And It Begins: Crossfit

My love for Crossfit has officially begun and I’ve only been twice.

I mentioned in my Monday blog post that my mom and I went to a Crossfit fundamentals class on Saturday. Yesterday, we returned and were able to join in with a regular Crossfit class at the box. Saturday I knew I would really love Crossfit and yesterday’s class reaffirmed that. Here 5 things I learned from our first two Crossfit functions that I think are important. And I probably learned a lot more than that already, but this is what came to mind.

1. Form is key.

On Saturday we spent the majority of time in fundamentals working on proper squat, push-up, pull-up, and sit-up form for Crossfit. The squats and push-ups are a little different than what I have been doing in weight-lifting or whenever I workout. But the coach closely worked with my mom and I to make sure we had the form down right before he gave us permission to jump into a regular class.

Yesterday when we went to our first regular class, another one of the coaches worked closely with my mom and I during the warm-up, strength, and WOD (Workout Of the Day) to show us modifications that were appropriate to our skill level. He made sure we had the form down correctly before allowing us to go up a step in modifications. Grant it, the box only had 4 people taking the class including my mom and I, so he really was able to make sure we were doing okay without ignoring the other 2 classmates.

2. Friendly, supportive atmosphere.

Immediately upon walking into the box on Saturday my mom and I felt welcome there. We were introduced to the people working out in there and to the coaches. Throughout our fundamental WOD and the WOD yesterday everyone was supporting and encouraging each other. It’s hard to describe, but the atmosphere the box has is one that is supportive, motivating, and challenging.

3. Modifications for everything.

There truly are modifications for everything. For push-ups it’s okay to do them on your knees which is what my mom does and I do after I try about 5 normal ones haha. Our WOD included kettle bell swings yesterday so our coach had my Mom and I do Russian kettlebell swings which is bringing the kettlebell to shoulder height rather than overhead. For toes to bar during the warmup, it was okay to just do knees to chest. The coach on Saturday told us that’s it’s okay to do modified versions. While he may be killing himself doing all the advanced versions, we’ll be killing ourselves doing the modified versions.

4. It’s more than just a WOD.

I didn’t realize how much more there was to a Crossfit class than a WOD. There is always a warm-up which is targeted to preparing your body for the following exercises. There is a skill and/or strength. For example, we worked on deadlifts yesterday. Then there is the WOD. Followed by cool down where you stretch  and target those areas that you worked. The coach also mentioned they’ll talk about proper nutrition as well.

5. It’s going to be a challenge.

It’s going to be a challenge and that’s what I was looking for. It’s easy for me to come home and slack off on my workouts and especially making healthy eating choices, but this will add a new challenge to my workouts this summer. And I think it’ll take me to a new level of my fitness where I’ll be able to push my body harder and see more of what my body is capable of. .

And this was what we did in class yesterday:

Warm-Up: 400 m run, 2 rounds of 10 squat jumps, 10 toes to bar, 10 banded chest stretch

Strength: 10 min to find your snatch-grip deadlift 5 max rep

WOD:  3 rounds of 2 min max effort double unders, 1 min rest. 21-15-9 kettlebell swings and ring push-ups.

Cool-down: Mobility

The coaches worked with the four in our class for almost 10 minutes working on proper form for deadlifts before we went on to find our deadlift 5 max rep. For modifications during the WOD they just had my mom and I do regular jump roping and regular push-ups rather than using the rings.

This is based on only two experiences I’ve had with Crossfit and I know once I keep going to the classes I’ll continue to learn a lot more. I know there is a lot of good and bad stuff about Crossfit going around in the world of the internet, but so far my experience has been very positive and I have not had one thought that Crossfit is not good for me to be doing. I’m excited to go back to class tomorrow and to do MURPH on Friday!

Have you tried Crossfit? What is a new workout you’ve been loving or wanting to try?