Even after 15 years of existence there are still a lot misconceptions about CrossFit. Many of those are from people who have never tried it but there are more than a few that emanate from inside the box.The definition of CrossFit is simple: perform constantly varied, functional movements at a high intensity. Everybody understands high intensity. Most understand functional movements. Only a few understand variance. In an effort to make you guys completely and truly fit we program workouts that lead to improved endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, coordination, agility, balance, accuracy, power, and speed. We don't just vary movements. We try to vary everything and that means that for a day every once and a while we pause from breathing really heavy and channel our intensity into a heavy Olympic lift (clean & jerk or snatch) or heavy power lift (deadlift, squat, or bench press).These days are not a break from improving our overall fitness. They are ESSENTIAL to improving our overall fitness. Neither fitness nor CrossFit are "breathe heavy, sweat, lose weight". Fitness is increasing your overall work capacity across varying times, movements, distances, weights, and more. Improving ALL of those makes you more fit. [caption id="attachment_408" align="aligncenter" width="671"]
Ready for the sounds of a heavy barbell this week?[/caption]
From time to time we will add a strength cycle to class in addition to the Workout of the Day. In previous months we've dedicated time to improving our strength in the Snatch, Clean & Jerk, Squat, and Deadlift. We do this because - despite their importance - the heavy lifts can often get neglected over a month of two of programming. Tomorrow (April 4) we will start a Deadlift Strength Cycle that will take us through June 9. The Deadlift is such a tremendous, comprehensive lift. Greg Glassman, the founder of CrossFit, calls it "unrivaled in it's simplicity and impact".
"Regardless of whether your fitness goals are to “rev up” your metabolism, increase strength or lean body mass, decrease body fat, rehabilitate your back, improve athletic performance, or maintain functional independence as a senior, the deadlift is a marked shortcut to that end," says Glassman.In plain English, he means that if you want to get fit then you need to deadlift. And so we are. And in an effort to prove that the strength cycle works and that you are quantitatively more fit, we need metrics and more specifically we need to get a starting point. That's why we are testing our 1 Rep Max this week and that's why we program max effort days and try to determine various 1, 3, and 5 rep maxes. It's not just ego. It's good for your fitness to be able to lift heavy and to know exactly how heavy you can deadlift. So come in to the gym on Monday and Tuesday ready to test yourself. We'll be there waiting for you!Chris
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