Our Work
Crossfit Training - 01-18-2012
CrossFit training: A new way of life by Brent Kirkland
Watch Crossfit Training: A new way of life by Brent Kirkland
Crossfit Training: A new way of life
CrossFit training tests the emotional and mental limits of individuals from the time they step foot onto the gymnasium’s rubber floor until they recover enough strength to pull their aching bodies from that very same spot.
CrossFit has a different feel. It offers a new challenge that tempts a casual observer want to start. Almost immediately, they stop and inexplicably want to start again.
The sweat on their hands makes the task of gripping the weighted steel bar practically impossible. Still they do it. Crouching to squat, they describe the tendons in their knees like rubber bands. Still they do it. Thrusting the bar toward the ceiling elicits a rattle in their shoulders not unlike a loose, rusted screw trying holding a fence together in a windstorm. Still they do it.
During exercise, their bodies feel limp and they swear their limbs have felt so sore. Sweating more profusely, they can hardly stand yet there are pull-ups to do. Their body may beg for rest, but their minds demand they finish.
Meet FRAN, a timed series of thrusters (front squats following with an overhead press of the bar) and pull-ups. FRAN is performed in sets of three: 21 repetitions of each, followed by 15 and then nine.
FRAN is among the most popular and one of the shortest CrossFit routines.
Advanced trainers may complete FRAN in less than two minutes; if they’re lucky, beginners may finish in 10. It is an undisputed race against the clock and the opponent: your body.
CrossFit is a feared workout for some and, for those who embrace the challenge of a difficult exercise routine, it has become a lifestyle that imparts a new and improved sense of being.
“My friends and family say I’m happier and more confident in the way I present myself,” said Carlos Hernandez, University of Nevada, Reno and six-month Crossfit veteran.
Other workouts may improve an individual’s physical performance. For the CrossFit faithful, there is strength in unity.
“The [CrossFit] community is like no other,” said Rebeca Marchand, CrossFit instructor. “We understand each other. People encourage each other whether we have a good training day or miss that lift.”It’s that sense of community, family and belonging that drives those in CrossFit to achieve more than they had may have imagined.
Julian Castro began teaching CrossFit classes at the University of Nevada, Reno in the spring of 2010.
Castro, a baseball player at Lassen Community College in Susanville, Calif., grew increasingly dissatisfied by the pressure of team sports. It was difficult to hold up his head up after striking out or to focus on the next game after an off day. Baseball, he realized, was incapable of giving him the mental toughness he yearned for in life.“I wasn’t as strong willed before I started doing CrossFit,” he said. “If I would have had that mental toughness then, I probably still would be playing.”
But some days are tougher than others.
At a CrossFit competition in Utah, the 5-foot Marchand gazed up an 11-foot wall.“I said ‘there’s no way.’ My mind shut down when I ran up to that wall,” she said. “Then I told myself ‘you’re going to do this.’”
Marchand used a box to gain some height advantage. Even so, there was nearly a 5-foot discrepancy between her fingertips and the top of the wall. That is a gap approximately the height of an average 8-year old.
“When I finally got to the wall, I jump up on the box and I’m on the other side. I did it,” she said, grinning. “You may have inner voices telling you can’t do stuff but you just have to put your mind to it.”
CrossFit presents challenges. For some, it’s an 11-foot wall and for others, it’s a simple squat that isn’t so simple after all.
Imagine a catcher squatting into his position throughout a day’s doubleheader.
One 40-year-old Crossfit participant stands 6-foot, 6-inches. He assumes the position until his thighs are lower than his knees and then he begins, cramming a catcher’s doubleheader of repetitions into a few minutes.CrossFit is empowering but as any athlete will tell you, talk is cheap.
“For the first couple months I played it safe with handstand push ups. I didn’t know how far I could push myself,” Hernandez said.Proper position begins as a handstand against a wall. One repetition requires full arm extension and lowering oneself until the head touches the floor and repeating until muscles are exhausted.
Beginners use a box to slightly invert their legs from the ground and relieve some of their body weight pushing down on them. Hernandez used the box for several consecutive weeks until Marchand told said he could no longer use the box in her class. So Hernandez did performed a perfect handstand push up.
"I don't think people appreciate how strong and capable they are until they are challenged," Marchand said. She points to her head and adds, "I'm a lot stronger up here and I know that no matter what is put in my way, I'll find a way to overcome it. I don't care how I do it, I will finish."
Jweek 2012
Wolf Pack Week
Introduction to PR/AD
