What's the WOD?!

AplhaHorsemen Crossfit

 Everyday, Crossfit athletes look forward to checking for the WOD. The WOD is an acronym for workout of the day. It is randomly selected and involves a combination of different skills. There is usually no time frame for these workouts. You have to complete them as fast as your body will let you. Some WODs will consist of completing as many rounds of the workout as possible, within a certain time frame. Greg Glassman is the founder and Crossfit and he has named some WODs. A popular one is named Fran. It consists of 21 thursters, 21 pull ups, 15 thursters, 15 pull ups, 9 thursters and 9 pull ups. (Thurster Demo) I gave this one a try and by the end of it I was on my hands and knees. Another example of a different WOD is called Cindy. This consists of 5 pull ups 10 push ups and 15 squats. You have to complete as many rounds as possible (AMRAP) in twenty minutes. While attending a Crossfit gym over the summer, a typical day consisted of a warm up, skill work and then the WOD. My friends at the gym would joke and say that our warm up was harder than people's workouts. The skill work out would consist of getting stronger. The trainer would pick something that he thought you needed to work on. These skills would randomly show up in WODs so the skill work is a time where people could work on something that slowed them down during their WODs. Also, it was a time to get stronger and do as much weight as possible. Finally, the WOD is what everyone waits for and you give it your all. All you hear are grunts, yells, metal plates dropping, and the screaming encouragement of fellow cross fitters. Chalk dust fills the air as athletes prepare themselves to grip the heavy weights. If you can't do the prescribed weight then you can scale it and change it to a lighter weight. Most athletes work towards Rx. This means you lift the amount of weight that is posted. After a typical workout athletes are usually laid out on the floor. Times are posted so that others can compete. 

Posted by Nikita Reddy

Intro to Crossfit

Recently, while watching ESPN, I came across the Crossfit Games. In the past, Crossfit was just a training method that was used to make individuals better athletes. In more recent years, Crossfit has been recognized as an official sport by ESPN. Now known as the Sport of Fitness, Crossfit combines the motions of several sports  and puts them into different events. For example, you need skills of a gymnast,  the strength of an Olympic weight lifter, and the endurance of a runner. Athletes compete in the Crossfit Games to claim the title as the fittest  on Earth. I became more interested in Crossfit after trying it out this past summer. The intensity of the workouts made me wonder who would be crazy enough to actually complete these workouts on national television.  I began to do a little more research on the athletes and learned a lot about their lifestyle. Rich Froning, known as the fittest man, is an amazing Crossfit athlete admired by many. His dedication and work ethic are truly inspiring. His diet consists of constant recovery shakes throughout the day and a big meal at the end of it. I don't really think its the best diet for such an elite athlete but it seems to be working fine for him. Crossfit athletes tend to follow the Paleolithic Diet, also known as the Caveman diet.  Many nutritionists object this diet and don't recommend following it. After taking one look at these athletes on ESPN and seeing what their bodies looked like and were capable of doing, all of my doubts were cleared. These athletes look like a different species. They are the most elite and fit individuals I have ever witnessed. Their mental toughness allows their body to go to extremes and perform like a machine. Crossfit entered a world of sports and is progressively becoming very popular. In the upcoming weeks, I will discuss the ins and outs of Crossfit, upcoming events, debates and the lifestyle of people that take up Crossfit.