CrossFit does the thinking for you in the form of clear, simple daily workouts made up of “functional” movements that reflect the way your body actually works. They build core strength, work entire muscle groups and improve cardiovascular endurance through combining highly effective movements from a variety of sports:

Weightlifting

dead lifts, presses, squats and medicine ball work

Gymnastics

all body weight movements, pushups, burpees, hand stand pushups, pull-ups, rope climbs, sit ups and air squats

Mono-structural

running, jumping and rowing

You also get highly specialized personal coaching at a fraction of the cost.

Trained instructors lead every class, offering a number of key benefits:

• Workouts tailored to your specific ability level and goals
• Available one-on-one sessions for individual coaching
• In-depth explanation of workouts and demonstrations of key movements
• Careful guidance throughout each workout for motivation and your safety
• Regular contact through e-mail and CCF blog

Want to know more?

Watch the ‘What is CrossFit’ video

Come to our free orientation class

Learn more about how to join

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The best way to begin your training at Carolina CrossFit is with an Orientation Class.

This is a FREE discussion session during which you’ll learn a lot more about our program. Our goal is to help newcomers understand what CrossFit is all about, how it’s different, why it works and and how to get the most out of your training.

After your Orientation Class, you can choose one of several membership options, including a New Member On-Ramp program, group classes or choose private, individual training.

Orientation Classes are FREE & held every Thursday night at 5:30 p.m. at our 1804 Blanding Street facility.

If you don’t want to wait until Thursday, you can come try us out before you attend an Orientation class. Just walk in the door before the start of one of our classes. The trainer teaching the class will walk you through our warm-up and put you through one of our benchmark workouts. Learn more about how to join here.

For the women who say “I can’t do CrossFit.”

We know what you’re saying:

“I’m not in good shape.”

“I don’t want to get bulky.”

“I’m too old.”

“I don’t have an athletic background.”

These are the reasons you haven’t met your goals. You never will if you don’t stop making the excuses that hold you back. You are a strong, confident woman.

You are CrossFit.

Don’t believe me? Watch this…

Video courtesy CrossFit Fairfax

To learn more about joining CrossFit email megan@carolinacrossfit.org.

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The CrossFit program is designed for universal scalability making it the perfect application for any committed individual regardless of experience. We’ve used our same routines for elderly individuals with heart disease and cage fighters one month out from televised bouts. We scale load and intensity; we don’t change programs.

CrossFit is intense, but we strive to make the intensity relative to whatever you are capable of. The workout of the day is the same for everyone, but we can tailor it to meet the needs of each individual. When you walk in to a CrossFit facility, you will may see a 70 year old, a 25 year old, a teenager, and a firefighter all working alongside each other at their own capacity, but toward the same end result.

CrossFit can be intimidating. To a new client the box might look like a warehouse full of strong, fit people lifting heavy weights really quickly, lots of times. The beauty in all of it, however, is that the programming is not just for the elite athlete, it is for everyone who is willing to show up and give their best effort. All levels, all shapes, all sizes, all ages. The ability to scale the workout for any level is one of the reasons that the CrossFit program is so successful. Scalability allows athletes to gauge their progression by measuring the increase in weight/reps or decrease in time in repeated workouts. Scalability allows all athletes to workout together as one community, regardless of fitness level. And it works in both directions. We scale down for newer crossfitters, injured crossfitters and whenever necessary. We scale up for crossfitters who need a more challenging workout in order to achieve optimal results.

We’re all hoping to get faster, get stronger, beat the clock, or just survive the workout.

Made by a CrossFit affiliate in Salt Lake City, this video is one of the best explanations of CrossFit.

For more information about getting started and joining Carolina CrossFit email megan@carolinacrossfit.org.

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If you are like most people, you don’t have the luxury of unlimited training time.  You have to juggle your workouts with work, school, and family responsibilities just isn’t an option.  Yet this may be exactly what you are doing when you log in your 30 to 60 minutes of moderate-intensity, “fat-burning” cardio on the treadmill three times a week.

Allow me to introduce you to Tabata intervals. Researchers Izumi Tabata and colleagues at the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Japan found that a high-intensity interval training protocol requiring under 10 minutes per session can be more effective for boosting endurance than the typical half-hour cardio workouts. In addition, other research has demonstrated high-intensity interval training to be superior for cutting body fat. Intervals definitely give you more bang for the buck. Let’s take a closer look at why this is so and how to put the Tabata protocol to work for you.

It’s all about the intensity

The key to Tabata intervals is intensity. For endurance training, the intensity is defined as a percentage of your maximal aerobic capacity, or VO2 max.  An intensity of 100% means that you working at the absolute limits-of your ability to produce energy using oxidative metabolism. Most traditional workouts use an intensity of 50-70% of VO2 max for extended periods. Tabata intervals, on the other hand, involve intensities of greater than 100%. This means that much of the energy produced comes from anaerobic energy sources.

Tabata’s research subjects performed resisted cycling at 70% VO2 max for 20 seconds followed by 10 seconds of rest. The sequence was repeated 7 to 8 times over the course of the workout for a total work out time of around 4 minutes. They did this workout five days a week for six weeks. This interval training group was compared to another group that performed six weeks of aerobic activity for 30 minutes at 70% VO2 max five days per week.

Aerobic capacity increased significantly in both groups. However, the high-intensity interval group also increased their capacity by 28%, while the moderate-intensity group showed no improvement.  Thus, high-intensity workouts lasting only four minutes  were as effective as the half-hour moderate-intensity-workouts for boosting VO2 max and superior for increasing anaerobic endurance. The critical factor appears to be intensity rather than duration.

Interval training and fiber recruitment

The reasons for the effectiveness of the Tabata protocol could be related to fiber recruitment. Low training intensities recruit primarily slow twitch type I motor units.  As the active units fatigue, they are switched off to rest and other type I units take their places.  The fast twitch type II motor units are mostly inactive. Therefore with low-intensity training, only a small portion of the muscles receives  the training stress.  During high-intensity exercise, large amounts of force must be produced rapidly. To meet this demand, slow and fast twitch fibers are all recruited almost maximally.  The result is that more fibers are trained simultaneously and the workouts are much more efficient.

Interval training and fat loss

High-intensity work may also be superior to low- or moderate-intensity training for fat loss.  The reason for this is in the profound effect of high-intensity work on post-exercise metabolism.  Following any workout, your metabolic rate will be elevated.  The degree and length of this post-exercise metabolic boost depends on the exercise intensity rather than its duration . Hard workouts then, even short ones, may end up burning more total calories throughout the day than lighter ones of longer duration. High-intensity work is more stressful and releases greater amounts of epinephrine and norepinephrine. These fight or flight hormones take time to be metabolized. While they remain in circulation, they result in many calorie-burning effects, such as increased heart rate and elevated body temperature.

Tabata interval programming

Although the original Tabata program measured VO2 max and set the work-load based on individual values, this isn’t necessary outside the laboratory setting. The idea is to push yourself as hard as possible during the work intervals, and then back off or stop completely during the rest intervals. If you approach your workouts with this in mind, the intensity will take care of itself. Tabata and his colleagues used resisted cycling in the research study, but many different exercises are possible. When selecting your exercises keep the following guidelines in mind:

1. The greater muscle mass involved, the higher the intensity. Choose exercises that activate the large muscles large muscles legs for the greatest conditioning benefit. Exercises such as curls or bench presses that use only the upper body will not have the same effect.

2.The transition time from work to rest and back must be negligible. Tabata intervals are measured in seconds, so any time wasted getting onto or gathering equipment must be avoided. Stay where you are and keep all equipment at hand during each test.

3. There must be an easy way to tell when the intervals start and stop.  Possible methods include watching a clock that has a second hand, using an interval timer, or having a training partner time you. Whatever the exercises, you must be able to see the clock or hear the timer.

Tabata’s subjects made substantial progress with only 4 minutes per work-out. However, for maximum benefit, you should use this as a starting point for your training. Follow the two week rule for increasing your volume. For every two weeks of consistent training, add some more training time.

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1. Develop fitness with sport-focused workouts, and test your fitness through competitive sports. It’s rewarding to be good at a competitive sport. But most sport-focused workouts are specialized enough to leave weak areas you may not be aware of. Unexposed weaknesses can lead to performance plateaus and injuries.
2. Test yourself in combat. This has some obvious disadvantages as a fitness test.
3. Use a set of standards that encompass all components of physical fitness. We’ve developed the Athletic Skill Standards as a versatile and user-friendly tool to fill this role.

The ten generally recognized components of physical fitness are:

cardiorespiratory endurance, strength, stamina, flexibility, coordination, agility, balance, accuracy, power and speed.

A varied workout program like CrossFit develops all of these components.

To maximize vertical growth (development of new strengths and skills), it helps to set goals, measure progress, and aim for balance among the skills. The Athletic Skill Standards make goal-setting more efficient and allow you to evaluate your progress through four levels of fitness.

Using the Athletic Skill Standards

Developing expertise in any area requires determined, consistent effort. It takes “grit.” But grit will not help you if you are only reinforcing existing strengths (horizontal growth) instead of developing weak areas into strength (vertical growth). The Standards are designed to provide a general fitness perspective, to help set appropriate goals, and to allow focus work on weak areas that results in the rewarding mastery of activities you couldn’t do before. The levels are:

• Level I – Healthy beginner
  This level is the minimum standard for health. Lacking these basic levels of strength, flexibility and work capacity makes daily life unnecessarily limited. The complete Level I should be attainable within three to 12 months for those with no significant limitations. At this level, proper basic movements, such as hip flexion and active shoulder use, are developed, while healed injuries and structural problems are resolved.
• Level II – Intermediate athlete
  All healthy adults can aspire to this level of fitness and should perceive these skills as normal. Basic movements are perfected and advanced skills are introduced. The complete Level II may take from six months to several years to reach after achieving Level I. Along the way, you develop significant levels of strength, stamina, work capacity and speed, building on the Level I foundation already attained.
• Level III – Advanced athlete
  Few people posses this level of general fitness, although any healthy person can achieve it. The strength, work capacity, power and skill required to meet these goals can prepare you to tackle any kind of physical performance with competence and confidence. Expect to invest another three to five years of consistent effort. This is an appropriate level of general fitness for those who depend on their fitness: competitive athletes, military, law enforcement and firefighters. Engaging in combat or highly competitive sports without possessing the abilities of Level III is inviting injury or failure. Any additional requirements of your sport need to be added to this list.
• Level IV – Elite athlete
  This level of achievement requires long-term dedication and a passion for fitness. The skills required of Level IV are very advanced and, taken as a whole, represent a highly skilled and well-rounded athlete.

Each skill level contains its own progression of multi-joint movements of increasing skill, making it easy to expose weak areas, set goals, and gauge your progress. At the same time, you experience the rewards of increased general fitness. You develop strength, stamina and flexibility with measurable drills such as running, rowing and a selection of named CrossFit workouts. Increasingly complex movements bring improvement in coordination, balance and power output.

Finally, the Athletic Skill Standards are intended to be a gauge and a guide, not a standardized test you are obliged to “pass.”

Do not beat yourself up for not being “elite.”

Use the Standards to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses and to make smart choices about your training time. This guide is not a definitive guide to CrossFit, an exercise prescription, nor a complete guide to developing the skills. The skills are intended to be broadly representative of general fitness.

Caution: Proper form in all movements is imperative. Many resources are available to help with technique: coaching, videos, books, seminars, and workout partners. USE THEM!

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Why should I start training this way?

Are your times CONSISTENTLY getting faster at ALL distances (what was your last 5k time compared to a year ago)?

How high can you jump? Many marathoners cannot jump onto a 12 inch box.

How many push ups/pull ups/squats/etc can you do?  CrossFit Endurance Training can help you do more.

Have you or are you suffering from chronic use injuries (plantar fasciatis, IT Syndrome, runners knee, etc)?

How many hours do you train a week?  How many hours does your spouse/family wish you trained?  (This program only requires 6-8 hours per week to COMPETE at Ultra/Ironman distances.

Why are there no long runs/rides/swims (aerobic) training?

Long runs/rides/swims fall into the category of training we term ‘long slow distance’ and is solely aerobic in nature.

Aerobic training has the following benefits and drawbacks:

It is apparent that the many drawbacks of Long Slow Distance (LSD) training easily overpower the limited benefits.  It is our contention that limiting an athlete’s exposure to LSD training will allow them to remain not only functionally competent in other areas of fitness and competitive in aerobic endurance pursuits, but DOMINATE in ALL areas of fitness.

Why is there so much anaerobic/sprint/speed work if I am going to run/ride/swim in a long endurance event?

Anaerobic/sprint/speed work, often thrown in at the end of many traditional training programs as a supplement, incorrectly assumes that this type of training is of limited value.

‘Anaerobic Training’ has the following benefits and drawbacks.
BENEFITS                                                          Drawbacks
– Increased Cardiovascular function           — Might require an aerobic foundation depending on sport
– Decreased body fat
– Increased muscle mass
– Increased strength
– Increased power
– Increased speed
– Increased anaerobic capacity

Anaerobic training encapsulates training the Adenosine Tri-Phosphate (ATP), ATP / Phospho-creatine system, the lactic acid system, and the aerobic system through various methods that stress one system, two systems, or multiple systems.  The time length of the individual efforts combined with the rest periods between efforts determines the system/s stressed.  As demonstrated by the graph, the systems overlap and ‘feed’ into each other.  Notice that as you are training all three anaerobic systems you are SIMULATANEOUSLY training your aerobic engine!

Studies demonstrate that the adaptations caused by anaerobic training are similar to high volume endurance training, however, this adaptation comes at much lower training volumes! (Similar metabolic adaptations during exercise after low volume sprint interval and traditional endurance training in humans. J Physiol. 2008 Jan 1;586(1):151-60. Epub 2007 Nov 8.)

Since I don’t want to put a lot of muscle on for my endurance events, should I use very light weight when doing the Crossfit workouts?

NO!  Crossfit improves work capacity across broad time and modal demands by providing a constantly varied stimulus that often requires your body to work at maximal capacity.  By lowering the weights below what you can safely handle with good form (at maximal capacity it is normal for your form to falter), you will never reach the intensity necessary to provide the type of systemic stimulus we are looking for.
I am not interested in doing Crossfit.  Can I do _______ Program instead?  What about bicep curls standing on BOSU balls?

Crossfit IS the workout and training for this endurance program.  IT IS NOT A SUPPLEMENT TO THE PROGRAM.  Therefore if you are not willing to do Crossfit, you are unlikely to see the benefits from this program.

Studies show (Explosive-strength training improves 5-km running time by improving running economy and muscle power. J Appl Physiol. 1999 May;86(5):1527-33.) that explosive, anaerobic training improves endurance capability.

I am training 10-20+ hours a week, I don’t think I can put anymore training time in, so how am I supposed to do Crossfit and this running program?

We are glad you have realized this.  We are not asking you to put this on as an ADDITIONAL training method, this is ALL the training that is required.  Therefore change your daily workouts to the WODs from the mainsite Crossfit (and rest if it is a rest day), and then follow the Crossfit Endurance WOD for your specific training.  See next answer for how to start.

I am a recovering Long Slow Distance Training Addict, where should I start?

LEARN TO DO IT RIGHT, LEARN TO DO IT FASTER, LEARN TO DO IT LONGER.

LEARN TO DO IT RIGHT: We use the run technique principles that have proven not to aide in injury and increase performance.  It applies to all sports and the principles are transferable.
Work on basic motor skills for your sport.

Running:  We teach and practice running meachnics based on several proven methods.
If you are not running this way you are hurting yourself and hindering your performance.

Go to a Crossfit running/endurance Cert
Go to a CrossFit Triathlon Cert

How should I start incorporating Crossfit into my workout plan/ I tried Crossfit and I can’t do more than one WOD a week because I am so sore!

Start with the WOD at www.carolinacrossfit.org

Take as much recovery as you need.

Shoot for one day on, one day off; then two days on, one day off; then the prescribed three days on, one day off.

Next put one day of CF plus the CF Endurance WOD in the same day, one day off; two days CF plus CF Endurance, one day off; three days CF plus CF Endurance, one day off.

Work up to being able to do 4-6 work days (where you are completing a CF workout and CF Endurance workout in one day) per week.

This process may take a month or more.  Do not rush your body.  Let it learn what you are now demanding of it.  It will adapt.

Take the time to learn the skills, or in some cases relearn them.

How am I going to become efficient at running if I am not running long distances?

This answer to this question has two parts – the first refers to the concept of specificity and the second is about third wave adaptations.

Specificity is the physiological theory that one must train a specific muscle/movement in order to develop strength and efficiency in that muscle movement.  Crossfit avoids this to avoid third wave adaptations (see below) so as to produce athletes that are ‘generalists’ rather than specialized in one area.  By Crossfitting you will retain the generalist approach, while completing focused anaerobic endurance training you will develop the third wave adaptations necessary to become efficient at your sport/s.

Third wave adaptations occur through repetitive exposure to movements.  It allows the body to become extremely efficient at movement.  In endurance training the traditional belief is that the more you run, the more efficient you will become.  This is not correct.  Studies show that running economy will be improved more through anaerobic training than endurance training (Explosive-strength training improves 5-km running time by improving running economy and muscle power. J Appl Physiol. 1999 May;86(5):1527-33.).

What does WOD mean?

Workout of the Day

I am in the military and I need to ruck/run in boots/carry logs long distances – should I do this in addition to the running?

No – the same principles apply.  Go short, and go hard.  Learn technique, then do it fast, then you can do it long.  Rucking marching long distances has more to do with muscular endurance than with cardiovascular fitness.  Muscular endurance can be trained more efficiently by Crossfit than by walking for miles.

Look for an additional military oriented workout per week.

I am a barefoot runner, how should I change the running workouts?

Don’t.  Your only consideration would be to insure that your some of your training volume be conducted on a training surface that reflects the surface where you wish to compete.  For example, don’t run solely on grass if you expect to run a marathon on hot concrete.  At the same time you don’t have to conduct all of your training on concrete, just enough to prepare your feet.

What type of shoes should I wear?

Racing Flats or as little a shoe as possible…

Studies demonstrate that barefoot runners are more efficient, and have a lower rate of injury in their lower limbs.  A good introduction can be found at http://sportsci.org/jour/0103/mw.htm

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