Friday, May 23, 2008

Rest day....

Found this article and thought it was interesting

Crossfit is a strength and conditioning fitness methodology. Its stated goal is to create "the quintessential athlete, equal parts gymnast, Olympic weightlifter and sprinter. Crossfit promotes broad and general overall physical fitness. It is not sport-specific. Crossfit features varied workouts based on functional movements performed at high intensity. Workouts are brief (often 20 minutes or less) and do not use WEIGHT MACHINES!! 

Crossfit maintains that proficiency is required in each of 10 fitness domains: cardiovascular/respiratory endurance, stamina, strength flexibility, power, speed, agility, balance, coordination, and accuracy.
Crossfit workouts typically call for athletes to work hard and fast, often with no rest. Many Crossfit gyms use scoring and ranking systems, transforming workouts into sport. Crossfit publishes its own journal and certifies its own trainers. May Crossfit athletes and trainers see themselves as part of a contrarian insurgent movement that questions conventional fitness wisdom.

Crossfit was created by Greg Glassman, a former gymnast, in the 1970's. For many years the program existed only in a single gym in Glassman's garage in Santa Cruz, California. Glassman launched a website at crossfit.com in 2001 to spread word of his program. Crossfit has grown to an international movement, fueled by an open source and virtual community model. Much  of Crossfit's intellectual property is freely available on it's website. There are now more than 450 Crossfit-affiliated gyms worldwide. The affiliate model rejects franchising, requires few start up expenditures and allows for a diversity of approach. According to Canada's Business news network, Crossfit is "one of the fastest growing fitness movements on the planet."

Some Crossfit athletes perform the "workout of the day" posted at the crossfit website and never visit a crossfit gym. Others formulate their own workouts based on Crossfit's principles. 

In 2007 The unites states marine corps began a shift in its physical training program. The marine corps is moving away from its emphasis on distant running and towards "functional fitness training" by incorporating crossfit inspired workouts into its recruit training, Officer candidates school, and other unit physical training sessions. Many US and Canadian police and fire departments, Us navy seals, Us army special forces and the canadian forces now base some of their physical training on crossfit principles.

Crossfit is also being adopted by a growing number of high school and college sport teams.

Crossfit adaptions include: 

Crossfit for kids
crossfit for seniors
crossfit for endurance athletes
crossfit for soldiers
crossfit for combat athletes 
crossfit comandos
crossfit in the park.

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