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Talk to me about CrossFit
Im certainly not coming straight off the couch or anything...I go to the gym on my lunch hour 3-4 days a week. I manage to get in 20/25/30 min on the elliptical, depending on the day, & mix in 12+ min on the treadmill @ a pretty good clip & incline, depending on the day.
2-3x a week I run after work, & Im up to 5 miles now. I also do a circuit of free weight & ab exercises on those days. Plus we/I walk our dog 1-2x a day, about 1 1/2 miles each time & @ a pretty good clip. I also rollerblade & bike.
I should mention that I do have a knee injury, its about 2 years old & is doing fine for the most part, but it is still something that is always present. Im not 100% sure that I would even be able to do squats or lunges....which looks like a lot of what the CF circuits are composed of. But I did see that they will make modifications to the workout according to your limitations.
Anyone have any info they can pass on I'd greatly appreciate it! TIA!
Re: Talk to me about CrossFit
Well, what do you want to know?
I love CrossFit. Yeah, there are a lot of squats and lunges involved, but a good box/coach will help you modify as you need to around an injury. It can be modified to any fitness level, so I wouldn't worry about that. We have people who start coming straight from the couch, and work their way up. I still modify many of the exercises.
It's an amazing community--I have so many great friends from it and look forward to going every day. Before I got knocked up, I was making great strength gains. I have never been injured from CF, whereas with running I felt like something was always hurt or injured.
Cons are that some boxes can be douchetastic, so you may have to shop around to find one that you like, and it's not cheap (although my membership is very affordable).
two years!
after two losses, now happily expecting baby #1 09.16.12
Brie Fit Blog | BFP Chart
I just joined, and I essentially WAS coming from the couch--I was doing really well with workouts last year, but then had a few months of non-activity. They've been very good about pushing me, but not beyond my limits. I also have a knee injury that lets me do some squats, but not others. I modify overhead squats into front squats, for example, because for some reason, my knee can handle one but not the other. I also do lower box jumps.
To be honest, I prefer the intense bootcamps my personal training gym offered to CrossFit, but CrossFit is a close second. I really enjoy it. There are people who have REALLY drunk the Kool-Aid (e.g., the totally indoctrinated ones who don't eat a single bite of non-paleo food, wear all the CrossFit clothing all the time, insist on med-free births at home, etc.), but there are lots of other types too. Everyone is very nice. There is the option to get really involved--softball teams, cookouts, parties--and the people who do that seem to have a really close-knit community. So far, I've been too shy.
My weight loss blog
Thanks ladies!! I guess I should have specified that I am only inquiring about the workout aspect, I am not at all interested in drinkin the kool-aid & changing my entire lifestyle as Im now reading some of you describe!! Lol
Thanks for your input though! I really appreciate it!
I would definitely try it out! I was in pretty good shape when I first started CrossFit (group fitness instructor, runner, had worked out religiously for years even before teaching) and I love CrossFit more than anything. There is such a variety of different exercises that can be combined in a million different ways. It always seems new and the intensity is unlike anything I've done before.
There are squats and lunges, but a quality trainer should be able to help you scale your exercises and take care of your injury. Probably at least half of the participants on a given day scale the WOD in some way at our gym. Our coaches are AMAZING and can modify things on the fly for anyone.
Shop around if the first box you check out doesn't seem like the right fit. The CrossFit model in neat in that they don't limit how many affiliates open in a certain area, so you could find a whole bunch that are relatively close by.
I may be a bit of a "kool-aid" drinker. . . I found that I really excel at CrossFit and am kind of "taking it to the next level," but my coaches never pressured me to do anything like that. They are great at letting us take the lead on where we want to go with CF. You really need to click with your trainers and the other people at the gym because the group dynamic can be amazing!
The "kool-aid drinking" is kind of an unfair stereotype IMO. I LOVE CrossFit and the people, but I don't eat Paleo or let it consume my whole life. (And out of my whole box, there are maybe 2-3 people who fit that stereotype.) We have lots of members who continue running or doing other endurance sports, and nobody hassles them about it. We have Paleo events, sure, but we also had a poker night with Doritos and beer. People bring their kids to class.
Like I said, if you're interested in trying it, shop around. I had an awful experience with a douchey box once, but my current box is fantastic and I fit in well. They all have very different vibes and levels of intensity.
two years!
after two losses, now happily expecting baby #1 09.16.12
Brie Fit Blog | BFP Chart
I actually just joined a CrossFit gym a few weeks ago and just put up a blog post about my experience thus far this morning (link in siggy).
I have a shoulder injury, and a few others in my gym have shoulder injuries as well, that the trainer works around and is careful to scale our workouts for us.
I am still doing my running training because I have a few races coming up, so I do 3 days of CrossFit a week on top of running. It is like no other workout I have ever had. The way I felt after completing my first half-marathon didn't even compare to my first CrossFit workout. It. Is. Intense.
I've been doing CF since last November, and it has changed my life drastically. I wasn't a couch sitter before starting by any means, but my physical fitness has changed drastically with CF. My strength gains are amazing and my body has changed a lot - not really in weight loss, but in building muscle and losing fat. The best thing about CF for me, though, has been the drastic change in my mental and emotional attitude. I haven't been a very social person since I moved to my current area 6 years ago, and CF has done wonders for helping me meet people, make new friends, go out and do different things with people, etc. The community aspect of my box is wonderful - no egos and everyone cheers each other on when one is having a hard time with a WOD. People talk about Paleo but there's no real pressure to follow that lifestyle, and other forms of exercise are encouraged - there is a "kool-aid" factor but not in a negative way - people just love CF, love to talk about, love participating, etc but they also welcome speaking about and participating in any other form of physical activity. I had the great luck that the first box I tried had wonderful owners and coaches, but sometimes you might have to try two or three before finding your best fit.
I'm very sad that I have to stop CF in a couple of months due to having bunion surgery. The awesome thing is that one of my coaches told me he will work with me on some exercises I can do at home whil recovering, and even though my membership will be on hold for a long while, I can still come in and use equipment like the rower a couple of times a week once I am cleared for moderate physical activity. This was huge to me that he is willing to work me even though I will be out of commission for awhile because it shows he truly does care about the members of the box.
Our two girls - Chenoa and Maddie