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CrossFit and Cross-Training: Everything You Need to Know

By Yann, published on 04/01/2019 We Love Prof - AU > Health and Fitness > Personal Training > A Quick Guide to Cross-Training and CrossFit

Table of Contents

The History of Cross Training
What Are the Benefits of Cross-Training?
How Can You Get Cross Training Lessons?
Cross Training at a Glance

“A champion needs a motivation above and beyond winning.” – Pat Riley

Crossfit brings together a variety of different sporting disciplines including combat sport, bodybuilding, fitness training, and aerobics.

37% of people in the UK don’t do any physical activities at all. With the cost of some gyms, you can understand why. You don’t want to regularly pay a subscription to a place that you may never visit. However, staying in shape should be a good enough reason for paying a subscription.

In this article, we will be looking at everything you need to know about cross training and CrossFit and why you should be doing these popular types of exercise.

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The History of Cross Training

To really understand what we’re talking about in this article, we should take a look at the history of cross training.

When was cross training invented? Cross training involves a lot of the same exercises as military training exercises. (Source: Ichigo121212)

Cross training is sometimes confused with CrossFit. In fact, the latter is actually an American brand and a similar discipline. Think of it a bit like vacuum cleaners and the Hoover brand…

Cross training is a sports programme that involves intensive physical exercise that was invented in the 1970s by Lauren Jenai and her then-husband Greg Glassman, a sports coach, to improve the physical condition of their customers.

However, you should also note that the CrossFit exercises were inspired by the gruelling training routines of the American army during the Second World War for preparing GIs for combat.

The objective of this discipline is to create a training programme that’s a mix of bodybuilding, gymnastics, fitness training, and aerobics. Crossfit claims to be able to work on several different muscular groups which otherwise wouldn’t be used together. For example, you only use your legs when you run and you might only use your pecs and abs in a workout.

In 1995, 20 years after its invention, the police of Santa Cruz incorporated CrossFit into their training.

By the 2010s, the CrossFit brand was worth billions. At just 50 years old, this relatively young activity has become huge.

Cross training mixes fitness activities, circuit training, and scenes these exercises together indicate an intensity workout, also known as high-intensity interval training (HIIT).

It’s about toning muscles while doing short activities with a small break between each activity and the goal of switching between aerobic and anaerobic exercises to improve your VO2 max. You have to reach your maximum intensity or peak and push yourself.

There are plenty of great articles on the Internet explaining the differences between aerobic and anaerobic exercise. Cross training requires very little equipment: a skipping rope, sandbags, punching bags, a chair, kettlebells, etc.

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These are very affordable items which is why almost anyone can do CrossFit from their home.

What Are the Benefits of Cross-Training?

One of the main advantages of cross-training is that it’s muscle training that builds muscle and burns fat.

What are the benefits of cross training? There are plenty of benefits to doing cross training. (Source: StockSnap)

Of course, you won’t lose weight after just one session of cross training but there is a strong correlation between cross training and weight loss.

According to a 2008 Australian study on overweight women, after 15 weeks of intensive training, each had lost around 2.5 kilos whereas those who do will need aerobics didn’t lose any weight.

In addition to the physical benefits of cross training, there are also social aspects. Doing sports and exercising releases what we call ” happiness hormones” (endorphins, dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin). Thus, a HIIT session provides benefits for your circulatory system, nervous system, and your metabolism.

The activities in cross-training sessions are always varied to make sure that people remain motivated and improve:

Cardiovascular and respiratory endurance.
Muscular endurance.
Strength.
Flexibility.
Speed.
Agility.
Coordination.
Balance.
Muscle tone.

In cross training, you will literally sculpt an athlete’s body, forge an iron will, combat stress, and find a new source of motivation and vitality. Since you’re going to regularly do cardio, we recommend leaving 48 hours between each session to allow your body to adjust.

Be aware of the inherent risks of working out at home: you won’t have a professional coach there to correct you if you do any of the activities wrong, which can cause injury.

How Can You Get Cross Training Lessons?

Do you constantly feel tired at the end of the day for no reason?

Are you irritable?

This is normal if you don’t do any exercise. Joining the gym can help you get in shape.

How do you warm up for cross training? Don’t push yourself too hard or you may injure yourself. (Source: Renno_new)

Many people are interested in starting cross-training. There are three ways to do it:

Coaching at home.
Cross training on your own.
Cross training at the gym.

We all know the film of Million Dollar Baby where a young woman passionate about boxing turns the world of this male-dominated sport upside down. The heroine manages to convince Clint Eastwood’s to coach her in order to become a boxing champion.

Ignoring the sad aspects of the film, having your own coach at home can really help you improve your physical fitness thanks to having a personalised training regime. However, private sports coaching isn’t necessarily cheap. A number of the tutors on our website offer cross training. The average cost for a tutor in London is £26 per hour.

If you want to teach yourself, there are videos and websites to help you but you do run the risk of injuring yourself if you do something wrong.

Exercising at home is the most affordable solution but if you want a coach to come round, you can save money by booking several sessions at once since a lot of tutors offer discounts for block bookings.

A cross-training session usually includes three stages:

Dynamic warmups: warming up the joints that going to be used in today’s workout.
The daily workout.
Lowering your heart rate and stretching out your muscles.

With all the competition, the cost of joining a gym isn’t as expensive as you might think.

Cross Training at a Glance

Cross training is so intense that it burns calories while also building muscle at the same time.

What are kettle bells? Kettlebells are some of the most items to have around if you’re doing cross training. (Source: dubajjo)

In order to cross-training, you’ll need the following: a pull-up bar, kettlebells, a skipping rope, etc. And that’s it. You don’t need a lot of fancy expensive equipment in order to do cross training. The cost of cross-training is quite low.

Here a few exercises you can do during across training session.

Squat jumps: to work your thighs, buttocks, abs.
Box jumps: jumping with your feet together on to a wooden box or a step.
Boxing: with a punching bag, do a left kick and then a right kick, then a left punch and a right punch.
Pullup bar.
Exercises with kettlebells.
Dips between two chairs.
Squats.
Planks.
With your back straight, stand with your thighs parallel to the ground and hold for 2 minutes.

When you warm up, you won’t do the same exercises as you’re doing during the session.

Companies like Decathlon have their own workout blogs and you can find workout and training plans all over the Internet.

You’ll find work care routines with things like 15 Russian swings, 15 knees to elbow, 5 kettlebell push press, 15 squats, 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, goblet squat, 10 burpees, etc. Make sure you remember to alternate between your left leg and right leg.

The most cost-effective way to do cross training is with a private tutor. If you look for private tutors on Superprof, for example, you can search for tutors near where you live.

Since you’ll be the only person in the class, your personal cross-training coach can put together a plan that works for you in terms of your age, weight, fitness, and schedule.

For those with a busy schedule, they can schedule sessions around you and save you time by coming to your house. If having someone come to your house won’t work for you, they can always teach you at a gym.

If you’re interested in a cheaper way, there are always online tutorials. With programmes such as Skype, a tutor or fitness coach from anywhere in the world can guide you through an intense cross-training session. Since the tutor doesn’t need to travel, they can pass their savings onto you, their customer.

While the main benefit of private tutors and coaches is that you’re the only person in their class, you can save money by doing their classes with a few friends and paying less per person. This is a win-win situation as the tutor makes more money per hour and the students pay less per hour.

So what are you waiting for?