Why CrossFit is for Everyone

You’ve probably seen CrossFit competitions with people moving massive tires, lifting heavy weights, and performing all sorts of superhuman feats. While their accomplishments are impressive, those elite athletes really make up a small fraction of the CrossFit community. In fact, CrossFit is an accessible type of exercise that attracts and accommodates various people looking to improve their health and increase their fitness.

Are you having a hard time getting those pictures of elite CrossFit athletes out of your head? It’s time for a new picture with you in it. Here’s a little insight into what CrossFit is and several reasons why CrossFit is for everyone:

Fitness Through Functional Movement

CrossFit is designed for functional movement. If you have a body, you’re a candidate for CrossFit. The WOD (workout of the day) is designed to help you build the required strength to perform everyday tasks. Squats, for example, are often in rotation.

Squats can be beneficial for a number of reasons. First, squatting works a lot of major muscle groups during each repetition. You’ll feel the burn in your legs, abs, and back if you’re doing it right. It’s also a movement that we do several times on a given day, whether we realize it or not. Practicing and perfecting that motion can better equip you for tasks like getting in and out of a chair, picking up cardboard boxes, or picking your kid’s toy up off of the ground.

You get better at squats by doing more of them. Eventually, you’ll find that practicing this movement helps you increase strength and improve your balance, too. Over time, it will enhance your endurance.

Everyone Can Do The Workout

CrossFit exercises can be adjusted to work for people of any age, skill, or fitness level. First of all, CrossFit workouts are entirely scalable. AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) gives you the freedom to attempt the WOD at your own pace. The movements that elite CrossFitters are doing are the same ones that you find out-of-shape executives doing.

CrossFit workouts have the unique ability to be scaled based on the individual. While the elite CrossFitters are squatting with heavy bars, someone who is just starting out can grab an empty bar and get started right away in the same class. The movement is the same, and you can add intensity as you increase your strength and fitness. This way, a newcomer can get the same stimulus and perform the same workout. You’ll add weight as you’re comfortable pushing yourself to do so.

You may find that some workouts have benchmarks. If you’re doing a particular set of exercises ‘for time,’ don’t expect to beat that record if you’re just getting started. Look at it as a goal to reach as you beat your own personal records while you progress. CrossFit can be modified for your goals. There are plenty of modifications that can be made to each workout so that it’s accessible to you right away.

Since it’s scalable, CrossFit can include you and still challenge everyone in class at their own level. A great coach can help you find what’s safe and accessible for you. You want to be challenged without exceeding your competency level.

Track Your Performance Improvements

CrossFit encourages progress. The CrossFit program will fundamentally promote your growth. While it’s a group workout setting, you’re responsible for your own unique performance.

Although you don’t want to injure yourself by taking on more than you’re physically capable of, especially as you get started, CrossFit is designed to challenge you. Each WOD has a name assigned to it and will push you on a different aspect of your physical fitness. You’ll find that WODs test your strength, stamina, cardiorespiratory endurance, balance, flexibility, agility, accuracy, coordination, speed, and power.

Workouts are timed, and you can easily keep track of your growth over time. After six months, you’ll see how much you’ve improved on a workout that you’ve done a couple of times. Now you may be able to fit two more rounds into the same amount of time, for example. This helps to define your purpose and keep you intentional about the way that you work your body.

Small Classes – Customize for Those Specific Members

Class sizes can be small, which makes CrossFit almost like personal training. If you come to a popular class time, yes, there will be more members at your workout. Sometimes, however, you can work out with just a handful of people at a time, and even when it’s packed, there won’t be too many people in the same space. This allows your coach to pay attention to each individual. He or she will observe each CrossFitter. They won’t hesitate to offer personalized advice to help you push yourself safely or scale down if you’re struggling in a task. That kind of attention is hard to come by, and it’s one of the perks of CrossFitting.

You always have the support and attention of your coach, who is committed to seeing you perform at your best. It really can be like having a personal trainer who makes recommendations for you to help you optimize each workout.CrossFit is all about the community. CrossFitters are very committed to their workouts. It shows in the level of camaraderie that members build with each other. You’ll find that these will be some of your longest-lasting, supportive friendships as you’ve challenged each other and watched each other grow. Yes, the exercises are demanding, but having your friends root for you and cheer you on is one of the best parts of joining a CrossFit community. You may initially come for the workout, but you’ll wind up staying because of the people.

That dedication translates into positive associations with your gym. And if you find that you like going to CrossFit (even if it’s because of the people), you’ll be more likely to keep going consistently and you’ll start seeing progress. Seeing progress keeps you motivated to keep exercising and encourages you to stay fit. Better still, exercising regularly carries over into other parts of your life, and you see all of the benefits that come from stability in this one area.

Conclusion

So if you have a body and you want to move it, consider trying CrossFit. You can easily adapt the exercises to accommodate where you are today. It doesn’t matter how old you are or how you’ve worked out in the past. Thanks to CrossFit’s scalable design, anyone can make the workouts work for their body right now. Consider CrossFit if you want to move through your life with more strength, agility, and flexibility.

Through CrossFit, you can build stamina and endurance with personal attention at the same time as you build lasting friendships and join a community of people who are committed to health and wellness. You’ll find workouts that help you perform everyday tasks with greater ease and simultaneously challenge you to become the best version of yourself. Better still, you’ll be able to CrossFit with a community of people who are committed to becoming the best version of themselves, too.