CROSSFIT PHUKET

“THE ART OF EXECUTING COMPOUND EXERCISE AT HIGH INTENSITY“

“Remember, this is Thailand. There is nothing regulating the Health & Fitness industry here. Anyone, gym or organisation can falsely claim to be a Personal Trainer, CrossFit qualified instructor, and CrossFit affiliated gym. If you are an experienced player in Crossfit, then scroll down to see the gyms I know are legit. If you are new to Crossfit then read on so you are aware of what a Crossfit class should be like.”

FIRST THINGS FIRST. WHAT IS CROSSFIT?

CrossFit is a training style developed by former gymnast Greg Glassman who firmly believed that physical fitness is a measure of the overall fitness level of the body. Instead of exercises that focus on a certain muscle group or in developing a specific skill set such as, say, ‘powerlifting’, CrossFit training uses varied functional movements, thus building the general fitness of the entire body with each workout.

Don’t, even for a second, misunderstand this to be an easier way to build your fitness levels. When Glassman says overall fitness instead of specialized training, he doesn’t intend to go easy at all. Instead, in order for CrossFit training to be as effective, or even more than the conventional training style, it is performed at high intensities in a very limited time span.

THE CROSSFIT PHILOSOPHY — ‘JACK OF ALL TRADES, MASTER OF NONE’.

This philosophy is by no means, meant as an insult. It, in fact, defines the strategy which CrossFit uses in building an overall high level of fitness i.e. executing a greater workload over a broad time & modal domain. The functional movements CrossFit employs have been tried and tested over many years and are the best of weightlifting, rowing, gymnastics, running etc.

THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF CROSSFIT

The way CrossFit sees it, there are 10 primary components to physical fitness – Cardiovascular or respiratory endurance, power, strength, flexibility, balance, coordination, agility, speed, stamina, and accuracy. The functional movements used in CrossFit training are constantly varied for each workout and is performed at high intensity. The idea here is to maximise the workload in the least amount of time. This work divided by time method is used to measure the power output. The aim ultimately is to address and improve upon the 10 building blocks of our physical fitness.

The higher the intensity, the bigger the power output, the greater the gains.

Well, there are numerous tactics CrossFit training incorporates in order to keep its participants motivated and to achieve the desired results. For starters, CrossFit is a group training activity. This is done primarily for two, very good, reasons. One, motivation is an essential commodity when it comes to highly intense and painful workouts. The second is, of course, competition. A competitive environment tends to bring out the best in us. That’s just human nature.

Other things you’ll commonly notice in a CrossFit box (or gym) are a scoreboard, rules defining the standard of performance expected of each workout, a ticking clock, an equally motivated trainer pacing to and fro, and of course some very unconventional training equipment.

Even the CrossFit training sessions are different from what you might be used to. A session typically lasts 40 minutes to 1 hour and are mostly divided into 4 sessions.

Workout of the day or WOD 

This is kind of the main event that will have you sweating and swearing. Here, the participants are given a specific workout in which they are to complete a certain number of reps in time or check how many reps of the exercise can be completed in a set amount of time (AMRAP).

Finally, stretch and cool down. 

Finally, you get to sit down and do some static stretches to help cool down and relax the muscles. If he is good, the teacher might get you on a foam roller to help speed recovery.

CROSSFIT PHUKET: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY.

Big results always come with big risks. Crossfit training is no exception to this universal law. With CrossFit training, there are many key components, namely the training program, the trainer and the trainee. It may not seem like a big deal at first, but when you’re doing high reps of very heavy weights at high speeds, if even one of them is left unchecked, the results can quickly turn south. Given the big gains and losses involved, if you’re new to the CrossFit concept, here are a few pros and cons of the game:

PROS OF CROSSFIT TRAINING

Improved mobility. 

CrossFit training is not a static workout. Instead, the focus is on functional movements that constantly vary with each workout. Such exercises help with body strengthening, joint movements, agility, balance, mobility and flexibility.

Increased competitiveness. 

Not just due to the group training, but with the scorecard insight and the adrenaline rushing, you will soon find you are constantly competing against your past performances.

A supportive community. 

Unlike conventional gyms, CrossFit is specifically a group activity. Group members tend to be a great motivating and support factor during those very very hard training sessions. Sharing the pain, sweat, and rewards together, the CrossFit training groups often turn into tightly knit communities whose relations extend even outside the box.

CONS OF CROSSFIT TRAINING

Greater risk of injury. 

Crossfit training often encourages its participants to push themselves to the edge, not just in terms of weight (or strength) but in terms of intensity as well. Which means you might be lifting more and trying to do more reps than you comfortably can. When focusing on maximizing the reps, it is very easy to lose form. This very often leads to serious injuries. Check out my article on the Signs and Symptoms of Overtraining to make sure you don’t fall into this category.

Not good for specialization or sports-specific workouts.

Crossfit follows the philosophy of overall fitness without focusing on any one area. This is bad news if you’re specifically looking to improve a certain skill set or performance related to specific muscle groups.

An over-obsessed community. 

I’m sure you’re wondering why this is both a PRO and a CON. When the community stays involved with CrossFit to a certain limit, it is PRO. However, from my experience so far, because of the intense nature of the CrossFit workouts, the community soon gets obsessed with CrossFit. It’s ok to live, breath, eat and sleep CrossFit. But it’s not uncommon for Crossfit groups to become very “clicky”, “pushy” and judgemental on other fitness groups or enthusiasts.

Poor quality control of CrossFit boxes. 

This, for me, is the biggest negative about CrossFit. One only needs to clear a level 1 certification to start assisting in a Crossfit class, which is just basic training and I have seen plenty of LVL 1 Crossfit trainers who can’t even do a proper squat. Get to LVL 2 and pay the affiliate fees of around $3000 a year to be qualified to start a CrossFit box or gym. Given the popularity that CrossFit has gained, it comes as no surprise that there are so many poor quality CrossFit boxes out there.

Rhabdomyolysis. 

In the CrossFit community, this medical condition is also referred to as ‘Uncle Rhabdo’. Although there is absolutely nothing funny about this condition and is an example of how things can turn ugly if precaution is not taken. Here’s why – Rhabdomyolysis is a condition that occurs when one puts way too much stress on the body, the muscle fibres breakdown and enter the bloodstream which leads to kidney poisoning. Uncle Rhabdo still sounds funny to you? Although this is a very rare condition, in almost all of the cases it is the fault of the individual ignoring instructions or a bad trainer not instructing on time!

CROSSFIT PHUKET – THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX, BUT TRAIN IN IT!

Now that you know the good and the bad side of CrossFit, are you still wondering if this is something you can work with? Well, you’ll never know unless you give it a try. Although, if you’re completely new to fitness training, my advice would be to just get started with some regular and basic training first. Build yourself a foundation and some experience. These will not just help you evaluate better but also bring down the chances of any injuries.

The next precaution should be the trainer. Make sure they are CrossFit certified and have sufficient experience with the same. A good trainer is paramount to an effective workout. Never ever take chances with the trainer. If you are looking for a real affiliated CrossFit gym in Phuket, then you don’t need to look twice. Unit 27 is the gym you need to go check out. As far as I am aware they are the only gym in Phuket that’s actually CrossFit affiliated.

Education plays a major role in preventing training-related injuries. Share this article, if you have friends who are contemplating joining a CrossFit box. We all learn from experience. If you’ve had any with CrossFit training, let us know your experience through the comments.