Part One: Crossfit and Paleo??a journey into health and fitness ...

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Part One: Crossfit

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In most any survival situation health and fitness are factors that are extremely important. Several years ago I read a book written by Sylvester Stallone and he made the statement that once you turn 40 ? it?s decision time. He said that around the age of 40 if you don?t start taking health and fitness seriously things can go downhill quickly. Back then I agreed with him and set out to try to change my life so I could stick around as long as possible.

Since my teenage years I have lifted weights on and off. ?I have joined many gyms as well as worked out at home on my own?equipment. I have been doing a Filipino?stick fighting?art called Balintawak for close to 10 years. I have also tried the popular workout system P90X. After all the hours and hard work in the gym ? I just never felt like I could?truly?call myself ?fit?.

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I had heard of Crossfit in a magazine and online when looking for a solution to my yearning for something different. The closest Crossfit place was almost an hour away and the cost was up there. My research told me that Crossfit was?what?I needed. It was ?real world fitness?. Perfect for the survivalist ? as well as many police, military, and firemen.

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So ? what exactly is Crossfit? Crossfit is a strength and?conditioning??system which specializes in nothing. Crossfit provides a fitness program which combines a wide array of exercises?and?movements to create the ultimate non-inclusive?athlete, soldier, police officer, SWAT member, or fireman. When I say non-inclusive?I mean that Crossfit does not specialize in any one aspect of fitness. We run, we lift heavy things over distance as fast as possible, we perform gymnastics movements such as push ups, pull ups, handstand push ups, and burpees.

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The end results of following the Crossfit ?lifestyle? is a high level of fitness.

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Let me give you a few examples:

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If you take a marathon runner, a long distance bicyclists, an Olympic lifter, and a Crossfit athlete and had them compete in a series of competitions ?- the results would be interesting.

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Generally speaking ? if all four of them competed in a 5k road race running for time ? likely the marathon runner would win, while the Crossfit??athlete?would come in 2nd, ?the bicyclist would come in 3rd, and the Olympic lifter would come in last.

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Next, if they all competed to see who could deadlift their own body weight the most times ? the Olympic lifter would clearly win, followed by the Crossfit athlete, and the marathon runner and bicyclist would finish at the rear of the pack.

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Then, if they all had to bike in a race of 20 miles ? the bicyclist would?clearly?come in first, followed?likely?by the Crossfit?athlete, then the marathon runner, and the?Olympic?lifter would come in last.

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Now ? did you notice something here? The Crossfitter never comes in last. In fact the Crossfit athlete usually finishes ahead or most of the others. This is due to the overall stamina,?strength,?flexibly, power, agility, accuracy, and speed conditioning that results of the Crossfit training.

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I like to call Crossfit ?real world fitness? because it actually helps you succeed in real life. Not too many times in your life are you going to have to bench press something?outside?of the gym. You WILL have to pick something up. You WILL have to lift something over your head. How many times have you heard of someone bending over to pick up a pencil off the ground and throw their back out? Crossfit training helps prevent these?types?of injuries by preparing your body with a huge variety of movements.

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When accepting the challenge to participate in Crossfit you have kissed the days goodbye of going into the gym and doing some bench presses, pull downs, barbell curls, leg extensions ? and heading home. No more riding the stationary bike to no where for 30 minutes and thinking to yourself ? ?Self, yup, I just really did something.? No ? rather you will be engaging your body in a diverse combination of movements and challenges such as pull ups, running, Olympic lifts, jump rope, climbing ropes, push ups,??.more running, etc. This is all in one workout that may take as?little?as 6 minutes or as long as 45 minutes. Variation and?inconsistency?rules as your body struggles to adapt to the workouts ? it improves and becomes?stronger?..and more fit.

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Now ? make no mistake about it. Just about anyone can do Crossfit. Young kids to senior citizens ? all movements and exercises can be modified and scaled to fit your own ability.

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My?experience?with Crossfit at the age of 42 has been positive. I am not going to lie ? it is hard work. If getting fit was easy there would be far fewer belts out there screaming for help as many Americans today push maximum density. I workout 3-4 times per week. There are workout that I leave thinking ?That absolutely sucked?..but I DID IT!!!!?

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I have found that my life has changed dramatically since starting Crossfit. Just a couple weeks ago my wife asked my to go get the vacuum cleaner from upstairs. We have a Kirby, which is not the lightest unit ever made. As ?was walking down the stairs carrying the Kirby in my right hand ? I?suddenly?realized that either this thing has gotten lighter or I have gotten stronger. It literally felt 10 pounds lighter. Guess you can tell I don?t touch the vacuum much.

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In Summary ? At 42, ?I am stronger than I have ever been in my life. I have more endurance and I feel that I am more ?capable? than ever. From a preparedness perspective ? Crossfit is a great tool for the Survivalist.

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Part II will be tomorrow where I discuss my?experience?with the Paleo Diet.

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?- Rourke

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Source: http://modernsurvivalonline.com/part-one-crossfit-and-paleo-a-journey-into-health-and-fitness/

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