This weekend I tried my first CrossFit workout at CrossFit Boston. I have been hearing quite a bit about the “CrossFit Craze” from several clients, friends and co-workers; I also have been doing CrossFit inspired workouts on Mondays with my lifting pal. All the buzz made me very curious so I decided to take advantage of the free trial offer!
CrossFit Boston is in its new home on Western Ave, tucked in the back of a building across the street from Harvard Business School. I had a bit of trouble locating the actual entrance, as they do not have much signage. Once inside I joined the other members of my group in a warmup consisting of dynamic stretching, mobility drills and running stride drills. We then were given our WOD (workout of the day) which had a few different modifications for varying fitness levels. The 3 levels were beginner, intermediate, and prescribed. The latter is the legit, real deal CrossFit workout. Ours was as follows:
WOD:
100 m sprint [125 m row for those unable to run]
10 squat thrusters [squat w/dumbbell overhead press]
100 m sprint [or row]
10 pullups [or inverted body weight rows on something that looked a lot like gymnastic rings]
30 seconds rest
Weight/Rep Breakdowns:
Beginner: x5 rounds, using 10lb DB for squat thrusters
Intermediate: x7 rounds, using 25lb DB
Prescribed: x10 rounds, using 35lb DB
* The weights are the female amounts…I can’t remember the exact breakdown for the males
We had a quick tutorial and the instructor asked me if I could do a pull up. I said yes and demonstrated. He then gave me the go-ahead to do no more than 7 rounds of the WOD. I was pretty excited to be placed in the Intermediate category. There were both males and females in each of the 3 categories; I thought it was pretty cool that varying fitness levels were able to workout side by side. He started the clock and music and off we went! It took every ounce of energy I had to complete those 7 rounds in 31 minutes flat. What may, at first glance, seem to be 4 simple exercises combined to be a real ass-kicking workout. I finished the workout sweat-soaked and proud, yet extremely HUMBLED. It seems that there will always be room for improvement and always someone right there who is just a bit faster, stronger, and fitter. It definitely got me fired up to crank my workouts up a notch!!!! I very much enjoyed my first workout at CrossFit Boston and I plan on going back to experience some more craziness.
One other thing that I feel deserves mention is that while I thoroughly enjoyed myself doing this workout, I do not think that CrossFit is for everyone. To do this type of workout safely [and with any sort of success], one must have a foundation of basic fitness under their belt. The instructor does not review proper form; rather gives a short demonstration of the components and expects that the participants have a basic understanding of the details that go along with each exercise. For folks who do not know how to do lunges, pushups, pull ups, squats, overhead presses, etc. properly, this is a MAJOR risk for injury. As a fitness professional, I would recommend this workout for those individuals who are injury free, and already somewhat fit.
CrossFit Boston is in its new home on Western Ave, tucked in the back of a building across the street from Harvard Business School. I had a bit of trouble locating the actual entrance, as they do not have much signage. Once inside I joined the other members of my group in a warmup consisting of dynamic stretching, mobility drills and running stride drills. We then were given our WOD (workout of the day) which had a few different modifications for varying fitness levels. The 3 levels were beginner, intermediate, and prescribed. The latter is the legit, real deal CrossFit workout. Ours was as follows:
WOD:
100 m sprint [125 m row for those unable to run]
10 squat thrusters [squat w/dumbbell overhead press]
100 m sprint [or row]
10 pullups [or inverted body weight rows on something that looked a lot like gymnastic rings]
30 seconds rest
Weight/Rep Breakdowns:
Beginner: x5 rounds, using 10lb DB for squat thrusters
Intermediate: x7 rounds, using 25lb DB
Prescribed: x10 rounds, using 35lb DB
* The weights are the female amounts…I can’t remember the exact breakdown for the males
We had a quick tutorial and the instructor asked me if I could do a pull up. I said yes and demonstrated. He then gave me the go-ahead to do no more than 7 rounds of the WOD. I was pretty excited to be placed in the Intermediate category. There were both males and females in each of the 3 categories; I thought it was pretty cool that varying fitness levels were able to workout side by side. He started the clock and music and off we went! It took every ounce of energy I had to complete those 7 rounds in 31 minutes flat. What may, at first glance, seem to be 4 simple exercises combined to be a real ass-kicking workout. I finished the workout sweat-soaked and proud, yet extremely HUMBLED. It seems that there will always be room for improvement and always someone right there who is just a bit faster, stronger, and fitter. It definitely got me fired up to crank my workouts up a notch!!!! I very much enjoyed my first workout at CrossFit Boston and I plan on going back to experience some more craziness.
One other thing that I feel deserves mention is that while I thoroughly enjoyed myself doing this workout, I do not think that CrossFit is for everyone. To do this type of workout safely [and with any sort of success], one must have a foundation of basic fitness under their belt. The instructor does not review proper form; rather gives a short demonstration of the components and expects that the participants have a basic understanding of the details that go along with each exercise. For folks who do not know how to do lunges, pushups, pull ups, squats, overhead presses, etc. properly, this is a MAJOR risk for injury. As a fitness professional, I would recommend this workout for those individuals who are injury free, and already somewhat fit.
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