Scobel Wiggins Photography

"I don't do push ups on the Ultimate field."

There are three major principles to the CrossFit program - high intensity, constantly varied, and natural functional movements. By natural functional movements, I mean movements that we as humans probably have been doing since the dawn of time. For example, we squatted, we pushed, we pulled, we ran from point A to point B, we picked up heavy stuff, we threw stuff, and we jumped. In the CrossFit program, pushups, pullups, squatting, deadlifting, and especially Olympic Lifting are constant and paramount. Secondly, constantly varied is very important. CrossFit has a different workout everyday so there is always a new challenge and stimulus. It is an essential goal of the program that participants do not get bored and are challenged in every session. Finally, CrossFit is very high intensity. When workouts are done for a score, done in a group, it can be competitive, and you will push yourself into a state of physical and mental duress that is rarely achieved alone. High intensity also means shorter workouts that typically range from 2 - 20 minutes.

Set a date with "Fran" sometime

The programming and protocols are interesting and challenging to say the least. Everyday on CrossFit.com, a free Workout of the Day (WOD) is posted for anyone to see and do. Every WOD is either scored for time, points, or for how much weight was lifted. For example, on August 24th, 2009, the WOD was "Cindy" or "Mary." On August 28th, the WOD was max Overhead Squats, sets of 3. Accountability and measuring results are a critical part of the program because almost everything has a score attached to it. In 2001, the first "Workout of the Day" was posted to the Internet. CrossFit has been evolving for the last 20 years and it continues to change every day.

CrossFit makes training fun again and takes the guesswork out of it. Many of you lead busy lives outside of Ultimate and don't necessarily have the time or the motivation to be constantly researching what you should be doing for a training program. Plus, a critical part of a training program is variation or I guarantee you will get bored and stagnate. You can do it all on your own or you can outsource this headache to a quality CrossFit gym. Raise your hand if you know someone who does not train because their excuse is they don't know what to do.

At this point, you might be thinking to yourself the following train of thought. "I play Ultimate. I don't want broad, general, inclusive fitness. I want to be faster, quicker, and jump higher. I want to be more explosive. I want to specialize." I had the same thought before I took my first CrossFit class in April of 2007. After finishing last on my first workout, I was hooked.

Gateway Drug to Fitness

3, 2, 1....Go!!!

My first class at CrossFit Portland was the workout "Helen". I thought with my background in Ultimate, I would do pretty well. It's one experience to run hard, rest, run hard, rest, etc. It is a whole other animal when you have to run, swing a 53lb weight, and do pull-ups. I had scaled down the weight of the swings and pull-ups, took over 20 minutes, and came in last with everybody in class cheering me on. I loved every moment of it.

I had tried fitness classes before but they were nothing like this. First, it felt more like a team practice than a workout. We had a proper warm-up, we prepared and practiced movements with a coach, and then competed/scrimmaged against the clock. I was given freedom to go hard and I could finish first or I could finish last. I left with a sense of accomplishment, a score to beat, and a hunger to do better and improve myself.

Before my first CrossFit workout I had the same excited nervousness you get before the first point of an Ultimate tournament and took the same trip to the bathroom. I hadn't felt that excited and motivated about training in a long time. Today, I still get excited and nervous before every CrossFit workout and I don't remember any training program ever having that effect except for football practices back in high school. Before a CrossFit workout, all kinds of thoughts race through your head. What's this workout going to feel like in a few minutes? Will I be able to do all the push ups? How long is it going to take me to finish? Can I do this? Am I willing to go to that dark place and push harder than before? As an athlete, I appreciate a program that tests me physically and mentally everyday.

I made the decision to go back and sign up after my first class. There were many reasons. A significant one was the coach at CrossFit Portland, who is now my business partner, Scott Hagnas. When I talked to him about my sport and goals, he really took an interest and provided me with a thoughtful and experienced perspective on how CrossFit can help. It is exactly this kind of personal attention and knowledge that will be rare to find at a typical gym. The membership was way more expensive than a typical gym membership but I realized I was getting hands on coaching, a team environment, and exposure to training methods like gymnastics and Olympic lifting. Through CrossFit, I finally learned how to Olympic lift from a qualified coach!

I want to highlight the mental challenge of the CrossFit workouts. As much as I changed physically, CrossFit also pushed me to grow mentally. It has broadened my horizons on what I am capable of and on how to push through and push harder than before. A CrossFit workout can be an intense internal battle about limits, redefining pain, and staying focused throughout it. After CrossFitting for a while, I would compare the fatigue and duress in those longer Ultimate points with a CrossFit workout. No point in Ultimate will ever be as tough as trying to get a PR in "Fran" and that is a reassuring thing to know.