Friday, May 18, 2012

cross-fit body-weight workouts are good

My last two fitness goals were centered around endurance events. (endurance is a relative term - they were both the longest I had ever tackled; neither would be considered a long event in the grand scheme of their kind.)

I ran a 10-mile road race on Thanksgiving Day last fall. My longest run ever prior to training for that race had been 4 miles. Needless to say I spent most of last fall training with long runs, and it paid off - I killed that race. I finished well below my goal time, and my time at the 6-mile mark still blows me away.

Then came my Olympic-length triathlon a couple weeks ago. This race required me to spend A LOT of time swimming, biking, and running. 60-minute workouts became child's play, as I had many 2.5 hour training sessions in the mornings before work. The race itself was grueling, taking over 3 hours to complete.

Why am I telling you all this?

Because I haven't done a body-weight cross-fit workout since last summer. I've trained long, and I've trained hard. I've done speed work, hill work, fast work and slow work. But I don't remember ever being too sore to walk.

This week I worked out 4 days. I swam on Monday, and I ran on Friday. Tuesday & Thursday I did body-weight cross-fit workouts, 20-25 minutes each. And I cannot believe how SORE I am today!

Right now - lunchtime on Friday - as I write this, I can feel my workouts in every part of my body: biceps, triceps, shoulders, chest, back, abs (lots - please don't make me laugh or sneeze!), butt, quads, hamstrings, calves..

I don't know how to compare calories burned doing cross-fit with running or swimming, but I can tell this - my heart rate was very high for 20-25 minutes, and my muscles were getting worked hard. I don't think I could have done these workouts for 60 minutes, or even for 45 minutes - I was spent by the end of them. And today my body is still spending energy to heal my muscles.

I've said many times before - you're only in shape for whatever it is you're in shape for. And since I don't have anything particular to train for in the near future, I'm looking forward to more of these workouts - general fitness with a mix of cardio, strength, and body shaping...

Cross-fit body-weight workouts are good.

-Chris Butterworth

2 comments:

  1. Wow, sounds great! I work out over my lunch break, so I have maybe 40-50 minutes. Do you still try to exercise specific muscle groups (back + bi's, chest + tri's) each workout? I'll put in a vote for another post on this. :)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for reading, and for sharing.

      The idea is to make your workouts really efficient, by working multiple muscle groups with little or no rest. If you can do a "push" exercise, followed by a "pull", then followed by "legs", repeated several times in rapid succession - you'll end up working out your whole body while also getting your heart beating for a cardio workout at the same time. Even better if your exercises incorporate your core &/or multiple muscle groups at the same time.

      Please stay tuned - in the next week or two I'll begin publishing a series called "Fit-20": 20-minute (give or take) workout routines you can do just about anywhere.

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