CrossFit is a strength and conditioning program which is used by police, firefighters, military and special forces, champion martial artists and other elite athletes. It is a program that produces general physical preparedness (GPP) - because it is broad general and inclusive. The universal scalability allows us to train anyone willing to work hard and get fit. This includes grandmothers, fathers, heart attack survivors and mobility impaired. CrossFit is one of the fastest growing fitness movements in the world because it's ability to prepare people for the unknown and unknowable tasks and improve general fitness and health.
A Quick way to describe CrossFit is Constantly Varied, Functional Movement, executed at a High Intensity. But what does at mean?
Functional Movement's are:
- Essential to independent living - we do these movements in everyday life - eg. Deadlift (pick stuff up), Press (put stuff overhead).
- Safe - Beyond a 1 rep max someone will not be able to pick up a much heavier load with proper deadlift technique. They are safer than non-functional movements.
- Pre-historic - Universal motor recruitment patterns - they are found everywhere - someone invented the peck deck but knowone can say the invented the squat or press.
- Compound yet Irreducible - These movements work multi joints and different areas but you cannot reduce them. Working the little parts will make you good at little parts but the only way to get better at squatting is to squat. Although if you can squat a lot of weight you will be good at the little parts such as a leg press.
- Core to Extremity - A strong core does not mean trunk flextion but trunk extension. For example - keeping a lumbar curve (tight back) on a heavy deadlift involves a strong core. Mid line stabilization is used to strengthen the core and is quite effective.
- Move a Large Load, Long Distance, Quickly - F*D/T = Power - In CrossFit we are concerned with power output (how much we can move and how fast we can do it). The power we create with functional movements cannot be matched with non-functional movements.
What you do think of when you hear the word intensity? Is it your heart rate? How much you sweat?
Well, in CrossFit we define intensity as Power. Why? Power is exactly eqaul to Intensity! So, your power output in a workout (your ability to move a large load, a long distance and do it quickly - F*D/T) is your level of intensity. Why is that important?
Intensity is almost always the independent variable most commonly associated with maximizing favorable returns of workouts. IT'S THE SHORTCUT TO THE GOOD STUFF!
Our workouts are measurable, observable and repeatable. We track our results and when our times go down and our power increases, we know we are improving.
As you improve int his program you will notice an improvement in everyday living including at your job and at home.
Constantly Varied
CrossFit never really repeats the same workout in a week and rarely in a month. Our program is different every day so that we can become good at everything. Another important factor is to strengthen our weakness and practice skills and drills we do not like in order to improve. "We fail at the margins of our experience." We vary our workouts because it better prepares us for the unknown and unknowable tasks that life can throw at us.
Variance is key to keep the body from routine. We do not do one thing enough to get REALLY good at it. We specialize in not specializing!!
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