WOD is today's workout?

In my previous posts I mentioned the term "WOD" which stands for 'Workout of the day'  Today I want to outline what exactly a WOD looks like and the science behind the short intense workouts that fuel the Crossfit community.

Above is an example of a WOD from Crossfit Centereach's WOD BLOG.  The WOD BLOG is updated every night with the contents of tomorrow's workout.  I picked this particular one as an example because "Jackie" is one of Crossfit's benchmark workouts.  This is part of a series of workouts called "The Girls" (here is a full list courtesy of Crossfit 208).  I will have a future post discussing these workouts and why they are so special.

Most Crossfit workouts will consist of 2 parts.  A strength or skill workout followed by a short (3-30 minutes long) intense workout with little to know rest.  On this day the strength workout is a Front Squats 5 sets, 3 reps per set.  Since this for strength you'll want to rest anywhere from 90 seconds to 3 minutes between sets for maximum results.

Now that the strength workout is finished the blood will be flowing and muscle fatigue will set in.  There will be a few minutes to get your muscles back up to full strength and get set-up for part B of the workout. 'Jackie' requires a rowing machines, an empty barbell (no weight, this is one of the rare workouts that the prescribed weight for women and men is equal), and a pull up bar.

The workout starts when your coach starts the clock.  It begins with a 1,000 meter row.  Rowing is one of the less skilled movements in Crossfit but it requires strength, stamina and a ton of willpower/mental strength. 1K meters requires pulling with your whole body for around 4 minutes at a good pace or longer for a beginner.

After a long, intense rowing session you'll grab the empty barbell you set aside and immediately perform 50 thrusters.  A thruster is a true test of full body strength and endurance. It is essentially a front squat into an overhead press! That mean your ENTIRE BODY is being used...for 50 reps on this one!

Now that your whole body has been taxed it's pull-up time.  Ever since gym class in elementary school we've been taught the pull-up is the ultimate test of pound for pound upper body strength.  In Crossfit there are multiple acceptable variations of the pull-up.  You'll notice a couple of these don't look anything like the one's you performed with your peers in that cold gym with all the kids in your class watching.

These 'kipping pull-ups' are designed to get your body over the bar efficiently and quickly as possible.  Strict pull-ups should still be performed for overall strength when not performing workouts for time.

Once your final pull-up is performed you are officially done.  You can let your coach know your time and he'll write it on the wall next to your name so you can compare with everyone else.  What I failed to mention is that you will most likely be spread out on the floor chugging water and unable to catch your breath enough to speak actual words.

This is what a WOD is designed to do, more specifically what a benchmark WOD is designed to do.  It is a test of progress and a work out all in one.  As always each workout and movement can be scaled down.  If you can not perform a pull-up there are ways to use a resistance band for assistance or you can start with ring rows

However if you do not perform a workout to scale you do not get a shiny Rx next to your time.  That Rx means you used the prescribed weight for a workout and it is worn as a badge of honor in the Crossfit Community.  I'll leave you with a video of Crossfit pro Dan Bailey performing his first ever Jackie workout.

Getting started with Crossfit: My first experience

Getting started with Crossfit seemed somewhat intimidating to me and I'm a someone who has been an active my whole life.  I've played sports as a child and have been working out in some form since I was a teenager.  With that said I couldn't even imagine the anxiety felt starting Crossfit by someone who is out of shape.  Couple that with the relatively high price and you could see people would be hesitant to sign up.

But Crossfit is growing at an amazing pace.  At least doubling every year from 2005-2012. And Jumping from about 5,000 affiliates in 2012 to over 10,000 today.

What makes this even more impressive is the relative growth to other popular gym chains across the country.

So how is Crossfit growing so rapidly? It starts with clever marketing and ends with results.  Not to leave out the group setting that has a community...dare I see cult like feel.

This brings me to my first Crossfit experience.  I had been exposed to "The Crossfit Games" on ESPN and the youtube videos of crazy workouts with hundreds of thousands of views.  Being a competitor I said to myself "I could do that stuff."  I would continuously put off joining because I didn't know what gym to join, the price and the relative unknown.  Unknown of how to properly perform the exercises and how I would do them. 

Lucky enough I came across a Groupon for a discounted rate of $59 for a month of unlimited visits at Crossfit Centereach.  That's over a 50% discount of the $125 going rate.  A monthly gym membership at your run of the mill gym most likely costs $30-$60 with amenities varying.  Despite paying $30 monthly for my regular membership I couldn't resist.

I immediately headed to the website and read the gym rules and what I should bring.  There I found the holy grail of for Crosfitters.  The "WOD Blog" and it might as well have been written in ancient hieroglyphics.  The WOD aka the workout of the day is the entire workout performed by the class.  This includes  a warm-up, strength workout, and metabolic conditioning workout that is performed with no rest, usually timed. 

The anxiety I felt when going to bed that night knowing I would wake up and head to this new gym was comparable to the jitters of starting a new job combined with the adrenaline boosting anticipation before a big game I was performing in.  How'd it turn out? Well I'm wrote this post today didn't I?