What is CrossFit?

que es crossfit

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CrossFit is trendy. Admit that, in recent months, you have heard the word WOD (Work of the Day), box or Open Games on more than one occasion. Your CrossFit friend can’t stop talking about his CrossFit workouts and the power of community, but you’re still not sure what CrossFit is. Don’t worry! We will try to give an answer to this first question to resolve your doubts and so that you have a basic knowledge, although we encourage you to take the step and come to the box to try a CrossFit class and see first-hand what it feels like.

BEGINNINGS OF CROSSFIT

In 2000, Greg Glassman founded the trademark CrossFit, but before that, in 1995, he opened his first gym in California, in the city where CrossFit Inc. headquarters is today. That same year, Glassman was hired to train the police department. from Santa Cruz, California.

But the basis of what CrossFit is today must be found in its adolescence. Greg was a gymnast and it was then that he discovered that strength work with a barbell and dumbbells helped him become a much better gymnast than his peers who only trained with their own body weight.

Then came years as a coach where he realized that different sports sought to enhance a specific skill and not the whole: strength, flexibility, power, endurance, coordination, speed… All of them separately. He thought that to achieve complete body training the solution was to exercise all these skills at the same time, taking exercises from different disciplines, especially the methods used by military units and special forces. In conclusion, it is a functional training.

WHAT IS CROSSFIT

CrossFit is defined as a training system based on constantly varied functional exercises performed at high intensity. It means that in any CrossFit training we use a large number of exercises and sports disciplines: gymnastics, running, weightlifting, etc., from which we select techniques or movements applicable to everyday life and combine them in various ways in different and intense workouts. .

Training CrossFit achieves improved health through a training program where the 10 key physical qualities are practiced and developed: cardiovascular and/or respiratory endurance, endurance, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance and precision. . In conclusion, CrossFit is the possibility of training different physical abilities at the same time.

It is important to note that apart from physical training, CrossFit has a large mental component. Motivation, the fight to improve and the feeling of community are part of this sport

BASIC CHARACTERISTICS OF CROSSFIT

In CrossFit workouts, machines like the ones we are used to using in a conventional gym are never used. Materials such as kettlebells or kettlebells, bags with different weights, medicine balls, Olympic weightlifting bars or the plyometric box are used.

Some of the most used exercises come from weightlifting, such as power cleans or power cleans. Others are more traditional exercises such as pull-ups, box jumps, loaded sit-ups or push-ups. And yes, there are burpees, many burpees.

The most important thing is that during the training, high-intensity and short-duration work is carried out: rounds of multi-joint and functional exercises are common for 30-second intervals, performing the greatest possible number of repetitions of each of the movements.

WHAT IS THE WOD IN CROSSFIT?

The WOD or Workout Of the Day is, as its name suggests, the training session that will be carried out on a certain day and which can include different exercises and different training methods: weightlifting movements, pull-ups, squats, box jump, cardiovascular work and more.

CrossFit workouts are adapted to each person of any age and level of physical condition.

The duration of a WOD is approximately 60 minutes. Let’s see how a CrossFit or WOD class is divided:

  1. Warm-up: As in any other training, it is essential to do a good warm-up based on simple, dynamic and mobility exercises to raise heart rate and prepare the body for the WOD.
  2. Abilities or skills: technique of a specific exercise.
  3. Strength: strength work that is usually related to the skills phase.
  4. WOD or workout of the day: There are different modalities and no session is ever the same. The greatest intensity possible is usually applied, but without forgetting correct technical execution to avoid injuries.
  5. Return to calm or Cool down: relaxation and stretching. It should be composed of gentle physical exercises. A gradual return to calm will provide a better recovery.

WODs can be classified into two types:

  • AMRAP (as many rounds as possible): It consists of performing as many rounds or repetitions as possible in a set period of time.
  • WOD with an established number of rounds: a time limit is given in which a specific number of rounds of the circuit must be completed.

In the Box you will have a blackboard where the WOD to be performed that day and the different marks of the athletes will be written. It is important that you know that in CrossFit Courage these marks are individual and so that you measure your own personal record.

This has only been a first post to bring you closer to the CrossFit world. In this blog we will tell you more about the discipline, its characteristics and a lot of Courage news. Stay tuned!

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