By Adam Stanecki
TEST YOURSELF WITH CROSSFIT
The term fitness seems to be one which even fitness professionals struggle Some are more accurate than others.
to define. I know that sounds crazy, but it really is true. Just ask any A few measure body composition and not fitness. Other measures only
personal trainer you know to define fitness and wait for their reply. I’m not specific aspects of fitness. So, how can we measure how fit we really are?
trying to say that all personal trainers are uneducated or lack knowledge.
I’m merely illustrating the amazing fact that most fitness professionals can’t
I contend that an ongoing method of measurement is the only way to
define what they want their clients to achieve. If you can’t define it, how
gauge one’s fitness level. A single day of testing will only illustrate fitness at
can you achieve it?
that point in time. I further believe that the best way to measure one’s
fitness is on the gym floor. It is in the ‘doing’ that the results will present
So, before we go any further let’s clearly define fitness. Fitness is the state of themselves.
being able to function appropriately, efficiently and effectively in your day-
to-day life. It lies at one end of a continuum with illness at the other. This
In order to measure ongoing fitness it is important to maintain an accurate
continuum may be thought of as a path of health from illness to wellness to
training journal. This should include details on the exercises performed. It
fitness where illness is lack of health, wellness is adequate health and fitness
should include information such as the time and date of the workout, the
is supreme health.
exercises performed, the workout results and how you felt before, during
and after the workout. By maintaining such a level of detail you will be able
We may choose to further define fitness in terms of the aspects of fitness, to assess your fitness and your achievements.
these include: strength, power, cardio respiratory endurance, co-ordination,
speed, stamina, flexibility, agility, balance and accuracy. If one is
Five CrossFit workouts to test yourself against
conditioned in each of these aspects then one can be termed very ‘fit’
indeed.
The CrossFit training protocol includes numerous benchmark workouts as
well as hundreds of randomised exercise combinations all designed to elicit
Testing fitness
the most broad and general level of fitness possible. All workouts are
measured by either time, repetitions performed or load moved.
There are possibly hundreds of ways to test one’s fitness. Some of the more
common methods include: blood pressure, resting heart rate, body mass
index (BMI), skin folds, beep tests and maximum load (e.g. 1RM).
5 BENCHMARK WORKOUTS TO TEST YOUR FITNESS
Fran
The Petranek Benchmark
Andy Petranek uses this workout to benchmark all of his
TAKE THE TOTAL
21-15-9 (reps per exercise):
athletes at his CrossFit gym in Santa Barbara, Los Angeles.
BODY CHALLENGE!
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Thruster (95lb for men, 65lb for women)
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Pull-ups
Perform the following as quickly as possible: This workout is quite possibly the most feared by CrossFit
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Row, 500m athletes worldwide. Again it looks deceptively simple. Be
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Squats, 40 warned: it is not easy. This workout will push your
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Sit-up, 30 conditioning to the limit.
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Push-ups, 20 Complete the workout in under 10 minutes and you are
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Pull-ups, 10 doing well. If you manage to finish in under 5 minutes you
The rankings are: are in a select group. The elite members of the CrossFit
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Beginner – more than 8 minutes to complete community will be done in under 3 minutes. The best time
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Intermediate – less than 8 minutes to complete recorded is 2:15.
•
Advanced – less than 4 minutes to complete
The Filthy Fifty
Fight Gone Bad
This one isn’t called the Filthy Fifty for nothing. It’s plain
tough work. Beginners can take over an hour to
In this workout you exercise with maximum effort and
complete this one. A good time is anything under 30
intensity at each station for a minute. This is a five-minute
minutes. If you can do it in less than 20 minutes then it’s
round from which a one-minute break is allowed before
time to start telling the world that you are insanely fit.
repeating. The stations are:
For time:
Cindy
1. Wall-ball: 20 pound ball, 10 ft target. (Reps)
•
50 Box jump, 24 inch box
2. Sumo deadlift high-pull: 75 pounds (Reps)
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50 Jumping pull-ups
In 20 minutes perform as many rounds of the
3. Box Jump: 20" box (Reps)
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50 Kettlebell swings, 1 pood
following as possible:
4. Push-press: 75 pounds (Reps)
•
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Walking Lunge, 50 steps
Pull-ups, 5
5. Row: calories (Calories)
•
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50 Knees to elbows
Push-ups, 10
You can do three or five rounds depending on your level.
•
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50 Push press, 45 pounds
Squats, 15
The way to score this workout is to count the total number
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50 Back extensions
This workout looks less difficult than it actually
of repetitions that you complete in the whole workout
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50 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball
is. A decent result is 20 rounds. Advanced
(count calories for rowing).
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50 Burpees
practitioners will complete more than 25
Results to aim for are 200 total reps, then 250 total reps and
•
50 Double unders
rounds in the allotted time The best result thus
then 300 total reps. When you hit 300 you know that you
far is 32 rounds..
have achieved high level fitness.
Learning the movements
Some of the featured workouts may include movements that are unfamiliar. In this case, I recommend that you visit the CrossFit Exercise
Archive at
http://www.crossfit.com/cf-info/excercise.html (and that’s not a typo). You will find photos and videos of all the exercises
featured in this article as well as explanations on how to perform each movement correctly. Your safety is very important so please be sure to
learn the movements before attempting high intensity exercise.
Wrapping up
The workouts presented in this article are not the be all and end all of the CrossFit protocol nor are they the only way to measure fitness.
They do however provide an effective way of gauging your performance as you progress and also against other athletes.
Measuring your progress is essential to continued improvement. If you don’t have a training journal, start one now. Simply by measuring
your results you will improve.
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