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Crossfit – the sport of fitness

By Tryfan Williams   

on January 12, 2013    No ratings yet.

Crossfit – the sport of fitness

Continuing our guest articles series @GethinEvans introduces us to Crossfit. Enjoy . . .

What is Crossfit?

Crossfit define themselves as that which

“Optimizes fitness (constantly varied functional movements performed at relatively high intensity). A regimen of constantly varied, functional movements performed at high intensity”

Having being doing Crossfit for a year now, I can safely say I love it. I have never had gains in overall fitness like I have doing Crossfit. Therefore I would recommend it to anyone and everyone, whether you go to the gym daily or have never set foot in one.

The crossfit method is to employ a constantly-varied approach to training, to perform functional movements at maximum intensity. They state that intensity is essential for results and is measurable as work/time. The more work you do in less time, the more intense the effort.

Where to start?

I suggest starting with the workouts Carnedd Williams posted in Mountain Walking Basic Fitness. This is a perfect platform for you to get your fitness up and to practice some of the exercises you need for Crossfit: squats, press ups, burpees, sit ups, pull ups and lunges.

What’s next?

So you are happy you can do all the exercises well, and your fitness is coming along nicely but you want to up the intensity. Here is where you start Crossfit, head over to the Crossfit website.

http://crossfit.com/

You will see all down the middle of the page work outs; these are the work outs of the day or WOD’s. They also have an archive of hundreds of these WOD’s on the top right of the page. There are so many different exercises and ways to combine the exercises into a workout, so I have picked a few WOD’s that would be suitable for beginners:

*Remember a full warm up should be done before any exercise.

Complete as many rounds in 10 minutes as you can of:
5 Pull-ups
10 Push-ups
15 Squats

3 rounds for time of:
24 Squats
24 Push-ups
24 Walking lunge steps

Two rounds for time of:
Run 800 meters
50 Squats
50 Sit-ups

If you think any of these are too hard for you, scale them back, decrease the numbers, or change any of the exercises to suit you. That is as long as you go all out and work as hard as you can, intensity is the key.

Another format perfect for adding that intensity is tabata:

For twenty seconds do as many reps of an assigned exercise (any exercise you wish) as you can – then rest 10 seconds.
Repeat this seven more times for a total of 8 intervals, 4 minutes total exercise.

Alternatively visit:

http://www.wodshop.org/wods.html

As I said if there is any exercise you are unsure of, change the exercise to suit yourself. There are hundreds of WOD’s so find ones that work for you, but try and vary the format and type of exercises you do. The good thing with a lot of these workouts is that you can modify them to be able to do them at home, therefore there is NO EXCUSE.

You will find your fitness will sky rocket to levels you have never been before if you do 2-3 of these WOD’s a week, as well as mixing them in with the programme Carnedd Williams posted in Mountain Walking Basic Fitness. Variance is important in fitness terms and in term of longevity with you fitness programmes, so try and go for a swim, bike ride, run or maybe a walk up a mountain every now and then. 

But I can’t stress enough the importance of form and correct technique, have a look at the link below which should put things into perspective for you:

http://sexyasfuck.org/2012/11/07/box-jumps-1-my-achilles-0/

Special thanks go to the Yard 6 crew for being willing models in the photos – please give them a follow on twitter and like their page on facebook  (search Yard6), where you’ll get opening times and classes.

Any questions send me a message on twitter @GethinEvans

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Tryfan Williams

I’m a Welshman born and raised in the shadow of Snowdonia, and you could say the Mountains are in my blood with a name like Tryfan! I would class myself as a relative newcomer to the outdoor pursuits arena, and so my articles will be my attempt to chronicle my adventures, hopefully learning as I go and giving those that are in a similar boat an insight / forum to share and learn.

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