What's CrossFit, the new buzz word in individual fitness?

Philadelphia, Pa- Many of you city-dwellers have heard about one of the newest fitness fads in recent years- CrossFit. While CrossFit is big in Philadelphia and other cities in the U.S., I haven’t seen it expanding into the suburbs yet (although it only seems a matter of time). Several of my friends are CrossFit members, and I will warn you- they certainly drink the kool aid. However, in a nice preview for CrossFit Novem owner Lesha Meyer’s interview next week, here is some background information on the CrossFit phenomena and why it’s good for all types of athletes (this article focuses specifically on tri-athletes). Happy reading!

How CrossFit Can Benefit Tri-Athletes, by Nathan Helming for Active.com

These days, CrossFit has gained national attention with its explosive growth of affiliate gyms, the members who attend them and the recent exposure of the Crossfit Games on ESPN. With this attention comes both enthusiasts who praise the program and the skeptic who questions its safety and efficacy.

When done correctly, CrossFit can be fun, invigorating and intelligent strength and conditioning program that can  help get athletes over a frustrating plateau of persistent injury and stale performance and onto a new upward athletic trajectory.

Here are five things a good CrossFit program can add to your triathalon training to help make you a strong, faster and healthier athlete.

1.       Crossfit teaches proper body mechanics

Most endurance athletes look for either a decrease in injury or an increase in performance when heading to the gym. CrossFit programs start with an intensive series of sessions that teach you how to do basic movements like the squat, deadlift, press, jump/land and Olympic effectively. These movements are all very technical and, while there is a learning curve, they challenge the athletes’s coordination and motor control. With feedback from the coach, these technical movements teach athletes how to move better and improve shoulder, hip and knee mechanics.

2.       Crossfit identifies athletic weakness and imbalance and provides tools to address them

If you struggle with basic swim, bike  and run mechanics, chances are you also struggle to maintain good posture in CrossFit’s basic movements: the squat, dead lift and pushup. A knowledgeable coach can watch the movements you perform and use them as a screening tool to assess your strength, muscle flexibility and joint mobility.

For example, if your elbows flare out in the push-up or you have difficulty maintaining a strong neutral plank position, the coach knows you lack mid line stability (core strength) and shoulder stability. Without meeting these basic demands, you will struggle to reach your full potential as an athlete.

3.    CrossFit builds greater strength, power, agility and speed

Mobility and flexibility are not the only limiters. Endurance athletes often lack top-end speed, strength and power output. Marathoners and Ironman-distance athletes come to mind here. Too much time spent going long and slow leads to an athlete that can only go one speed: long and slow. At CrossFit, athletes learn to incorporate strength and gymnastic skills into their workouts. They jump, spring and develop power they previously thought impossible. Time and time again, we have seen these new abilities translate to increased athletic performance.

4.       CrossFit develops and builds true functional strengths

Many strength programs promote sport specific and functional strength movements for endurance athletes. While these movements sound great, many of them involve overly complicated exercises that ironically lack true substance. Functional strength does not need to be sport specific. It should focus on building your general physical capacity with multi-joint movements that you already do day-to-day. With an improved ability to pull, push, squat, dead lift, jump and even throw, you will approach your sport with greater levels of strength, power, body awareness and confidence.

5.       CrossFit develops skills that transfer to our specific sports

Too often endurance athletes are disconnected between the brain and the body. You do sit-ups and crunches but stand hunched over and over-extended in the low back. You probably even run and swim with poor posture. At CrossFit, functional exercises can and should contribute to better swimming, biking and running. Your understanding of mechanics will enhance your sport specific output. Find a qualified gym, with a good coach and discover first-hand how CrossFit can intelligently elevate your game as an endurance athlete.