Did you say CrossFit?
What is CrossFit?
CrossFit is based on functional training.
This means that the movements used are those you might find in everyday life: lifting, pushing, pulling, jumping, climbing, etc. These natural movements are performed at high intensity and with many variations, to avoid routine and to constantly stimulate the body and mind.
It's a training program that offers a multitude of benefits. It targets all the body's major muscle groups, improving strength, endurance, agility, and flexibility. By focusing on functional strength, CrossFit helps improve your ability to perform daily tasks, which can greatly improve your quality of life.
Another benefit of CrossFit is its variety. No two workouts are the same, keeping the exercise fresh and challenging. This variety helps prevent boredom that can set in with more traditional exercise routines and helps maintain your long-term commitment.
The different types of WOD
There are many types of WODs. Some of the most popular include:
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AMRAP (As Many Repetitions As Possible): This workout aims to perform the same series of exercises as many times as possible within a set time. It's up to you to define your own rest times.
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EMOM (Every Minute on the Minute): The timer starts, and you have one minute to repeat an exercise a certain number of times. Once you've completed the set, you can take a break until the timer starts again for another minute. And so on.
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FOR TIME: You must complete one repetition of a series of exercises as quickly as possible!
How does it work?
a session?
CrossFit is based on functional training.
This means that the movements used are those you might find in everyday life: lifting, pushing, pulling, jumping, climbing, etc. These natural movements are performed at high intensity and with many variations, to avoid routine and to constantly stimulate the body and mind.
It's a training program that offers a multitude of benefits. It targets all the body's major muscle groups, improving strength, endurance, agility, and flexibility. By focusing on functional strength, CrossFit helps improve your ability to perform daily tasks, which can greatly improve your quality of life.
Another benefit of CrossFit is its variety. No two workouts are the same, keeping the exercise fresh and challenging. This variety helps prevent boredom that can set in with more traditional exercise routines and helps maintain your long-term commitment.
For whom?
CrossFit is a sport accessible to everyone. Men, women, and people of all ages can participate in CrossFit. Before determining which type of training is best for you, it's important to define your goal.
Depending on your goals and expectations, your workouts will vary. For someone who wants to lose weight or tone up, their workout will be different from someone who wants to build muscle and bulk up.
A sport
of men!
“Lifting weights is for men.”
“Muscles are for guys.”
“Practitioners become ice cream cabinets”
A misconception that comes from a lack of knowledge about strength sports and from the media that broadcasts images of high-level athletes who actually have significant and impressive muscle mass.
No, you don't turn into Tia-Clair Toomey by lifting weights three times a week. It requires intense training, lots of strength training, and careful nutrition.
By exercising you will lose fat so your muscle will definitely be more visible but it won't necessarily be bigger! You will simply be more defined.
It's reserved for young people!
False! Anyone can do CrossFit. This sport is open to all types of profiles and regardless of age, whether you are a child, a teenager, an adult, or a senior.
The exercises are flexible and adaptable to each individual. If the load is too heavy, reduce it. If jumping is not possible, do step-ups. If you can't squat down, use a bench, etc.
There is no age limit, on the contrary, CrossFit helps you age better, it keeps the whole body in good working order.
For example, during the Games (an annual global CrossFit competition bringing together the best athletes on the planet), there are several categories, ranging from the youngest (14-15 years old) to the oldest (65 and over), including adaptive (people with a disability) and elite.
So, whether you're a seasoned athlete looking for a new challenge, a complete fitness beginner, or looking to get back in shape after a long period of inactivity, CrossFit has something for you.
You must be in good physical shape
Of course not! It's like we're being asked to be flexible before we even start doing yoga!
Crossfitters are in shape, yes, but that's because they practice the discipline 😉
Furthermore, depending on the health questionnaire during your trial session, it will be all the more important to have your doctor's approval if you are going to work at high intensity.
It's dangerous, there are lots of injuries
Absolutely not!
There are no more injuries in CrossFit than in other sports, as confirmed by a four-year American study, from 2013 to 2017, which included 3,049 male and female participants.
(source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6201188/)
Of the 3,049 people surveyed, 30.5% (931), including 16.2% men and 14.3% women, reported having been injured at least once during a workout. Thus, we can already see that less than a third of participants report an incident.
Is this injury rate higher than in other sports? Well, no! There is a summary of three studies comparing the injury risks of CrossFit to other various physical activities. (source: https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/jsr/27/3/article-p295.xml).
This comparative summary demonstrates that the injury risks in CrossFit are equivalent to, or even lower than, the other disciplines studied:
"...the three articles retrieved for this review revealed that the injury rate in CrossFit® was comparable to or lower than the injury rates in Olympic weightlifting, long-distance running, military conditioning, track and field, rugby, or gymnastics..."