What is CrossFit?

     This is a question that has many meanings to many people. Often when asked what CrossFit is I answer with another question. "Do you have a half hour." It's not that CrossFit is necessarily hard to explain, it just sometimes takes a while for people to wrap their heads around what it is we do because it is not what we have been told for so many years . So here are some things that usually come out of my mouth while trying to explain what CrossFit is.
   
     GPP is usually the first. General Physical Preparedness is having the ability to tackle almost any physical task that might come your way. As military personnel this is a must. When we go to the sandbox, we have no idea what situation could arise at any given time. We might be called upon to move a crap load of weight from one place to another very quickly or we might even need to run for cover while avoiding various obstacles. Hell there might be a need to just run for any given amount of time. CrossFit is a program that will give you the ability to do all of the above and not just one of them. Lets take a power-lifter and a marathoner and put them in the above situations. The power-lifter might be able to move a lot of weight from one place to another, but ask him to run for 2 miles and I think you would get a blank stare. The marathoner might be able to run and avoid some obstacles or run for 10 miles, but ask him to move 100 lbs 50 ft and he might run the other direction. The point here is that we as CrossFitter's and military personnel should not specialize. We should try to be pretty good at all facets of fitness.
   
     Next I start going into our programming and what it entails. CONSTANTLY VARIED, FUNCTIONAL  MOVEMENTS, EXECUTED AT A HIGH INTENSITY. This is the backbone of CrossFit. Constantly varied: Everyday brings a different workout as well as every week. We do not do back and bi's the same day every week. Monotony is the bane of any workout program. However, there could be three days in a row with squats. One might be air squats, another might have some over head squats and the third could have some front squats. I promise, three days of squats will not make your legs fall off. Will you be sore, ahhh yeah, but you will walk again. Functional movements: When was the last time in the real world you ever picked something up while using a perfect dumbbell fly motion. If you said yesterday, you are a liar. Our bodies aren't meant to be used as a single unit. The best way to understand this is to think of our bodies as a symphony. If you sent every instrument off to practice in separate rooms and then on the day of the concert had them play together for the first time, they would probably kinda suck. They might be able to get some things right here and there, but for the most part they would not sound very good. Our bodies are the same way and isolation movements are the bringer of that suckfest of a concert. This is why CrossFit veers away from such movements and uses exercises that use more than one muscle at any given time. High Intensity: This is where improvement in fitness comes from. Running 3 miles three days a week at an 8 minute mile pace is not the key to great fitness. Really....it's not. Running 400 meters in under a minute 4 times with some rest in between will get you much closer to a goal of elite fitness. Intensity is derived from power and power comes from moving large loads great distances at a fast speed. What does this mean? It really doesn't matter, but it makes me sound smart. Work your ass off past that comfort zone you've always worked out in and you will see improvements in your fitness.

 DISCLAIMER: All this is good and well and will improve your fitness, however there is a set of rules that new CrossFitter's, and seasoned CrossFitter's for that matter, should follow. MECHANICS FIRST, THEN CONSISTENCY(consistency in the movements and in CrossFit) , FINALLY INTENSITY.  In that order please.

Also, as with any fitness program, please consult a licensed physician before starting any rigorous workout program. And, this will be rigorous. :)
                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                                    Mike D.