CrossFit: Not For The Weak of... Anything

If you are into working out and don’t know what CrossFit is, I'm guessing you're older than 30. If you're a weekend warrior, or a middle-aged (or older) person that wants to be fit with a pleasant unpainful workout, I'd say CrossFit is not for you. But if you want an intense workout, where you expect it to hurt and put your mindset in a constant competitive mode, you may want to check out this program.

There are several CrossFit affiliates in the area: two in Signal Hill/ Long Beach http://www.fcflb.com/ and http://crossfitlongbeach.com/, one in Los Alamitos http://crossfitrecoil.blogspot.com/ and one in Seal Beach http://crossfitsealbeach.com/.

CrossFit was founded by former high school gymnast Greg Glassman and his partner, Lauren. The first CrossFit gym opened in Santa Cruz in 1995, the same year Glassman was hired to train the Santa Cruz Police Department. The number of affiliated gyms grew from 18 in 2005 to almost 1,700 in 2010.

His system is definitely not your typical, safe and regulated training program. As Glassman told the New York Times, “It can kill you. I've always been completely honest about that.” Needless to say, there are some people skeptical of the CrossFit training method that stresses intensity over safety.

The workouts are a mix of gymnastics, Olympic weightlifting, powerlifting, running and endurance, kettle bells and mobility and recovery (which work on flexibility and body alignment). There's also a diet that the trainers encourage their students to follow. It's called the Paleo diet or Paleolithic diet, based on the idea that we should eat like our ancestors of the Paleolithic times. This consists of primarily grass-fed, pasture-raised meats, fish, vegetables, fruit, roots and nuts. it excludes grains, legumes, dairy products, salt, refined sugar and processed oils.

Another interesting and highly successful part of the program is the use of social networking for workouts and feedback. I was impressed with the amount of videos one could view on all the different type of workouts they offer. The main website http://www.crossfit.com/ posts a WOD (workout of the day) meant for home gyms (imagine that – motivating to do this by yourself!).

The CrossFit slogan is “your workout is our warm-up” and after observing a class at Beach Fitness in Seal Beach http://crossfitsealbeach.com/ Thursday morning at 6 o’clock, I have to say, that was completely accurate. While most of us are having our coffee, perhaps running a few miles or taking a “typical” workout class, the CrossFit regulars are doing sets of handstand pushups and pull ups and squats--as a warm up. No joke! There was not one of the 10 participants that couldn’t do everything really well and they made it look like it was nothing.

I typically like to take the workouts that I write about, but that would have required three months of an “on ramp” course (as in getting on board with the program). This was not surprising because getting up to speed with this group is no walk in the park. I am thinking it would take me that long and I might have to subtract 15 years off of my life to get there, too.

I spoke with Bryce Turner, co-owner of Beach Fitness in Seal Beach. Turner earned his bachelor's degree from UC Santa Cruz specializing in Physical Therapy and Exercise Science. He explained to me that CrossFit affiliates are allowed to make the program their own within the style of training. Turner has only had the CrossFit affiliation since January, but the gym has been there for five years offering personal training and group exercise classes. They have around 50 regular participants in CrossFit and he said people usually walk in the door knowing that they want to do CrossFit.

Turner said he doesn’t buy into the “this workout will kill you mentality” as other affiliates may, although he does like the idea of community that the CrossFit culture promotes. He said he likes the well-rounded approach to working out, which includes nutritional advice; helping people out with their eating habits, and he does individual consultations with clients for whom he recommends food logs. He stresses a practical approach, he said, because he feels that a lot of nutrition advice is impossible to really follow.

The typical age of the CrossFit crowd is about 30, Turner said, though they have people in their 40s- 60s. Those folks are typically former or current intense athletes. CrossFit is also popular among military personnel, fire fighters and police who need to be highly fit for their jobs.

You could definitely spend all day reading CrossFit facts online, but here are a few of my favorite tips (listed on one of the Long Beach website) for getting started in CrossFit:

Your biggest competitor is you

Stop eating like crap.

Don’t let CrossFit consume you.

It will always suck, just not as bad.

Don’t be so hard on yourself.

Lighten up.

Tap your inner rock star.

Give yourself a break.

If you want to see the best of the CrossFit athletes, The Reebok CrossFit Games on ESPN2 http://games.crossfit.com/features/videos/coming-espn2 start Sept. 14th.