This is fantastic news for the UK CrossFit community and of course for ourselves at Reebok CrossFit Connect. It was a great 2012 down at Hove Enterprise Centre and we have grand plans for 2013 too as we continue to grow and develop with more coaches, new classes such as our Barbell Club, Kids classes and CrossFit Endurance classes starting soon too.
But the one question that continues to crop up a lot with people who are new to CrossFit is the dilemma of "How often should I train?".
CrossFit is likely to be very different from any other fitness training that you may have done before. It is of course no revolutionary training method and it doesn't claim to be, but it does perhaps ask you to push yourself harder than you may well have ever done before. With its combination of weight training and intense met-cons (metabolic conditioning) in one class you certainly hit a lot of areas in one go. This is one of the main reasons it works so well. No isolating of small muscle groups one at a time. We ask you to use big functional movements which require multiple muscle groups and joint movements which in turn produce bigger and better hormonal changes and therefore better results.
 |
| We might not expect you to squat as much as Arnie, but you'll be going heavy! |
However, this in turn can cause its own problems. The rest periods you need to recover from the hard work are likely to be longer than what you are used to. In your old routine that consisted perhaps of a bit of jogging/x-trainer work and a whip round of some of the machines, you could pretty much go 5 days a week and feel fine. This is not going to be the case with CrossFit. You will need longer to recover between the sessions as working on the strength work that we do with sets of 5's, 3's and single reps and then all of the new movements you will be learning such as Snatches, Split Jerks, Thrusters, Toes to Bar and Double Unders will leave your system truly taxed and needing proper recovery time.
 |
| Thrusters? One hell of a full body movement! |
 |
| Post-WOD endorphins? Yes please! |
You WILL get hurt and you will be FORCED to stop coming by your own body.
And we have seen this happen. So what can you do about it?
PLAN. Plan your week, Plan your classes and Plan your goals.
We have plenty of different classes on offer at CrossFit Connect now so you should be thinking about getting a plan together with regards to making the best progress but safely. Don't just come to 5 WOD classes a week and smash all of them. Think about perhaps coming to two WOD classes, one lifting only class or Olympic lifting class and one Open Gym to practice your weaknesses. Think about intensity levels and how hard you are pushing yourself each time. Are you getting enough rest? Enough sleep? Are you stressed? Are you eating right? Have you got any niggles that really feel as though they could do with a week off?
Remember, we are here to help you with all of these things, you are not expected to know what's best on your own. Its what sets a CrossFit box apart from a regular gym. You have professional, experienced coaches on hand at the end of a phone call or email for no additional cost. Use us....and listen to us!
CrossFit should be a journey and one you want to stay on for as long as possible. Its not a sprint to see who can work out the hardest, see the biggest results the quickest but then end up burnt out.
 |
| You know which is the best one to be! |
Don't expect to squat twice your body weight in 3 months if you have never squatted before. Hell, it could take years of squatting three or four times a week to achieve this. And don't expect to use the Rx'd weight for 'Grace' or 'Fran' after a month just so you can see Rx'd next to your name on the board. We want to nurture great athletes and we want to see you perform the movements well and safely. We would be much prouder in seeing one of our members perform 'Fran' with 25kg on the bar and a Green band for their pull ups and do those movements with perfect form; full depth squats, proper lock out overhead and lovely graceful chin over the bar, full extension pull ups than struggling at the Rx'd weight with shabby mid-line stabilisation, no lock out and painful looking kipping pull ups where half the reps you don't even get your eyebrows over the bar.
Patience is the key. Don't be swayed by anyone else. You are competing with the weights and times in YOUR diary not anyone elses. There is of course a time and a place for competition but for beginners the WOD classes are about your safe progression to becoming a more dynamic and able athlete.
So in summary:
1) Plan your training days. 3-4 times a week for beginners MAX!
2)Utilize sessions other than WOD classes. Open Gyms, Lifting classes etc
3) Perform the movements perfectly before going heavier. DO NOT worry about how much weight is on the bar. Leave your ego at the door.
4) Have patience and don't rush things.
5) Listen to your coaches. We happen to know what we are talking about. ;)
Most of all, have fun. CrossFit can become a massive part of your life if you take to it slowly and surely. It sounds cheesy but this stuff has the power to change you, your body and your outlook on life. Enjoy.
I assume the profile of the people that go to Crossfit enters in conflict with the 'take it slow' approach. At least in my case the search for challenges and will to improve makes me most of the time overtrain. Also the main problem in my case is the fact that Im overwhelmed at all the great variety of things that you have to dominate on Crossfit (oly, gymnastics, cardio, stretching...). There are so many things I like to improve that I feel I have lack of time to be able to practice consistently all those fields as to gain an improvement on them. For example currently I organize my training days like these: Warm up, Gymnastics technique, oly weights technique/work (presses, oly lifts...), then a WOD, then some cardio at the end for lets say 20 minutes (cross trainer, rowing, bike). All of this takes me like two hours or so, but practising is the only way I feel Im going to be able to get the things done!!
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think about this?
Hi. Its just that CrossFit is so exciting and challenging, when you first join up it can be overkill to get everything done! People start enjoying exercise for the first time in their lives and can want to go from doing nothing to training 5 days a week. This is just asking for trouble and as coaches we have to ensure people take it slowly and dont hurt themselves. Its hard to keep people away!
ReplyDeleteAs for your above situation I would say do not be overwhelmed by it all. It isnt a race. You should aim to be in this for the long run and if so, even 5 years isnt that a long a time in terms of training. Write yourself a few reasonable goals and give yourself a time frame in which to complete them. Have short term goals and long term goals.
Also, it would be better to train in blocks rather than jsut doing everything at once. If your Oly lifts still need work then give yourself an 8-12 week plan where you really just focus on this. Train hard and get plenty of rest. Set yourself some targets to hit. Then when this time is up back off on the Oly lifts and focuse on your skills that need improving over the next 4-6 weeks say. Handstands, muscle ups etc and only lift on a few days a week.
Then after this see how your cardio is and have a couple of weeks of longer WODs to bring this up to scratch.
Programming can be done in a million ways depending on the person but this might be a good approach to try if you feel you just cant fit it all in. After a year or so like this you will know what you are good at and what you arent so can then focus your programming more on your weaknesses.
A very brief overview but hope this helps!
Definitely!
DeleteWell I know I have plenty of time to get things done step by step. So for example lets say I get the muscle ups done. And then I focus more on Oly after achieving that goal. Leaving the practise of the other skill can make myself get worse at it again so all that effort I put in the first place will be lost (that at least is my fear, I dont know if it is reallistic thinking).
I bought a whiteboard so with this and your advice Ill try to organise better the time. Thanks Dave, great response!
No problem. And no, you'd be surprised. If you learn and nail a skill you will rarely lose it. It might take a bit of polishing up again but your body has a great knack of remembering what it can do. Think of riding a bike!
ReplyDeleteGood luck!