INTRO:
In December of 2009, one of my co-workers (Lou) began doing a workout called Crossfit. He tried to get me and a couple of other co-workers to do it, but we were skeptical. I was running 12 miles a week in the morning (approximately 3 miles, 4 times a week) and muscle training in the afternoon for about 20-30 minutes. So initially, I didn't want to switch, but I was getting bored with my workouts and they were becoming time consuming. After watching my co-worker do a couple of routines, I decided to give it a try. This was in January and I've been doing Crossfit ever since.

Lou started out at 230 LB's and he is now 190 LB's and in great shape. My other co-worker, Ray, who started doing crossfit at about the same time that I did, started out at 225 LB's and is now 195 LB's. I started out at 170 LB's and I have maintained that weight, but I lost inches off my waist, which is what I wanted to do, and I feel much stronger, faster, and have much more endurance.

Why am I talking about Crossfit in a Weapon Forum? Very simple. A lot of the people that visit/post on this site are LE folks like myself or in the Military. One of the most overlooked aspects of our job is being in great shape. It is nice to be a great shooter and have great tactics, but the majority of times in my line of work, we aren't shooting at people. Most of the time we are talking with people and if things go bad, we generally move from verbal force to physical or mechanical force. Deadly force is last on the force scale. If you look in shape, a lot of times the bad guys will think twice about getting physical with you.

WHAT IS CROSSFIT:
Crossfit is the principal strength and conditioning program for many police academies and tactical operations teams, military special operations units, champion martial artists, and hundreds of other elite and professional athletes worldwide.

Crossfit delivers a fitness that is, by design, broad, general, and inclusive. Crossfit's specialty is not specializing. Combat, survival, many sports, and life reward this kind of fitness and, on average, punish the specialist.

Check out http://www.crossfit.com/cf-info/what-crossfit.html for more details.

CROSSFIT WOD's:
Crossfit WOD's (WORKOUT OF THE DAY), or routines, vary from day to day. Since January, I only remember doing the same routine 1 or 2 times. You never get bored. The great part about Crossfit is the time that I am saving compared to what I was doing before. Most WOD's take anywhere from 5-30 minutes. Most of them being in the 10-20 minute range. The longest WOD that I have done to date is the 4x800 meter run.

Check Section 4 of the Crossfit FAQ Page for a list of all of the routines.

CROSSFIT EXERCISES:
Crossfit exercises include some of the following:
Running, rowing, push ups, pull ups, sit ups, air squats, deadlifts, front, rear, and overhead squats, power clean, clean and jerks, sumo deadlift high pull, kettle bell swings, thrusters, and many more.

Check Crossfit Exercise Page for details of exercises and videos on how to perform them.

Some of the exercises look complicated and difficult to do, but they aren't. I recommend that you initially start out using low weight until you get the form down right. You will see on some of the WOD's where it will say 65/95 LB for the weight. That is the recommended max for females and males. I'm not a power guy, so I still use lower weight for my workouts. Scale as necessary. You have to start somewhere.

What did in the beginning is I would go on You Tube and search for the exercise that I had to do, such as "crossfit thrusters", "crossfit pull ups", etc.

GETTING STARTED:
The easiest way to get started is to find a Crossfit Affiliate in your area. Check Crossfit Affiliate Page on the left side and click on the link on the left side with the state you are from. Lou knows Todd Katz from HammerdownCrossfit from high school so we get our WOD's from his site. All of the Crossfit sites are set up in the same general format. The trainers post the routines and you can comment on them like a blog. After finishing up the routine, I post my times and or comments on the page. Posting the times is just a way to track your progress. It isn't a competition, it is so you can compare your score to your previous one of the same routine that you did.

I am fortunate to have a nice workout gym at work, so on my days that I work, I do the WOD's at work after my shift. On my days off, I have enough equipment at home that I can workout at home. I thought about joining a Gym, but I don't have a need for it. Some guys go all out and build their own Crossfit Gym in their garage.

WILL I/CAN I GET BIG DOING CROSSFIT:
If you train the WOD's hard, and eat right and get lots of sleep, you will definitely gain lean mass, lose fat, and yes, you can build muscle mass with the crossfit protocol. More specifically, according to Coach, here is a hierarchy of training for mass from greater to lesser efficacy:
1. Bodybuilding on steroids
2. CrossFitting on steroids
3. CrossFitting without steroids
4. Bodybuilding without steroids
The bodybuilding model is designed around, requires, steroids for significant hypertrophy. The neuroendocrine response of bodybuilding protocols is so blunted that without "exogenous hormonal therapy" little happens. The CrossFit protocol is designed to elicit a substantial neuroendocrine whollop and hence packs an anabolic punch that puts on impressive amounts of muscle though that is not our concern. Strength is. Natural bodybuilders (the natural ones that are not on steroids) never approach the mass that our athletes do. They don't come close. Those athletes who train for function end up with better form than those who value form over function. This is one of the beautiful ironies of training.

CONCLUSION:
Crossfit is fun and addicting. Just like any other form of exercise, you get out what you put in. If your goal is just to get in great shape and not trying to get those six pack abs, doing crossfit and eating the average food will get you there. If your goal is to get in great shape and look it, then crossfit along with a good diet will get the results you want.