If you’ve ever seen anyone do a CrossFit workout, you may be wondering what exactly CrossFit is. While CrossFit is typically done in a CrossFit gym, more and more people are doing at home CrossFit workouts these days. You don’t need much equipment and most of the workouts are short and sweet, allowing you to gain awesome benefits in a short amount of time. Ready to learn all about CrossFit? We’ve got 5 amazing workouts for you!
What Is CrossFit?
CrossFit is a high intensity fitness program that can be used to accomplish any goal, from weight loss to strength to bettering your performance. It builds strength and conditioning through constantly varied, challenging workouts. Each day, there’s a new workout called WOD (workout of the day) that tests a different part of your functional strength or conditioning.
CrossFit doesn’t specialize in one particular thing – the goal is to build a body that’s capable of pretty much anything. Most movements you do in CrossFit are called compound movements, which means they recruit muscles from all over your body. Compound movements are more effective for improving strength and general fitness, plus they help you burn calories and lose weight. It may not be for everyone, but if you’re interested in CrossFit, there are numerous benefits to this workout regime.
What Are The Benefits of CrossFit?
1. Improves Strength
The high intensity multi-joint movements in CrossFit can help you gain muscle strength. Give your muscles some variety by switching things up each time you do a CrossFit workout. Lifting weights and resistance training make you stronger, and these are two of the core fitness modalities used by CrossFit.
2. Burns Calories and Leads to Weight Loss
The high intensity of CrossFit workouts improves your aerobic fitness, while helping you torch calories. It uses compound exercises (exercises that work multiple muscle groups at the same time), and the more muscles you use, the more calories you’re going to burn. Plus, your calorie burn will continue post-workout since more muscle mass promotes a faster metabolism!
3. Improves Mobility
Mobility is your ability to move a muscle or group of muscles through a range of motion in the joint socket with strength and control. CrossFit is a great exercise program to increase mobility, as many movements simultaneously enhance range of motion and strength.
4. Good for Your Heart
Typically, CrossFitters aren’t big fans of cardio such as running or biking, but CrossFit offers a challenging cardiovascular workout in sometimes a very short amount of time (even as short as three to five minutes!).
What Equipment Do I Need?
1. Kettlebells
Kettlebells are a staple in CrossFit workouts, with common exercises being kettlebell swings, kettlebell snatches, high pulls, goblet squats and more. Choose a weight you’re comfortable with, given your experience and strength!
2. Dumbbells
Dumbbells are used for a variety of CrossFit exercises, including dumbbell thrusters, dumbbell snatches, power cleans and dumbbell overhead lunges. The suggested weight for dumbbell movements is 35 pounds for women, but if you’re not comfortable with that weight, feel free to start out lighter.
3. Soft Medicine Ball
The med ball clean is one of the nine basic movements in CrossFit, so you’ll definitely need – you guessed it, a medicine ball! Soft medicine balls are also great for squat therapy and add weight to moves like step back lunges and the goblet squat.
4. Barbell
Barbells are a quintessential piece of equipment for CrossFit. A standard women’s bar weighs 35 pounds and is used for exercises like deadlifts, overhead presses and barbell back squats. Make sure you’re comfortable with the weight before trying these exercises.
5 At Home CrossFit Workouts
30 Minute CrossFit “EMOM” Home Workout | Kat Musni Fitness
EMOM stands for “every minute on the minute”. This routine has five moves that you’ll do five times through, and each circuit is more challenging than the last. The 30-minute workout challenges every muscle in your body, so you’re sure to get a full body blast. Make sure to go at your own pace and concentrate on your form! She uses a kettlebell, but that’s the only equipment you’ll need!
CrossFit Workout | HIIT | No Equipment | growingannanas
This CrossFit workout is awesome and sure to work your entire body from head to toe. The routine includes a warm up, the workout and a killer ab finisher. You’ll do exercises including tabletop toe touches, half burpees, knee to elbow crunches and Russian twists, so get ready to feel the burn!
CrossFit Workout | 15 Minute AMRAP | At Home WOD | Puzzle Fit
AMRAP stands for “as many rounds as possible” so get ready to sweat! The only piece of equipment you need is a kettlebell, and keep in mind the workout doesn’t include a warm up or cool down, so you may want to do one on your own. You’ll be doing five different exercises, and for each exercise you’ll do 10 reps. You’ll be doing air squats, pushups, burpees, kettlebell swings, and sit ups. Ready, set, get to it!
Full Body CrossFit Workout | mahalodotcom
This CrossFit workout will get your heart pumping and help you shed any unwanted weight! She explains the proper form of each exercise, with the routine including moves like squats, pushups, jumping jacks, back lunges with a twist, and alternating leg lifts. It’s a quick but effective workout you can do in less than 10 minutes, and all you need is a workout mat!
30 Min Intense HIIT Full Body | CrossFIt Inspired Home Workout | growingannanas
This 30 minute HIIT CrossFit workout is intense, and you’re guaranteed to sweat! You’ll do a six minute workout followed by 24 exercises, doing 50 seconds of work and ten seconds of rest. Some of the exercises are quite difficult, so if you need more rest in between, feel free to take it! You don’t need any equipment – just a bit of space and the motivation to work your butt off!
Think CrossFit workouts are for you? Try out these at home routines and reap all the benefits CrossFit has to offer!
