CrossFit is a strength and conditioning program that is used by many police, tactical operations teams, the military and professional athletes around the world. CrossFit describes its program as "constantly varied, high intensity, functional movement." Types of activities range from lifting sand bags to jumping rope and gymnastics to kettlebells.
CrossFit combines strength training, explosive plyometrics, speed training, body weight exercises, Olympic and power lifting, and endurance exercises. CrossFit targets cardiorespiratory fitness, stamina, muscular strength and endurance, power, flexibility, speed, balance, agility, coordination and accuracy. Training requires you to workout 3-5 times a week. The workouts are short, but very intense. The exercises are usually done in a circuit format and involve the whole body.
There are CrossFit games that have been held for several years, with participation increasing rapidly with the program's spread of popularity. The CrossFit games are used to determine who is "The Fittest on Earth." The games include men and women each person that comes in first place gets $250,000. In these games, athletes learn the workouts only a few hours before and sometimes surprise elements are thrown in. The games are composed of a broad range of functional movements.
The CrossFit program or CrossFit-style classes are offered at many gyms. So if you are healthy and can endure a grueling workout, see what the CrossFit craze it all about!
Sources:
Esco, Michael PhD, HFS, CSCS. "CrossFit Review." WebMD. WebMD, n.d. Web. 02 Sept. 2012. http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/crossfit-review.
www.crossfit.com
