In recent years, fitness and a healthy lifestyle have been on every media outlet out there. Online influencers, celebrities, and even some of your friends have been sharing and promoting their workout routines or new diet approach. At some point, the term CrossFit must’ve appeared on your newsfeed. If you’re wondering what exactly it is all about, let’s get into its basics!

What is CrossFit?

CrossFit is a fitness program that involves intensive exercises and a proper diet. This approach works for everyone as it can help accomplish any fitness goal, be it for improved physical strength, maintaining body dexterity, or weight loss. The workouts are particularly designed to condition and strengthen the body through varied and challenging exercises. Nothing to worry about the difficulty of the routines as these can be modified to suit your fitness goal, level of fitness, and health condition.

In terms of diet, CrossFit encourages eating food groups that would fuel the body to exercise and not to form more body fats. This includes balanced portions of meat, vegetables, and nuts, moderate amounts of fruits and starch, and getting rid of sugars.¹

To get a closer look how CrossFit can do wonders to your physical well-being, here are some of its benefits:²

• Improves workout performance – the high-intensity workouts push you to move your whole body. This builds muscle strength and workout endurance which are big contributors of better workout performance.
• Builds up functional strength – CrossFit uses functional exercises that resemble your everyday life movements. This improves your functional strength to do daily physical activities and to reduce the risk for injury.
• Aids weight loss – with controlled diet and fat-burning routines combined, CrossFit may actually help you lose weight compared to other types of workout. CrossFit routines can burn 15 to 18 calories per minute during the training, while weightlifting can burn 9 to 15 calories only per minute.³

Crossfit Vs Standard Gym

So you’re interested in learning CrossFit along with the hype around it. You might be wondering, “What’s the difference between CrossFit and traditional gymming?”

For starters, they both help you burn a significant amount of calories and maintain a healthy and active lifestyle. However, there are also many differences in their overall goals, equipment, and structure.^4,5,6

CrossFit:

• Goals - achieve overall fitness through functional workouts based on gymnastics, weight training, and cardio.
• Workout Style - perform functional workouts that mimic daily movements inside or outside a fitness center.
• Environment - more focused on community-centered workout by setting a Workout of the Day (WOD).
• Safety – create a workout plan with modifiable exercises and intensity to a person’s health condition, fitness level, and goal.

Gym:

• Goals - achieve overall fitness using weights, machines, and workout classes.
• Workout Style - perform various workouts using a wider selection of equipment within the premises of a fitness center.
• Environment - more focused on individuality and people usually choose their own routines or pay for a customized training program.
• Safety - create a customized workout plan using various workout routines and machines without going too far from your comfort zone.

Physical Crossfit Classes Vs Home Crossfit Sessions

Physical CrossFit classes are typically conducted in a group setting, which makes it a more interactive workout experience. However, these may not be the best option for those who are on a tight budget or don’t have the luxury of time for full-blown sessions. These CrossFit classes usually have 3 phases:

• Introduction Class - Free classes for those who have never tried CrossFit before that want to take a sneak peek of the culture. Usually contain a quick overview that demonstrates the basic training WOD, followed by 10 basic bodyweight movement workout, and then they talk to you about joining.
• On-ramp/Elements - Paid beginner classes that teach you the 9 foundational movements of CrossFit and proper form to prevent injuries.
• Regular Classes - 45 - 60 minutes per session. Everyone starts at the same time with instructors on-site walking around helping out and keeping track.

Home CrossFit, on the other hand, is a great option for those who seek to train on their own time to better fit their busy schedule or those who are experiencing budget constraints. Another benefit of working out at home is the development of personal accountability to follow through with the different moves. Since the WODs are posted daily, free of charge on the company website, anybody that is interested can do them.

Another option for home CrossFit that is gaining popularity is a 1-on-1 online CrossFit coach. This approach keeps you active even during the COVID-19 pandemic, when most professional facilities are closed due to regulations. It is a wonderful investment that helps you learn the correct forms form a certified professional at a much lower cost. Additionally, you will eliminate the risk of contracting the virus as you're doing your routines at the comfort of your home.

Other online resources such as YouTube videos are always readily available and can help you follow along at home or in your office gym. Keep in mind, however, to always make sure you’re doing your exercises correctly to avoid injuries. Training at home also means you might have to buy a few basic equipment specifically for CrossFit WODs. For long-term savings, they are a worthy investment.

Basic Crossfit Equipment That You Should Have

Aside from doing functional workouts using your bodyweight, we also recommend adding these few pieces of equipment to maximize your experience:

• Gymnastic Rings - arguably, it is one of the most amazing pieces of equipment you could possibly buy for CrossFit. They are cheap, effective, versatile, and easy to set up in a variety of different positions around the room. The instability of the gym ring forces you to tap into your core and balance, building endurance in your arms, and stability and strength in your body.
• Suspension Trainers/Resistant Bands - the main function of suspension trainers is to work on your core and arm muscles. Also, given that the exercises typically require striving to maintain a balance, it boosts your flexibility, body strength, and ultimately, your sense of balance.
• Foam Roller - it is effective in reducing muscle tension before starting your workout. If you add a foam roller to your warm-up and cooldown routine, you may find yourself feeling less sore in the days following. Overall, they help ease muscle pain, increase range of motion, temporarily reduce the appearance of cellulite, relieve back pain, lessen fibromyalgia symptoms, and also help you to relax after an intensive training session.

With these 3 basic and highly affordable pieces of equipment, your CrossFit journey is almost ready. Let’s explore some of the beginner level WOD to really help you jumpstart the experience!

10 Basic Crossfit Workouts

Equipment Needed:

• 1. 10 to 1 Countdown WOD - Do 10 each of kettlebell swings at a moderate weight, followed by 10 dumbbell thrusters (hold a light dumbbell in front of your chest with both hands; squat with the dumbbell in place, then stand straight while raising the dumbbell overhead)4. Then do 9 of each, then 8, and so on, down to 1 of each.
• 2. 10 for 10 - In 10 minutes, do as many rounds as possible of the following: 10 kettlebell swings, 10 box jumps (jump up onto a 12 to 20-inch tall box or step), 10 ring dips.
• 3. Burpee Box Jumps - Do as many rounds as you can of the following: 8 burpee box jumps (perform a standard burpee, then jump up on a box; jump down) and 16 kettlebell swings in 8 minutes.
• 4. Squat Routine - Start to squat with a barbell, but hold the down position for as long as you can (recommended time is 2 minutes). Next, do 3 rounds of 10 burpees, 15 sit-ups, and 20 air squats.
• 5. Squats, Pull-ups, Presses, and a Run - Do 3 rounds of the following as rapidly as possible: 12 front squats with a barbell, 10 pull-ups and 8 push presses. Finish up with a quarter-mile run.

No Equipment Needed:

• 1. Simple Burpee Workout - Do as many burpees as you can in 8 minutes.
• 2. Push, Pull, Run - Do 5 rounds of the following: 10 push-ups and 10 pull-ups. Finish with a half-mile run.
• 3. Body Weight WOD - Perform 3 rounds of 10 of the following with as much intensity as you can: air squats, sit-ups, push-ups, ring rows, burpees.
• 4. The Running Sandwich - Do a quarter-mile run followed by 40 air squats, 30 sit-ups, 20 burpees, and 10 pull-ups. Finish with another quarter-mile run.
• 5. Push-ups and Burpees in 5s - Do 5 sets of the following: 5 push-ups, followed by 5 burpees, then run in place for one minute.

Before You Get Started

At the end of the day, we highly recommend consulting with your doctor and other professionals before committing to CrossFit or any other workout philosophy. Your safety is always the top priority and this type of workout is known to be extremely physically demanding.

We hope the information in this article could be a useful guide for the start of your journey with CrossFit. Aside from the workouts that challenge your limits, it also comes with rewarding and positive health results physically and mentally.