Brock Press

Issue date: 10/7/08 Section: Health

"I am 35 years old and am in the best shape of my life. My cardio is better even though I rarely get on a "cardio" machine", Gleason said. "I have more stamina. I am stronger and more flexible. Olympic lifting is also a big part of Crossfit, and because of this I am faster, more powerful and coordinated. My agility, balance and accuracy are better than when I was a teenager. Incidentally, these 10 physical skills are how we gauge fitness - not by the size of our biceps."
A Crossfit workout tries to replicate the actions that made our ancestors strong enough to survive. You may find yourself running a kilometre and then immediately getting on the barbell for a set of 20 deadlifts, then jumping on a set of rings to perform a set of muscle-ups … then repeating the process five times. You might find yourself jumping on chairs, doing pushups and throwing a medicine ball; or maybe simply 50 pullups for time. Almost everything is done as fast as possible.
A Crossfit workout doesn't try to isolate muscles; our ancestors didn't spend an hour doing biceps curls. Instead it takes advantage of full body movements like Olympic lifts, pull-ups and kettle ball swings. It works your muscles hard and keeps your heartbeat up at the same time; taking in the benefits of both aerobic and anaerobic training.
Crossfit workouts rarely target a specific body part. In fact, most workouts exercise the entire body simultaneously. The workouts are also designed to put the most strain possible on your body. For example, a workout may prescribe 15 pullups and then immediately call for 50 squats. The squats will be considerably more difficult after the pull-ups than they would be at rest, because the pull-ups forced all the body's blood to the arms and upper body. The point is to take advantage of the body's weaknesses and make it stronger as a whole.
The order of the workouts is not arbitrary. Don't be surprised if you're asked to run 10 kilometres the day after you performed 250 squats. It's all about teaching your body to adapt.
"The best attribute of Crossfit is its universal scalability. Crossfit is for everyone, the elite athlete or your grandmother," said Gleason. "Our program delivers a fitness that is, by design, broad, general and inclusive. Our specialty is not specializing and using functional movements at a high intensity and working all aspects of fitness."
When asked what Crossfit has taught him about himself, Gleason had a simple answer.
"I am capable of twice as much as I think."
If you are interested in trying Crossfit, you can contact Mark Gleason by email at crossfitniagara@hotmail.com or by logging on to crossfitniagara.blogspot.com.

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