CrossFit® enthusiasts know that his philosophy is to train functional movements which are normally carried out during everyday life, from carrying shopping bags, climbing stairs or even lifting weights off the floor. The mainstay of this sport is work on all muscle groups and also on body joints e not isolated on the muscles, as happens in bodybuilding.
This methodology is based on a mixture of fundamentals from various sports, such as athletics, weightlifting and Olympic gymnastics. His goal is the sdevelopment of the total physical capacities of the human being, such as cardiorespiratory capacity, muscular endurance, force, flexibility, power, speed, agility, coordination, balance and precision.
In this article we will see together which are the 10 physical capabilities that a crossfitter develops:
Index
1) Cardiorespiratory development
As it is a mode in which several high intensity repetitions are performed, the aerobic capacity increases. And its improvement helps the athlete withstand aerobic exercises for a longer period of time.
It is especially noticeable in the execution of double unders, running and box jumps, which are the exercises that bring more energy to the respiratory level.
2) Muscular resistance
Weight lifting and gymnastics put a strain on your muscles. When you do several repetitions for a certain time, there is an increase in muscular endurance. The load to be used is always adapted to the individual.
Muscle endurance increases as the load and repetitions increase, as well as in the time taken to do the exercise. A good example is overhead squats and power squats snatch.
3) Come on
Strength is measured by the maximum amount of tension that muscles produce at each exercise, the movement must always be performed with the utmost care and with loads adapted to the muscular strength of each.
The weight and speed in the exercises have practical effects only if the technical component is well executed. In the skills that athletes usually manage to load more weight (such as the front squat, back squat, deadlift), the concern is to perform the movement correctly. With the right technique and posture, injuries are avoided.
4) Flexibility / Mobility
Developing flexibility allows the athlete to be able to make movements with a greater degree of amplitude. To improve this skill, it is necessary to improve the functional capacity of the muscles and joints. The movements must be made within the ideal limits that the body can handle.
In CrossFit®, in most exercises, the flexibility of the muscles is always worked a little. The most complete one, which works on practically everything (flexibility, mobility and strength) is the squat.
The famous Pistols (hated) they are a perfect example of strength and flexibility.
5) Power
One of the most practiced skills is muscle power, which is the amount of energy, or force, applied over a given period of time to perform a high intensity WOD.
Obviously speed and weight always vary from person to person. The force / speed ratio is more evident in snatch or power clean.
6) Speed
Speed is a skill directly related to agility, it measures the body's ability to move quickly. The runs that are done in WODs are usually short (400 or 800m), so they are done at a higher or explosive pace. In addition, endurance and aerobic capacity are also improved!
7) Coordination
To have more control over the body and the exercises, it is necessary to train the motor coordination. Gymnastics and weightlifting are excellent to help improve this ability, as they include distinct movements in a single sequence.
Coordination is a fundamental skill that needs to be trained a lot, good motor coordination improves everything else. An exercise that requires a lot are the butterfly pull ups, a movement that many have difficulty in carrying out.
8) Agility
It is the ability of people to change their body position quickly and efficiently. To develop it you need to perform movements that include coordination, balance and speed. Thrusters are the perfect example where good agility is required to transfer energy from the squatting legs to the arms, finishing the movement with the bar overhead.
9) Balance
The movement that most demands it is the box jump, because it takes balance to jump over the wooden box and return to the ground in the initial position without breaking the shins or landing badly.
Another skill where it is fundamental are the pistols, which as already mentioned above, to perform them you need good stability to compensate for the imbalances of the forces involved, both when stationary and in motion.
10) Precision of movement
The ability to perform precise movements is highly stimulating for the brain as it requires focus, attention and concentration. For example, in wall balls you need to be focused on hitting the target. Double unders also requires a lot of precision as the rope must pass 2 times below before it touches the ground.