Looking For Crossfit Workouts?
You have found the best place for crossfit workouts… Crossfit is the fastest exploding trend in the world of Fitness, now with millions of participants in North America and around the world. Insane workouts are the standard in CrossFit – you’ll be pushing your body to its limits in brand new ways as you take on amazing routines that are guaranteed to exhaust you and get you results. Here you’ll find a great overview of what CrossFit is, what principles it follows and how they work, as well as exercises and routines that you can do on your own, or by getting involved with a CrossFit gym. Welcome to a whole new world of personal fitness.
What is CrossFit Training?
CrossFit training incorporates a variety of principles from cardiovascular and weight training, as well as from fitness classes like Les Mills and others. The best description of CrossFit is: High-Intensity Aerobic Weight-Lifting. The concept of Crossfit is that most workouts are done for time – you’re trying to complete the workout as quickly as possible. The result is that you’ll get a great cardiovascular workout, and get strength training done at the same time. CrossFit workouts aren’t just weight training though – they can also include bodyweight exercises, running, swimming, and gymnastics. Another important feature of CrossFit is that the weight training exercises focus on power-lifting actions like jerks, snatches and squats, and typically exclude bodybuilding exercises like bicep curls.
Why Do CrossFit?
There are many reasons why people are doing CrossFit. Its new popularity has people excited about it, but it also gets amazing results for participants who are able to build muscle and gain strength while reducing fat at the same time. Another attractive aspect is the sense of comradery – CrossFit is often done in teams or groups and workouts are led by a coach. Folks love the support and encouragement that they get from their peers. Finally, the sport is very achievement-oriented. Individuals are always well-supported and encouraged to go home after each workout with a new personal best to celebrate. Many feel that this environment contrasts heavily with the intimidating and solitary atmosphere found at a typical gym.
What Does Crossfit Cost?
The entry barrier for getting started with CrossFit can vary heavily depending on what exactly you’re looking to do. Many of the bodyweight exercises like push-ups or burpees can be done for free, along with running and probably swimming if you’re close to some water. If you have space at home, in your basement or garage, you could invest in an Olympic bar with a set of weights that would allow you to get started on the majority of workouts that you’ll find in this article. The lowest up-front CrossFit Cost, however, is going to be joining a CrossFit gym. You’ll probably have a coach taking you through workouts at regular times along with another group of people at a similar level as you, so this will likely give you the best results and experience. Membership at a CrossFit gym could cost anywhere from $60 monthly to over $100 depending on the club and where you’re located.
Basic Crossfit Exercises:
Before jumping into CrossFit workouts, you’ll want to master some basic exercises to ensure that you avoid injury and get the best results. Fitness enthusiasts often criticize Crossfit because the emphasis on doing exercises quickly means that CrossFit athletes are less focused on form and therefore have a higher risk of injury. This is absolutely true, and it’s essential that you practice proper form and maintain it, even when going for your best time on a specific workout or exercise. Here are five exercises you’ll definitely want to master:
Snatch – This power-lifting exercise pops up in many CrossFit routines. It combines the deadlift and overhead press into one power movement that gets a weighted Olympic bar from the ground in front of you to over the head in a pressed position. The goal of a great snatch is to lift the bar from the ground to over the head in a continuous motion.
Squat – Squats are done both for power and for volume in CrossFit – and you’ll notice that experienced CrossFit athletes often have huge Quadriceps from doing plenty of these. Mastering your squat technique will help you add weight faster and avoid injury during your CrossFit workouts.
Clean and Press – This movement was judged in Olympic weightlifting up until 1972 but still pops up in CrossFit training today. The movement has two phases: First the bar is lifted from the ground powerfully by extending the hips, knees and ankles. The lifter then shrugs the trapezius, drops into a squat and rotates the hands around the bar so the elbows are extended in front of the body. This motion is called a Clean. Once the bar is sitting on the shoulders, the Press phase begins: the lifter bends the knees slightly to create spring in the legs and back, and propel the weight overhead with the help of the arms, like an overhead press.
Clean and Jerk – This movement incorporates the clean phase as described above but uses a jerk to get the weight overhead instead of a press. In a jerk, the lifter jerks the weight off of the deltoids, and then bends the knees to get under it, providing more stability and leverage. Most lifters go into a lunge with one leg forward and one backward while supporting the weight overhead and then return to standing to complete one repetition.
Bench Press – This popular exercise comes up frequently in CrossFit workouts and should definitely be mastered. It’s a compound exercise that works primarily the shoulders, chest and triceps, and with which most lifters are quite familiar.
You’ll also want to grab a book of basic bodyweight exercises. There are plenty to choose from and can really help if you’re not familiar with many of the variations on classic exercises like push-ups and crunches. CrossFit prioritizes strength and function over muscle building, so plenty of bodyweight exercises are used.
Crossfit Routines
A typical CrossFit routine has a strength component as well as a focus on cardiovascular training. Each workout is usually a circuit, a series of exercises done repeatedly and in order, and workouts are often recommended to be done as quickly and with as little rest as possible. That being said, workouts are also typically short and efficient. Instead of spending two hours in the gym getting the perfect burn on your triceps, CrossFit demands that you put in the maximum effort that you can for just ten or twenty minutes per workout in order to see results. Here are a few samples of CrossFit routines that will give you an idea of what a full plan would include:
For time:
135lb snatches – 50 reps
7 Rounds for time of:
Run 400m
21 walking lunges
15 pull-ups
9 burpees
5 Rounds for time of:
155lb clean and jerk, 7 reps
15 kettlebell swings (15lb)
4 rounds for time of:
Row 500m
155lb Overhead squat, 10 reps
As you can tell, these routines all prescribe intense work in as short a time as possible. You can also modify the weight to suit your own level. If you’re in a class at your local CrossFit gym, it’s common for half of the class will attempt the work-out at a time with everyone else watching and providing encouragement.
Crossfit workouts at home
Doing Crossfit workouts at home can be simple depending on what equipment you have access to. Regardless of whether you have a full weight set with an Olympic bar conveniently set up in your backyard, you can still do an amazing workout that applies the principles of CrossFit to give you great results in a short amount of time. When setting up your CrossFit workout at home, remember to incorporate the key principles that all CrossFit workouts follow:
- Complete the Workouts in as little time and with as little rest as possible.
- Work with High Intensity and incorporate multiple exercises.
- Include a strength training component as well as a cardiovascular training component
Following these principles, it’s easy to see how you can work on Crossfit at home. As a starting point, here are some great ideas for your cardio phase as well as your strength-training phase of your workout. You can mix and match from either column, but a good rule of thumb is to choose one primarily cardio exercise and one or two strength training exercises for your workout.
Cardio:
Run 400m (One lap of track)
Run 800m (Two laps of track)
Run 1600m (One mile)
Sprint 100m/200m
Row 300m
Row 500m
Swim 50m
Swim 100m
Swim 200m
Bodyweight Strength Training:
15 Push-ups
20 Crunches
8 Burpees
12 Pull-ups or Chin-ups
Wall Sit (1min)
8 Handstand Push-ups
20 Box Jumps
25 Walking Lunges
15 Bodyweight Squats
10 Bodyweight One-legged Squats
Now that you have a list of exercises, it’s easier than ever to set up your own CrossFit workout. Choose your cardio from the upper list and choose two strength training exercises from the lower list. Now you have your circuit set up and you can either repeat for a set number of rounds or challenge yourself to complete the circuit as many times as possible in ten, fifteen or twenty minutes. For best results, find a buddy who will do the workout with you and hold you accountable for giving your best effort throughout the entire time frame. CrossFit is meant to be done in a group because the encouragement helps you push through exhausting exercises. You can also modify the repetitions for each exercise if you’re looking for an added challenge.
CrossFit Workout of the Day:
This workout of the day list is going to give you several options for how you can start jumping into Crossfit workouts at home and really getting the results right away. The amazing thing about CrossFit is that you don’t ever have to do exactly the same workout twice. There are so many ways that you can mix and match your cardio training with strength and go for time or for repetitions that the repetitiveness of gym workouts is something you’re going to forget quickly. Below you’ll find a selection of amazing Crossfit workouts that are totally unique. You can adapt them to fit in with your own program, modify them with your preferred exercises that target areas where you’re looking to improve, or take them on and post your record times for everyone else to see.
CrossFit Workout of the Day List
10 Rounds for Time of:
5 handstand push-ups
10 one-legged squats (alternating)
15 chin-ups
Max. Repetitions in 10 minutes:
200m Shuttle Spring (50m there and back, twice)
10 push-ups
15 burpees
20 crunches
One round for Time of:
1 mile run
30 push-ups
20 jump-squats
20 walking lunges
1 mile run
For time:
20 one-legged squats (alternating) with two 20lb dumbbells
15 Clean-and-jerk (135lbs)
Wall Sit (90 seconds)
Five rounds of:
Row 500m
25 Bench Dips
10 Push-ups
Max circuits in 15min:
Swim 100m
25 Crunches
5 Rounds for time of:
155lb Back Squats (10 reps)
225lb Rack Pulls (6 reps)
400m Sprint
Rest 2 minutes
When going for record times, remember to still include adequate rest to ensure that you finish the workout. If you have to, actually write in the rest time into your workout plan to make sure that you take it. How much you need will depend on how heavy the workload is for that specific routine. When you’re going for the maximum number of circuits in a given time, remember to adjust the exercises to emphasize on the right thing. For example, if your workout is max reps in 15min, but it includes an 800m run, you’re probably going to spend the majority of the time running and your max repetitions will be limited by how fast you ran. Adjust your workout so you spend roughly equal times on cardio and strength and you’ll have the opportunity to improve both equally as you put up better and better times for each routine.
Now that you’re armed with a great variety of workout routines for CrossFit, it’s time to get out there and get started on your own. I would highly recommend joining a gym or getting a friend or a group together to help keep each other accountable and enjoy better results with crossfit workouts.