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CrossFit: Everything you loved about high school P.E.

Unless you hate climbing rope, running around the school yard, repeating 50 to 150 situps and other drills to improve a skill or isolate your Vastus medialis obliquus (or VMO, that shapely muscle above the inside of your knee), you'll find a lot to l
crossfit
Tom Highmore, a coach at CrossFit 604, shows what he can do and most of us can't. His secret can be yours: work at it every day.


Unless you hate climbing rope, running around the school yard, repeating 50 to 150 situps and other drills to improve a skill or isolate your Vastus medialis obliquus (or VMO, that shapely muscle above the inside of your knee), you'll find a lot to love about joining a crossfit / CrossFit™ box.

Crossfit uses your own body weight in addition to equipment like kettlebells, weights and gymnastics elements (rings and bars, primarily) and touts the idea of functional fitness, which means you can't just bench press 145 lbs but can also pick up your kids when they run to hug you.

I tried crossfit for the first time, thanks to a complimentary class at CrossFit 604, and here's what you need to know if you want to check out one of Vancouver's 12 boxes. (That word again. I'll explain.)

1. Meet and greet

Dedicated crossfitters are committed to themselves and many seem to care about the community they're part of. Our class started with everyone shaking hands because we were threatened with five burpees if we didn't know someone's name when asked. A disadvantage for the newbie, but one that benefits your pecs and social skills.

2. First class is free... next one is expensive

Try pioneering CrossFit Vancouver, which opened in 2004 as the first affiliate in Canada and the fifth worldwide, for a complimentary session with a coach to see if the exercise is for you.

Drop-ins are generally discouraged and you will likely be asked to sign up for introductory classes. Affiliates, like CrossFit Kitsilano and CrossFit Westside and CrossFit Optimum Permormance as well as CrossFit 604 require new practitioners to sign up for a starter's course.

  • A year-long unlimited membership at CrossFit Vancouver is $199 a month
  • A year-long unlimited membership at CrossFit 604 is $174 a month
  • A year-long unlimited membership at CrossFit West 10 is $195 a month

3. Sit up, stand up, lift this up, repeat

Crossfit is all about reps.

At 604 this week we did two different segments after warming up. We switched between supporting our body weight on ground-height parallel bars and handstands for three sets each, holding both for a minute or as long as possible. Then we did our WOD (explained below) which was 15 squats with a weighted bar over our shoulders (except I went sans bar), 15 situps (from an extended position to a tight crunch) and an 800 metre run outside the gym — repeated four times.

Despite appearances, this workout wasn't bland. The combination of strength training with cardio is the kind of training I love, and crossfit prides itself on different challenges every day. I did the same workout as the intense and ripped people around me, which is one reason crossfit competitions are so appealing to other crossfitters: they know exactly how hard it is to do 20 pull-ups, 20 single-leg squats and grab-and-jerk a 55 bar three times consecutively.

The downside to some boxes is their location, which can mean running outside where pedestrians crowd near bus stops to smoke cigarettes and weed. In Vancouver's downtown, a box deals with these crowds in addition to traffic. A downside, for sure.

Reps can be varied by speed, weight and number. It's a creative outlet for jocks. I mean this.

4. WODs

Otherwise known as workouts of the day (the "the" isn't important enough for the acronym) take place at crossfit boxes, which is just a members-only name for a gym where crossfit happens.

Boxes are dominated by a chalk or whiteboard where members record their results for that day's WOD. It's healthy competition but you get the best results by competing against yourself. Think of these workouts as an obstacle course with no finish line.

crossfit white board

Some WODs, like the Filthy Fifty, have become standardized benchmarks and used in competition to establish rank.

Don't hurt yourself:

  • 50 Box jump, 24 inch box
  • 50 Jumping pull-ups
  • 50 Kettlebell swings, 1 pood
  • Walking Lunge, 50 steps
  • 50 Knees to elbows
  • 50 Push press, 45 pounds
  • 50 Back extensions
  • 50 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball
  • 50 Burpees
  • 50 Double unders

5. Intensity on your own terms

One day you may be like this gorgeous ginger powerhouse from Victoria:

crossfit lucas parker

But until then, your biggest and best opponent is yourself. Since each WOD is timed, you can see where you place against others and you can see how you improve over time.

6. CrossFit is competitive

Compete against your inner desire to take a break between burpees 34 and 35. Or see if you can qualify for the CrossFit Games.

It's a real thing.

So real, Reebok signed on in 2011 to sponsor the Games for 10 years.

Four Vancouver teams from CrossFit 604, CrossFit West 10, Studeo 55 and CrossFit Vancouver as well as individuals Emily Beers, Nancy Rankel Allen, Taryn Haggerstone, Corrina Nolan and Joe Scali will compete at the Canada West crossfit regionals today, Saturday and Sunday at the Olympic Richmond Oval. The top two from each category will compete at the Reebok 2014 CrossFit Games to boast they are the Fittest on Earth™.