top consume based on the hunger signals; you can also tailor the carbs you eat to your CrossFit performance. Among the symptoms that point to a low level of carbs in your body include poor sleep, lack of explosiveness CrossFit workout program, and general sluggishness. There isn’t a one-fits-all carbs intake because only your body system knows what it needs. Protein Quantity The debate on the amount of protein one can have received attention from different quarters each coming up with their recommendations. To keep your intake simple, prioritize proteins and adjust your fat or carb intake. When doing lots of demanding activity, you need to increase the carb levels and reduce body fat. Eating is instinctual for every person, but there is a special mind-body disconnect experienced by a majority of people. Learning how to eat instinctually and committing to real food can make a powerful force from within you.

Before looking at CrossFit nutrition, it is important to appreciate that CrossFit as a training system has been a catalyst for lots of people to re-invent their lifestyle. It has successfully changed the health outlook, built confidence, and rewarded participants with love for working out. This transformation can be attributed to two key aspects of CrossFit. The first is the workouts and the dynamism associated with them. The second and the most important is CrossFit nutrition, the subject matter being addressed here. Having a proper diet is important and critical to your training. This is because it gives you the fuel with which you can power your workouts, improve your general health, as well as have a healthy recovery. The question is, what sort of diet and nutrition profile should a typical CrossFitter have. There are lots of different recommendations which are tied to people’s goals, physique, experience, and their current health status. Because of this, the answer is always relative. However, it helps to begin the discussion by focusing on the middle ground which consists of safe and easy recommendations for everyone. Key Nutrition Guidelines According to CrossFit HQ, the nutritional guidelines recommended are based on a split of macronutrients with 40% carbohydrates, 30% protein, and lastly 30% fat. The focus is on fresh fruits and vegetables, whole foods, and lean proteins. Processed foods and those with high glycemic index must be avoided at all costs. The Zone Diet The 40/30/30 split is commonly associated with the Zone Diet. This diet is designed to give you adequate amounts of carbohydrates to fuel your intense workouts, fats to maintain a well-functioning nervous and hormonal system, and protein to build and maintain your body. There is so much that can be spoken about the Zone Diet, but the bottom line is it ensures a balance of nutrients without eliminating any category. The Paleo Diet The focus of this diet is on whole foods. The concept underlining Paleo Diet has it that our evolution as humans didn’t prepare our systems the many processed foods that we find ourselves running after today. Instead, the body system thrives on naturally available foods, and that is what it has been doing for thousands of years. For this reason, the Paleo Diet as an integral component of CrossFit workout is primarily composed of animals and plants that you could easily foliage or hunt. High Glycemic Carbohydrates The Paleo Diet has an added advantage of reducing the problems caused by the intake of high glycemic carbohydrates. Proteins and fats usually have low glycemic index, but carbohydrates depending on their complexity can have varying glycemic indices. The low glycemic carbohydrates include fibrous vegetables and complex ones such as whole grains. These are much slower to be absorbed thereby causing a moderate insulin response. CrossFit nutrition can help you attain both higher performance and a healthier life. You can push yourself beyond the limits in your workout of the day, but if your body doesn’t need fuel enough, you may not see much improvements.

In the world of CrossFit, there is nothing as rigidly planning of workouts. The dynamism of CrossFit owes a lot to the ever-changing workouts. CrossFit borrows from several other fitness niches such as distance running, powerlifting and gymnastics to create workouts. In any given workout, you will find an exercise touching on strength training, gymnastics, and a bike run. Because of this variety, piecing together a CrossFit workout is so much fun. The Structure of a Week When creating a CrossFit workout, one of the challenges you will face is coming up with the context. You need to think about the nature of workouts you will be performing on any given day of the week. This is important because failure to lay out a balanced context can mean overworking one muscle or movement. The good news is CrossFit already has a template in place. Typically, your training should be done three days in a row, and your workouts gradually scaled from the easiest to the hardest. When you come to day 4, you should rest and after that work out for the remaining three days. There is also a template designed for CrossFitters who workout five days in a week. This means exercising five days consecutively and then resting on Saturday and Sunday. Workout Styles Once your template is well put down, you should now begin building the workouts you will do every day. There are three workout styles to choose from: weightlifting, gymnastics, and metabolic conditioning. Weightlifting These workouts combine Olympic weightlifting and powerlifting to give you an intense strength training experience. It consists of mainly barbell exercises such as cleans, squats, deadlifts, and presses. They also include kettlebell swings and medicine ball drills which combine to give you a hybrid between metabolic conditioning and strength training. Metabolic Conditioning Here, you can choose among biking, run, rowing, and jump rope. The goal of metabolic conditioning is to enable your body to do exercises for a longer duration. For instance, you may run 6.2 miles as part of the metabolic conditioning workout. Gymnastics These workouts use ropes, gymnastic rings, pull-up bars, and bodyweight exercises to give you a cross between strength workout and metabolic workout. The exercises range from a simple push-up to muscle ups and rope climbs. Combining Workouts By themselves, strength workouts, gymnastics, and metabolic conditioning are challenging. However, CrossFit takes these workouts to a higher level by combining two or even three into a single workout. In the three days of workout and a day off the structure, you will be doing one of the three styles of workout on the first day, the second style on the second day and the third day, you will do all the three. If you are on the 5 days on and 2 days off workout plan, you will do one type of workout on day one, the second workout style on the second day, all three combined on the third day and the fourth day, you will back down to two and on the 5th and last day, you go back to one. Once you have made up your mind whether you will go for the five days on two days off or 3 days on and one day off workout structure, you can then build your CrossFit workout type and feed it into each day.

Stretching has been a key component of many pre-workout rituals. However, the latest scientific studies have called this practice into question. The studies suggest that the old-fashioned stretching which for some reason most of us hyped, may not be what it is cracked up to be. The studies recommend mobility as the key that unlocks the true potential of our bodies and which brings us nearer to peak performance. Stretching is not necessarily a bad thing, it is only that it doesn’t safeguard you against injury and it doesn’t produce the much-touted reductions in body muscle soreness following days of CrossFit workout. To get you started with mobility training, the following tips are invaluable. Swapping Out Stretching Instead of spending your energy on static stretching, learn how to embrace dynamic warm-up. Start by completing moves resembling those you shall be doing in your routine, and this will prepare your body adequately for whatever kind of workout, game or practice that lies ahead of you. CrossFit exercises such as the squat and lateral shuffles will serve to elevate your heartrate while at the same time heating up your muscles and moving your joints effectively. Picking the Tools of Trade Mobility goes beyond reach and hold. As an athlete, you need to prepare for the movement by getting the right gear. CrossFit experts recommend that you get three lacrosse balls. Two of the balls should be taped together. After that, get a thick resistance band and a foam roller or PVC pipe. These are the tools you will need for your mobility CrossFit workout. Getting into Action Deep tissue work has been known to be a lifesaver for athletes experiencing muscle soreness. You can save lots of cash by utilizing your mobility tools. Foam rollers and lacrosse balls can start you off with rolling away from your muscle soreness. Self-myofascial release is the term used to refer to self-induced deep tissue massage. At first, it may be a bit torturous, but as you grit it out, it will break scar tissue and enhance circulation. Applying Traction to Muscles The giant rubber resistance band is the piece of equipment you need to turn your attention to after sufficiently rolling your muscle soreness out. There are different ways you can use the stretch band to apply traction or tension to your body muscles. You can start off by looping the band around an anchor bolted to the ground. Then, facing the anchored object, carefully place your hand up and move it through the side of the band with an open end while your palm is facing up in such a way that the band will rest on your wrist. Gradually lift your arm overhead and pull it slowly away from the anchor to let it gently open the space between your shoulder joints and your wrist. You can repeat this move using both your arms. Reassessing You do not have to take months or years to maximize your mobility. In fact, it is advisable that you assess your mobility before you begin your stretch session and after to monitor and evaluate its effectiveness. For instance, if you do a bodyweight squat and then a round of self-massage, you should notice an improvement in positioning. Utilize the feedback you get from reassessment to address deficiencies in your CrossFit programme, upstream and downstream starting from the source of tightness or pain.

During a CrossFit workout, there is a tendency to exercise some muscle groups more than others. The ones particularly focused on are those that look great under your t-shirt. While it is true that the biceps, chest, shoulder, and abdominal muscles make huge contributions to your strength, other muscles are equally important and as such should not be neglected entirely. When you ignore certain muscle groups during training, you may suffer from muscle imbalances which if not checked can undermine your performance and predispose you to injury. The following are the four muscle groups you should intentionally exercise even as you concentrate on working out the whole body as a unit. The Glutes Strength training is usually inclined in working out the upper body resulting into flat butts and huge chests. To make it worse, some athletes skip leg day and this further sidelines any attempts to strengthen your glutes and other lower body muscles. The gluteal muscles are one of the largest muscle groups in your system and as such ignoring them can come at a very high price. Not working your glutes can lead to loss of power and strength during sprinting and squatting as well as muscle imbalances. People with weak glutes often complain of conditions such as hip stiffness and lower back pain. The Adductors One of the reasons why adductor-focused exercises are ignored is that they tone the inner thighs which many people feel it gives them a feminine reputation. Your body requires strong adductors which in turn helps your thighs to move laterally and give you space to do any leg movement within and outside the CrossFit gym. When doing exercises such as running, climbing stairs, squatting, and plopping down your couch, your thighs get engaged as they move forward and backward as well as side to side. When you work out your adductors, they will help protect and stabilize the knees. Experts recommend lateral lunges as one of the workout types for strengthening your adductors. The Upper Back Texting, typing, and sitting take a toll on your upper back. A weak back can easily give you a hunched posture which in turn makes your pecs appear smaller than they are because they fall in on each other. Strengthening the back gives you a more upright posture and exposes your chest. It is recommended that upper back CrossFit training should be done almost on a daily basis through pulling and pushing CrossFit exercises. The Calves A majority of beginner CrossFit athletes suffer from underdeveloped leg muscles. Since people particularly men are super visual, they tend to work out only the muscles they can see and ignore the rest. Calves often fall in the ignored category. Calves are functional muscles and the weaker they are, the lesser the volume of work they can handle. Additionally, calve muscles also play a key role in strengthening your ankles. If you are an athlete in a sport that needs quick pivoting or explosive sprinting and change of direction, you need to invest in your calves for higher performance.