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
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. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading, and for sharing.
DeleteThe 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.