Crossfit: The CURE for the Common Workout
If you’re tired of the same old workout, you may be interested in learning about Crossfit. Crossfit, directed by Ray and Linda Anderson of Murrieta, is a local outdoor exercise group which offers a workout that is anything but common. Read on and discover the latest development in the world of fitness.
HT: What kinds of activities do you do at Crossfit?
Ray: Biking, running, swimming, rowing, lifting – we do all sorts of timed drills and activities. Everyone goes at their own pace and gets the activity done according to their level. We use dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells. We flip tires, swing sledgehammers; we use chains and sandbags. We fill PVC pipe with water and carry those around – that’s a pretty good one because the water sloshes and makes you use your muscles to keep it balanced. Listen, anything that isn’t tied down, we use it. I’m old school! Your workout shouldn’t be determined by some machine.
This is what makes it fun for people – we’re always doing different things. Oh! We also use big ropes! We have these 1.5 inch ropes and we do all kinds of movements with those. When you see our groups work out, you’ll just scratch your head and wonder what these people are doing.
HT: What’s the point of using all that in a workout?
Ray: We want to produce real world strength. We use a wide variety of functional movements executed at a high intensity to get the results. These movements are similar to what we do in every day life – they are just done in exercise form. So, our program is true to life; we get stronger in relation to the things we do every day.
HT: The idea being, if your exercise routine parallels the movements you need to do every day, then you’ll feel the benefits more directly throughout your day?
Ray: Exactly. Most people go to the gym and work on isolated muscles, like bodybuilders do. Unless you are trying to rehabilitate yourself from a specific injury, isolating muscle groups like that actually kills the kinetic chain in our bodies – the muscles don't learn to work together that way.
It does much more good to do exercises that force the muscles to work together – not in isolation – this is what makes us more functional in our day to day activities, because this is when we need our strength.
When you sit down at a machine for a workout, the machine determines the range of motion and how the muscles are used. But why aren’t we training according to the range of motion that practical living requires? The body is best when all of its parts work together, like any machine. We tell people that we don’t use machines – YOU are the machine!
HT: How intense is it?
Ray: We scale and modify all workouts to the fitness level of each participant. The workout is all about you – it’s not about anyone else in the group. We help people achieve a better level of fitness with each class. In 3 months, 6 months or a year, you’ll be amazed at the things you can do – that you never thought possible. There are people who couldn’t even do a couple of pushups who now can knock out 50 of them without any problem. It's that kind of personal achievement that is so powerful for people.
HT: No matter what level of fitness I’ve achieved, I’ve NEVER been able to do pull ups. Don't ask me why. Are you telling me that after a few months of Crossfit that I’ll be able to knock out 20 pull ups no problem??
Ray: You better believe it! We do a full assessment on everyone who comes in here. I don’t care if you’re an elite athlete or a grandma whose never done a day of fitness in her life. I do a full assessment and find out what you can and can’t do. From there, you’ll be amazed at the progress you make – and it starts scaled down to wherever you’re at now. I have seniors out there doing modified pull ups and getting stronger.
Remember, this is all about you – wherever you’re at right now. And we can take you wherever you are to whatever level of fitness you want.
Everybody here is considered an athlete. We don't call people clients. An athlete is someone who is trained in strength, power, balance, agility, flexibility and endurance. Crossfit is the sport of fitness…and we are the athletes.
HT: How do you get people to stick with a program once they start?
Ray: The number one complaint we get from people who go to gyms is that they are bored. It’s the same thing over and over again – there’s no variety. You are never bored with the Crossfit workout. Every day there is something different; new activities and new challenges. People love it because they don’t get bored - it’s easy to stick with the program and you get a full body workout every single time. We have to tell people to limit the attendance to three days a week so their body can recover – it’s very addicting.
We have atmosphere of camaraderie. There’s no egos or attitudes. Everyone helps each other out.
