What Is CrossFit Training? How Is It Beneficial?

Physical training or specifically interval training is just as important as watching what you eat in the fitness world. It doesn’t matter if you’re trying to get fit or stay fit; a healthy diet is only one side of the coin. Now, there are tons of training regimens out there. But, the biggest training regimen of them all is CrossFit.You can also try muscle building supplements & mass gainer if you are really serious about fitness. 

More than seven thousand gyms are offering CrossFit, and those are just the stats from the US. Since its establishment in 2000, CrossFit has become a worldwide phenomenon, with the brand saying that its workouts benefit everyone. 

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Whether you’re a jacked-up college student or a business owner rocking a dad bod, CrossFit training will put all your muscles to work. But, before we get into the actual workouts, let’s get the definitions and technical jargon out of the way. 

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What is CrossFit Training?

CrossFit workouts contain a selection of functional movements you must complete in a certain time. Depending on the exercise type, you might have to keep repeating the exercises until you do a certain number of sets. The cool thing is that these functional movements, like squats, burpees, etc., are movements you use daily. 

Some exercises like pull-ups need you to use weights or other equipment. However, for the most part, you can do all of these workouts with minimal equipment. The website also has a workout of the day, WOD, that you can see on the official CrossFit website. Everyone has to complete this workout on the same day. 

The CrossFit Lingo

Once you dive into CrossFit training, you’re bound to see plenty of acronyms and terms, with no idea of what they mean. But that’s something we can help with. Here’s a list of the basic terms you’ll hear during training. 

• WOD – Workout of the Day
• Box – A CrossFit gym where they have all the equipment you’ll need for the WOD.
• PR – Personal Record
• SQ – Squat
• Ladder – An exercise routine where you increase the number of reps by one after each set.
• AMRAP – As Many Reps as Possible. It’s a part of the routine where you set the time instead of the reps. So, if you set the time at five minutes, you’ll do as many reps as possible during five minutes.
• EMOM – Every Minute on the Minute. You set the number of reps that you’ll do in a minute. After you have reached that number, the remaining time of that minute is your recovery time. 

CrossFit for Beginners

If you’re just starting out with CrossFit, it might not be a good idea to jump straight into the advanced WODs. However, you can try the beginner version of those WODs. Now, there are tons of exercises in these workouts, but you can start with learning the following movements:

• Barbell Squats

Squats are one of the most beneficial exercises out there. They help build your core and increase flexibility. Furthermore, they increase the strength of your muscles, joints, and tendons. 

You’ve probably done the basic squat already. The barbell squat is a bit more difficult because you have to manage the weight of the barbell while doing the squats. There are two types of barbell squats, and this is how they’re done:

1. Front Squat: Before starting, place the bar on your neck just above the collarbone. Raise your elbows as high as possible, so the bar rests on your shoulders. 
   1. You will breathe in to engage your core and pull your shoulder blades back. 
   2. After that, you will push your hips back and start to sit while pushing your knees out. You continue going down till your thighs are parallel with the ground. 
   3. Lastly, stand back up by pushing your midfoot against the ground. That will help you engage your glutes and quads to help you stand up.
2. Back Squat: You will place the bar behind your neck during the back squat, so the bar is on your upper back.
   1. Place your feet at shoulder width. Tighten the muscles of your upper body and assume an upright posture.
   2. Move your hips and knees together to lower yourself while keeping your upper body upright. 
   3. Once you’re completely down, stand as fast as you can while keeping your upper body’s position. 

• Burpee

Burpees are great for building your strength, and the best part is that you don’t need any equipment. Here’s what you’ll do.

1. Place your feet at shoulder width distance while keeping your hands at the sides. Your weight should be on your heels. 
2. Lower your body into a squat. Put your hands on the ground and shift your weight towards your hands. 
3. Jump back to form a plank. Your body should be straight in this position. 
4. Jump forward and put your hands up in the air. Jump up as hard as you can and repeat the entire process. 

• The Deadlift

The deadlift is a weightlifting technique. During this exercise, you will lift a loaded barbell off the ground by bending down and then standing completely upright. 

1. Place your hands on the bar and raise it to your mid-thighs. You need to tighten your core while doing this exercise. 
2. Once you’re upright, bend your knees while moving your hips back. Lower yourself to the bottom and then start again. Do not arch your back at any point during the exercise. 

• The Bench Press

The bench press is great for improving upper body strength. You can even do the exercise while lying on the ground. 

1. Lay back on the bench and place your hands on the bar. Your hands should be just a little more than should width apart. 
2. Extend your shoulders and keep the bar above your chest. Your shoulders should be touching the bench. 
3. Bring the bar down by bringing your elbows closer to your hips. Your forearms should be vertical.
4. Bring the bar down to your chest and extend your arms to start again. 

• Pull Up

Another upper body exercise, pull-ups, engage your back, shoulders, arms, and chest. You can do this anywhere if you have something to hang from.

1. Start by placing your hands on the bar just a little more than shoulder-width apart. Maintain a full grip, and your palms should be down. 
2. Hang with your arms extended over your head. 
3. Pull yourself up until your chin is above the bar. 
4. Lower yourself til your arms are fully extended, and keep repeating. 

Best CrossFit Girl WODs

Currently, there are forty-six Girl WODs on the CrossFit website. Most of these are named after girls. Apparently, Greg Glassname used the same formula weather stations used to name storms. We have picked out the best CrossFit workouts for you. These are:

• Helen

One of the original Crossfit WODs, the Helen workout is a benchmark used to check athletes’ progress. The workout consists of three rounds. Each round has a :

• 400m run
• 21 kettle-ball swings
• 12 pull-ups

This WOD is time-based, so your goal is to complete everything as soon as possible. Advanced athletes can complete this workout in seven minutes. However, you must carefully pace the runs because it’s a sprint.

• Fran

Another benchmark WOD, the Fran, tests the athlete’s speed and endurance. This workout has three rounds too. 

• First round – 21 thrusters and 21 pull-ups
• Second round – 15 thrusters and 15 pull-ups
• Third round – 9 thrusters and 9 pull-ups

Athletes need to finish the workout as fast as possible. The elite athletes can do the entire thing in three minutes. The weight for thrusters is 95 lb and 65 lb for men and women, respectively. 

• Grace

Also known as Amazing Grace, this WOD tests the athlete’s speed, endurance, and strength. During this workout, the athlete has to complete thirty clean-and-jerks as soon as possible. The required weight is 135 lb for men and 95 lb for women. 

There’s only one workout, so it seems simple. However, this exercise is one of the hardest and most physically demanding.  

• Jackie

Jackie is designed to test your strength and endurance. It’s a ‘for time’ workout, so you must complete everything as soon as possible. The WOD consists of:

• 1000m row
• 50 thrusters
• 30 pull-ups

The weight for thrusters is 43 lb and 35 lb for men and women, respectively. 

• Karen

The Karen is one of the newer WODs. It’s designed to test an athlete’s endurance. For Karen, athletes have to complete 150 wall ball shots. The ball should weigh 20 lb for the men and 14 lb for the women. Elite players can do all 150 shots in under five minutes. 

At first, the WOD seems easy since wall ball shots aren’t that complicated. You just have to throw the ball at a target ten feet above you. Then, you complete a full squat after catching the ball and repeat everything. However, this WOD’s difficulty lies in the sheer number of repetitions.  

• Annie

Another Crossfit Girl WOD is the time-based Annie. The workout is a combination of sit-ups and skipping. The workout has five rounds. Each round has:

• Round 1 – 50 double-unders and sit-ups
• Round 2 – 40 double-unders and sit-ups
• Round 3 – 30 double-unders and sit-ups
• Round 4 – 20 double-unders and sit-ups
• Round 5 – 10 double-unders and sit-ups

On the surface, the exercise is relatively simple. However, double-unders can be tricky as the rope has to go under your feet twice for a single jump. You also have to ensure that your hand movements are quick to speed up the workout. 

• Amanda

The elite CrossFitters can complete the entire Amanda WOD in under four minutes. Amanda has three rounds. These are:

• Round 1 – 9 muscle-ups and squat snatches
• Round 2 – 7 muscle-ups and squat snatches
• Round 3 – 5 muscle-ups and squat snatches

The squat snatch weight for men and women is 135 and 95 lb, respectively. This WOD is more technical than others because it combines gymnastics and weight lifting elements. 

• Eva

Greg Glassman named the Eva WOD after one of the original CrossFitters, Eva Twardokens. He designed this WOD to test the athlete’s endurance levels. The workout consists of five rounds. Each round has the following exercises:

• 800m run
• 30 kettlebell swings
• 30 pull-ups

The kettlebell weighs two poods which are approximately 70 lbs. The movements are fairly simple, but the activity’s extent can burn out the athletes. Even the elite athletes take thirty minutes to complete this workout. 

• Chelsea 

Chelsea is one of the oldest Girl WODs. You don’t need any equipment or weights for this workout. Thus, you will just be lifting your own body weight. Since this WOD is EMOM, you must complete the round in a single minute. Each round consists of:

• 5 pull-ups
• 10 push-ups
• 15 air squats

If you can complete the round in under sixty seconds, you use the rest of the minute to rest. The workout lasts for thirty minutes, so that’s thirty rounds. However, Chelsea is meant to test your endurance. Thus, athletes need to pace themselves to maintain a good speed throughout the WOD. 

• Barbara

Barbara is another of the original CrossFit Girl WODs. Another endurance WOD, Barbara, will test your stamina through simple but repetitive exercises. The workout has five rounds. Moreover, you get a three-minute rest after each round. The rounds consist of:

• 20 pull-ups
• 30 push-ups
• 40 sit-ups
• 50 air squats

The three-minute rest may seem long, but you have to maintain a grueling pace during the rounds. Elite athletes can finish the entire workout in under twenty minutes. You’ll be working against time, so you must be as fast as possible.

CrossFit Benchmark Workouts

According to CrossFit, the Girls WODs are the benchmark workouts. However, there are other popular WODs too. In fact, a lot of people consider these to be benchmarks too. Since we have already covered the Girls, we’ll look into some other popular WODs by CrossFit now. These include:

• Fight Gone Bad

Fight Gone Bad is one of the most challenging WODs in CrossFit. Greg Glassman created this WOD for UFC champion Penn. The WOD consists of three rounds. Each round lasts for six minutes and includes:

• Wall balls
• Sumo deadlift high-pulls
• Box jumps
• Push press
• Row 
• Rest 

You aim to do as many reps as possible for each exercise and do them in a minute. After the row, you take a minute’s rest and go to the next round. The balls for wall balls should weigh 20 and 14 lb for men and women, respectively. On the other hand, the required weight for the deadlifts and push press is 75 lb for men and 55 lb for women. 

• Filthy 50

Filthy 50 isn’t the official name of this WOD, but that’s what it’s called in CrossFit. The WOD consists of ten exercises that make the athletes go through a full-body workout. Additionally, it has cardio exercises like double-unders. Throughout the benchmark WOD, athletes have to do fifty reps of the following exercises:

• Box jumps
• Jumping pull-ups
• Kettlebell swings
• Walking lunges
• Knees-to-elbows
• Press pushes
• Back extensions
• Wall balls
• Burpees
• Double-unders

The box jumps’ height is 24 and 20 inches for men and women, respectively. The kettle balls weigh 36 lbs while wall balls weigh 20 lbs for men. For women, these weights are 27 and 14 lbs, respectively. The male and female athletes lift 45 and 35 lbs for the push presses, respectively.

The WOD lasts thirty minutes but is a ‘for time’ workout. Thus, athletes focus on doing everything as fast as they can. However, it is quite a challenging workout with fifty reps of ten different body exercises.   

• Air Force

CrossFit first introduced the Air Force WOD during the 2010 CrossFit Games. Air Force is a classic benchmark WOD that athletes complete for time. One of the most challenging WODs, the Air Force has five barbell exercises. 

As if that wasn’t tough enough, the athletes must perform four burpees at the start of each minute. Generally, the WOD has the following exercises:

• Thrusters
• Sumo deadlift high-pulls
• Push jerks
• Overhead squats
• Front squats

Each exercise has twenty reps, and athletes can move to the next exercise after these twenty reps. However, if the minute is over in the middle of the set, the athletes can do the burpees after completing the reps. All the exercises can be performed with the same barbell weight. That means men have to lift 95 lbs while women have to lift 65 lbs. 

• CrossFit Total

The CrossFit Total isn’t as challenging as the other benchmark WODs. However, it still requires using the best techniques. The CrossFit Total is a WOD designed to test the athlete’s strength. Thus, it has three movements, and these are:

• Back squat
• Shoulder Press
• Deadlift

Athletes get three turns for each of these challenges. However, they cannot take any rest between these turns. Since this WOD is for total weight, the athletes try to lift as much weight as possible by starting low and moving up from there. CrossFit Total made its debut in the 2007 CrossFit Games. 

• The Chief

A classic CrossFit benchmark, The Chief, first appeared during the second CrossFit Games in 2008. It’s a tribute to the Chief Petty Officers in the US Navy. The WOD has five rounds. Furthermore, each round lasts three minutes and has the following movements:

• 3 power cleans
• 6 push-ups
• 9 air squats

During these three minutes, the athletes must do as many repetitions of these exercises as possible (AMRAP). After each round, there is a one-minute rest. For the power cleans, the men have to lift 135 lbs while the women have to lift 95 lbs. 

CrossFit Hero WOD

The CrossFit Hero WODs are CrossFit’s way of honoring those who have fallen in the line of duty. There are over two hundred Hero WODs, and CrossFit continues to add more as we lose more heroes. The Hero WODs are tougher to complete as they have a higher difficulty level. Here, we have taken the most popular of these WODs and explained them:

• JT

The JT WOD, named after Petty Officer Jeff Taylor, was the first Hero WOD. Crossfit introduced the WOD in 2005 after Jeff died in combat in Afghanistan. JT has three rounds. Each round has the following reps:

• Round 1 – 21 headstand push-ups, ring dips, and pull-ups
• Round 2 – 15 headstand push-ups, ring dips, and pull-ups
• Round 3 – 9 headstand push-ups, ring dips, and pull-ups

The workout is supposed to test the athlete’s upper body strength. Moreover, all athletes must complete the WOD ‘for time,’ which means doing it as fast as possible. 

• Murph

CrossFit released The Murph in 2005. They named it after Michael Murphy. The 29-year-old Navy officer died in combat during a tour in Afghanistan. CrossFit took his favorite workouts and renamed them, Murph. The Murph includes the following exercises:

• 1-mile run
• 100 pull-ups
• 200 push-ups
• 300 air squats
• 1-mile run

This workout is particularly brutal because the athletes must complete the entire thing with a weighted vest, 20 lbs for men and 14 lbs for women. On top of that, running after all the reps promises to be a harrowing experience.

• Tommy V

Released in 2008, Tommy V is named in honor of 29-year-old Thomas Valentine. The Naval Petty Officer was originally from Minnesota and died during training in Arizona. The Tommy V WOD includes:

• 21 thrusters
• 12 rope climbs
• 15 thrusters
• 9 rope climbs
• 9 thrusters
• 6 rope climbs

Men have to lift 115 lbs for the thrusters while women have to lift 75 lbs. Furthermore, they both have to climb a rope that’s 15 feet long. Like all the other Hero WODs, Tommy V promises to be utterly brutal because of the required reps for each exercise.

• Daniel

Daniel was an Army Sergeant, killed while serving his country on an Iraq tour. CrossFit released the Daniel WOD in 2006 in Daniel’s honor. The workout has the following exercises:

• 50 pull-ups
• 400m run
• 21 thrusters
• 800m run
• 21 thrusters
• 400m run
• 50 pull-ups

The athletes will have to lift 95 lbs for the thrusters. Moreover, when you combine the weight with the rest of the reps, the WOD promises to be absolute hell. 

• DT

Released in 2009, DT is another Hero WOD. The workout got its name from Air Force officer Timothy Davis. Timothy was twenty-eight years old when he was killed while helping with OEF(Operation Enduring Freedom) in Afghanistan. The workout has five rounds, and each round has the following exercises:

• 12 deadlifts
• 9 hang power cleans
• 6 push jerks

For this WOD, male athletes must lift 155 lbs while female athletes must lift 105 lbs. Furthermore, the athletes must aim to complete the workout as soon as possible. However, if the weight is a problem, you can scale back. 

• Arnie

Arnoldo Quinones, otherwise known as Arnie, was a thirty-four-year-old Los Angeles Firefighter. He died when his vehicle fell into an 800-feet deep canyon while putting out a fire near Camp 16 in California. 

CrossFit released the Arnie WOD in 2010 in his honor. Arnie might be the toughest WOD in the entire CrossFit regimen collection. The workout has the following exercises:

• 21 Turkish get-ups with the right arm
• 50 kettlebell swings
• 21 overhead squats with the left arm
• 50 kettlebell swings
• 21 overhead squats with the right arm
• 50 kettlebell swings
• 21 Turkish get-ups with the left arm

The kettlebell should be 70 lbs for male athletes and 54 lbs for female athletes. However, if you want to scale back, you can decrease the weight of the kettlebell.

• Josie

Josie Wells was a twenty-seven-year-old from Minnesota. He died as a US Marshal in 2015 while performing his duties. Josie was a fan of CrossFit and did the workouts with his loved ones. 

CrossFit released the Josie WOD in his honor in 2018. Like the Murph, the athletes need a 20 lb weighted vest for this workout. The WOD starts and ends with a 1-mile run. Furthermore, the workout has three rounds, and the exercises in each round are:

• 30 burpees
• 4 power cleans
• 6 front squats

The weights for the power cleans are 155 lb and 105 lb for men and women, respectively. The combination of cardio and strength exercises makes this workout particularly hard. 

• Eva Strong

Eva Mireles is our latest fallen hero. The forty-four-year-old died on May 24 while trying to shield the students during the Uvalde school shooting. Not only was Mireles a teacher, but she was also a participant in the CrossFit Open. 

For this Hero WOD, you’ll need a partner. After getting a partner, you two need to do the following:

• 24 double unders
• 19 toe-to-bars
• 2 clean and jerks
• 400m run

You need to complete the toe-to-bars and clean and jerk them together. Females need to lift 135 lbs while males need to lift 205 lbs. 

Conclusion: Everything You Need To Know About Crossfit Training

That’s it for our take on CrossFit training. You can use the training to get in shape no matter who you are. The training is designed to help men and women, regardless of their training status. 

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You should learn a few of the basic exercises before diving into the more advanced WODs. After some experience, you can take on the WODs listed in this article.