At the San Francisco Plastic Surgery and Laser Center, Dr. Usha Rajagopal and staff always approve of finding ways to stay fit this summer! CrossFit in the Bay Area, and the world, has been taking over the fitness industry in the last couple of years and continues to thrive. If you’ve always wondered what CrossFit is, why not check out one of their worldwide competitions coming up? The next few weekends will show case the top twenty CrossFit athletes in every region around the world. The best three from each region will advance to the CrossFit Games finals, a three day competition held in Carson, California in July to find the fittest man and fittest woman in the entire world.
How do you define fitness by CrossFit standards?
Fitness is a combination of:
☑️ Cardiovascular/Respiratory Endurance
☑️ Stamina
☑️ Strength
☑️ Flexibility
☑️ Power
☑️ Coordination
☑️ Agility
☑️ Balance
☑️ Accuracy
CrossFit tests these general physical skills by using a combination of exercises including gymnastics, weightlifting and metabolic conditioning.
The CrossFit methodology is used to become better at performing daily tasks in life. This functional application of movement can make a 8 year old kid to an 80 year old grandmother fit by CrossFit standards, the physical attributes are only a bonus.
CrossFit by definition is constantly varied, functional movement performed at high intensity.
Functional movements are natural – these are movements performed by CrossFitters in the gym to mimic movement patterns outside of the gym. What’s functional about bicep curls? Nothing. It’s an isolation exercise with no real world application. An example of a functional movement seen regularly in CrossFit are squats – we’ve been squatting since we were babies and we squat to sit on a toilet, that’s just about as functional as you can get.
Now, what’s more difficult: jogging or sprinting 400 meters? Sprinting. High intensity means moving large loads, very long distances, very quickly. Imagine doing 100 pull-ups in 10 minutes, then 6 months from now doing 100 pull-ups in 7 minutes. More efficient work done in less time is the goal of CrossFit. This measurability allows athletes to track their progress and become better over time.
Constantly varied means that similar movements are combined in various ways to create fit athletes. CrossFit specializes in not specializing. Have you seen a power lifter walk up stairs completely out of breath or a marathon runner barely strong enough to pick up his backpack? CrossFit creates athletes who are strong enough to lift heavy loads with the best Olympic lifters and fit enough to run triathlons. CrossFitters are able to perform increased work capacity across broad time and modal domains. Don’t believe me? Purchase some spectator tickets for this years regional events or CrossFit Games and watch for yourself.
CrossFit Regionals
May 15-17: South & Atlantic Regions
May 22-24: California, East & Pacific Regions
May 29-31: West, Central & Meridian Regions
Buy Spectator Tickets: Games.CrossFit.com