10 Fitness Skills That CrossFit Improves
Crossfit is a strength and conditioning system of overall physical conditioning that combines exercises from different disciplines, in an intense and continuous manner, to achieve a wide range of improvements.
CrossFit, a training method created a little more than two decades ago by the Californian trainer Greg Glassman, aims to improve overall fitness. This approach improves up to ten different physical conditions through variable workouts, guided by an expert trainer. In the boxes, as the CrossFit training area is called, various high-intensity functional movements are performed based on exercises from different disciplines such as weightlifting, athletics and gymnastics. All of them work on strength and muscle toning, which will increase your muscles' functionality.
Check out the physical capacities that you can improve with CrossFit.
1. Cardio-respiratory endurance
With high intensity, you can increase your heart rate and learn to control your breathing. However, before starting such a programme, make sure you are good cardiovascular health.
2. Speed
The more Crossfit sessions you do, the faster you will perform the exercises and the quicker you will walk and run.
3. Muscular endurance
Your body will store energy and build muscle as you work the muscles in your arms, legs, back, abdomen and chest, primarily through aerobic exercise.
4. Coordination
Crossfit can help you combine patterns in a set amount of time.
5. Strength
Your body will have more capacity to generate power in one muscle unit or several muscle units combined. This well-applied strength reduces the risk of injury.
6. Agility
You will take less and less time to perform one exercise or another. You will have more agility, reflected in your daily movements.
7. Flexibility
Those who have practised rhythmic gymnastics since childhood, for example, have developed flexibility, i.e. the ability to maximise the range of movement of a joint. If this is not your case, Crossfit can help you gradually extend your joints' range of motion.
8. Balance
Controlling the exercises in the boxes will help you balance your life. You will be able to ensure your body balance, whether you are jumping on a box or climbing steps quickly.
9. Power
CrossFit is not only about strength. It is also about applying it in the shortest possible time, i.e. adding more power.
10. Precision
Do you think you're clumsy? Do you bump into the corners of tables? Crossfit helps you to better control your movements and their intensity.
A variety of exercises
To develop all these physical capacities, performing a wide range of exercises, not just the classic push-ups or squats, will be necessary. Here are some examples.
Deadweight
This consists of squats while lifting weights with your arms fully stretched out.
Kettlebell swing
The squat is performed by lifting a weight with a handle, held with both hands and raised from the front of the body.
Wallball shot
This involves lifting a medicine ball against a wall after receiving it while doing a squat.
Pull-ups
Consists of doing push-ups while hanging by your hands from a fixed bar in a suspended position. This movement lifts your whole body.
Battle ropes
Heavy ropes are grabbed in both hands, and you try to move them to create waves or whips.
Burpees
After bending your knees, place your hands on the floor and extend your legs in a bent position. You return to the starting position quickly after doing a body raise.
Example Session
Warm-up. The first 10 minutes are for a general workout and later more specific to fasten the heart rate and avoid lesions.
Technique and strength. The following 15 minutes can be all about technical exercises to improve the movements and/or power. It all depends on the goal of the session.
High-Intensity. The leading 25 minutes are focused on high-intensity exercises. They are short and fast.
Stretching. The last 10 minutes are the return to calmness.
I hope you have enjoyed this piece of information and if you would like to know more about overall fitness and how you can achieve your health goals, send me a message!