Crossfit: A Family Affair

17 July 2012

Crossfit: A Family Affair

I DISCOVERED Crossfit, a high-intensity core strength and conditioning training programme, nearly a year ago. I wish I'd found it sooner.

Despite having been sporty my entire life, nothing has hit the mark for me quite like Crossfit and now I'm a certified Level 1 instructor I want to share the passion I have for sport/staying fit/strong with others.

It's not for everyone, of course. One reason is because it's seriously hard. Workouts are comprised of weight-lifting, gymnastics and metabolic conditioning (running, cycling, rowing etc). Often sessions include a combination of the three modalities.

The workouts aren't usually too long and they don't need to be. Anaerobic workouts have been proven to have as good as if not a greater effect on aerobic capacity than aerobic training. There's also less wear and tear and little, if any, loss of strength.

I train between five and six times a week. Most of my workouts range between eight-20 minutes in duration, though some are longer, up to 45 minutes. I'm in the gym about an hour, because I warm up thoroughly and then warm down and stretch afterwards. However, some of my warm-ups now are comparable with the workouts I used to do.

I love the intensity and the competition of Crossfit. And I have developed a tremendous admiration for gymnasts and weight-lifters.

Everyone in the gym is strongly encouraged to have goals. They can be target weights to lift or skills to learn, like the muscle-up, which involves pulling yourself up on the Olympic rings and then performing a tricep dip at the top. That's one I'm still working on.

Often at the end of a training session, I focus on skills. Having never been particularly gymnastic, I love trying to learn moves that have always seemed impossible. But more important is mastering the basics of lifting, pressing and squatting.

At Crossfit everyone usually trains together and there's a lot of help from fellow athletes in terms of motivation and advice. That's far more enjoyable and encouraging than the endless hours I used to spend in globo gyms where you barely even acknowledge others training around you and routines were just that - routine.

I was surprised, though, when Jamie accepted my invitation to try Crossfit. Jamie is a long-time yoga teacher. Though many yoga poses are extremely tough, she admits to not liking intensive work, the type that comes with pushing oneself to the limit and perhaps a hard grunt and groan in the process.

We joke with each other that she never sweats - even in Thailand (though this has now been disproved). And I often recount the time we once worked out at a YMCA gym in Toledo, Ohio and how she got grumpy whenever I tried to push her to force out more reps.

Now she's at Crossfit Chiang Mai and her name is posted up on the scoreboard each day with her time (for the workout) or weight (for how much she has lifted) or both (if it's that type of workout day). Usually, I go in the morning (as I'm an early bird) and Jamie in the afternoon, so one of us can take care of the children.

I'm proud of her for stepping out of the comfort zone and trying something that is tough and demands hard work. In fact, I admire anyone who sticks with Crossfit. It's so easy to seek something less challenging. Crossfit's definition is "Constantly varied functional movement at high intensity".

You get reminded frequently that intensity produces results (and power) and week in and week out you are asked to perform strict push-ups, pull-ups, chin-ups, (everyone's favourite) burpees, air squats and then throw in back squats, overhead squats, front squats, push presses, power cleans, snatches, deadlifts, kettlebell swings etc and then some 100m sprints or 5km runs or 1km shuttles. It is "constantly varied" and these are all movements which you use or may end up using on a daily basis. Going to the toilet, after all, involves a squat. Lifting something heavy off the ground would require a deadlift and overhead a press etc.

Weight-lifting will strengthen bones and gymnastics aid body control, flexibility and balance. Crossfit workouts target also co-ordination, agility, speed, strength, cardio respiratory endurance, power and stamina.

You won't get bored, but you will get fitter. And often you have no clue what's on the agenda until you walk into the gym by when there's no turning back.

Don't fear that you will have to lift or push the same as everyone else and be left feeling humiliated or inadequate. The gyms are not at all packed with supermen and superwomen to make you look and feel inferior. Remember that intensity is relative and so workouts are tailored or scaled for safety and to ensure everyone works to a capacity that produces results.

All the talk of Crossfit in our home has, obviously, got Zenchai interested, too. He sees that I go to the gym almost every day. So on a visit to Singapore recently he had his first session. I took him to Reebok Crossfit Enduro run by Juria Maree, a top coach from South Africa.

She normally takes a kids Crossfit class every Saturday, but wasn't around the weekend we were there to conduct a class. But she arranged for another coach to come in and hand Zenchai his initiation.

I booked Zenchai in for 9am. Together we marched down there from our hotel. I tried not to say much - in case he got cold feet. But he was fired up (once he woke up). He is so proud of the fact he has a great squat and can stay in that position almost endlessly (like most children can).

When we arrived at the gym, coach Ubin Khoo introduced himself and took over. He explained clearly to Zenchai what they were going to do and, most importantly, he made it sound like fun.

Ubin had to think on his feet, however. Zenchai's concentration and enthusiasm waned a few times and Ubin had to reignite his interest. He did so by having Zenchai design a course using various gym props and then driving around it on an ab roller. Ubin then challenged Zenchai to do laps and go round even quicker. Then he added medicine balls and Zenchai had to push them out of the way as he drove the roller and then they had a game of skittles using cones. Improvisation whilst maintaining safety and fun was the key. Zenchai, being a car-lover, revelled in it. He turned himself into a vehicle.

After 30 minutes Zenchai was sweating and so, too, was Ubin. Zenchai felt proud of himself and Ubin was satisfied he had found a way to get Zenchai to lift the medicine balls, which was his target.

I am not sure when or even if Zenchai will go again. There's no Crossfit for kids in Chiang Mai yet. But we're trying to teach him, by example, about the importance of exercise and a healthy diet. Children need to regularly go outdoors and play and let their imagination run riot.

I was always an active child who played sports, but so many children nowadays, especially with technology games so prevalent and addictive, aren't motivated to go outside and stretch their legs and work their lungs.

Of course, I can't make Zenchai interested in Crossfit or anything else for that matter. But if he sees his mother and father doing something and feeling better for it, I feel more confident he's going to recognise the value and invest (with time and effort) in his well-being.

By Claude Abrams
17 Jul 2012 15:23:53 | Cars, Chiang Mai, Children's Activities, Exercise, Fitness and well-being, Games, Kids, Living Abroad, Outdoor Play Abroad, Singapore, Sports, Thailand, Travelling As A Family, Travelling with Children, Zenchai

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