DaBeez's Review of CrossFit Workouts (muscle, lift, gym, treadmill)

[LaoTzuMindFu]

Okay, Ive had enough time (however limited) to try out the CrossFit workouts to give my quick review and all I can say is - WOW!!! Keep in mind that I am NOT a member of any CrossFit facility and really only practiced their posted workouts of the day (WOD). In all my years of experience, I can honestly say that this FOR ME is the PERFECT workout - strength building, fat burning, explosive movements, challenging and most importantly FUN.

Those of you who know me from my posts, know that I do not workout to look at myself in the mirror. My goals have always been first and foremost health and performance related which translates really into Functional Fitness. At first, I thought that their WOD exercises were not enough but after following along with their plan I was blown away. From my own experience, this is much better than the P90x and actually takes less time to do. I love the fact that many of their workouts are timed which adds another motivational factor into it - trying to beat my previous record and it also forces you to always up your intensity.

Because martial arts is a huge part of my life, I was always balancing between strength training (too much makes one musclebound and causes degradation in punching power) and cardio (too much causes loss of explosive power and strength) but CrossFit has found a way to perfectly balance between the two.

Two of my favorite workouts are:

Filthy Fifty - http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/C...ilthyFifty.mov
50 box jumps
50 jumping pullups
50 Kettlebell swings - I used a 45lb dumbbell
50 lunges
50 hanging knee to elbows (hang in pullup position and touch your elbows w/knees)
50 push presses - standing overhead press of 45lbs or 65lbs
50 back extensions
50 wall balls
50 burpees
50 double unders - jump rope where rope swings under feet twice instead of once

Fight Gone Bad - http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/C...xplanation.mov
1 minute Rowing
1 minute Wall Ball
1 minute sumo deadlift highpull
1 minute pushpress
1 minute box jump
This is one 5 minute round - do three rounds.

While I have not officially joined a CrossFit facility, I HIGHLY recommend that you try it if there is a place near you. If you are not familiar with the Olympic exercises you really need to have someone show you. The WOD really is the ONLY thing you need.

[LaoTzuMindFu]

I had a chance to speak with some friends of my friends who are heavily into CrossFit, and some of the other pluses they have to say are:

1. Sense of comraderie, friendship and family type atmosphere among everyone.
2. For those with busy schedules, the workout of the day is the ONLY thing you need to do.
3. Never get bored with the workouts because they are always different and exciting.

Also included are olympic ring workouts, kettlebells and use of a rowing machine for cardio/calorie burning instead of elliptical or treadmill.

The folks who put these workouts together are geniuses.

Im surprised that no one has posted their thoughts on this. Has anyone tried ANY of these workouts even on your own?

[lola8822]

Heyyy DaBeez!!! Yes...I LOVE cross fit! You know that There are so many varied types of the program that incorporate amazing and revolutionary exercises. This program is super great if you’re looking to shed body fat fast and tone up at the same time.....the whole idea behind it is to incorporate Cardio and Weights into one program thus, allowing your heart rate to continuously be elevated which, in turn, burns the max amount of body fat.

[Shannon10]

Thanks for the review! P90X kicks my butt....I can't imagine doing anything harder right now LOL.

I looked at the site and it looks like you have to go their facility to do this. I may try it on my own after P90X.

[LaoTzuMindFu]

Originally Posted by Shannon10

Thanks for the review! P90X kicks my butt....I can't imagine doing anything harder right now LOL.

I looked at the site and it looks like you have to go their facility to do this. I may try it on my own after P90X.

No you dont. If you have the basic barbell pullup setup you can do it at home. I am ordering some olympic rings to put up in the garage. I have pretty much everything else though.

[lola8822]

Originally Posted by DaBeez

No you dont. If you have the basic barbell pullup setup you can do it at home. I am ordering some olympic rings to put up in the garage. I have pretty much everything else though.

yea I was about to say.......

cross fit can be anything.....you can substitute all types of resistance/weights/cardio training exercises into the program.

PX90 is amazing........

[Shannon10]

I have actually gotten to the point where I'm *almost* enjoying P90X.

Thanks for the info! I'm going to look into that after I finish my 90 days.

[Hobokenkitchen]

Originally Posted by Shannon10

I have actually gotten to the point where I'm *almost* enjoying P90X.

Thanks for the info! I'm going to look into that after I finish my 90 days.

Hey Shannon - I'm doing P90X right now too. I think it's awesome!
What phase are you in?

[Shannon10]

I'm still in phase one...day 11. We are doing the Abs diet with it instead of Tony Horton's nutrition plan. I think it is pretty similar. I did make the Kathy Smith chicken yesterday in the little recipe book that comes with P90X and it was really good. We should start a P90X thread.

I was thinking more about Cross Fit and I think I would get lonely without a tape . I've never worked out at a gym (I'm 45 minutes from the nearest town w/ gyms) but I've done tons of aerobics tapes. I really like working out with *other people*. Tony Horton can be a little goofy but I do find it motivating. I'm sure it's different for everybody else but I work from home and these might be the only people I see for 9 hours. I didn't see any kind of tapes with the Cross Fit system so I'm assuming you just do the exercises on your own.

[WeeMadArthur]

I've been Crossfitting at home since last August. I have yet to visit an Affiliate (Crossfit gym) although I should... I could probably use some form checks.

I started Crossfitting because I had been going to a personal trainer and couldn't really stomach spending ~$50/hr anymore and couldn't program for myself. I stumbled onto the Crossfit website and it looked interesting so I started doing the WODS.

Since August I have been acquiring equipment for my garage gym. I started by putting up a pullup bar and buying a cheap olympic weight set with 300lbs of iron. I have since added a power rack, rings, 35lb and 53lb kettlebells, 16" and 20" plyo boxes, a good barbell with 260lbs of bumpers (rubber weights that you can drop... good for Olympic lifts), and couple medecine balls.

The workouts are fun and will kick your ass. Crossfit is all about intensity. Workouts are generally relatively short (<20-30 mins) but you should be pretty much dead at the end of them. You WILL get good at pullups.

The Crossfit community is pretty tight, almost cult-like. They often joke about "drinking the Kool-aid". It is a good community and they like to help eachother out.