Like me, you might be interested in joining Crossfit and taking your workout to the next level. And, you have been asking yourself, what is CrossFit Workout, and what are CrossFit foundational movements?
Here are the top 9 CrossFit foundational movements:
- Air Squat
- Front Squat
- Overhead Squat
- Shoulder Press
- Push Press
- Push Jerk
- Deadlift
- Sumo Deadlift High Pull
- Medicine Ball Clean
In this article, you will find out exactly what CrossFit training is, CrossFit’s benefits, CrossFit foundational movements, and how to learn whether or not CrossFit is for you.
See also: Is Doing Push Ups Everyday Overtraining
Table of Contents
What is CrossFit Workout
CrossFit is a continually varied functional movement executed at high intensity. The constant variation gives a different stimulus to your body each session, which results in a continuous increase in fitness levels.
You perform these CrossFit foundational movements at high intensity because the energy is essential for you to improve your fitness level.
And, in a world where most people hold sedentary jobs, CrossFit exercises provide an excellent way to maintain regular workouts while moving with efficiency and power.
In addition, Crossfit practitioners’ functional movements are an “amplification” of the big, everyday movements a physically active person makes.
High intensity is different for each, and most Crossfit trainers are very experienced in working with different people to help each person perform safely and within their limits.
Anyone who tries Crossfit finds it incredibly fun, exciting, and rewarding. Simply because it is fun and rewarding to push your limits and grow mentally and physically.
See also: How Many Push Ups Per Day for Beginners To See Results
What is a Typical CrossFit Workout?
Contrary to what most people believe, CrossFit isn’t a franchise like your local McDonald’s; instead, it is an affiliate promoting the garage gym’s ethics and aesthetics, meaning every CrossFit facility has its own individual programming and style.
Furthermore, CrossFit defines its gyms as small-box facilities with over 15,000 CrossFit boxes worldwide.
CrossFit is not one-size-fits-all, and CrossFit classes last an hour, divided into four different components: a warm-up, strength or skill, workout of the day, also known as WOD, and cooldown or mobility session.
- The warm-up is foreplay to the WOD, meaning you prepare your joints for the movements ahead.
- The strength component helps get stronger.
- Skill workout is designed to help you improve your ability to do a specific exercise, such as handstand walking. In general, the skill that you practice will appear in the WOD.
- The WOD, sometimes called a metcon (short for metabolic conditioning), is the meat and potatoes of CrossFit training. You will perform a specific combination of exercises either for a set amount of time or until you have completed a particular number of reps.
- CrossFit training usually ends with a stretching and mobility session.
See also: Is Doing Pull Ups Everyday Overtraining – Here’s the answer
How Long is a CrossFit Workout?
The entire CrossFit workout takes about an hour and a half, including skill learning and warm-up. And most CrossFit workouts tend to last only about 10 to 20 minutes, except the high-level ones that are about 40 minutes or more.
In addition, most gyms will recommend you to get there around 10 to 15 minutes early to stretch and warm your muscles up.
Is CrossFit Good for Beginners?
CrossFit workouts are varied every day, and you can modify them to fit your age and level of fitness and achieve your fitness goals, according to Crossfit’s website.
CrossFit is universally scalable and adaptable to all fitness levels, so it can be tailored to meet your goals and current fitness level, according to Crossfit coaches.
Also, CrossFit is a high-intensity interval training, including functional movement performed at a high-intensity level.
These movements are activities you do in your day-to-day life, such as pulling, squatting, and pushing, lasting for predetermined amounts of time to help you build muscles.
CrossFit Journal notes that CrossFit workouts are effective because of their emphasis on load, distance, and speed, helping Crossfit practitioners develop high power levels.
Another fundamental element of CrossFit is the spirit of competition and sports. Most CrossFit gyms use strategic actions, such as posting winners to social media and keeping a scoreboard, as motivation to help you reach your fitness goals faster.
So if you are motivated by competition to push yourself mentally and physically, CrossFit may be an excellent exercise for you to achieve your health and fitness goals faster.
See also: Is Bear Crawl a Good Workout? YES, and Here’s How.
What Are The benefits of CrossFit
- A team of exercise physiologists from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse discovered that women who completed two different CrossFit exercises burned over 12 calories per minute and maintained an elevated heart rate during the whole session.
- CrossFit may also positively impact you mentally and emotionally. Practicing CrossFit shows and teaches people that they are capable of more than they think.
- While practicing CrossFit, you gain mental toughness, and pushing yourself to new limits in a CrossFit class can give you the confidence that you are stronger than you think.
- CrossFit has a supportive community of like-minded people.
- You can practice CrossFit both at home or in your local box, surrounded by motivated, supportive, and like-minded people.
Is CrossFit Training Safe?
Despite the criticism faced by CrossFit, CrossFit training is “relatively safe compared with more traditional training modalities.”
A 2018 study surveyed a total of 3049 participants who reported engaging in CrossFit training. The research found that CrossFit training is relatively safe compared with more traditional training modalities.
However, the research also concluded participants within their first year of training and those who participate in CrossFit training modality less than three days per week and/or engage in less than three workouts per week are at a greater risk for injuries.
About 20 percent of CrossFit participants reported injuring themselves while performing CrossFit workouts, found the same study.
In other words, 20 percent of people who do CrossFit workouts regularly will report injuries at some point, which is high for recreational activity.
See also: Does Exercise Impacts Learning?
How To Reduce Your Risk of Crossfit Workout-Related Injury
- Make sure you know and maintain proper form. Proper form is essential in any sport. It is necessary that you learn the proper form. If you are not sure, discuss this with your Crossfit coach. And if a movement hurts continuously it is your body sending signs to stop or adjust.
- Choose the right gym. All exercises are great when you perform them properly. The problem is that more experienced coaches tend to increase the training volume too quickly and push athletes through fatigue to complete the maximum amount of repetitions.
- First, check out the official CrossFit affiliate map to find the closest box near you. As a rule of thumb, the longer the gym has been around, the better. For instance, if a gym has been around for about five to six years, that is always a good sign.
- Choose the right coach. Crossfit coaches advise finding an experienced and well-regarded gym to join and commit to learning the correct form before increasing the load.
- Try to look up how educated the CrossFit trainers are. Then, once you find a gym you would like to join, check their website because most gyms will have the coaches’ credentials on their websites. And the more certifications and accolades the trainers have, the better.
- Unfortunately, when it comes to choosing a good trainer, credentials aren’t everything. What matters the most is the coach’s communication skills, leadership style, and emphasis on form and safety in class.
- Join trial classes before committing to a long-term membership plan.
9 Crossfit Foundational Movements
Even though CrossFit is a varied sport, it involves nine CrossFit foundational movements, which are as follows:
Air Squat
Front Squat
Overhead Squat
Shoulder Press
Push Press
Push Jerk
Deadlift
Sumo Deadlift High Pull
Medicine Ball Clean
Wrapping Up
Overall, CrossFit uses its 9 CrossFit foundational movements to teach the majority of exercises performed throughout your CrossFit Workout.
Like anything in life, to get the most out of CrossFit, you need to learn the proper form, choose the right gym, and choose the right coach.
