10-8 Forums

INTRO:
In December of 2009, one of my co-workers (Lou) began doing a workout called Crossfit. He tried to get me and a couple of other co-workers to do it, but we were skeptical. I was running 12 miles a week in the morning (approximately 3 miles, 4 times a week) and muscle training in the afternoon for about 20-30 minutes. So initially, I didn't want to switch, but I was getting bored with my workouts and they were becoming time consuming. After watching my co-worker do a couple of routines, I decided to give it a try. This was in January and I've been doing Crossfit ever since.

Lou started out at 230 LB's and he is now 190 LB's and in great shape. My other co-worker, Ray, who started doing crossfit at about the same time that I did, started out at 225 LB's and is now 195 LB's. I started out at 170 LB's and I have maintained that weight, but I lost inches off my waist, which is what I wanted to do, and I feel much stronger, faster, and have much more endurance.

Why am I talking about Crossfit in a Weapon Forum? Very simple. A lot of the people that visit/post on this site are LE folks like myself or in the Military. One of the most overlooked aspects of our job is being in great shape. It is nice to be a great shooter and have great tactics, but the majority of times in my line of work, we aren't shooting at people. Most of the time we are talking with people and if things go bad, we generally move from verbal force to physical or mechanical force. Deadly force is last on the force scale. If you look in shape, a lot of times the bad guys will think twice about getting physical with you.

WHAT IS CROSSFIT:
CrossFit is a core strength and conditioning program. We have designed our program to elicit as broad an adaptational response as possible. CrossFit is not a specialized fitness program but a deliberate attempt to optimize physical competence in each of ten recognized fitness domains. They are Cardiovascular and Respiratory endurance, Stamina, Strength, Flexibility, Power, Speed, Coordination, Agility, Balance, and Accuracy.

The CrossFit Program was developed to enhance an individual’s competency at all physical tasks. Our athletes are trained to perform successfully at multiple, diverse, and randomized physical challenges. This fitness is demanded of military and police personnel, firefighters, and many sports requiring total or complete physical prowess. CrossFit has proven effective in these arenas.

Aside from the breadth or totality of fitness the CrossFit Program seeks, our program is distinctive, if not unique, in its focus on maximizing neuroendocrine response, developing power, cross-training with multiple training modalities, constant training and practice with functional movements, and the development of successful diet strategies.

Our athletes are trained to bike, run, swim, and row at short, middle, and long distances guaranteeing exposure and competency in each of the three main metabolic pathways.

We train our athletes in gymnastics from rudimentary to advanced movements garnering great capacity at controlling the body both dynamically and statically while maximizing strength to weight ratio and flexibility. We also place a heavy emphasis on Olympic Weightlifting having seen this sport’s unique ability to develop an athletes’ explosive power, control of external objects, and mastery of critical motor recruitment patterns. And finally we encourage and assist our athletes to explore a variety of sports as a vehicle to express and apply their fitness.

CROSSFIT WOD's:
Crossfit WOD's (WORKOUT OF THE DAY), or routines, vary from day to day. Since January, I only remember doing the same routine 1 or 2 times. You never get bored. The great part about Crossfit is the time that I am saving compared to what I was doing before. Most WOD's take anywhere from 5-30 minutes. Most of them being in the 10-20 minute range. The longest WOD that I have done to date is the 4x800 meter run .

Check Section 4 of the Crossfit FAQ Page for a list of all of the routines.

CROSSFIT EXERCISES:
Crossfit exercises include some of the following:
Running, rowing, push ups, pull ups, sit ups, air squats, deadlifts, front, rear, and overhead squats, power clean, clean and jerks, sumo deadlift high pull, kettle bell swings, thrusters, and many more.

Check Crossfit Exercise Page for details of exercises and videos on how to perform them.

Some of the exercises look complicated and difficult to do, but they aren't. I recommend that you initially start out using low weight until you get the form down right. You will see on some of the WOD's where it will say 65/95 LB for the weight. That is the recommended max for females and males. I'm not a power guy, so I still use lower weight for my workouts. Scale as necessary. You have to start somewhere.

What did in the beginning is I would go on You Tube and search for the exercise that I had to do, such as "crossfit thrusters", "crossfit pull ups", etc.

GETTING STARTED:
The easiest way to get started is to find a Crossfit Affiliate in your area. Check Crossfit Affiliate Page on the left side and click on the link on the left side with the state you are from. Lou knows Todd Katz from HammerdownCrossfit from high school so we get our WOD's from his site. All of the Crossfit sites are set up in the same general format. The trainers post the routines and you can comment on them like a blog. After finishing up the routine, I post my times and or comments on the page. Posting the times is just a way to track your progress. It isn't a competition, it is so you can compare your score to your previous one of the same routine that you did.

I am fortunate to have a nice workout gym at work, so on my days that I work, I do the WOD's at work after my shift. On my days off, I have enough equipment at home that I can workout at home. I thought about joining a Gym, but I don't have a need for it. Some guys go all out and build their own Crossfit Gym in their garage.

WILL I/CAN I GET BIG DOING CROSSFIT:
If you train the WOD's hard, and eat right and get lots of sleep, you will definitely gain lean mass, lose fat, and yes, you can build muscle mass with the crossfit protocol. More specifically, according to Coach, here is a hierarchy of training for mass from greater to lesser efficacy:
1. Bodybuilding on steroids
2. CrossFitting on steroids
3. CrossFitting without steroids
4. Bodybuilding without steroids
The bodybuilding model is designed around, requires, steroids for significant hypertrophy. The neuroendocrine response of bodybuilding protocols is so blunted that without "exogenous hormonal therapy" little happens. The CrossFit protocol is designed to elicit a substantial neuroendocrine whollop and hence packs an anabolic punch that puts on impressive amounts of muscle though that is not our concern. Strength is. Natural bodybuilders (the natural ones that are not on steroids) never approach the mass that our athletes do. They don't come close. Those athletes who train for function end up with better form than those who value form over function. This is one of the beautiful ironies of training.

CONCLUSION:
Crossfit is fun and addicting. Just like any other form of exercise, you get out what you put in. If your goal is just to get in great shape and not trying to get those six pack abs, doing crossfit and eating the average food will get you there. If your goal is to get in great shape and look it, then crossfit along with a good diet will get the results you want.

Paul,

I don't know about fun and addicting, but Crossfit sure has opened my eyes to a entirely knew way of doing a workout. I just got introduced to it by one of our SWAT team members who is heavy into Crossfit. We make it a part of our physical training for our entire team on our training days prior to our tactical training. I've also started using it for my workouts.

PB

LOL. I guess compared to my previous workouts, this is a lot more fun, especially when I'm actually seing results.

My brother and his wife got me doing Crossfit about 2 months ago in combination with me already doing P90X, going to the gym and running. I considered myself to already be in good shape but after following a good diet and working hard I can really see the results.

Paul,

Are you saying the total daily workout is only 30 minutes? I spend almost 2 hours working out on my home gym with minimal results. There's a Crossfit gym up the road from me that fortunatley is open when I get off work. I do find it easier to workout at home than to drive to gym, though.

Kris - I started doing CrossFit in '07 and have seen serious results. The workouts vary from 2:00 min workouts singlet workouts up to chipper 45 min workouts. Most of the CF gyms are individually owned so check out a few of them see if you can workout for a week there to check them out and go to the one that fits you better. Good luck in your quest and have fun. Be careful though as it can be a killer of a workout (http://journal.crossfit.com/2005/05/killer-workouts-by-eugene-alle.tpl)

Chris

I've been doing Crossfit in some fashion since 2005, and was fortunate to have a teammate who is friends with Coach Glassman, founder of the system. It was good to have him around while I was figuring it all out. As noted, none of the workouts should take longer than 45 minutes, but you are working against the clock on most workouts and every second is hard work.

An easy intro to the workout of the day concepts is "Cindy", one of the named standards. For 20 minutes, do as many rounds as possible of:
5 pull ups
10 pushups
15 squats

Use any grip, any method to get your chin over the bar if you can't do strict form pull ups the whole time. The squats are without weight, you can touch your butt down to a 20lb medicine ball if you have one.

I will caution you guys that repetitive motion injuries are an issue with Crossfit (especially if your age starts with a "4"), and I now have to tailor workouts to the countless injuries I have accumulated through the years of PT and the bump and grind of the job.

Even if you do not choose to embrace all the Crossfit concepts, I highly recommend it for all those in our line of work. Training to perform varied types of work under time constraints definitely brings out a new level of fitness and performance. It is easily analogous to shooting without ever testing yourself with time constraints. You can be a star in untimed training, but when the chips are down, time always matters.

I was working out almost 2 hours a day also and didn't see the results that I wanted. I am running less now than I was before, yet my running is even better now. If there is a place close to you, I highly recommend checking them out. I highly recommend it so you will learn the proper way of doing some of the exercises.

Saturdays workout took me 31 minutes. Off Sunday and today will take me about 10 minutes. Don't be fooled by the times though, you are busting your but when you do these exercises. Guys laugh when they see a WOD that has 800 meter (1/2 mile) runs and they laugh. But everything is done at max effort. Some of the toughest workouts took my less than 20 minutes and I didn't remember my momma's name when I was done. A great example is the 4x800 meter run we did on thursday. I did all 4 800 meter runs in 3 minutes each and I was gasping for air on the last one. And I'm a good runner/sprinter. The one thing that I feel that has really improved is my recovery time. I can be gasping for air during the run, and I'll be hurting for a little bit after I'm done, but I recover quickly.

A good way to push yourself is to get a co-worker or friend to do it with you or to post your scores online in one of the blogs. I post mine on www.HammerDownCrossfit.com

Having said all that, Crossfit doesn't work wonders. If you want to feel good and look good, you have to eat right. Fruits, vegetables, and anything that is natural. When you go to the grocery store, stay away from the center aisles as that is where all the processed crap is. And just be selective with the days you want to cheat a little bit like on those wedding and/or birthday party days.

Been weightlifting for 23yrs, 10 of which dedicated to powerlifting. I started dabbling with Crossfit in 2007, added some kettlebell and slamball exercises into my training and every now and then i'd take a shot at the WOD. About 40 days ago I decided to make a major change in my training and go straight-up Crossfit. My bodyweight dropped a bit from 223 to 216lbs but my overall strength went UP! I even managed to set new PR's in a few of my lifts. I'm a fairly strict eater so the only adjustment I made to my diet was a slight increase to my protein intake. I'm in my early 40's so crossfit's been a much needed game changer.

Just an update:

July 31, I changed my eating habits to what my co-worker calls the "caveman" diet. It isn't a diet, but more of a way of eating the right/natural things. I purchased the Primal Cookbook and began tracking my food intake on www.fitday.com. Since July 31, I went from 170lb to 163lb. I'm not necessarily trying to loose weight, I'm more looking to tone up. I'm happy to say that I'm starting to show more definition, which is what I wanted. And since I'm 5'7" tall on a good day, I know that I'll probably settle in right around 155lb, and as long as it is a lean 155, I don't care. In comparison, my co-worker is settling in at 185, but he is much taller than me.

I just want go touch up on the "caveman" diet a little bit. The one thing that I have always hated about diets is that I was always hungry. With this, I'm eating 5 times a day and I'm not hungry. Here's an example of my typical day:

Breakfast: 3 eggs, which takes care of he fat and protein and a piece of fruit or egg whites with some turkey or regular bacon and a piece of fruit. I ocassionally go to Dunkin Donuts and order an egg white and turkey flat bread sandwich and I'll get it wih no cheese and I'll take the bread out. I'll have a piece of fruit with that.

Morning Snack: 1 scoop of protein with water, piece of fruit, and almonds/peanuts/peanut butter.

Lunch: Chicken/steak/salmon/tuna salad with light dressing or oil and vinegar dressing.

Afternoon Snack: 1 scoop of protein with water, piece of fruit, and almonds/peanuts/peanut butter.

Dinner: Steak/salmon/chicken/pork with some vegetables.

I have 1 scoop of protein with water 30 minutes after my workout, whether it is in the morning or afternoon.

The key is to try to have Protein, Carbs, and Fat at each meal. The ration for the day should be somewhere around 40% Protein, 30% Fat, and 30% Carbs. Some guys use a 40/40/20 ratio, which is what I'm closer to.