After catching up on emails and blogging stuff last night, I realized that I haven’t posted much about CrossFit (CF) and my workouts lately. I seem to always talk about health, wellness and mommyhood, but I have been missing out on the “Fit” part of Fit ‘n’ Well Mommy. I workout, doing CF five days a week and yet, I find myself rarely mentioning it. Since working out is so much a part of my daily routine like brushing my teeth, I almost forget about it in way. Don’t worry, I’m not going to change my blog to only talking about CF, but after hearing from some of you who are interested in my workouts, I thought I would start including them more into my posts.
You’ve probably seen this before. I love it, because it’s so true!
With that being said, this week’s Thursday Tidbits is a follow-up from a previous post about CF that I wrote a few months ago. I’ve received a few questions on how to do CrossFit workouts at home because joining a box (CF lingo for gym) is too expensive, what type of equipment does someone need and where to find the workouts.
Since we are moving into our new house next weekend, my husband and I are going to miss our box tremendously, as there isn’t a local one near our house. We have been lucky because our current box, CrossFit Gold, is only 10 minutes away from our current home. To continue doing CF, we are going to build a gym in our garage. I’m excited because it will be nice to train at home and at anytime that we want. But, it is also going to be an adjustment, as my husband and I are used to working out in a class setting and having the camaraderie of other fellow athletes. We will both have to challenge ourselves to continue pushing as hard as we do when working out in a group setting.
Me at a local competition last December.
Creating our “garage gym” it is going to take a couple of months to put everything together and gather all of our equipment, so in the meantime (after next Saturday), I will be programming weekly WODs (CF lingo for workout of the day) that we can easily do at home with minimal equipment, using mostly our own body weight. I’m up for the challenge, as I love to create at home or travel WODs when we are on vacation, but doing them 4-5 days a week for a couple of months without barbells, pull ups or wall balls is going to be interesting…
Me doing kipping pull ups during a WOD.
How do you do CrossFit at home without much (or any) equipment?
CF is all about functional movement, moves that we do in our daily life, everyday, such as a bending over to pick up a a heavy box (ie. deadlift), squatting down to play with your children (squats) and putting groceries away on the top shelf of your kitchen cabinet (strict press). Doing these movements in a workout does’t require anything, just a little space in your home or backyard. To get started, you can familiarize yourself with many of the movements and workouts on the actual CF site. They also post a daily WOD that you can follow (though many require equipment), but they also have a page with a ton of CF workouts that you can do at home, all using only your body weight. You can also check out all of my CrossFit Home or Travel WODs.
Also, the whole mission of CF is lifting large loads over long distances in a short amount of time. Apply this to your workouts using only your body weight. A typical WOD is usually a 12-15 min AMRAP (as many reps or rounds as possible in that time frame) of 3-4 movements with a set amount of reps. For example, 25 push ups, 35 sit ups and 45 burpees. By going as fast as you can and taking minimal breaks, I can guarantee you will get a great workout. You will most likely feel more winded than you would if going for a jog for 30 minutes…the beauty of CF! The WODs are intense and typically less than 30 minutes, and you receive the same results as doing a “traditional” workout of more than an hour!
What kind of equipment do you need to get started?
Hardly anything at all. Think about all of the body weight exercises you can easily do without any equipment, i.e. push ups, squats, lunges, jump squats, jumping alternating leg lunges, sit ups, burpees, cartwheels, forward rolls, sprinting, jumping jacks, jumping rope, double unders, etc. If you want to have more of a challenge and be able to switch things up a bit without building a home gym, then you only need a few essentials: a good jump rope, preferably a speed rope, an abmat, a couple of dumbells (10-25 pounds, depending on strength) and a kettle bell, costing you roughly $135.00, not too bad (especially, since joining a box costs approximately $130 a month).
Is it better to join a box to learn the basics first?
Learning from someone who is experienced and certified in CF is always a great way to get started. You will learn the movements, what it is all about, proper form and technique. Also, working out with other people is always more fun! However, if you don’t have access to a box, you can always learn it on your own, either from the CF site, getting a book, my blog or others who CF. If you do decide to join a box, make sure it is a credible one with certified coaches who have been doing it for a while, and better yet, have athletes who compete in the sport. There are so many boxes popping up everywhere because they want to jump on the bandwagon to make money, but they don’t necessarily know what they are doing.
For those who are doing CF or who have tried it, I’m sure you will appreciate this…
Well, I hope I didn’t bore you too much and this was helpful for those thinking about starting CF, who might have otherwise been too intimidated to try it. It’s time for me to head to CF and tackle another grueling WOD in this awful heat!
Questions:
Have you tried CrossFit?
What are your thoughts about CrossFit?
What is your favorite way to workout?
I’ve tried some CrossFit workouts on my own, but I’ve never done any in a gym and wish I could. I think CrossFit is amazing!!
I am hooked and really can’t think about doing any other training! Hope you can try a WOD in a gym sometime; you would love it!
Love this post! I am definitely interested in incorporating WODs into my own training plan, but I’ll be doing them in my regular gym.
I love that you point out you can get most of the equipment for the cost of a monthly membership! That’s pretty cool 🙂
Thanks! Yes, it is actually inexpensive to do CF at home. When you start “building” a garage gym, then it starts getting expensive with barbells, plates, med balls. I look forward to reading more about how you like CrossFit as you start incorporating it into your training!
I’ve been trying to work up the courage to try cross-fit for awhile now – I’m just going to force myself to do it later this summer.
My younger brother and his wife both do cross-fit and they built their own set-up in their garage (sounds like what y”all have planned) – I know they love it!!!
Good luck with the move.
Ooh, you will love it! It may seem intimidating at first, but you can scale it to any level. Everyone’s first WOD is always rough, but you will want to come back for more! I look forward to hearing all about it!
It is interesting that you stumbled upon my site and in turn I stumbled upon yours. I have been seriously contemplating CF over the last year, but am having hard time feeling like I can actually incorporate it in my life. I love your motivational attitude toward it and you have me thinking pretty serious about joining our local CF gym.
Awesome! I’m glad I could help, too! I love CrossFit, though I don’t consider myself to be someone who has “drunk the Kool-Aid” so-to-say. The workouts are anywhere but easy (but, they keep you coming back for more!) and the camaraderie from your fellow athletes is amazing! I hope you try it!