With all the varying definitions of CrossFit lingering out there, there is one underlying fact about our method of training: we are a core strength and conditioning program. I want to emphasize the strength portion of our training, which I feel really puts us above and beyond nearly every other regimen out there.
Those of you who belong to our gym, and some of you who don’t, know that we don’t have any stationary equipment (except for our C2 rowers) and learn to use our bodies as machines to move weight as is required of us in our daily lives. This is essential in developing our core muscles and is the essence of functional fitness-another premise of CrossFit. Many people don’t realize the benefits of strength training, especially women who are afraid that it will cause them to “bulk up” or get too masculine of features. Much of this post will be geared towards the women out there, but I hope everyone can take something away from it, if for no other reason than to just encourage all the women in your lives to give CrossFit a try! We all know we need more women at our gym!
Lifting weights causes small, microscopic tears in the muscles which your body naturally repairs causing the muscles to get bigger. That is why it is so important to get your post-workout supplementation (whether actual supplements or a snack high in protein accompanied by a small amount of healthy carbs) in soon after your workout to aid in the rebuilding of your muscles. A similar thing happens in your bones in that the stress from lifting weights causes microscopic cracks in your bones that causes your body to regenerate the cells to repair and build your bones back up – but thicker and stronger. I’m obviously not even close to an expert on this, but there is TONS of reading out there on the subject and even realizing this small fact will help you to understand the importance and reason for our love of weight training! We all know that as we all get older, and that women in general, can have issues with bone density and that we don’t tend to get enough calcium in our diet. (we will touch on that whole topic at another time!) The time we put in now being beastly and building up muscle and bone strength will help prevent those things that tend to end us up in a nursing home as elders – broken bones and loss of independence (such as the inability to squat and use the toilet, so remember that the next time we do bottom-to-bottom tabata squats!) Again, FUNCTIONAL FITNESS!
Without getting very technical, some of the many other benefits of strength training include: increased balance, increased muscle tone (which also helps protect your bones – just ask Oz, that’s why he works out with a broken back!) – which itself has implications for your increased metabolism, increased ability to control your weight/burn calories more efficiently, and increased flexibility, just to name a few.
Like I said there is tons of information out there on all these benefits and I will share a few of them with you: Jason Seib has a lot of good information about CrossFit, Paleo, and the science behind the two. He can be found via Facebook as either Jason Seib, on Everyday Paleo, or EPLifeFit-they don’t have a Facebook page but it is a hybrid of Jason Seib and Sarah Fragroso who is the mastermind behind Everyday Paleo. Kelly Starrett is another name to become familiar with, he runs MobilityWOD at www.mobilitywod.com and has endless knowledge about flexibility and mobility issues. If you have further interest in the subject, let us know and we can get you more references!
