Recently, home workouts have become the most relevant. CrossFit can also be an excellent way to lose weight at home. Unfortunately, most adherents of strength sports and even those who have never played sports have an ingrained misunderstanding of the CrossFit method. Working on strength with special equipment and heavy weights is not always the only way to train. With the help of CrossFit complexes, you can easily lose weight even without equipment. Let's take a closer look at how to do this at home.
Is it possible to lose weight with CrossFit?
First, let's remember what CrossFit means. This is a method of functional training in which exercises are performed in the shortest possible period at high intensity. Typically, complexes can last from 3 minutes to half an hour.
In the mode of maximum intense loads, the body spends a lot of resources to complete the assigned tasks. With the help of such training, a lot of calories are consumed, and not only from glycogen, but also from fat. Classes provide cardio, and this is one of the main ways to burn fat.
The combination of cardio and strength exercises increases metabolism, which speeds up the weight loss process and prolongs it for another day. Thus, unlike simple running, in which fat burning stops at the end of the workout, after CrossFit training, fat burning continues until the muscles are completely restored.
As you know, CrossFit increases endurance, explosive strength, improves coordination, flexibility and agility. And, despite the fact that the workouts are short-term, they can be used for weight loss, the main thing is to follow the basic rules :
- Fat-burning workouts should be regular, their duration should be 30-40 minutes, including warm-up and cool-down.
- No need to use heavy equipment weight. For weight loss purposes, your own weight is quite suitable. You can also use small dumbbells and whatever you have at home.
- The workout should begin with a warm-up, and it is important to warm up the muscles well. Spend 7 or 10 minutes warming up your muscles and ligaments. This should include cardio exercises and joint exercises.
- Do not try to complete the entire complex in a short time. A pace that is too fast can cause shortness of breath and increase stress on the heart. Maintaining normal breathing and performing the exercise efficiently is much more important than setting a record pace.
How should you eat before training?
The features of your diet directly depend on the purposes for which you do CrossFit. For example, the CrossFit diet for weight loss for girls differs from the diet that is needed to build muscle mass. To combat excess weight, you need to eat about 25 g of protein and 20 g of carbohydrates, and it is better to limit your fat intake before training. For muscle building, the menu is slightly different: 30 g of protein, about 60 g of complex carbohydrates and about 4-6 g of fat.
The meal should be approximately 2 or 3 hours before classes, but if during this period you really want to eat, then a snack is acceptable. There will be nothing “criminal” if you eat a protein bar or some fruit an hour before class. But remember that before starting a workout there should not be a feeling of fullness or heaviness in the stomach, as this can cause nausea.
Recommendations for women for CrossFit training to burn fat at home
- Don't train with just one program. The muscles will quickly get used to the load, and this will reduce the effect of training. Also, the training process itself can quickly get boring, and CrossFit is far from a routine.
- To start, 3-4 workouts per week are enough. Don't train every day, give your muscles at least a day of rest.
- If you manage to train two days in a row (without rest), try not to load the same muscle groups . Example: if you included the back muscles in one workout, then in the next it is better to do exercises for the chest muscles. That is, you shouldn’t do two workouts in a row for the same muscle groups.
- During training, try to take as few pauses as possible. Perform the exercises at a pace that is comfortable for you, but at the same time be constantly on the move. Frequent rest will reduce the effectiveness of the workout and take more time.
- Gradually increase the load. Where it becomes easy, add either weights or complicate the exercises, diluting the complexes with new techniques and more complex combinations.
- When training for fat burning, it is important to ensure adequate oxygen availability in the room. That is, the training area should be well ventilated , because oxygen is the main fat burner, without it the process of lipolysis (breakdown of fats) in the body is impossible.
- After training, be sure to stretch your muscles. This will allow the muscles to recover after exercise and be ready for the next session. Overwork and overtraining will only slow down the weight loss process.
Read more about post-workout stretching →
About myths
An attempt to rank injuries in the most popular sports raised many questions about why we did not analyze CrossFit. Because crossfit is a separate topic of conversation. The popularity of this sport, which is quite new not only for Russians, but also for the whole world, is growing exponentially! These are no longer isolated groups of neophytes huddling in basements or throwing around old Kirovets wheels in recreation parks.
The popularity of CrossFit is such that new gyms are being created for it and old ones are being repurposed. Large companies that produce sports equipment and special uniforms and shoes work for its sake, athletes from other areas go to it... CrossFit is eager to become a Big Sport. And this is good. And that's bad. Good for these same manufacturers and doctors (like me). Bad for athletes.
“CrossFit is not a specialized fitness program, but a deliberate attempt to optimize an individual's physical performance in each of 10 fitness domains: cardiovascular and respiratory endurance, muscular endurance, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance, accuracy " - the words of the founding father of CrossFit Greg Glassman. Very well and beautifully said! And the thoughts are excellent and correct! It is very reminiscent of our government’s statements on New Year’s Eve, when they tell us how well Russians will live next year.
What do we have in the end? What follows will be only my own observations of live CrossFitters, which do not allow me to agree with Greg Glassman.
A month ago I was as a sports doctor at an amateur CrossFit tournament. It was just tough. A girl weighing no more than 50 kilograms is standing and lifting a barbell of 52.5 kg... Her arms are trembling, her legs are trembling, her tummy is trembling, she is shaking all over, and in the middle of the spectators and fans stands her husband with a one-year-old child in his arms and actively supporting his wife... In the corner on the floor A “shot” crossfitter lies suffocating, greedily gasping for air, in another corner on a bench someone is trying to relieve a leg cramp... I will not retell the deprecated language that I heard from my brother, who attended this event and saw all this.
Chasing an athletic body makes you disabled. Rating of the most dangerous workouts
You can argue that any sport, when it is a Big Sport, is traumatic. And I will completely agree with you, since great successes are achieved at the edge of human capabilities. But the sport should not be lethal at the stage of entry into it, already at the stage of amateur tournaments.
Why is CrossFit especially traumatic, despite the wonderful words about it? Once again, these are my own observations, since there are no real scientific studies of injuries among CrossFitters at the moment. There is no particular desire to believe what stakeholders write (sports associations on the one hand, and doctors on the other).
Where to study, in the gym, on the street or at home?
CrossFit can be practiced both in the gym and on the street, and even with a minimum amount of equipment at home. The main thing is the desire and motivation to achieve the desired result.
In this matter, the main advantage will be the company; working in a group makes it much easier to perform heavy physical activity. Competitors always unintentionally create a competitive principle, which helps maintain constant motivation. But if you have a friendly team with common goals, then training on the street will be in no way inferior to the gym.
But let’s start in order, first by discussing training in specialized CrossFit gyms. The fundamental point is respite. The intervals between approaches and changes in activities should be sufficient for virtually complete rest. Only when your thoughts and body have returned to normal can you continue to load other muscle groups. No excessive speeds or timers, forget about self-torture. Exercise for a short time, with the optimal weight and number of repetitions. Be sure to include jumping jacks in your workout routine as it is a great workout for your buttocks, calves, and thighs. The exercise is suitable for both men and girls.
Regardless of gender, it is better to work in the presence of a qualified trainer. A specialist who will not only tell you how to exercise properly, but also give recommendations on changing your diet is worth his weight in gold today. Find a reliable trainer and be prepared to spend money if you want to gain weight with minimal harm to your health.
Indeed, great attention should be paid to nutrition, since the effectiveness of gaining muscle mass directly depends on the number of calories. Please note that fast food will not help in any way, since such food simply settles in the sides, adding unnecessary flabbiness to the figure. You will have to eat a lot of meat, vegetables, bread and fish. We wrote more about the ideal nutrition for an ectomorph who wants to increase weight in the article “How to gain muscle mass for a beginning athlete.”
Outdoor training, in fact, like any other type of exercise, should begin with a good warm-up. But in the case of working outdoors, you can diversify the warm-up and replace classic squats with, say, running. A kilometer at a comfortable pace will prepare your breathing, warm up all muscle groups and put your thoughts in a sports mood.
After this, you should go to the horizontal bars, do crunches that will develop the abdominal muscles, and also do pull-ups. The latter strengthen the arms, develop the chest and help even a pronounced ectomorph gain weight effectively.
Don't neglect ring exercises that just look scary. In fact, it is the rings that tone the body and help develop a sculpted torso. As always, we pay attention to the technical side of the classes. Pay close attention to the position of your hands; your hands should tightly clasp the projectile. Try to minimize the swing, since the legs are not involved in the work on pull-ups.
Home workouts are the most common choice for beginners and a great first step into CrossFit. Ectomorphs will have to increase their daily calorie intake to 3000-3500 kcal. Gaining quality mass is guaranteed by proper, balanced nutrition with enough water, as well as high-quality general training.
Do push-ups, do air squats, use burpees. If you have a home horizontal bar or parallel bars, you are very lucky, because with light weighting this equipment will significantly diversify your workouts, develop useful skills and help you gain weight. Don't be surprised if training first removes all the excess water and subcutaneous fat and thereby reduces body weight.
After this, it is important to continue proper, plentiful and varied nutrition, as well as sports activities. The ideal technique is strengthened by sufficient sleep, since only a rested and calm body will find the strength to increase muscle mass. A positive attitude is also extremely important. You need to praise yourself for your achievements, confidently move towards your goal and not be afraid of the difficulties that will certainly arise on your thorny path.
Shock load
In CrossFit, the speed of performing a set of various types of exercises in a certain time is important, most of which are weightlifting. This builds strength endurance. But this is only the case when you do the exercise correctly and safely. These same bodybuilders are very rare visitors to me as a chiropractor. The reason is that these guys, when performing their exercises, form the correct so-called motor pattern. That is, with the constant execution of a movement of the same type, the automaticity of this movement is gradually developed at the reflex level. If you do the movements correctly, then the correct pattern is formed, which will not allow you to get injured, excluding force majeure under extreme loads, especially in competitions.
And if an athlete strives to complete the complex at maximum speed, most often he significantly neglects the technique of performing the exercises themselves. Moreover, strength exercises are “mixed” with endurance exercises and exercises related to stretching. It turns out that after performing a row or a burpee, where the spine is stretched, the pulse and heart pressure rise, the crossfitter rushes towards the bar... Uneven jerks, the bar goes sideways, the bar falls back, twisting the arms, the legs stand at different angles, then again the wrong performing backs, then jerking pull-ups with swinging, hard lifting of weights like the “Atlas stone”, incorrect jumps on and off pedestals, and so on... This is CrossFit, baby!
Under such loads, especially constant ones, the shoulder joints suffer first of all - so-called impingement syndromes are formed, in which the rotator cuff and intervertebral discs suffer, which, receiving colossal compression when performing weightlifting exercises incorrectly, and even extended over time, lead to the appearance of intervertebral hernias.
From sharp squats and subsequent quick lifts with a barbell, the menisci and cruciate ligaments of the knee joints are injured. The wrist joints really don’t like it when they are first pulled to break when lifting the barbell to the chest, and then the barbell falls back on them, which are at an unphysiological angle.
The same weightlifters, before approaching this barbell, will think through all their actions five times, will control every muscle, every ligament... A crossfitter does not have such an opportunity - he has time pressure. Only forward! But fast!
But treating joints is a rather lengthy and complex matter. But athletes are sometimes worse than children. That is, they don’t listen either, but they’re big and figure everything out themselves. They are treated poorly, most often symptomatically, and go back to training as soon as it gets a little better, forming persistent chronic inflammatory diseases, both in the spine and in the joints themselves, and then in the tissues surrounding them. These are common problems of CrossFitters, so to speak, without dividing them into gender characteristics.
What is its fundamental difference?
Of course, there are many circuit training programs, that is, classes in which each set of exercises is repeated in cycles, and each cycle must be completed in a certain period of time. But CrossFit is considered a special training program due to the following differences:
- The loads used are aimed at simultaneously developing strength, agility and endurance.
- The complex includes three types of exercises: weightlifting, cardio and gymnastics.
- All exercises are maximally functional, that is, each of them affects several muscle groups.
- The exercises are not competitive. In CrossFit, the main opponent is fatigue and the thought “I can’t.” There are no other rivals. Therefore, each lesson gives you the feeling of a small victory over yourself. Another achievement, another day to be happy with.
- On different days, emphasis is placed on individual physical qualities. For example, on Monday the training program for girls is designed for strength and endurance, on Wednesday - for agility and strength, on Friday - for strength and endurance.
- Also, on different days, individual muscle groups are worked out. Yes, the whole body receives load, but the emphasis is on specific muscles. One day - buttocks and thighs, the second - arms and abs.
- A wide variety of exercises, the ability to create effective training programs taking into account the characteristics of each student.
