WHAT EXACTLY IS CROSSFIT?

Straight up: CrossFit is the most effective strength and conditioning program in the world IF your goal is improved overall fitness across ALL types of physical activity (strength, endurance, flexibility, coordination). If you just want is to be super flexible, we suggest you do yoga. If you want to be huge and strong, then go to Golds and lift heavy weights every day. If you want to be able to run marathons, well then, you should hit the road. If you want to be (well) above average in all things athletic, at the same time, then youʼve found a home here. And as you turn yourself into the athlete who can handle “anything and everything,” your body will respond. You will notice yourself walking with better posture. Your fat will slowly but surely be exchanged for muscle. And your confidence will radiate from the inside out.

OKAY, WELL THAT SOUNDS GREAT, BUT HOW EXACTLY DO YOU DO THAT?

“Constantly varied, functional movement, performed at high intensity.” Mouthful right? Simply put, the workouts arenʼt easy, and we are always changing them up on you. Three to six months will go by before we repeat a workout in our programming. Your body is forced to adapt to anything and everything, so itʼs always learning and developing. 

SO WHATʼS A CROSSFIT CLASS LIKE?

Workouts are typically short–20 minutes or less–and intense, demanding all-out physical exertion. They combine movements such as running, rowing, jumping rope, weightlifting, gymnastics, as well as numerous body weight exercises. Each day you show up to a new carefully chosen “WOD” or “Workout of the Day.” We get you warmed up, we spend some time working on coordination skills or strength, and then we jump into the workout, as a group! Afterwards weʼll typically cool down with some stretching. We keep track of your performance on each WOD so that you can see your progress over time.

I HAVE HEARD CROSSFIT IS REALLY TOUGH. IS IT ONLY FOR HARD CORE ATHLETES?

No way! The fundamental structure of CrossFit lends itself to the development of all ages and ranges of athletic capability. CrossFit is as hard as you make it. We will encourage you to push to the limits of what you can handle and at the end of the day itʼs up to you to make the most out of your workouts.

DO I HAVE TO GET IN SHAPE FIRST BEFORE I START?

This comes up a lot! Short answer: no. The most elite athlete can come into Crossfit Upshot and make any workout extremely challenging. Someone who has been lounging on the couch watching game show re-runs for the last six months will find it equally challenging. It all works because we workouts are scaled for each individual. Fitness is a lifelong journey;
weʼre here to get you from where you are to where you want to be as efficiently as possible.

I CANʼT DO CROSSFIT BECAUSE I DONʼT WANT TO AGGRAVATE PREVIOUS INJURIES.

Numerous clients have come through the doors with previous injuries or tweaks and found relief from the pain by improving their mobility (flexibility) and strengthening the muscles around the problem area. Example. A lot of people neglect exercising their lower back for fear of injury. Because of this they wind up even more susceptible to injury from minor mishaps which can happen in every day life. Getting to know your body through CrossFit will actually provide you with a buffer of sorts that will mitigate the risk of everyday injuries.

WILL I GET TOO BIG AND BULKY?

In order for people to get bigger, especially women, there are two things that must happen. One: pick up very heavy weight on a frequent basis. This is not something we do. Yes, we are very much concerned about your strength and we do lift heavy on some days. But this is not our main focus. Two: eat an extremely high calorie diet. This is also something that we do not focus on. From a nutritional standpoint, our focus is simply on the quality of the foods we eat, not the amount. While most of our clients do experience fluctuation in weight, the change itself is mostly due to the inevitable transformation of a body being used as a storage vehicle to that of an athlete.

I WOULD LOVE TO DROP-IN. DO YOU ALLOW THAT AND HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

We love drop-in guests! The cost to drop-in is $20 per class. We look forward to seeing you!

WHAT THE WOD? Learn the CrossFit lingo.

Workout of the Day (WOD): Plain and simple, this is the set of modalities that your coach uses to put you through hell on any given day.

As Many Rounds As Possible (AMRAP): Complete a circuit as many times as you can within a given time frame. For example, 6 minute AMRAP: 5 deadlifts, 10 pullups, 20 double unders. When 6 minutes is up, record your total rounds completed. Note: AMRAP may also mean "as many reps as possible."

MetCon: Short for metabolic conditioning, this CrossFit devil is usually a few exercises repeated AMRAP-style. The “Cindy” workout of the day (20 minutes of 5 pullups, 10 pushups, and 15 squats) is a good example. Some boxes offer MetCon-only classes for anybody who wants to steer clear of the heavy lifting associated with standard CrossFit WODs.

Thruster: Thrusters feel like the bane of all CrossFitters’ existence, especially during "Fran" when they're done 45 times with complementing pullups. To do this move, grab a barbell and start in front rack position--standing position with the bar resting against the front of your shoulders; hold the barbell with a hook grip. Drop into a full squat position while keeping the barbell at shoulder level. Return to standing position in an explosive (thrusting) motion and push the weight up over your head. Bring the barbell back down to your shoulders and repeat.

Double Under (DU): While jumping rope, allow the rope to pass under your feet twice while you're still in the air. As an alternative, you can do three single unders for every DU that is required (e.g. 20 DUs = 60 SUs).

Pistol: No, this has nothing to do with gun control, so everyone please relax. A pistol is a one-legged squat, which helps to isolate each leg and build lower-body strength.

Snatch: Get your minds out of the gutter. The snatch has many variations (power, hang, muscle), but the overall goal is to use a wide grip to lift a barbell from the floor to an overhead position in one fluid and lightening-fast motion. Tip: Keeping the bar closer to your body when hoisting it up allows for better balance.

Kipping: Kipping implies the use of explosive strength in order to gain momentum when performing pullups, hand stands, pushups, and dips. For example, kipping pullups are completed without dropping from the bar. This modality starts on the pullup bar with a powerful hip drive, explosive kick, and strong pull from the arms in order to create enough momentum to get your chin up over the bar.

RX: When a WOD is performed RX’d, that means the athlete performs all modalities using the prescribed weight and reps. In CrossFit, all WODs can be scaled down to meet your fitness level, but the goal is to get to a place where the RX is challenging, yet doable.

CrossFit Total (CFT): CFT allows an athlete to get an accurate idea of how strong they are by testing themselves in arguably the three most functional CF modalities: back squat, strict press, and deadlift. CFT is the best of three attempts at these three exercises, and the sum of the max weight performed in each movement will give you your score.

Pood: Sounds gross, but a pood is actually a Russian unit of measurement used for kettlebells.1 pood =16 kg/35 lbs; 1.5 pood = 24 kg/53 lbs; 2 pood = 32 kg/71 lbs.

PR'd: You'll hear "PR" when an athlete achieves his or her personal record.