Friday 10th September 2010

The very first CrossFit Leeds 'Intro to CrossFit' course will now commence on Monday 27th September.  We only have 3 places left on this course so please get in touch asap to reserve your place or find out more information.  Bookings taken before 20th September will receive a 20% discount.  That's just £40 for twelve hours of fully coached classes that will ramp up your fitness and provide you with invaluable training information that will last a lifetime.

Here's an excellent extract by strength and conditioning coach Kevin Hughes for those looking to start CrossFit.  Bit long but definitely worth a read.

"I wanted to take a moment to mention to you, from what I have seen over the course of several years of coaching, some things to think about when starting CrossFit.

I often hear from people that they "need to get in shape" before they do CrossFit.  Well, Wait a second, isn't that the POINT of CrossFit?  This statement continues to make me chuckle every time I hear it only because there is a HUGE misnomer about getting started with CrossFit. Since CrossFit is universally scalable (that means we believe that fitness varies by degree not by function therefore so should your workouts) we are never going to have someone come to the box and on the first day expect them to be performing at their maximum output right away.  There is an education and "Ramping up" period if you will to where some CrossFitters may not "Rx" (or prescribe) the workouts for YEARS and that's FINE!!!! The point is to come in and MOVE YOUR BODY FUNCTIONALLY!  The whole point of CrossFit really is to get you to "in Shape".  The question you should ask yourself before coming in to our facility is "Why HAVEN'T I come in to get "In Shape" yet.

I understand our facility may be intimidating to those who are looking for a lot of cardio equipment or a lot of selectorized equipment because, well, let's face it... we just don't have it.  I can also understand that people watch videos of the CrossFit Games or the videos on the website and say "I can't do that".  Well the truth of the matter is, there are a few people throughout the world (and when I say a few, there were 100 or so that made it to the games this year) that are at that level.  Most of the CrossFit community are people like you and I, people who like to push themselves, people who want to better themselves, people who want to get "In Shape", Kids who want to be better athletes, Moms who want to be able to stay ahead of their kids, Grandmothers and Grandfathers who are looking to feel better, Triathletes, marathoners, weightlifters, people of all different exercise backgrounds looking to improve their times, their lifts or their overall fitness, people whom wake up in the morning and just look in the mirror and are ready for change.  This is the make-up of the CrossFit Community. Men, women and children that have decided to make a difference in their own lives.  It is amazing to inspire to reach for the Games and for all of those interested in getting to the elite level of the games, We can help you get there.  But for those of you out there who have wondered about CrossFit and maybe looked into it, it's time to make a decision to check it out, and realize that we too, are people who just want to get "in Shape"

It is always recommended as a new CrossFitter or one whom may have had experience doing CrossFit on your own, to go through our Ramping-up Program.  This program is intended to get you from point A to Point "understanding CrossFit" in a month.  Now, this program is designed to have you work out 3 times per week for the first month, to give you an adaptation period in which your body gets used to the "Intensity" piece of CrossFit.  The workouts are designed to bring you from a base level of wherever you are to see where you get to in a month of consistent programming.  This allows your coach to evaluate your needs.  At the end of the Ramping up program, your coach will make some recommendations for you- Semi-Private coaching, individual instruction, or move on to the CrossFit Classes.  All of this will be dependent upon your ability to move, your flexibility, your motivation and drive, your skills after the Ramping up program, and many other factors.

Your coach will then also recommend a starting schedule to you.  Some of the best CrossFitters will work a 3 day on, 1 day off schedule, but some of the best CrossFitters will also work a 4 on 2 off, or a 3 on 2 off, or a 5 days on, 2 off schedule.  The ideal starting plan in my personal opinion for the majority of people coming into the CrossFit world is a 2 on 1 off program for the first few months.  This allows you to adapt to the intensity that much more.  From there, you can then start to play with how your body is feeling, how it is adapting and see what it responds to ideally.

Now some other things to consider while starting your CrossFit program.  Realize we train you for performance in daily life.  We are looking at how you perform not at how you look.  We know that training you for performance will get you the physical results you are wanting.  Our goal is to enhance your overall functionality.  Basically we believe stronger people "Are overall better and harder to kill" (thanks for the quote to some affiliate somewhere.. it's on a T-Shirt) We want you to be able to do the things in life you want to do and do them better!  Don't worry about the physical results, they will happen whether you want them or not!!

Your nutrition will play a HUGE factor in how you feel during your workouts.  I say this loosely as I am not registered as a dietitian nor am I a specialist.  I happen to have a great deal of education in nutrition as well having been in the industry a while, and I will recommend that you look into better eating habits.  What does that mean?  Well.. in my humble opinion it means cutting most of the crap out of your diet and sticking to those foods that we know to be healthy, and right.  We all know what we are supposed to eat right?  Well.. I would suggest looking at how your eating as a factor in how you will respond to CrossFit.  I know for me, when I went to the Paleo lifestyle of eating, I saw gains in performance as well as a change in my body composition and it was significant.  We suggest you eat for performance before you eat for "weight loss"

Soreness- Is it ok to work out when you are sore... YES!!!  You are GOING TO BE SORE but it does get better.  In my 8 years of coaching CrossFit and working with people, soreness is a topic that always comes up as well.  realize when you first start CrossFit, when you move your body with intensity, it will be sore.  It is absolutely a GOOD IDEA to move your body the next day.  Otherwise, that soreness from the inflammation in your muscles due to the new movements will sit there and fester, making things that much worse.  I highly recommend active rest days, meaning going out for a walk on your day off, or just tinkering in the yard.  It is normal to be sore and it is normal to work through the soreness.  Your body will communicate with you in several ways if it is feeling like you are getting "over-reached".

I can continue but for now, I will leave it at this.  The question you need to ask yourself if you haven't already looked at CrossFit is... why haven't I looked at it yet and better yet, why haven't I started yet?