Exercise Training To Keep You Fit

By Author: Keller Williams
Total Articles: 4
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With all the different choices of exercise these days, many of us are confused about what is best and what will work for them. The purpose of this article is to clear up some of this confusion about fitness, and explain what I feel are the best and most effective methods today.
Having received a degree in Human Performance and Wellness and being involved in sports and fitness my whole life I've seen and done every type of program, exercise machine, and group class imaginable. I've done some scary things and have learned the hard way from my mistakes and observations.
When I played football in College strength training and speed training where a major part of the program. Every day we worked out in the weight room doing your typical free weight exercises like bench press, military press, squats, dead lifts, and power cleans. In the off season we would add interval training as well for cardio and speed. Plyometrics and speed training where a major part of this.
I remember wondering if it wouldn't be more effective and efficient to combine interval training with the weight training. I thought about it from ...
... time to time but the same question always came up. How do you find enough time to do the strength training and the speed cardio training in addition to practice? There just isn't enough time in the day.
It wasn't until many years later that I was introduced to CrossFit by a workout buddy. It turned out to be the exact solution we needed back in my College football days. Created a multi faceted fitness program CrossFit. can be performed by anybody. All the movements are universally scalable and can be performed at various intensities to achieve incredible fitness levels. Crossfit combines intense cardio circuit training with functional strength training for a workout like no other. After I learned about this unique training I became addicted.
CrossFit is an exercise concept developed in the 1970's by Greg Glassman a former gymnast. Greg took is knowledge of gymnastics and what he observed from strength training to devise a unique program that everyone could benefit from. It wasn't until much later that Crossfit gained national recognition and became a popular program implemented by thousands of people.
The CrossFit concept is designed for universal scalability making it the perfect program for people of all ages, body types, and skill levels. By scaling the intensity of the workouts, elite fitness can be achieved by everyone from military special operations units, to pro athletes, to women, grandparents, and kids. The great thing about Crossfit is that you push yourself to your level of fitness. At www.crossfit.com the official Crossfit website they post a WOD or work out of the day which are different almost every time. There are literally thousands of unique work outs and exercises so it never gets boring. The workouts are intense but they usually never last more than an hour.
CrossFit is designed to improve ten areas of fitness including power, speed, cardio respiratory endurance, strength, stamina, agility, flexibility, coordination, balance, and accuracy. The Crossfit program can be done at home, in the gym, at a warehouse or at your local park. There are literally thousands of CrossFit affiliate trainers around the world performing training sessions out of warehouse gyms, parks, and garage spaces with very little equipment.
Trainers are required to become Crossfit certified and have to renew their certification yearly to stay up with the most current techniques and exercises. The majority of the exercises incorporate your own body weight such as pushups, pull-ups, air squats, lunges, jump rope, sit ups etc..
The main equipment you would find in a Crossfit gym would include Kettle Bells, pull up bars, jump ropes, boxes, hanging ropes, medicine balls, Olympic barbells and plates.
You may be wondering why this type of training is better than your conventional machine based program, so I'll explain. Our bodies were made to move naturally without the help of machines. With CrossFit training you use full body motions that incorporate every muscle fiber in the body to work together. These full body movements are done in intervals at high intensities with short rest periods (metabolic conditioning) which raise our metabolic rate causing our bodies to burn fat more quickly, while training the heart and lungs simultaneously.
This is what it is all about in a nutshell. CrossFit takes common movements and incorporates them into certain body weight exercises, Olympic lifts, gymnastic movements, jumping, power lifting, throwing and slamming of medicine balls, running, rope climbing, Kettlebell training, rowing and more at randomly combined and different intensities (usually high). The combination of all these activities not only shocks your body to produce amazing results but will prepare you for the rigors of everyday life, and will prevent boredom and overuse injury.
In conclusion I have to say that Crossfit is hands down my favorite exercise regime. Not only do you get amazing results and never get bored with the same monotonous routines but it's also fun. Don't get me wrong Crossfit can be very challenging and intense but the beauty is that it's scalable so you do what you feel comfortable with. On top of that you will develop a bond with the people you do crossfit with. I can't really explain it but It almost feels like you are teammates. The crossfit community is a tight niche and you can visit www.CrossFixx.com to join the premier social network for Crossfitters and get into the game.