A neighbor of mine recently informed me of a new style of working out. It is called CrossFit. You are probably asking "What in the world is CrossFit?"
CrossFit:
"CrossFit is the principal strength and conditioning program for many police academies and tactical operations teams, military special operations units, champion martial artists, and hundreds of other elite and professional athletes worldwide.
Our program delivers a fitness that is, by design, broad, general, and inclusive. Our specialty is not specializing. Combat, survival, many sports, and life reward this kind of fitness and, on average, punish the specialist.
The CrossFit program is designed for universal scalability making it the perfect application for any committed individual regardless of experience. We’ve used our same routines for elderly individuals with heart disease and cage fighters one month out from televised bouts. We scale load and intensity; we don’t change programs."
They have a WOD (Workout of the Day) posted everyday, and include days of rest. The WOD is listed on the main page in the top of the middle column.
This looks to be a very fast paced and intense method of training (I am starting tomorrow after work, haha, I cannot wait).
While browsing through their message board, I found a 23 page pdf file compilation of all of the CrossFit exercises, found here Bodyweight Workout Resource v2.0 for those of you that would like to give it a whirl. Most of the exercises are "bodyweight" exercises (meaning no equipment required, or minimal like a pull-up bar, jump rope, or gymnast rings which I just ordered and cannot wait for them to arrive).
Also while researching CrossFit I came across RingTraining.com and TrainingRings.com. Ring Training is a designer and seller of gymnast rings for fitness, also the company I ordered from. There is another quality company, Rogue Fitness, that makes/sells rings, but they are all steel and not very portable. The EXF rings (pictured at the beginning of the post) from RingTraining.com are VERY portable and user friendly. They have 17.5 feet long straps, and an S-hook that allows you to use them with a closed door, not to mention the straps have measurements on them to aid in proper, and quick, setup. Oh, and they are made of the same material as bullet proof glass and riot shields, so they only weigh 3 pounds together with the straps, as opposed to the steel ones that weigh 3 pounds each plus the straps. Another bonus of the EXF rings is that after ordering, you are provided a link to a pdf file that is a 112 page book, Ring Training For Elite Fitness, written by Tyler Hass, the creator of these rings. The book goes into great detail, and provides ample photos, about how to do various basic and advanced exercises on the rings.
Per TrainingRings.com
Why we like ring training... in a nutshell
* Significant gains in upper body strength
* Excellent abdominal workout and improvements in core strength
* Novel training method that helps reduce boredom
* Improved posture
* A lifetime of challenges that is suitable for beginners and experts alike
* Almost works the entire body / the variety of exercises
* It can be a good plateau buster
* More natural movement that makes it kinder on the joints
* Its great for pull-ups, chin-ups and dips
* It’s fun!
I honestly believe that the combination of these workouts with any routine you are currently doing, or by themselves alone, would put your body on the path to a very healthy, and very fit, lifestyle. I plan to start tomorrow. When my rings come in I will give you a full review and photos.
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