BLOG: What is CrossFit?

Hello and welcome back to my health and fitness blog. I would like to start my blog this week to explain where and how I got my information that I eluded to in my last blog, mainly the claim that diet drinks are bad for us as they can make us fatter and also be a direct link to cancers. 

Science is never 100% and please don't fall into the trap that a study will ever claim their research is 100% fall proof or that what they are saying is all fact and not interpretation. We have to piece together many different studies to come up with a logical conclusion. Please follow the link and read a short brake down of research of diet drinks. I know it's American but please stick with it. Due to the funding of research America are the leaders in research especially in the areas of diet, nutrition and sports performance.... oh the irony! 

With that cleared up and now resolved we can move on. 

What is CrossFit? Have you heard of it yet?

Essentially CrossFit is described as "continually varied functional movement performed at high intensity" or turning "fitness into it's own sport"

But what does that mean? 

It means it takes the best bits of fitness and puts them together to elicit the best response.... being ready for anything that life throws at us! 

The 9 foundational movements are:

1-Air Squat      4-Front Squat      7-OverHead Squat

2-Shoulder Press  5-Push Press    8-Push Jerk

3-Deadlift  6-Sumo Deadlift High Pull 9-Medicine Ball Clean

Elite fitness in 100 words.

• Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit,

little starch and no sugar. Keep in take to levels that will support exercise

but not body fat.

• Practise and train major lifts: Deadlift, clean, squat,

presses, C&J, and snatch. Similarly, master the basics of gymnastics:

pull-ups, dips, rope climb, push-ups, sit-ups, presses to handstand,

pirouettes, flips, splits, and holds. Bike, run, swim, row, etc, hard and fast.

• Five or six days per week mix these elements in as many

combinations and patterns as creativity will allow. Routine is the enemy. Keep

workouts short and intense.

• Regularly learn and play new sports.

The areas of fitness CrossFit will develop

1. Cardiovascular/respiratory endurance - The ability of

body systems to gather, process, and deliver oxygen.

2. Stamina - The ability of body systems to process, deliver,

store, and utilise energy.

3. Strength - The ability of a muscular unit, or combination

of muscular units, to apply force.

4. Flexibility - the ability to maximise the range of motion

at a given joint.

5. Power - The ability of a muscular unit, or combination of

muscular units, to apply maximum force in minimum time.

6. Speed - The ability to minimise the time cycle of a

repeated movement.

7. Coordination - The ability to combine several distinct

movement patterns into a singular distinct movement.

8. Agility - The ability to minimise transition time from one

movement pattern to another.

9. Balance - The ability to control the placement of the

bodies' centre of gravity in relation to its support base.

10. Accuracy - The ability to control movement

in a given direction or at a given intensity

If you want to read more on CrossFIt and what it is please check out www.crossfit.com. Portions of this blog was taken directly from this site. If you would like to watch a short 2min video that can describe it much better then follow this link..... what is crossfit?

This weeks short workout:

use a stop watch and leave it running. On min one complete one push up on min 2 complete two push ups and min 3 complete 3 push ups.... continue this until failure, write down your score. You could also do this for pull ups.

If this is the sort of training you are interested in then please follow this Facebook page.

These classes are based in Newquay and follow cross style training. Personally I couldn't recommend this style of training enough, you will become fitter faster and stronger, but more importantly you will be fitter for life. You will notice your fitness increases through everything you do. This type of training is for EVERYONE. Workouts are scaled for ability and they are FUN and always changing so there is no chance of getting bored!

I hope you found this interesting. Please feel free to leave me any questions or comments below.