Published at 19:35, Thursday, 12 February 2009

I RECENTLY read an article in one of the national fitness magazines about the craze that has hit America, Crossfit.

The article looked at Crossfit as a fitness entity and the overwhelming result showed that Crossfit is intense but can be performed by anyone.

One of the guys who work for the magazine tried it out in the British version and explained how hard the session was. It also mentioned how one guy, an ex-marine, tried one of the Crossfit workouts and damaged his muscles because it was that intense.

You know your limitations so just use the weight you wish to start and build gradually.

The Crossfit coach in the article said you could come in as a four-minute mile runner and eventually with Crossfit you’ll run that bit slower but be that much fitter. He also stated that you might come in lifting 160kg on the bench press but after a period on Crossfit you might finding your lifting slightly less but with more reps.

Another contentious statement was that Crossfit has so much variety that all you’ll ever do is gain major strength.

Okay, so you aren’t necessarily performing bench presses all the time but you don’t need to do this in order to break personal bests.

After a break from isolated movements and gym environments I spent the majority of the time performing Crossfit-type workouts at home. In this time I was lifting less than the recommended weight.

In some cases I would consider alternatives because I found it impossible to perform handstand push-ups, especially with my weight.

I then went back to the gym and the first night I was back I thought I would see if I could lift the weights I used to and to my amazement I actually broke my personal best on every exercise performed.

Crossfit will blast your strength gains into orbit.

So why do I go against one of the most respected Crossfit coaches? Is it just because it worked for me? Well, no, not really.

Crossfit don’t use light weights, for a start. A 20kg bar isn’t light when you think you perform 21 reps with it. So in order to create good muscle and incredible strength you need to use a weight that will fatigue it while hitting the overall body.

Take Crossfit induction workout called Fran: 21-15-9 repetitions on barbell thrusters weighing 43kg and pull-ups. If you break this down you have performed an exercise known for improving fitness as well as strength and you have one of the most powerful bodyweight exercises going in pull-ups.

This will of course generate massive strength gains especially as you overload the muscles. More importantly it hits the lungs and heart which in turn allow you to lift more because they are capable of helping you do this.

Crossfit Angie, where you perform 100 pull-ups, 100 press-ups, 100 sit-ups and 100 squats, really does make a massive difference to your isolation exercises. Performing this workout twice a week will enable you to use your bodyweight to maintain prolonged strength; prolonged being that you can use your bodyweight to develop strength and I believe that if you can carry your bodyweight with ease then you generate massive core strength and functional strength.

Crossfit Linda is the daddy of all the workouts. If you are telling me that after six months of performing this once a week doesn’t create strength gains then stay at home. Crossfit Linda requires a 10-1 rep system and it involves three of the best exercise around.

Firstly you must deadlift one and a half times your bodyweight then bench press your bodyweight and finally clean three quarters of your bodyweight.

I admit I have yet to finish this. I generally only get to five reps and I’m dead to the world.

My advice is to start off on a lighter weight and work up. This has proven to be my favourite workout so far because it has everything.

Try the Crossfit workouts for at least three months and see if your strength gains improve. I feel they might.

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