PVCF FAQ

What is CrossFit, exactly?

CrossFit is "constantly varied, if not randomized, functional movements performed at high intensity." A strength and conditioning program developed by Greg Glassman in Santa Cruz, CA, it combines elements of weightlifting (both powerlifting and Olympic-style), gymnastics (movement drills and bodyweight calisthenics) and interval training to produce fitness that is "broad, general, and inclusive." The goal of CrossFit is to help both elite athletes and everyday people achieve "increased work capacity across broad time and modal domains."

Huh?

It's simple: we want you to be able to run faster, jump higher, pick up heavier objects, throw more accurately, and so on and so on. We want this for you for three reasons:

1. Being fit--that is, being capable of meeting all kinds of physical challenges--makes you feel better. A lot better. You'll have more energy during the day, and sleep more deeply at night.

2. It makes you look better.

3. Overcoming the many obstacles that stand between you and fitness (and they never end, because no matter how fit you are, you can always get fitter) will make you a more disciplined, more confident, and (somewhat paradoxically) more humble person. You know,better.

What is a WOD?

The WOD is CrossFit's "Workout of the Day." Each day when you walk into Pioneer Valley CrossFit (PVCF), you'll see a different workout posted on the whiteboard. WODs are constructed of exercises taken from the aforementioned "broad time and modal domains." For instance, a typical WOD might look something like this:

"In twenty minutes, do as many rounds as possible of a 400m row, 10 135lbs deadlifts, 10 pull-ups and 10 push-ups."

Twenty minutes, the duration of the workout, is the time domain. Another WOD might only take 8 minutes (really). A third (say, running 10k), might take upwards of an hour. "Modal domains" is simply the category of activity: running, climbing, lifting, etc. CrossFit specializes in not specializing. It's called "General Physical Preparedness."

WODs are usually done for points or for time. (For instance, in the previous example, if you completed all the prescribed exercises five times, your score would be five rounds.) This introduces a competitive aspect that makes CrossFit a sport: by comparing your results, you can compete with your friends, or athletes around the world, or just with yourself. CrossFit also has a series of "benchmark" WODs that appear regularly; by keeping track of repeated results, it's easy to chart your progress.

I haven't exercised in years, and I have to say, that workout you just described sounds totally impossible.

Don't worry. We won't expect you to be able to perform like that for awhile. It takes time to get stronger. But the great thing about CrossFit is that you can start from wherever you are; it's scalable to any ability level. For that same WOD, a sedentary sixty-five year-old woman might be tasked with "In ten minutes, briskly walk 150m, do 10 15lbs deadlifts, 5 knee push-ups, and 5 ring rows. If you finish with time on the clock, start over."

Getting stronger sounds good. But what about cardio?

People equate "cardio"--by which they generally mean low-intensity training of relatively long duration--with weight loss and aerobic "fitness". (This begs the question, "What is fitness?", succinctly answered here.) "Cardio" means slogging it out on the treadmill or elliptical machine for twenty minutes. But aerobic fitness (the body's ability to take in oxygen and use it in the production of energy) is most efficiently developed through short, high-intensity efforts, which force one's metabolism to adapt to stress and increase capacity. Put more simply: almost all CrossFit training is "cardio." Read more about this here.

Umm...maybe I should get in a little better shape before I try CrossFit.

There's no need to put it off. Come as you are. We'll show you the very basics, and help you take it from there.

Are you sure I can do this?

Yes.

Listen, I'm the first guy's buddy. I have been exercising for years--double-splits, six days a week--and I've got the workout logs to prove it. There's no way an eight minute workout is going to be enough for me.

Crossfit training is about intensity. In this case, we equate intensity with power output, as in the classic physics formula,

where power is a function of work (force x distance) divided by time. We're always trying to maximize our power output by increasing our workloads or reducing our times; this causes intense metabolic stress as our body's energy systems (phosphogenic, glycolytic, and oxidative) struggle to meet the demands that have been placed upon them. In keeping with Seyle's General Adaptation Syndrome, following a recovery period they display improved capacity.

Sorry, that was my CSCS talking. Just come try it out. Fran will make a believer of you.

What is the Zone Diet and why do you recommend it?

Alas, exercise alone is not enough to induce dramatic changes in body composition. "Eat less, exercise more" is a good start--weight loss really is a matter of expending more calories than you take in--but there's more to it than that. Different foods produce different hormonal reactions in the body. Ingested carbohydrates (especially high glycemic index carbs like bread and pasta) break down quickly into sugar, which elevates the level of insulin in the blood; consistently high blood insulin causes insulin resistance, which leads directly to obesity. Atkins and other diets address this by advising you to cut out carbs (nearly) altogether. But carbohydrates are an essential macronutrient, especially for athletic performance. Glycogen (stored carbohydrate) must be replenished in the muscles if we're to have the energy we need to work out. It has been the experience of thousands of CrossFitters that Barry Sears' Zone Diet best addresses this conundrum.

From the CrossFit Journal:

Nutrition plays a critical role in your fitness. Proper nutrition can amplify or diminish the effect of your training efforts. Effective nutrition is moderate in protein, carbohydrate, and fat. Forget about the fad high carbohydrate, low fat, and low protein diet. 70% carbohydrate, 20% protein, and 10% fat may work for your rabbit, but it won't do anything for you except increase your risk of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease or leave you weak and sickly. Balanced macronutrient and healthy nutrition looks more like 40% carbohydrate, 30 % protein, and 30% fat. Dr. Barry Sears' Zone Diet (http://www.drsears.com/) still offers the greatest precision, efficacy, and health benefit of any clearly defined protocol. The Zone diet does an adequate job of jointly managing issues of blood glucose control, proper macronutrient proportion, and caloric restriction the three pillars of sound nutrition whether your concern is athletic performance, disease prevention and longevity, or body composition. We recommend that every one read Dr. Sears' book Enter the Zone.

Short answer: anecdotally speaking, the Zone works.

Well, that all sounds good. But why does it cost so much to train at PVCF? My local Globo-Gym only charges half as much.

As the old adage goes, "You get what you pay for." Sure, your Planet Fitnesses and your Gold's Gyms have towel service, saunas, shiny Cybex machines, and lots and lots of treadmills...but none of those things are going to make you any fitter.

If you are a bodybuilder--that is, if you have strength trained for years and dieted so rigorously that your body-fat percentage is in the single digits--then it potentially makes sense to train individual muscles in isolation. The other case in which machine-based training makes sense is in rehab, when the body has become so disabled that it must be rebuilt brick by brick. But most of us are neither crippled nor on the verge of entering the Mr. Olympia competition, so why do we train as if either is the case? The answer is a combination of the gyms' desire to maximize profits, and our own desire to find workouts that don't involve work.

"The club owners bought into what the equipment industry told us," says Michael Scott Scudder, a former club owner and a leading consultant to the industry since 1991. And what the equipment makers ultimately told the gym owners was that if you stocked enough machines, you could do without as much one-on-one attention from trainers. "I don't think fitness happens best in isolation," says Steve Myrland, manager of Myrland Sports Training and a former strength coach for the University of Wisconsin and the San Jose Sharks. Various studies back this up, showing that people who exercise in groups maintain greater motivation to train than those who work out alone. "This is hard stuff, and it's a lot easier to share hard stuff than do it yourself. At the clubs, you are going to be turned loose on the machines, and a machine is like an isolation booth."

From Best Life Online: "Is Your Workout Wasting Your Time?"

Getting fit is a lot like learning to play a musical instrument. Anyone can sit at the piano and figure how to bash out "Chopsticks." Some people, without lessons of any kind, can go on to become competent (or even great) musicians. Most people, though, even those with real talent, benefit from instruction. Rather than losing time using trial-and-error to achieve desired results, a good teacher can quickly show how to play even the most complicated pieces.

With fitness training, especially CrossFit, quality instruction is even more important, because it's not just a matter of getting more results in less time; it's an issue of safety. Olympic-style weightlifting, for example, is complicated. Anyone can learn it, but to be done safely (and trying to move 100kg from floor to overhead shouldn't be done any other way), it needs to be taught, and coached, not just read about in a magazine.

At PVCF, you won't be left on your own to sink or swim. Every time you walk into the gym, you'll get top-quality instruction and be encouraged to push your limits, but always with safety foremost in mind.

Finally, PVCF is a community of like-minded self-strivers; you'll be amazed at what a different experience it is to work out with a group, instead of laboring in isolation. PVCF costs more than any Globo-Gym, because PVCF offers more. Way more.

Okay, I went to crossfit.com, checked out some of the videos, and I'm beginning to get pretty psyched about this. How do I get started?

Email us. Show up. See our Schedule and Fees page for more details.

What should I wear? What should I bring?

As Henry David Thoreau said, "Beware all enterprises that require new clothes." Luckily, you've probably already got everything you need for CrossFit. Shorts or sweatpants, t-shirts, and sneakers are appropriate. (No flosstards, please!) After the snow melts, running shoes would be helpful. Bring a towel, because you're definitely going to sweat. A bottle of water is a good idea, too.

Do you have a sauna, like my local Globo-Gym?

Not even a shower. Sorry. There are four bathrooms on our floor, though, so changing areas aren't a problem. For amenities, we have chalk, You'll-Be-Fine spray bottles, and a bucket in case Pukie the clown comes to visit.

I'm a loner, Dottie, a rebel. Can I come in and work out on my own?

No. If you're on the PVCF gym floor, you're under instructor supervision. Whether that's in a group class setting, or private training, is up to you. The flip side of the fact that we're not a dumbed-down Globo-Gym is that our equipment requires real know-how to be utilized safely; for everyone's sake, no one will be allowed to start trying out that cool H2H kettlebell juggling trick they saw on YouTube (unless, of course, you can talk your instructor into trying it out too).

More to come. Lynne Pitts's official CrossFit FAQ is here. Got any questions you want answered? Send them here.