Steven Petrov
The Paw Print
CrossFit is a training system, developed in the 90s in California. It incorporates different elements of running, jumping, gymnastics, and weightlifting. CrossFit is a sport, fitness, and obsession, but most of all it is a challenge to everyone who thinks they have what it takes to push beyond the word “impossible.”
In its basic definition, CrossFit is explained as a continuous series of functional movements performed at a high intensity level. Due to the incorporation of different running, jumping, squatting, and lifting exercises within each workout, this type of training helps a person gain well rounded, functional body strength, burn a lot of calories, and always stay in shape. Each workout is organized in a specific and distinctive way depending on the different goals of the people training. For example, I have personally seen and performed two completely different CrossFit workouts depending on the different times of the year and if I am pre, in, or after season. If I am in season and I am trying to get a good cardio session in with some moderate body weight exercises arranged in different sequences, or I am preparing for the new season and my goal is to become stronger, quicker, and of course rip, the benefits of the cardio aspect of the CrossFit workout, the types of the exercises vary as well as the intensity. The concept of CrossFit might be the same but in the first type of a workout the concentration is more on the speed, the reps and the intensity of each exercise, whereas in the other weight lifting routine varies more explosive exercises like Olympic weight lifting, jumping, single leg squats, bench press, pull ups, dips, weighted squat-jumps, and many other lower, upper, and core exercises are done as many times as possible one after the other for a period of 45-60 sec each with a 15-20 sec rest in between the exercises. As you can see, the concept is the same, but CrossFit can be modified in many different ways to be adequate for different sports or athletes with different goals.
After many different studies have been conducted, CrossFit is considered to be the most effective and if not the best cardio workout out there. The main reason for that is the fact that people usually burn between 10-15 calories per minute during a regular CrossFit workout. The reason why more and more people consider this type of routine as a challenge is embedded in the nature of the workouts themselves. You are required to push yourself to your absolute limits and even go beyond them each and every time. This is why the fact that you will be getting stronger will not reduce the level of intensity or make it easier for you during the workouts. You will still have to push as much as you can, and if you are stronger now than when you started, well good, then do 45 push ups for a minute instead of 15.
The main advantage of CrossFit ahead of other cardio routines is the fact that enables the people who are training to push their own limits, not comparing to other people. The calories that are being burned and the results that CrossFit brings don’t depend on the reps one does but rather on the effort that he or she delivers. No one cares if you can do only 10 sit ups and someone else can do 100, as long as both of the people put their maximum effort in the workout.
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