If you want a complete workout that will help you achieve flexibility, agility, power, cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance, strength, coordination, speed and balance, that is CrossFit.

“It is a training system of functional exercises, constantly varied, executed at high intensity.”

CrossFit appeared in the United States thanks to Greg Glassman, who created a training that only police officers, soldiers and firefighters did, and adapted it so that everyone could do it. The workouts are functional exercises that are performed in a circular manner for periods of time in which there are breaks, each day they are different (WODs: Workout of the day) and you cannot get bored. Each day focuses on improving one of the physical abilities in which you will see how you improve day by day, and we will see the improvement of our well-being in a short time. Its worldwide success is due to the fact that it offers a non-monotonous way of exercising because its exercises are different every day and for all types of people, in addition to the fact that its results are seen very quickly. Added to all this, it can be confirmed that it creates a very positive and team atmosphere in the BOXes.

What is Cross Training for?

The training system helps us obtain better physical shape, and prepares our body to carry out any activity. It makes it easier for us to perform daily life tasks. We notice that it is less difficult for us to do everyday things such as climbing stairs, lifting heavy things, jumping, pushing, swimming,... Then there is the case of professional athletes who are looking for high-intensity training that allows them to prepare to perform their discipline. These are the 10 physical skills that we can improve with the CrossFit training system:

Cardiovascular/respiratory resistance.
Muscular resistance.
Force.
Flexibility.
Power.
Speed.
Coordination.
Agility.
Balance.
Precision.

Who is this type of training aimed at? Can everyone do it?

The CrossFit training system is aimed at both professional athletes and people who want to start the sport for the first time.

At any age, from children to older people, they can do training because they adapt to the abilities and needs of each person.

WODs (workouts of the day) are not rigid. You can change the intensity of the exercises or replace them with others to make it easier to adapt to your abilities or because you have an injury. What is clear is that a 6-year-old child will not do the WODs of a 20, 40 or 70-year-old person. It is about working on deficiencies to overcome them, not about pushing the body more than necessary. Each person follows their own rhythm in daily training with the aim of improving physical fitness and that is why there are different levels. In the case of professional athletes, the training is more intense with more specific objectives depending on the sport to which they dedicate themselves.

Differences between crossfit and functional training

Functional training and CrossFit may seem the same but they are not. It is true that both seek to achieve physical improvement, well-being and health, and that anyone can do them by adapting their abilities, but they also have differences, which are these:

CrossFit emerged to prepare police, military and firefighters from the United States. Functional training appeared as a method to rehabilitate people.
In CrossFit you do exercises from other sports or physical activities such as weightlifting, gymnastics, athletics,…. So that the 10 skills (Cardiovascular/Respiratory Endurance, Muscular Endurance, Strength, Flexibility, Power, Speed, Coordination, Agility, Balance and Precision) are improved with daily training. Functional training aims to improve multi-joint and multi-muscular movements, and develop mobility for everyday life or for another sport.
When starting to train in CrossFit, functional and varied high-intensity exercises are the basis. In functional training, the intensity and weight are gradually increased.
CrossFit, since it is performed at a high intensity, tends to have more injuries than with functional training. This only happens if you do not take the appropriate measures, it is very important to start little by little to achieve the highest quality in the movements and avoid unwanted injuries.
In CrossFit, exercises are done by time, unlike functional training.

What is a WOD in CrossFit?

The classification of WODs according to the NUMBER OF EXERCISES is:

Singlet 1 exercise.
Couplet 2 exercises.
Triplet 3 exercises.
Chipper 4 exercises or more.

Each exercise will be different from those done in the same series. Another classification of WODs is according to DURATION:

Sprints: 5 minutes or less.
Short: Between 6 minutes to 12 minutes.
Moderate: 13 minutes to 20 minutes.
Long: More than 20 minutes.

WODs do not last longer than 30 minutes.

How do CrossFit classes work?

The first days, and even weeks, the rookies are lost in the box. It is true that the concept of CrossFit itself is already complicated to understand and if we add strange materials and vocabulary in English, it does not help much. If you are going to start CrossFit soon, this is what you need to know:

The gym is called Box.
The coach is called Coach.
The class lasts one hour.
The class is divided into three or four parts:

Heating
Technique
strength work
WOD or exercise of the day

The day's exercise can be seen on the Box's blackboard.
All WODs are scalable, meaning there is a version adapted to all levels.
In addition to classes, you have free training hours called Open Box.
Be careful if you arrive late to the WOD or if you don't comply with the Box rules, you will be cast in the form of burpees (in general).
Burpees (a jump push-up) will be your worst nightmare.

What material is usually used to train CrossFit?

Here is a compilation of some of the most used CrossFit exercises and, at the same time, what materials we need to do them. Among the material that you will find in the Box, you will have:

A free space with a padded floor.
A metal rack or cage that you will use to perform gymnastics and weightlifting exercises.
Olympic bars, rubber and metal discs and closures (always use them to avoid scares).
There are three types of weightlifting bars: a 6kg one that is used in technical training (it will be your best friend at first), a 15kg one that is mainly used by girls, and a 20kg one that is used by boys.
Targets on the walls or on the rack to do Wall Balls (squats throwing a medicine ball).
Ropes and rings hanging from the ceiling.
Various materials such as medicine balls, slam balls, rubber bands, boxes, ab-mat, jump ropes , etc.
Machines: rowing machine, assault bike, skierg, treadmills, etc.

In barbell exercises, there are various types that differ in the way they are performed, in their complexity and in the way in which some muscles or others are worked with more intensity. Here are some of the most commonly done barbell exercises:

Pull up: Pull-ups
Chest to Bar: Chest to the bar, pull up making the chest literally touch the bar.
Toes to Bar: Feet to the bar.
Muscle up: Waist to bar

With the bars with weights you do the clean ones. The bar is carried from the floor to the shoulders. Cleans can also be done with sandbags. With kettlebells you can do squats, swings, twists or turns,... There are many exercises using kettlebells since it is a small material that allows you to strengthen many parts of the body. It is a very easy material to adapt to the exercises but they have to be done in the proper posture so that we do not have injuries. Squats It sounds more familiar to all of us than other exercises, but now a great variety has appeared that you may not know about. Some of the most popular are these:

Free squat (air squat)
Front squat
Back squat
Jump squat

In the front squat and back squat the bar is used. The difference is that it is placed in front on the front and behind on the rear. The front squat can also be done with dumbbells or kettlebells. Burpees are an exercise that requires no materials to do. It is an exercise that mixes free squats, jumps and push-ups. It is very complete and works many muscles in the body: legs, arms, glutes, chest, shoulder and abdominals. The plyometric box is mainly used to perform jumps (box jumps), but it can also be used as support for push-ups. . With the thick ropes the exercise called "battle ropes" is done, which consists of moving the ropes with force by making wave movements with them. If you want the rope to do jumps, use the jump rope. With the medicine ball we can perform, for example, throws, turns, push-ups and squats. These are some of the many CrossFit exercises that exist, and more that will be created since it is a sport that makes us discover new things to do every day.

Complementary material?

To avoid injuries and get the best performance in training, we recommend these sports supplements:

Grips are essential to protect the hands during exercises that involve friction with any type of bar or object used during training. Add magnesium if you still need more grip.
The wristbands will give you good support to do a very heavy lift and change the pressure. With the fabric wristband and the elastic wristband you will have the support you need, with the fabric ones being the ones that will allow you to make transitions from one exercise to another without having to take them off, simply loosening them with a slight movement.

You put on the elastic wristbands , well adjusted and close them with their velcro, and give it your all in the WOD without having to worry about them coming loose in any exercise.

The weighted belt, if you want to go further in strength training, is a necessary complement. You can tie rubber bands or a sled to its rear ring. It will help you go one step further in achieving your goals.
The lumbar belt is ideal for your heavier lifts because it gives you good support, but you should not abuse it for everything. You put it on those days when you plan to do exercises with more weight.
Weightlifting straps help you increase your grip with the bar. You transfer more force and can lift more kilos. They have padding on the wrists to improve your lifts.

You can also use them in other exercises such as deadlifts, barbell rows or pulls. It is to get one more step in your training, and continue motivating you to improve.

Knee pads give you stability and compression when doing squats or deadlifts. They are perfect for avoiding injuries to your knees when doing any exercise. They are also so comfortable that you can use them for all WODs.

And if you want the best knee pads, we recommend the Hex Tech knee pads that give you maximum support of the patellar tendon without limiting movement with extra protection for your bones. Impacts against the ground are distributed by its double layer. And when we go to train, something important is to choose the clothes you wear well because we have to be comfortable, easy to make movements, for our body to breathe and, if possible, to be pretty. Picsil t-shirts, sweatshirts and pants, in addition to being comfortable and soft to the touch, give you the style you deserve and help you feel like a top athlete.

What benefits does it have and why has it become so popular worldwide?

Crossfit gives us the possibility of improving our skills (cardiovascular/respiratory resistance, muscular resistance, Strength, Flexibility, Power, Speed, Coordination, Agility, Balance and Precision) which is the main part of doing this training and no other. It does not focus on looking more handsome or not, but on achieving better health. Physically, changes are quickly seen, and body weight is reduced, body fat is reduced, and lean mass is increased. And this is not all because it also provides psychological benefits. In short, we feel better about ourselves both internally and externally.

Crossfitter lexicon for beginners

We review the CrossFit words that you will read and hear in the box. If a month later everything still sounds Chinese to you, it's normal. Little by little you will get the hang of the slang.

WOD (Workout Of the Day): It is an exercise that changes every day so that neither your body nor your mind gets bored in class.
Box: gym where crossfit is done.
Rack: cage where gymnastic exercises are performed.
AMRAP (As Many Repetitions As Possible or all possible repetitions): exercise modality that consists of executing repetitions of movements continuously until the defined time runs out.
EMOM (Each Movement On the Minute or every minute, one movement): exercise modality that consists of executing repetitions of a movement in each minute over a defined time.
For Time: exercise modality that consists of performing the WOD until finishing it in the defined time.
Time Cap (cut time): time limit to perform the exercise in the chosen modality.
Clean & Jerk (two-step): A weightlifting movement that combines a floor-to-shoulder clean and an overhead clean and jerk.
Snatch: weightlifting movement that consists of lifting the bar above the head in a single movement and with a wide grip.
Dumbbell: dumbbells.
Box Jump: box jumps.
Deadlift (DL): deadlift.
Double Unders (DU): double jumps with rope.
Handstand Push Up (HSPU): handstand push-ups.
Over Head Squat (OHS): Squat with the barbell overhead
Kettlebell: kettlebell.
Squat: squat
Push Press: movement that consists of throwing the bar from the shoulders above the head (different from the jerk).
Thrusters: movement that consists of a squat with the bar on the shoulders and throwing it over the shoulders.
Push Up: flexion.
Pull Up: pull-up.
Muscle Up: pull-up by raising the body above the rack bar.
Knees to elbow: in the rack, raise your knees to your elbows.
Toes to bar: in the rack, raise your feet to the bar.