Crossfit workouts & exercises

What is CrossFit?

Just like many others, this trend has spilled over from the USA to Europe. It is crossfit workouts & exercises are a training method that targets improvement in many training disciplines at once. It’s just the thing for all-rounders as it combines weightlifting, sprinting, cardio, deadlifting and gymnastics. You see, CrossFit is for true warriors who don’t let anything stop them. Since CrossFit not only trains endurance and strength, but also agility, speed, dexterity, balance, coordination and accuracy, the trend is now being utilized in police, firefighter and military training. So if you want to unite the forces of all Marvel superheroes in you, then crossfit workouts & exercises are just right for you.

Crossfit workouts & exercises

Due to its competitive nature, CrossFit has become a competitive sport. Since 2007, the world’s fittest have competed annually in the “CrossFit Games.” The $250,000 prize money should be enough motivation for the men and women. At this high level, beginners from home are amazed at the superhuman feats displayed by the CrossFitters. Each of them must be a jack of all trades, able to adapt to new challenges. But before you get there, there’s a little work ahead of you. We’ll help you get over those first hurdles with ease.

Structure of a Crossfit workouts & exercises

In CrossFit, you always choose a series of exercises (we’ve listed them below), which are performed in multiple rounds. To get everything out of your body, you either set the time and try to do as many rounds as possible, or you set the number of rounds and try to blast through them as fast as you can. “Blasting through” is just meant to illustrate the intensity here. As always in sports, to prevent injury, pay attention to clean execution and, in the best case, have a coach by your side.

The kit for your CrossFit workout

When you start looking into CrossFit, the word “WOD” will often catch your eye. “WOD” means “workout of the day” and stands for a training session in CrossFit training. You can easily put this together by grabbing 3-4 exercises from our kit that you find appealing or particularly challenging. Now, using an imaginary screwdriver, screw a number of reps onto each exercise and cobble together a complete round. Then do as many rounds as possible within 10 minutes. If the construct you have built is too easy for you, then increase the number of repetitions or swap light exercises for heavier ones. Another option is to increase the time. A tip: Write down your workouts to have an overview of your performance and to adapt your Crossfit workouts & exercises to your performance level.

CrossFit exercises for beginners at home

If you want to start with CrossFit, then first of all the good old standard exercises that work without equipment are a suitable way to lay the first stone. But in order not to mess up your start with boredom, you should do some more creative CrossFit exercises. Besides the classics like PushUps, Squats and SitUps, we’ll show you some more attractive Crossfit workouts & exercises to do at home:

Butterfly SitUps

This CrossFit exercise is an extension of the normal SitUps. The difference lies in the diamond-like position of the legs. Press both soles of your feet against each other. The diamond shape should come automatically. All you have to do now is alternate between touching your feet and the floor behind your head, tilting back and forth like a railroad crossing.

Hand Release PushUps

This CrossFit exercise is a transformation of the number one sport exercise: pushups. Unlike back in gym class, this time you are allowed and encouraged to lower your upper body. This is what you do with each repetition. To be precise, the support surface should consist mainly of the outstretched chest and even your hands should not touch the floor for a moment. You are playing Superman on the floor.

Mountainclimber

Even mountains should not be a problem for a CrossFitter. The CrossFit exercise called “Mountainclimber” got its name from its movement sequence, which reminds of a mountain climber. You alternately pull your legs up to your arms, which are supported on the ground. You climb vertically, which doesn’t take you to the top of a mountain, but it certainly brings you closer to your goal. You can also pull your knees to the opposite arm to add rotation to the movement.

Plank

A CrossFit exercise that requires patience and stamina is the “Plank”. You lie down on your forearms and your toes and make yourself hard like a board. You then simply hold this position. Even though it doesn’t sound challenging, we guarantee that the plank will start shaking quite a bit. Make sure you build up enough body tension throughout your body. This will train your muscle endurance throughout the body.

Burpees

This is an exercise you will come across more often as a CrossFitter. Burpees are an all-rounder exercise and I always hated them myself. From a solid stance, you go to the floor by bouncing your legs back and lying on the floor with your chest and arms bent. Then perform a pushup and jump into a squat position at the same time. From this position you jump up and pull your arms up with you. This whole sequence of movements together makes a burpee. Have fun trying it out and sweating.

CrossFit exercises in the gym with equipment

Monotony is strongly associated with boredom. Good thing there are so many different Crossfit workouts & exercises. If you’re sick of doing dead weight exercises, just grab some gym equipment. The typical equipment used in CrossFit exercises are barbells, kettlebells, medicine balls, bars and rings. Most of the time it’s hard to have all this at home, but you can also do CrossFit exercises in a gym.

Toes to bar

Let’s start with a Crossfit workouts & exercises that is performed on a bar and thus would theoretically work at home. Just as the name suggests, it involves your toes touching the bar, or rather approaching it. You simply hang onto a bar and by using your shoulder joints and abs, you bob enough to move your legs to the bar over your head.

Push Presses

A lot of Crossfit workouts & exercises involve a barbell. Push presses are no exception. In the starting position, the barbell rests on your chest and in your hands. Now you lift the barbell over your head like a weightlifter and stay in this position for a few seconds until you bring the barbell back to your chest. Depending on individual preference, you can use your legs for support.

Wall Ball

Good old medicine balls are also part of Crossfit workouts & exercises. With this one, you also need a wall at the gym in front of which you stand. In principle, the movement is similar to squats, but as you go up, you throw the medicine ball as vertically as you can against the wall and catch it again. You play the spring as you do this, yielding to the pressure of the ball as it falls again, thus performing another squat.

Kettlebell Swing

Less people should be familiar with the kettlebell. It is a weight that looks similar to a bell. Any gym can serve with it. Like inside a bell, your arms and the kettlebell in this Crossfit workouts & exercises are a pendulum that swings between your legs as you do a squat. As you go down, the pendulum is between your legs and as you go up, it is extended straight out in front. Note: Be careful not to ring your bells.

Boxjumps

You could also do box jumps at home, as all you need is a box to jump on. Alternatively, a chair, table or other piece of furniture at your home will work, but please be careful and don’t take, say, a chair with casters or an unstable glass table. Basically, the only thing you have to do is to jump on the box with both legs. As you jump back down, do a good old squat and repeat. It helps if you use your arms with it.

Crossfit workouts & exercises for women

We certainly don’t want to serve a stereotype here, but exercises for the abdomen, legs and butt often take precedence in women’s fitness plans. This is also justified, as these body parts look very attractive when trained. To keep it that way, here are the Crossfit workouts & exercises that will make walking up and down stairs at home a living hell at the end of the day.

Pistol Squat

For the women among us who work out their butts, it should be no secret that squats work out the muscles on the backside. It should be just as well known that squats are very monotonous. Pistol Squats can add a new stimulus here. Just as with a pistol you only shoot through one barrel, with Pistol Squats you shoot yourself upward with only one leg. The other leg is held straight out in front.

Bulgarian Lunges

Also in the CrossFit exercise “Bulgarian Lunges”, you use your legs alternately, relieving the pressure on one leg at a time. Just like “Boxjumps” (see above), this exercise requires a box, chair or similar. You stand with your back to your object and place one of your feet on it while the other foot is far forward on the floor. Your hands don’t have a fixed role, but can be placed on your hips as a stabilizer while you bend and straighten your front leg.

Hollow Rock

The Hollow Rock is a CrossFit exercise for leg and abdominal muscles. This one also doesn’t require any equipment and can be done at home. Admittedly, this exercise looks a little silly because you look like you are frozen and now teetering around on the floor. You lie on the floor and raise your legs and arms so that you form a bowl on the floor. Then you rock back and forth on your back. Sounds easy, but it’s more challenging than you think.

Thruster

The thruster is a daily meal for pros, too. Even at the 2018 CrossFit Games, athletes had to perform this CrossFit exercise. Thrusters work the same way as Push Presses (see above) with the addition that when you lower the barbell, you also squat down and push yourself back up while the barbell remains on your chest.

Crossfit workouts & exercises for advanced athletes

At the world championships in CrossFit, everyone always realizes the complexity of this sport. It always goes a notch harder and more challenging. Those who make it are celebrated as heroes and admired as idols. In case you feel trained enough and also want to be a CrossFit star, try your hand at the following Crossfit workouts & exercises.

Sumo Deadlift High Pulls

The name of this exercise alone stresses us out. What’s in store is an exercise that will make you feel the strength of a sumo wrestler. For this exercise, you need a barbell in front of which you stand shoulder-width apart. Now grab the barbell with a squat motion and pull it up to your neck. The palms of your hands will always face forward.

Handstand PushUps

This exercise requires strength and balance. In theory, handstand pushups are very easy, but in practice they are even harder. As you can imagine, it’s all about doing a handstand pushup. Who would have thought it? If you have a lot of muscles, you probably lack balance, while gymnasts lack the strength to lift their own body weight. If you have problems, you can start by lying against a wall at home until you can do it without. If you want to increase the intensity, you can theoretically try it with a balance board. We have also seen exercises with balance cushions. However, we don’t recommend either.

Muscle Ups

This is a CrossFit exercise that demands a lot from you. Just like “Toes to bar” (see above), you swing on a bar. But this time, instead of bringing your feet up, use your arms to push your whole body up. At the end, you should briefly enjoy the view with your arms extended on the bar and then swing back down.

Closing

That rounds out the kit. If you have another CrossFit exercise that is indispensable in any CrossFit exercise kit or have any questions about Crossfit workouts & exercises in our kit, let us know. For now, though, you should be good to go. I am currently doing a combination of standard exercises, but will be changing this soon. Since I’m still unsure though, I’d really appreciate it if you could drop me some ideas down here in the comments.