First of all, I decided to branch out last night by heading to a Crossfit-inspired bootcamp at my 24Hour Fitness! I suggested the idea to Cindy (in place of our scheduled run) and she was down for it. I’ve been thinking lately that while I am healthy, I am becoming a little bit lopsided in terms of my physical fitness. I am so focused on my marathon training that I really haven’t been doing a lot else besides running and cardio (like hiking). Yes, I understand running is an important aspect of training, but I strongly believe cross training and strength training will help me overall.
Besides, I seriously have no muscles and am pretty over having scrawny chicken arms. So there is that.
Anyway, we showed up at the gym and it turns out that this bootcamp was outside, which made me happy! Additionally, the trainer had set up a circuit that included a few strength training moves that were inspired from the Crossfit world.
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| This is what a hot mess looks like, post-workout 🙂 |
Now, I’m sure y’all have heard of Crossfit by now, because honestly, who hasn’t? I’ve dabbled in Crossfit workouts on my own here and there, but I’ve never been to a box. I watched the Crossfit Games this past weekend (like the rest of America!) and I am totally intrigued. However, when I checked with boxes in my neighborhood, I realized it’s upwards of $200/month to belong (Thanks you, Boulder/North Denver prices!) I love staying active …. but I don’t love it enough to spend $200/month. As much as I’d like to try out going to a box, I just can’t justify that much money, especially when my regular gym membership is only $30/month. Usually, I don’t like to say that something is “just about that money,” but in this case… it kind of is.Â
Moving right along!
So basically, I really enjoyed this workout! They combined moves such as power snatches, fireman carries, box jumps, and sledgehammer swings into a circuit workout. The trainer would alternate between 20 seconds of the station with a 10 second rest or 40 seconds of work with 20 seconds of rest.
And you know what else I realized? I have the left arm agility of a newborn! I tried to alternate my sledgehammer swings, doing the first set with my right arm and the second set with my left, but it was struggle. I couldn’t even figure out how to hold the damn sledgehammer in my left hand, let alone swing it like I knew what I was doing. So that was special.
To top off an already-wonderful evening, I came home, totally high on workout adrenaline, to find a glorious box at my front door:
Approach shoes, climbing shoes, and some shirts! Thanks to Five Ten for the climbing gear–so excited to get back on the rock and remember how to use this stuff 🙂
30 Comments
You have 100% inspired me to GIT BACK TO LEAD CLIMBING.
For that I thank you.
Do it! I’m excited to get back into it, too. I wouldn’t dare lead now!
I’ve never done crossfit, but Rock climbing regularly. I find the training I need is climbing, running, climbing some more, light weight lifting after climbing for burning out, working my core (steep climbing in gym cave)… And more climbing
So…..are you saying you climb a lot?! 😉
cross fit is fun 🙂 i like that it mixes it up..sometimes the workouts are even long either but SO HARD. it’s my kinda workout!
ive not done cross fit per say but yet ironically have swung sledgehammer doing demo work, have moved big a$$ tires on another job and done everything that crossfit is about but not in the cross fit sense of the word but things I did at work! lol
“Functional fitness” at its finest!
[I’m going to stop lurking since it’s been a few months since I realized you were blogging again after the big trip and I read pretty regularly!]
I’ve been training for a 10 mile race and totally have felt lopsided in terms of conditioning – I tried to do some push ups the other day and was completely demoralized. My back has also been really sore while running because I stopped doing core work when I was too sweaty after my runs and just needed to shower. I’m trying to work more pilates and strength moves in at other times in addition to the running. Crossfit is way too expensive for me though!
Hiiiiiii! Glad you are not lurking anymore 🙂 Which 10 miler are you doing?
I am completely lopsided, especially the last two weeks. It is all running all the time. I need to get better about that. I have never done any of the workouts at a gym but have tried them at home. They are pretty intense but I do get worried I am gonna hurt myself. Would probably be better to do it at a gym where someone could watch my form.
Good for you for trying something new! I agree, with running, we tend to let other things slide. I do weight train but nothing super intense and I know I should shake it up. Anyhow, I’ve done cross fit twice while at the shore on vacation and I loved it! We have a box near here, but I’m kind of like you–not sure I want to shell out the money for it. We already belong to our local gym system so adding on might be a bit much!
Though I know you know my opinion about CrossFit, I think that’s a huge, huge reason not to try movements like power snatches on your own, i.e. doing CrossFit workouts in a regular gym by yourself. CrossFit and oly lifting aren’t dangerous if you have proper coaching. If you have someone showing you how to do the movements correctly, and you practice them correctly under expert guise, you’re a lot less likely to get hurt. It’s also important to know your limits. Most of the people I’ve known who have been injured were using a weight that was too heavy for them, and doing multiple repetitions for time with a weight that’s too heavy is a recipe for disaster!
And yeah, $200 sounds like a lot, yeesh! My box is $180/month for unlimited, and it drops more if you sign up for months at a time. $200 and up seems atypical.
Agreed! I’m lucky in the sense that both Cindy and her personal trainer at the gym are trained in the lifting stuff so they help me a lot. Cindy would beat on me if I did it wrong 🙂 Last night, I just had a bar with 10lbs on each side (total weight of 20lbs) for the power snatches. It was waaaaaaaay too light but that is such a tricky move for me that we wanted to make sure I learned the motion before trying to up any weight!
I havent’t been to cross fit for the same reason-price. But, now that I live in Laramie, it is also because well there isn’t much here, especially a box. But, I do enjoy my bootcamp/weights class at the gym. It is easy to show up and have someone else show you. I used to rock climb a ton in college, then mountain biking took over. I keep telling Josh how we need to get back into it. Especially since we have world class climbing all around us. Really, no excuse. Enjoy your new fun gear!
I am so excited for you to get back into climbing! Now when I come visit you, we can head up to the Flat Irons and do some bouldering. 🙂 – Speaking of which, I SERIOUSLY need to figure out a way to get my rear end back in the Rockies.
You totally should! We’re heading to Moab early Fall for an MTB trip and I was planning on having Gina and Steve meet us. If y’all can make it out, you can go climbing at Wall Street or something!
I went for about 3 weeks, but then blew out my shoulder playing rugby.
It was ugly I was by far the weakest one there. I am so unbalanced – can run a marathon, but not do a single pushup. I’d love to go back and change that! Until then I have started mixing some cross fit inspired moves into my new marathon training plan.
DAaaanngg! And I thought my gym was expensive!!! One of my friends and her husband live Crossfit….I think the Insanity DVD’s we have at home is a difficult enough task for me to tackle right now….Plus Crossfit gyms don’t offer other stuff like Yoga and Spin, so I feel like it’s limiting.
I would love to climb!!! Haven’t the slightest clue what to do though.
I do like the variety at my gym, but I’m especially psyched they’re doing this type of stuff now– that was WAY BETTER than just lifting weights in a Body Pump class for sure! Makes me definitely understand the allure of Crossfit 🙂
Having done gymnastics for more than 15 years, Crossfit is very appealing to me because of the intensity and variety of the workouts. With that said, nearly every single professional I know that works in the health & fitness world is firmly against it. My trainer’s (who is a certified personal trainer and has multiple degrees in Exercise Science etc.) point is that anyone can teach Crossfit with little to no background in health or fitness which can be dangerous for the participants. In addition, I cannot afford it either! It would be nice to supplement running/endurance training with more strength, but being inside in the summer is such a challenge!
I feel very strongly about this as a future PT. I think Cross Fit is great, but like Stephanie said above, many of the people teaching the classes don’t know how to instruct you to do things with the proper form. The movements are so explosive, which is a great work out for sure, but if you have the wrong posture you can easily tear something.
and its really effing expensive and lord knows my grad school budget cant handle that.
Like Katie mentioned above, it is definitely crucial to do things the right way and some people forget that I think and they’re all about the speed. Luckily, I’m not speedy at anything so I have plenty of time to practice my form 🙂
PS LET’S GO CLIMBING!
I am completely immersed in crossfit right now. I hope your “inspired” trainer was certified…poor form taught by poor teachers gives CrossFit a bad rap. As for North denver…I think $200 is just greedy. There is a lot to be said for group training and the community it fosters but COME ON! I pay $125 and think $7 a class is worth it. BUT I usually only have 7-10 people in class. I see these Crossgit gyms getting just as big as 24 hour fitness and I hate it. I say do what works best for you, but the group training is my favorite!!
What was the name of the class at 24? I’m curious to see if the two that I go to have it.
Love CrossFit. Fortunately, going to a box in the Chicago Suburbs is cheaper than by you. Ouch! I love climbing too, but am abysmal at it, so I have to keep working, working working.
nice workout! I wish they had this class at my 24 hour. Gonna need to double check. Feeling a little sore today?
I know what you mean about the box price. Its why I haven’t gone either (although it will be a biz tax write off 😉 ). So I signed up for the Spartan Daily email WODs and have been happily pounding them out at home.
I would love to try CrossFit but I think that I would be horrible at it. I’m a weakling…I only succeed in running! I’ve never been rock climbing but would love to try it…I’m not too scared of heights…at least I don’t think I am lol!
I’ve looked into CrossFit too, but a) it’s expensive and b) I’m not sold that it’s great for your body if you go every day…sooo I’m going to hold out for now 🙂 I like the workouts once in a while though!!
Crossfit maybe could have intrigued me but it sounds way too much like a cult for me to ever try it. People who do it talk way too much about it, so I don’t want to turn into one of them and annoy people. I do really appreciate them naming their gyms boxes though, because that brings me so many that’s what she said jokes and amusement. I’d love to try rock climbing!
If it makes you feel any better the boxes in SW Denver are around $200/month too. I don’t even have a cheapo gym membership so you can guess why I’m not into the crossfit thing. Well, the money and the fact I am not a fan of boot camp/HIIT-like moves for my entire workout. I like the slow pain of running, not the trembling legs of lifting…
And what the heck are approach shoes?! {I’m of to Google…}