CrossFit - does anyone do it or know anyone who does?

Odd topic here, but I'm hoping someone can give me some input on CrossFit.

Over the last 5+ months, I've lost 30 pounds. I've done it by tracking what I eat on a spreadsheet (30 - 35g fat a day, 120 - 140 g protein, 125 - 150 g carbs and 20 - 30 g fiber daily). And I've been working out about 4 - 5 days a week, doing 30 minutes on the treadmill, intervals of one minute jogging at 4.5 mph and then walking at 3.9 mph. I also do some weight lifting, mainly dumbbells of 15 lbs for tricep/bicep curls, 12 lbs for shoudler presses, push-ups using my bodyweight and also do lunges and squats using body weight and sometimes throw in some deadlifts using 25 lb dumbbells.

In the past, I used to belong to a wonderful bootcamp gym in Connecticut called Tyler English Fitness. I used to go 6-days a week and enjoyed the intensity of the workouts. Here's a link:http://tylerenglishfitness.com/

Now I'm in Salt Lake City doing consulting work and am at the point where I've hit a plateau and need more intensity in my workouts. I looked around and cannot find a bootcamp-type gym comprable to what I used to do in CT.

Sorry to be long winded...but what I've found is that in Salt Lake, CrossFit seems to be the closest thing to what I'm looking for. Here's the link to the gym: http://slccrossfit.com/

I like the intensity aspect of CrossFit, but when I did the bootcamp in CT, they said CrossFit led to injuries. And I know some folks who have gotten really bad injuries doing CrossFit - slipped discs in their backs and ripped quads, etc.

I like everything about CrossFit except the Olympic type lifting aspect. I love to lift weights and lift heavy but the CrossFit approach seems extreme.

I know they will train me on the proper technique, but I'm still a bit scared to take the plunge.

Has anyone done CrossFit or know someone who does?
What's your or their take on the CrossFit program?

I may go to the 11am free workout today (which is mostly cardio-type exercises) just to check out the gym and see if the vibe feels right for me to join.

 

CrossFit is a little too intense for me personally, but I know a lot of people love it, mostly because it is a serious hardcore workout. Mostly I hear about guys doing it, and trying to one-up each other and then leading to injury. Have you looked into TRX? It is definitely modifiable to your level of fitness, so you could make it more challenging to match the intensity that you desire.

 

BlueSkadoo - Thanks for the input. The bootcamp gym I went to in CT used TRX as part of the circuit. I'll do some more research of the gyms here in Salt Lake, and who knows where I'll end up!

 

Congrats on the weight loss. I love Crossfit! I do the WODs occasionally and hit a local box once in a while mainly for tips on form etc. If I don't do the WOD I'll do Crossfit type workouts that largely consist of olympic lifts and HIIT.

I don't only do this type of stuff but I read and study A LOT about it. To the point where an ex gf of mine who was a PhD molecular biologist was shocked at how detailed my understanding of things related to mitochondria, protein synthesis, etc. were. The risk of injury from Crossfit is way overblown. Most of it stemming from a NY Times article years ago that examined a small group of extremely hardcore Crossfit athletes who purposely tried to put their body into rhabdomyolysis - a condition where by intense exercise you break down so much muscle so fast that your kidneys fail to function. This is something that can happen to you in any sport or exercise if you go 10x beyond your limits.

The truth is the average person I see in the gym who is trying to do either complicated lifts without training or simple (but fairly useless) isolation exercises is more at risk of injury than anyone who trains at a Crossfit box. If you learn how to properly do a squat, deadlift, bench, power clean, etc. and you stick to proper form the risk of injury is actually very low. But most people don't do them with proper form and that's why they get injured.

The WODs will be INTENSE. They'll be short. Anywhere from as low as 20 mins to maybe 45 mins max. But you'll be floored. The first time I did it at a Crossfit box I literally drove home with my hands and legs shaking even though I was already fairly well experienced with those types of workouts.

A lot of women do it. In fact a couple times when I went and checked out the Crossfit NYC in Chelsea I would say it was almost 50/50. It is competitive in nature. Its actually treated as a sport and Crossfit devotees call themselves athletes because they compete and its intense. But the competition is all in good fun. When you do a WOD at a cf box everyone does it at the same time and they will time you/score you and put the results up. There's honestly zero shame or embarrassment coming in last, even if its over and over again because everyone started there and everyone I've met is super cool about helping people out. The competition part is what helps make it so effective. You won't go to a crossfit box and put in a half-assed workout like its so easy to do when you're on your own sometimes.

 

KickinChicken - thank you so much for your feedback! I'm going at 11am SLC time to do the WOD which they say is FREE on Saturdays at 11am. I'm gonna fuel up on a piece of toast and some eggs and see what happens.

They listed the WOD today on their website:
SATURDAY, MARCH 2WARMUP

400m run

3 rounds

10 jumping squats

10 inch worms

10 leg swings (each leg)

30 samson stretch


WOD

4 Rounds

200m Run

25 burpees

25 box jumps

30 sec L-sit

 

I started with a couple of those free Saturday ones as well. Fortunately your WOD is purely cardio, most WODs are a mix of heavy or ballistic style lifts and cardio but on Saturdays since they have a lot of newbies they often schedule a largely cardio WOD.

What they'll probably do is team you up with any other newbies and you "compete" as a group for time against other groups of say 3 or 4 people. You constantly run through each round without any breaks (unless you sneak them in) and trust me you guys will probably come in dead last. Its to be expected. When we did our first one I remember 2 out of 3 of us were well conditioned for that type of workout but we still got destroyed. That WOD might not look too bad and for a CF workout it isn't, but you'll still be wiped and realize you got a more intense and effective workout in 25 minutes or whatever than you do after over an hour in the gym with your normal workouts.

Try to focus on form, don't worry about speed right now. For the burpees which you may already know how to do its easy to just phone it in and do shitty form. A good CF trainer will notice it and fix it but that all depends on the guy. Also don't just assume they will start you with a low box for the box jumps. A lot of CF trainers are of the attitude that its best to throw you in to a hard challenge right from the beginning so you may start with a fairly high one and they'll just let you fail over and over again.

A more typical WOD would include some big olympic or compound type barbell movements. But you need to be taught proper form which is usually something the trainers do multiple times daily in small "clinic" type classes. But you can always have them train you on form at any other time as well.

Oh yeah - make sure to bring a bottle of water to your WOD! Seriously. Most CF gyms are basically like warehouses. No fancy amenities like you may have at your normal gym. Have fun and be sure to post about how it all went.

 

Thanks, especially for reminding me to bring H2O. The bootcamp gym in CT was a warehouse and had no lockerrooms, etc. We just dumped our stuff in the waiting room and did the workout. No chit chat or talking during the workouts or we'd be thrown out! So, I'm used to that. The box jumps are the one thing that I'm bit leery about, but burpees are no problem, although I'm so outta shape, I can only do about 10 at a time.

I'll report back in a few hours.

 

Good luck! Please let us know your thoughts on the WOD.

I have several colleagues (hardcore CrossFit guys) who keep trying to talk me into it, but so far I've resisted.

 

Kelly, you have nothing to lose! I'd suggest giving it a try.

I survived!

There were probably 20 people in the class, and for about 2/3 of them, it was their first time doing it.

I didn't finish last, so that was good.

However, I was unable to do the box jump. I had the smallest one, 12 inches (no jokes, anyone!) and just stepped up and down, quickly, almost like jogging.

It was the best workout I've had in a while and I got that "workout high" as I was driving away.

I signed up for the 4 "Foundation" classes - $135 bucks, which kinda sucks because one of them is nutrition, and this ain't my first rodeo, I know what to eat.

Regardless, I'm looking forward to this new chapter of "CrossFit" in my life and hope to lose the additiional 35 - 40 pounds by the end of 2013 or sooner, if possible.

GET BETTER!!!

 

I came across crossfit years ago when it was first being used by military spec ops and hardcore police types, etc. It is now mainstream, while it can be unbelievably hardcore, as long as you go to a reputable gym and get a trainer worth his salt he will make sure you can handle your workout. It is like anything else, they can gear it to your level and you will still get the maximum benefit without getting injured.

Good luck, impressive progress thus far!

 

Thanks, CaptainRon. I'm looking forward to learning the proper technique so I can then do all the hardcore moves.

 

Thanks for posting your experience! You mentioned that you had the 12" box, how did they determine which size box you used? (My personal trainer had me work up to 22" box jumps. Yikes, they are tough! Especially for us height-challenged people.) Hmmmmm, maybe I should dip my toe in the CrossFit waters...

 

CaptainRon, have you ever done Warrior Dash, MetroDash or any of the obstacle course races?

 

Congrats on finishing the WOD and enjoying it. I'm surprised you had so many newbies in your class. Every Saturday class I've seen has like 3 or 4 new people with 20+ regulars so they put all the new people together as a team. There's nothing to be embarrassed about starting with the 12 inch box, most people who are in shape would have trouble with it in the beginning. Its because of the technique. A box jump comes mostly from an explosive hip movement, not from your feet which is how people try to push off the ground. Once you progress the Rx'd version is 20-24 inches. I can do the 30-inch box at my gym but I see a people who stack up a couple boxes to go over 50-inch. Its crazy. Captainron is right, every WOD has a scaled down version you can do until you're ready to do it as Rx'd.

The foundations classes are perfect and even if you decide you love Crossfit but not the cost you can usually do the WODs at most gyms as long as you have the foundations down. I've seen a lot of trainers at the regular gym not really understand how to properly do some of the olympic type lifts in crossfit so its not always a safe bet to count on them for good help. To become a certified crossfit trainer you really need to understand the movements well.

 

Kelly, the 12" box was the shortest. I wanted shorter, but that's as small as they came. They have self-built boxes that looked to be about 3 feet or more, and they also had ones inbetween, probably close to your 22" requirement.

Definitely go do it!

 

Thanks! I look forward to learning the technique in the foundations classes.

 

Great job in the weight loss. tracking it is the way to go.

You say you are at a plateau and I think i can help.

I do this for a living so i am not just blowing smoke here.

Its your diet.

You are doing a great job of tracking it and your nacros look good but i would suggest upping the calories. instead of the workouts.

By lloking at your macros you are about 1150 calories per day and thats on using the high numers. Thats a bare bones minimum.

Common thinking would say that you should eat less to lose more but that doesnt factor in the minimums your body needs just to do its day to day stuff like sleeping, thinking, greathing, digesting food, that sort of stuff. That alone will consume the majority of your calories each day.

So now you add lots of workouts on top of that and there simply isnt enough left for your body to do what you are telling it to do. When this happens you hit a plateau and in some cases seem to actually go up in weight.

The body will get what it needs from some source so if you are not providing it then it will consume what it has. the hardest thing for it to maintain is muscle so it will start using this for fuel. So that means that you will be going to the gym and lifint weights just so your body can use the muscle as fuel.

Look at someone like michael phelps. he eats like 11k calories per day. he doesnt do it to get fat, he does it to fuel his workouts.

This is where I see you are lacking, you are not fueling your workouts as good as you should be.

I would add in about 200-300 calories per day to your current diet and keep everything else the same. Do this for a week and I bet you will see some good weight loss.

Either this or go out for a big giant cheap meal. Not a replacement cheat meal that is 300 calories but a something good like you have most likely been wanting for some time like a big burger and fries or pizza or something like that. this will give you enough fuel to kick start things.

 

On weekends I eat a lot. I ate a whole pizza tonight! During the week, I eat "on program"...about 1350 calories a day. With this CrossFit, I'll be upping my calories to 1500 - 1600 a day.

 

That sounds about right. I don't know how the previous poster got his 1150 from your macros on the high side. Even if he completely net out your fiber it wouldn't be that low and the idea behind netting out anything but insoluble fiber is a popular notion promoted by food companies but not necessarily by science yet.

When you do your Crossfit nutrition lessons most of it will be things you probably already practice from the sound of it - e.g. lots or protein, veggies, healthy fats, whole grains etc. and very limited or zero simple, refined, and starchy carbs. A lot of the hardcore crossfit guys practice paleo and swear by it but I think you just need to find what works for you and your lifestyle and paleo isn't something I could live with. If you start getting really into the crossfit type intense workouts you'll find that your thinking starts to switch from eating to lose weight to eating to fuel your workout and perform while the weight just comes off as a side effect and your muscle tone and overall energy improves dramatically.

 

Exactly! And actually, while my goal is to lose weight, ultimately, I don't care what I weigh. I want to be smaller, and have more muscle and less fat.