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I prefer the gym because my goals are different than the 130 lb guy or the 350 lb guy. I like building my own routines to accomplish the goals I have. Crossfit is a program applied to all body types with the understanding of just doing it until failure, correct? I'm sure its a great fitness program but I wouldnt call it bodybuilding or weight lifting.
The workouts in CrossFit generally appear to be uniform, but underlying the workout as written (or "as prescribed" in the language of CrossFit) is the principle that you are free to modify, or scale, the workout to fit your ability level.
This way, you can talk with a coach before starting the workout to find what will be a challenge at your ability level.
For instance, if you can't do pull ups, they will have you substitute an easier movement that works the same muscle group, like ring rows.
As a general rule, only someone who's exceptionally athletic will be able to complete a workout as prescribed. Almost everyone scales to some extent.
Also, you don't always go to failure. Workouts can be designed a couple of different ways, including doing as many rounds as possible in a time limit, completing a set number of rounds in your own time, or some variation of the above.
Also, I wouldn't characterize CrossFit add weight training either. It's not. Its a schema designed to work towards an ideal of general fitness, and includes a cross section of various kinds of exercise, including body weight stuff, weight lifting, endurance, balance, and mobility.
Last edited by Justin; 10-15-2014 at 14:59.
Have a nice day.Originally Posted by hurley842002
Yes and no. The personalization comes from workouts tailored to your actual lifts based on percentages. So the workout starts generally with a 400m run to warm-up along with D.R.O.M.S which is a series of stretching movements for mobility. At that point the workout then has two parts: Strength & METCON. The strength portion is usually a compound movement like squat, front squat, bench... etc. It will say 80%, 85% + 10 or something like that so you know that you want 80% of whatever your one rep max is or 80% plus 10lbs. It will then say 3x5 or 10x5 or something similar which means you do 3 reps for 5 sets or 10 reps for 5 sets or something along those lines. Yesterday it was Strict Press for 80% 3x5 and then Push Press for 85% for 3x5. That was the strength portion for the day. You basically did 30 overhead presses of differing weights & movements. The second part of the workout is the METCON which is short for Metabolic Conditioning. This is the actual workout and is always different and challenging. Again, it's all based on your personal bests and abilities. Yesterday it was 10min AMRAP which means As Many Rounds As Possible for 10min. This is more of a 'sprint' as you are in it for 10min no matter what and you're trying to either get more rounds than you got last time this workout was done (they vary so much that it's rare they repeat unless it's a named exercise but you can probably find something close... I've been there months and nothing has ever repeated) or more rounds than someone close to your skill level. The exercises were 2 snatches of 115lbs (adjustable to your ability) then 5 strict pull ups (your traditional overhand pull up) and then 7 burpees. You repeat those three exercises w/o rest for 10min. Sounds pretty challenging, right? That was actually one of the easier classes I've ever done. The ones that have a 18-20min cap on them are usually killer. Sometimes the METCON can have a dozen or more exercises with 400m runs sprinkled in throughout. One class we ran a total of 1.5 miles all while doing pull ups, jump rope, bench press, & deadlift that required you to race another person who was on your skill level. The kicker is one ran while the other did the exercise for reps. The faster you ran the 400m the fewer reps your challenger could get but the less energy you had to do reps as well. That one was intense because it had a direct competition element that usually doesn't exist. They did a good job of paring people up to make it competitive too. Each round you called out your total reps from all of the exercises and that was the measuring stick for a total of 5 rounds. It's crazy how it works man but I have yet to find an hour workout (really just 10-25min of non-stop working out) that is as intense or comprehensive as Crossfit. There are no such thing as calf raises or bicep curls but that doesn't mean your calves or biceps won't get huge. You just use them in a more natural way that also helps you to get useful strength by doing pretty nothing but compound workouts. The 'pump' you get in these workouts is nothing like I ever got from just lifting weights. I would generally get light headed or vomit on leg days and I still feel like I push myself more in Crossfit and get a better all-over workout. I know that those I looked up to in lifting talked about compound movements and how important they were to strength and symmetry. All you do in Crossfit is compound movements. It's all meant to be used in life if you ever need to move/pull/lift anything. It basically combines HIIT, cardio, strength & explosive training.
I'm not fat, I'm tactically padded.
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Thanks man. You touched on a couple of points/questions I missed.
Scaling movements is a big part of it and you have to know what you're body can and can't do. For instance, for those pull ups I mentioned they have giant elastic bands. You figure out how many you need of what colors to do a certain number of struct pull ups or chest to bars or whatever the movement is. You note that and then you know next time and your goal is to adjust the scaling down as much as you can. This is how you get stronger and better at movements and this is all done on-the-fly so to speak as needed. Last night I had to yell at one of the coaches to drop my weight 10lbs on the Snatch because it was too much for the amount of rounds & reps we were doing. He rushed over, stripped weights and added the proper plates while I did my pull ups and burpees and by the time I got to snatch again the right weight was on there for the home-stretch of the workout. As many exercises and movements there are there's probably 100x more ways to scale them back for your skill level. It's cool to watch the guys/girls that have been there for a while doing unsupported handstand pushups and one-handed hand stands and then see where I am in the progression and know that if I just keep pushing myself even at the scaled back version I'm currently on I will get to that level eventually. It's fun.
There was a time when I wanted to be comic book huge and I lifted metric butt-tons of weight and ate like a horse in an effort to achieve that goal. I also know professional body builders and the goals of both of those people is NOT health. I don't care what you try to see either because there are many ways that being huge is worse for your health. My goal now is first to lose weight since I'm overweight and feel like my joints will thank me for it (one of those reasons body building is counter-productive to health) and then I want to gain mobility, balance, strength, cardiovascular health and not in that order either. The good thing about Crossfit is that I don't have to think about what I need to do or what to focus on... I just show up and prepare to work harder than I did last time for an hour. You do that and you can't help but get healthy in every measurable aspect.
I'm not fat, I'm tactically padded.
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That is why I keep a journal so I can make sure that I'm pushing myself each rep and exercise. A lot of people go to the gym, dont track their efforts and put no thought into a routine. That doesn't get maximum results. But my gym only costs $20/month so the money saved is due to me having to put in the time to make my routine.
CrossFit is a good thing. It provides a welcoming environment and a structure so people don't have to build their own. It's just not for me. Im happy you found a niche and are staying with it. That's all that matters. I'm 6'1 and 198 lbs (give or take) so I'm not beastly huge but Im not a lean machine either. Im right where I want to be.
I follow the thread because I like seeing people get healthier. I have huge issues with people that bitch about their weight but do nothing about it. Maybe because I was a fat kid and had to do weight watchers during middle school. Let me tell ya how cool that makes you in that age group. Lol.
Also, Kips are not pull-ups.But that's neither here nor there.
Agree ^^
I think everyone posting in this thread can get on board with this statement.
Yep, we have journals too. We track all sorts of stuff.That is why I keep a journal so I can make sure that I'm pushing myself each rep and exercise. A lot of people go to the gym, dont track their efforts and put no thought into a routine. That doesn't get maximum results. But my gym only costs $20/month so the money saved is due to me having to put in the time to make my routine.
CrossFit is a good thing. It provides a welcoming environment and a structure so people don't have to build their own. It's just not for me. Im happy you found a niche and are staying with it. That's all that matters. I'm 6'1 and 198 lbs (give or take) so I'm not beastly huge but Im not a lean machine either. Im right where I want to be.
I follow the thread because I like seeing people get healthier. I have huge issues with people that bitch about their weight but do nothing about it. Maybe because I was a fat kid and had to do weight watchers during middle school. Let me tell ya how cool that makes you in that age group. Lol.
Also, Kips are not pull-ups.
I agree about the kipping pull-ups thing and have yet to do a single one. To me they look silly as shit but I'm sure once I get up to that level I'll find that (like anything) if you do enough of them it's a workout. lol
When I get to that bridge I'll see if I'm going to cross it or not. I can always modify to do something else since there's like a dozen different pull up movements in Crossfit.
I'm not fat, I'm tactically padded.
Tactical Commander - Fast Action Response Team (F.A.R.T.)
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Click: For anyone with a dog or pets, please read
Not me. I just like arguing.
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