I know what I was looking for in fitness, but I did not know where to find it. I was looking for an 80/20 (80% of your improvements come from only 20% of the exercises/effort you put in) approach at tackling this aspect of my life, but without vast amounts of experimentation and data gathering I would never be able to figure out what those critical 20% were.
That was until I was told about CrossFit. They take an unconventional approach to fitness, a less is more, so long as that less is the most effective stuff. The routines are not far from what I have been doing in the past few months, focusing on short, intense workouts. They use an array of simple equipment and movements designed to get the most out of your workouts. The routines are scalable and can use substitution if certain equipment is not available to you. A “Prison Workout” (no equipment) is also provided on the website, which is what I plan to use primarily.
Explanations and videos of each individual exercise and the substitution are found on the web page. A Workout of the Day is posted on the front page, which seems more a physical challenge then a routine. Being a Crossfit newb, the onslaught of information and new exercises can be confusing, but after some reading it quickly becomes clear on what is expected of you: Take the WOD (Workout of the Day), usually named after a girl and do it.
I completed my first WOD last night, Cindy I believe and man am I sore. The routine was simple enough: Warm up and in 20 minutes complete as many of the following routine.
- 5 Pulls ups, 10 push ups, 15 Squats.
I have no idea how many I completed because I did not bring a pen/paper, but for my next WOD I will track it so I can begin measuring my progress.
I looked into their nutrition guidelines and agree with most of what they recommend: Lean proteins, carbs primarly coming from vegetables, fats primarly mono-saturated, the standard healthy eating plan for the active person. I did not agree with their take on the calorie restricted diet part though; Yes studies have shown you will live longer, but I would rather die five years early then be starving and miserable for the next 40+ years.
Anyway I will post my progress with the Crossfit regime in future posts.