CrossFit gym and CrossFit workouts can be seen popping up around the world. Athletes, models, and bodybuilders are taking up this trend to become fit in less time.

Maybe, you are here because you are not sure whether you should start CrossFit. Or, you want to play your cards right and get to know basic CrossFit workouts for beginners.

You should know that CrossFit is highly effective. And through it, you can accomplish any fitness goal by following the right routine.

CrossFit is famous among beginners and professional athletes because it is beneficial equally for all of them.

What Do You Need to Know Before Trying CrossFit?

Even if you are in good shape and train regularly, CrossFit can be confusing for you. Most people quit CrossFit just after their first day at the gym. This is because they find it too intense and above that, they are not prepared for trying out new exercises.

These are some things that you should know before hitting any CrossFit gym in your town.

Benefits For Body

Want to improve your physical strength and get ripped in less time? Or, are you looking for some magic potion to help you increase agility, balance, and flexibility?

 Then, the best option you have got is CrossFit.

CrossFit targets the major components of your overall fitness. It includes stamina, endurance, strength, burning fat, and building lean muscle mass.

The best part is that it covers a comprehensive list of health benefits as well. It improves cardiovascular health as CrossFit puts a higher demand for aerobic and anaerobic energy systems.

CrossFit consists of different training patterns due to which faster results are experienced. Your body adapts to impact if you are doing the same exercises every day.

But CrossFit consists of new and innovative workouts, that keep your body guessing.

It’s Okay to Be Confused in Beginning

If you use to work out in a regular gym consisting of dumbbells and cardio machines then CrossFit gyms will be confusing for you.

Don’t quit or get embarrassed if you can’t understand how to use the equipment. Everyone starts as a beginner. It’s normal to become a little overwhelmed in starting but don’t lose hope.

Don’t get de-motivated by seeing professional Cross Fitters doing crazy exercises when you can’t even do a proper chin up.

For the first few months, all you need is to focus on your movements and not to put in any extra effort.

Just grab some performing athletic wear and you will be ready to hit the box in style.

Don’t Worry If You are Not in Shape

You might be thinking that I have a fat belly and low stamina so I couldn’t train CrossFit. But, being in a good physical condition when starting CrossFit is not necessary.

When you are into CrossFit, you will gradually develop a ripped physique and strength over time.

Most people have seen professionals performing CrossFit games due to which they are intimidated to start their journey.

Even the expert athletes start their journey from some point. So, you don’t have to consider your physical shape at the time of starting CrossFit.

Getting Used to CrossFit Lingo

In CrossFit, slang and short abbreviations are used. It’s a good idea to study them before joining the gym.

The CrossFit terms could be new to you, when you hear it for the first time in the gym then you could easily end up being confused.

These are some common terms you’ll hear when you step into a CrossFit gym.

• AMRAP: As Many Rounds as Possible. Commonly used during circuit training when you should do as many reps as you can within a time limit.

• WOD: Workout of the Day. In CrossFit, there are different types of workouts consisting of a series of circuit training for a single day.

• EMOM: Every Minute on the Minute. Used in interval training, in this you have to complete a set within 60 secs. And, then you rest for the next 60 sec.

• Box: It’s a term used for CrossFit gym. So, don’t be confused if someone says that meet me at the box. He means to say the CrossFit gym.

• Metcon: It stands for metabolic conditioning. It relates to workouts that combine cardio and strength training.

• Score: It is the total number of reps completed during a workout.

Don’t Try Hard to Prove Your Strength

When athletes from backgrounds other than CrossFit join the gym, it’s hard for them to step in like a beginner.

Your only competition is you, don’t work too hard to prove your strength and skills in front of other people at the box especially if you are a beginner.

If you focus on being better than others then you will not be able to properly give attention to developing your CrossFit game.

You have to take it slow. In CrossFit, when you rush into professional workouts too soon it can result in serious injuries.

Importance of Rest Days

If rest days are very important when weight training or just cardio, you can imagine how important it would be when you combine these both.

During CrossFit, your muscle fibers tear more than any other exercise. They can only be recovered with good rest and a healthy diet,

If you think that you can have a better physique and strength by doing CrossFit daily then you are wrong.

So, don’t train too hard and plan on the rest days equally.

Workouts for Beginners

Now, you know the basics of CrossFit and for what you should be mentally prepared. Let’s get to know the workouts you can try as a beginner.

Jumping and Lunges

Jumping lunges is an effective exercise to build strength in the lower body. It is a split exercise that majorly focuses on Quads and Hamstrings.

It’s also an important exercise for building balance and muscle coordination. Other than working on legs, it also impacts the core effectively.

• Stand with your feet shoulder feet apart.

• Bend your knees as you are preparing to jump.

• Lower your body by performing a deep lunge.

• Let your weight sink through your legs, and contract your core muscles.

• Then, jump with full force while launching your body in the forwarding direction.

• As you land switch your legs.

• Repeat this jump and lunge movement for at least 60-sec.

Burpees

For gaining strength in your upper and lower body with one exercise, Burpees is a great option.

Burpees is a full-body CrossFit workout in which you work on your arms, quads, hamstring, core, and back muscles.

Burpees can also be effective for warming up your body before a CrossFit session.

• Stand with shoulder-width apart.

• Bend your knees, and lower your body (perform a squat)

• As you lower your body, put your hands on the mat.

• Kick back your legs, make your body and legs straight (pushup position)

• Lower your body, like you do while performing pushups.

• Lift your body using your feet and arms, return to plank position.

• Jump back up into the squat position.

• Stretch your arms and explosively jump into the air.

• When you land, immediately bend your knees into a squat position.

• Repeat this exercise.

Rope and Ball

Using a jump rope and medicine ball you can perform a vast range of CrossFit exercises. Everyone from beginners to professionals performs workouts using the jump rope and medicine ball.

This is a type of circuit exercise focusing on both, the upper body and lower body strength.

• Stand with hip-width apart, and keep your back straight.

• Do simple jumps using the jump rope for 60 sec.

Then take a rest for 30 sec and perform medicine ball squat by following these steps:

• Stand shoulder-width apart.

• Keep the medicine ball between your legs.

• Bend your knees, keep the hips lifted and perform a deep squat.

• Grip the medicine ball with both hands.

• Lift your body.

• As you stand straight, throw the ball in the air with full force.

• Catch the ball as it comes down.

• Again, perform the squat while holding the ball.

• Repeat this for 60 sec.

Push and Pull

Push-ups and pull-ups are two effective exercises for building upper body strength. You can perform these exercises to burn fat and gain muscles.

While doing push-ups you engage your chest muscles, triceps, shoulders, and upper back.

Similarly, when doing pull-ups, you lift your body by using force from the rear dells, biceps, forearm, mid-back, and core.

In this way, by doing push-ups and pull-ups you effectively engage all the big and small muscles in the upper body.

There are a lot of variations to add to your push-ups and pull-ups but as a beginner, you should just focus on simple moves.

• You can either do as many as possible push-ups for 60 sec, rest for 30 sec, and then pull-ups for 60 sec

• Or you can do 15-20 reps for each exercise with 30-sec rest between the sets.

Compound Lifting

You might wonder that whether compound lifting exercises come in Weight Training or CrossFit?

Well, as discussed before CrossFit has the dual benefits of building strength and muscle mass.

In compound lifting the major muscle groups in the bodywork at the same time. This ensures the effectiveness of compound movements in less time.

Some of these exercises that you can try as a beginner are:

Deadlifts

• Stand with your feet in the middle of the barbell rod.

• Bend your knees, lifting your hips out.

• Grab the barbell with a shoulder-width grip.

• Now, lift your chest while grabbing the barbell.

• Straighten your back, and take a deep breath.

• Lower the bar by the same posture you used for picking it.

• Do a total of 10 reps.

Kettlebell Swings

• Stand shoulder-width apart.

• Bend your knees, stick your hips out, and keep your chest raised high.

• Grab the kettlebell with both hands.

• Now, lift it while swinging it in the forward direction.

• Only lift it to the height of your chest.

• Then, swing it down, between your legs.

• Repeat this exercise for 30-40 sec.

Weighted Squats

• Stand shoulder-width apart.

• Grab the barbell a little wider than your shoulders.

• Lift it and stretch your arms.

• Now, bend your knees, keep the back straight, and your chest lifted.

• Lift your body by stretching your legs straight.

• Do a total of 8-10 reps.

WOD For Beginners

These are some workouts of the day which you can try as a beginner. But before trying WOD you should focus on CrossFit workout for beginners discussed above.

●        AMRAP Burpee

• Do as many burpees as possible in 5 minutes.
• You can increase the time by 8 minutes after a month of training.

●        EMOM

• Set a timer of 10 minutes.
• Perform 15 box jumps and 10 burpees in succession to each other.
• Take a short rest after every 3 mins.

●        Push, Pull, Jump

• Do 5 rounds of each exercise; 10 push-ups and 10 pull-ups.
• Then finish the workout by jumping using a jump rope for 8 minutes.

●        AMRAP Lunges

• 20 mins AMRAP consisting of 10mins lunges
• 10 mins of squats.

●        Hitting Core

• 20 crunches, 20 flutter kicks (each leg),
• 20 mountain climbers,
• 1 min plank to end the workout.

Takeaway

CrossFit can be really effective you want to develop muscle mass and burn fat at the same time. Through this, you can achieve big results in less time.

Beginners can get benefits of improved flexibility and balance and learn to develop muscle coordination.

Keep in mind that as a beginner, you should only be doing CrossFit for 3-4 days a week and maintain your sleep schedule.

Whenever you hit the box the first time, try out these CrossFit workouts for beginners and experience the burn.