What is CrossFit?
By definition, CrossFit is a “core strength and conditioning program…designed to elicit as broad an adaptational response as possible.” Our program delivers a fitness that is, by design, broad, general, and inclusive. Our specialty is not specializing. Combat, survival, many sports and life reward this kind of fitness, and on average, punish the specialist.
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. The needs of Olympic athletes and our grandparents differ by degree not kind. Our terrorist hunters, skiers, mountain bike riders and housewives have found their best fitness from the same regimen. You can read more about our programming structure HERE.
At Champlain Valley CrossFit we see CrossFit as a Functional Strength and Conditioning program designed for every single individual. Designed to assist athletes to be better at everything they do. Instead of trying to build fitness by just running, riding a bike, swimming, rowing, or lifting: CrossFitters build fitness by incorporating a multitude of different activities into each workout.
While at times the Workout Of the Day (WOD) might be tailored to just one outcome, it is the proper blend of 2, 3 or 4 movements that make up the bread and butter of CrossFit and provides individuals with unprecedented strength and fitness with minimal time commitment. You might swing a kettlebell, throw a medicine ball, squat a barbell, do a pull-up, jump on a box, run, row, or jump rope, but the combination of the WOD is always different. Such variety benefits participants not because it helps keep workouts interesting, but also because it:
1 – Prepares participants for a broad array of physical activities. With such a wide range of movements, weights and time domains, athletes often find themselves with the physical capabilities to do more than they ever thought.
2 – Efficiently Uses Time. CrossFit is bar none the most efficient way to elicit responses in the body that help create a fit individual in the shortest time.
3 – Reduces the Risk of Injury. CrossFit is a program designed to create athletes and thus attacks each and every part of the body strengthening the body as a whole. CrossFit can both proactively address mobility or strength deficiencies before they become an issue, and rectify them after they’ve become problematic.
4 – Creates Communities. CrossFit workouts are practiced in a group setting, scaled to allow each participant the opportunity to perform comparable workouts, regardless of age, athletic background or experience. The experience of pushing yourself to your own personal limit becomes one that’s shared. Such journeys forge relationships amongst even the most unusual bedfellows, and create a community unlike that found in any other sports or recreational activity.
While we offer a broad range of classes, Strength and Conditioning classes with a CrossFit bias are our bread and butter. We have an enormous amount of experience at Champlain Valley Community Fitness coaching, correcting, and building fitter people through CrossFit. Strength and Conditioning classes currently take up the bulk of our schedule. You can find our most up to date schedule HERE. If you’re completely new to this style of training you’ll want to read about joining HERE before you step foot into our daily classes. If you’re not ready to commit to signing up for a membership or Prep Course Program, come in for a Free Trial class HERE.
