I came across an awesome workout site www.crossfit.com. I’m not sure if any triathletes supplement with crossfit, but some may want to give it a try. If anybody is using it along w/ training for tri’s (olympic to 1/2 iron) I’d be interested to know how you fit into your schedule. I’ve begun using it for the offseason and may want to incorporate it into next year’s training.
Just this week I was approached about Crossfit. I’d never heard of it, now all of a sudden I seem to be running into it a lot. Look at parkour and free running, it all incorporates Crossfit. I’m very interested !
I work as a crossfit trainer in addition to triathlon training. I’m a newb in the triathlon world but towards the front of the pack in the crossfit world.
I’m still working on the equation to get the most benefit from crossfit combined with triathlon training. I generally do 3-4 crossfit workouts a week, but as a race approaches, I have to taper the crossfit back because of the intensity of the workouts.
Once you really dig in to what crossfit is all about, you tend to laugh at how “lacking fitness” many elite and even pro athletes really are. The definition of fitness as defined by crossfit and other methods is quite comprehensive, though if taken too far could only result in mediocrity.
PM me if you have some questions I could try and answer for you.
We just started using CrosFit during the off season. It’s a great way to diversify your workouts and build your top end. Endurance athletes tend to get themselves into a zone and just go. These workouts break that up. You end up spending a lot of time in the corner quivering with exhaustion. Our main set last time was called “Christine” (after the car) - 3 x 500M row, 12 dead lifts (body weight), 21 box jumps (24 in box). The CrosFit standard is 9 minutes. I could complete one cycle in 3:00 min. It’s tough stuff but fun. You’ll walk away from a CrosFit season with a lot of base power. Besides Kettleballs are cool.
You should do a search. There was just a big thread about that a couple of weeks ago.
Its very popular here in Austin with alot of firefighters. If I do any type of weight workouts, it will usually be something along the line of crossfit, but yeah, its really hard to fit both types of training in. For me, I would rather ride hard on the trainer for a few hours, get off, do a series of pushups, pullups, rows, abs, etc…and repeat a few times and be done with it. If I didn’t ride or run, than I would probably follow the crossfit workouts.
I think its good stuff, but I don’t need any more upper body strength. Its all about what you want to accomplish. Dave Scott said something along the line about changing your focus when you change sports. He said that he used to be able to dunk a basketball easily, but after doing tri training, he couldn’t. You can’t be good at everything.
I am all over that website. It rules. The more you read the cooler it becomes. I’m even buying some kettlebells…
I just checked out the crossfit site for the first time, and have heard of this style of training before from Mark Twight, alpine climber and founder of (http://www.gymjones.com/), anyways, check the link below from the crossfit board…the “army officer” who posted this I hope is not the one in charge of teaching our troops about fitness!!
http://www.board.crossfit.com/showthread.php?t=23264
“Triathalons, marathons, and other distance related events have nothing to do with fitness as far as I can tell. The number of people we kill every year in the army from running is quite staggering as well (I’m an army officer). We need to get rid of the outdated idea that run/bike/swim long distances has anything to do with health or fitness.”
Dude, I just go ga-ga watching this video of these chics kill themselves in this CrossFit workout…
I wish I could do a “muscle up”, or maybe five or six in a row! Holy shite!
Notice the shoulders on the girls in white, or the abs on the girl in the striped top?
I’m re-starting Crossfit workouts for off season core training. I was shocked that I could do 54 pullups in 9 sets of 6 reps last time around.
Edited, so…my typing sucks.
9 sets of 6 making 45 really would be shocking 
.
9 sets of 6 making 45 really would be shocking
Really new math…
Add another one to the list. I used to train with a guy named Sean Burch, founder of Hyperfitness. It’s a similar style of training to the cross fit stuff, but with less kettle bells. Majority of his stuff can be done without a gym or equipment. I found it to be a great offseason workout. hell, I even added his workouts in the middle of the week while training for IM. His website is www.hyperfitnessliving.com. Just to add validity to it, hyperfitness is the only training he does, and he holds about 2 or 3 world records in high altitude environments (including jumping rope at 26,000 feet on Everest).
I just started doing something similar (though we’re not under the crossfit brand name) with a group around here in Southern Vermont. Lot’s of pullups, box jumping, rotational pushups, jump rope, lunges, medicine ball… And man, it’s great. It helps my muscular endurance, my aerobic endurance, my overall strength, and my balance. I feel like a better-rounded athlete because of it, and I’m confident it’s part of a successful offseason plan.
That said though, it’s not going to make you all that fast at SBR. I plan on using it to get me ready for the season, but not as a supplement for in-season training.
-Brian
Did it last winter a little bit, used their beginner mods to the workouts and a LOT less weight than they do. Was a nice change of pace and was fun - in a sick sort of way.
Besindes being mostly right I don’t know what he said wrong.
The US Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventative Medicine (USACHPPM) based in lovely Edgewood, MD recently published new guidance on soldier training recommending moving away from the long aerobic type stuff such as distance running and moving into more varied stuff that more closely matches what they do in their jobs. That in fact, the fitness standards should be refined to put more emphasis on areas other than distance running performance.
Although I am not an expert on this perhaps the active duty or former warfighters on the board can tell us if running a 10k at aerobic pace is something a ground pounder needs to do. I would think they need to do very high intensity acitivities punctuated by long periods of doing other skills. But I only know what I see in the movies.
So while the officer in question may be overststating his case, his basic premise reflects the current thinking in soldier training at USACHPPM.
I was introduced to cross fit (cross fit Newport Beach) and although I am not racing at the moment love it and can feel the difference in power I am getting on the bike now than before I started. Got myself a pair of kettle bells and using various bits and pieces round my me for pull ups, box jumps and so on.
Really opens your eyes to a different level of training, especially when you look through some of the cross fit stuff.
I got my old man to bring a pair of 35lbs kettlebells back form Canada for me (crew Captain), the guy at Vancouver customs seriously asked it if was a bomb…after all kbl’s do look like bombs!
It’s even better in person.