Читать книгу 24 Ways to Move More - Nicole Tsong - Страница 12

I was suspicious of the enthusiasm. People who do cross-functional fitness, also known as high-intensity workouts or, more popularly as “CrossFit,” talk about it in rapturous tones. They blather on about how sore they are, using terminology foreign to us normal folk. They talk about how you can get in the best shape of your life with a 10-minute workout.

Skeptical didn’t even begin to cover how I felt. I had no interest in this trend. Nope. Not me. Not in this lifetime.

Then my friend Emily turned. She wasn’t just in; she was all in. The betrayal!

Emily wanted me to try this high-intensity functional fitness, too. Over dinner, she kept saying how much she loved the workouts and how great the community was. Her gym was close to our respective homes.

I looked into her gym, which utilized the CrossFit brand and required newcomers to take an introductory series that teaches you the exercises and how to safely navigate the rigorous workouts. The price made me gulp—$150 for a month—and this was several years ago. This particular intro series required 12 classes over four weeks—that’s three classes a week. That seemed like a lot of money—and time—to commit up front.

OR TRY . . . KETTLEBELLS

Advocates of kettlebells say you can get stronger than you ever thought possible—including core, leg, shoulder, and grip strength plus general conditioning—by working out with the round-shaped weights with handles that come in various sizes.

I wanted that.

I took a class at a studio that teaches Russian-style kettlebell technique, learning to swing and use the kettlebells for general strength. You train barefoot, which at first seemed dangerous to me, considering that even light kettlebells can hurt if dropped on a bare foot. But feeling your feet makes a difference for technique, according to the trainers, though not all studios train this way.

After a warm-up, we worked a halo, holding a kettlebell in both hands with the handle down and circling the kettlebell around our heads, as close to hair and ears as possible. Halos warm up the shoulder girdle, strengthen the back, and mobilize the shoulders.

We practiced squats, lowering hips toward the floor. Then we learned a hip hinge, folding at the hips, sticking your butt out, and engaging your core. For swings, holding the bell by the handle, we hinged first, dragged the kettlebell back, felt our weight in our heels, then thrust hips forward so the bell floated forward to shoulder height, repeating the swing 10 times, using a breath technique to sniff in and then hiss breath out during the swing.

I struggled with my hip hinge. If you hinge more at the hips, you won’t leak power from your core, one trainer said. I lost power at the top of the swing, pushing my hips forward instead of standing up. I muscled my kettlebell up with my shoulders. Clearly, I needed to take this class again.

We also worked deadlifts with heavy kettlebells. I hinged at my hips, squeezed my legs and upper back, sniffed, exhaled, and stood up with my kettlebell.

The goal is to master technique so that you maintain good form even if you swing a kettlebell hundreds of times in one class. I can’t wait for the day I master a beautiful kettlebell swing.

Many gyms and trainers offer a variety of multifunctional high-intensity interval training (HIIT) classes. It’s often marketed as “CrossFit,” a worldwide brand with numerous affiliates, but you can easily find gyms that use similar approaches and get the same results.

This style of training includes bodyweight exercises such as pull-ups and push-ups; weightlifting using barbells (you’ll squat and learn Olympic lifting, snatching a barbell from the floor and raising it over your head); cardio, including running, indoor rowing, and jumping rope; and gymnastics-style movements, such as muscle-ups (swinging up onto a set of hanging rings) and handstands.

In a HIIT workout, the movements typically change every day. Some days are technical, when you focus on a snatch for 30 minutes before doing an intense 10-minute workout. Other days, you’ll do a “chipper,” moving for 40 minutes between a power clean (an Olympic lift), running, kettlebells, and throwing a medicine ball overhead at a wall, for example. The high-intensity part of the workout comes from the nonstop element; you do the prescribed movements until time is up or you’ve completed a set number of reps.

The goal is to improve overall fitness and home in on areas you can get stronger. You’ll find movements you love and ones you struggle with. If you’ve never done strength training, you may be surprised at how quickly you progress. If you want to improve your cardio and aerobic capacity, have no fear—your body’s ability to get oxygen to your muscles will skyrocket.

Once you get more experienced in cross-functional fitness, the benefits increase, studies have shown, with better aerobic capacity and more strength. Although you may hear about potential injuries, research has shown that the frequency of HIIT-related injuries is consistent with those associated with any type of fitness activity.

I was lured in by HIIT’s short workouts. Emily was effusive about how efficient the workouts were, and I loved the idea of pushing hard for 10 minutes—though I would soon find out many workouts lasted longer than that. I also hadn’t joined a new fitness community in years, and my interest was piqued when Emily described the program’s outgoing, encouraging culture. I wanted to meet new people, both to work out with and to build new friendships. Her CrossFit gym sounded like a jump-start for body and soul.

On the first day of the intro class, our trainer, Jenelle, eased us in. We learned proper squat technique and how to go deep into a squat by dropping our hips below our knees, and we worked on push-ups, modifying as needed with knees down. We made pull-ups easier by attaching a stretchy band to a bar and stepping into the bottom to get some needed lift up over the bar. I hadn’t attempted a pull-up in years and relied on the boost from the thick rubber band.

We did a timed workout—a HIIT staple—with a 200-meter sprint, running on pavement outside and around the block, followed by three rounds of air squats (squatting your hips below your knees), push-ups, and ring rows (holding a set of rings, walking your legs forward so your body is diagonal to the ground, and pulling your chest to the rings, a modification to build shoulder strength for pull-ups). We finished with a final sprint. Loud music pounded throughout the workout, and Jenelle shouted encouragement. I was breathing hard, but I liked it. We recorded our times in journals at the end of class.

I walked out of the gym energized by doing the workout and by meeting new people who lived close by and were intrigued by HIIT. I was excited about the next workout. Maybe it was the endorphins or an adrenaline buzz, but I almost skipped to my car.

Who was I? All it took was one workout to become one of them?

I thought about the workout for the next two days and couldn’t wait to go back, despite the soreness in my shoulders from the push-ups and pull-ups. I was excited every time I got to class; three times a week didn’t feel like enough.

As we progressed through the intro series, the workouts increased in length and intensity. The combination of cardio with strength training is brutal, if effective, even when the cardio is a short 200-meter sprint. I hate running, though I discovered I was a decent sprinter. But running tested my lungs; by the third round of sprinting, rowing, or jumping rope combined with pull-ups, squats, or lunges, I was gasping.

Finally, we had a workout with “no cardio.” We learned to do wallballs—taking a large, heavy medicine ball, squatting while holding the ball, and then standing up and heaving it up above a marked height on the wall.

Yes! I thought when I watched the demonstration. I was gonna love this.

Perhaps it was best I went in blind. Five rounds of wallballs combined with push-ups and pull-ups later, I was on the floor, panting (collapsing on the dirty gym floor became the norm; you get used to being grimy). In cross-functional fitness, the running joke is: Wanna do cardio? Lift faster.

I had heard from the internet that some gyms throw you in too hard, too fast, and I didn’t know if I would like the intensity. The intro series was a soft entry; I never felt overwhelmed, an indicator of a good gym.

HIIT also gave my competitive side a new outlet. It’s never far below the surface, but I hadn’t taken on a competitive physical activity since high school. With timed workouts, I wanted to come out on top every time. I watched the clock and other athletes, talking myself into moving even when I felt like another burpee was impossible.

After my intro series was over, I wanted to keep going.

I got strong fast doing cross-functional fitness, a common result when you go from no weightlifting to lifting three to four times a week. While I’d once thought I hated weightlifting, I found that what I actually hated was lifting weights on a machine. I fell in love with the dynamic movements of Olympic weightlifting.

I also discovered that it takes time to develop the endurance and capacity for the intense workouts, and I was sore a lot, sometimes hobbling for a couple of days. But I was amazed to see how much stronger I got.

With the ever-changing workouts found in HIIT, it’s difficult to avoid exercises you dislike. It took me a year to do more than one double-under in a row, whipping the jump rope around twice on one hop. I despaired when the options were a 5K run or a 5K row on the rowing machine. Throwing myself to the floor and hopping back up to jump and clap overhead for a burpee felt like the death of me.

It helps when others tackle a workout with you. I bonded with many members of my classes over workouts. As I got to know them, I figured out which people I was on par with physically. At night, I was glued to Facebook, where coaches posted workout times from the day, scrolling through everyone’s results. As I’ve said, I’m competitive.

I struggled for a while between pushing myself and overextending my body. My competitiveness got the best of me one summer, and I tweaked my shoulder. I took the injury seriously and scaled back until my shoulder healed. I modified my workouts, using a thicker band for pull-ups and reducing weight on my lifts. I found that even modified high-intensity interval workouts produce sweat and can cause post-workout collapse.

More importantly, HIIT had a huge impact on my perception of my own strength. Prior to the training, I couldn’t do a pull-up, or even come close, whereas I now consider doing one or two pull-ups a baseline.

Cross-functional fitness also shifted my approach to nutrition. I had done simple cleanses before, such as eliminating sugar or alcohol for a month. Otherwise, I assumed I ate well. Then I did my first-ever Whole30 nutrition challenge—hosted by my gym—and cut out sugar, processed carbs, dairy, alcohol, and grains. I realized that a diet packed with good protein and vegetables stabilized my energy and made me feel stronger during workouts.

The workouts became a staple in my life. For the first time ever, I loved going to the gym and pushing my body in new ways. I loved lifting heavy weights. It was a thrill to go to fitness classes and see how much stronger I was and how much more endurance I had.

Most HIIT programs emphasize meeting everyone at the start of class, cheering folks on until they finish, and building community. I loved giving people high fives as they ran past me and grimacing with my friends when workouts felt harder than I ever thought possible. I watched people of all shapes, sizes, ages, and fitness levels come in and get fit and strong.

For a friend’s 40th birthday, I went to a workout called the Fatal 40. Tons of us packed the gym, sweating through squats, power cleans, pull-ups, push-ups, burpees, and running. During one set of 40 burpees, I was exhausted. I didn’t want to do any burpees, let alone 40; I had a few moments when I was ready to skip the burpees to finish. But then I remembered the only goal was to keep going—always my main mindset in classes. I saw other people gritting it out. I shook it off and did all the burpees.

As always, I made it to the end.

GET STARTED WITH CROSS-FUNCTIONAL FITNESS

There may be multiple HIIT programs, like CrossFit, near you. First talk to folks who work out there to get a sense of whether it’s the right fit for you. Look at gym photos and see if they reflect a variety of ages, races, and body types. See if they have a structure for new members to onboard. Go in and see how you are treated. Then take the required intro class or a one-on-one with a trainer to learn the basic movements.

Once you’re working out, get to know the people sweating next to you. It makes a huge difference to create a community that holds each other accountable and cheers each other on.

BEFORE YOU GO

Equipment: HIIT-specific shoes, useful for both running and weightlifting. Down the road, you may want to invest in a pair of lifting shoes. Wear sweat-wicking workout clothes.

Cost: Monthly fees depend on the gym, ranging from $90 to $300 per month at city gyms.

QUICK TIPS

•Some gyms post daily workouts online in advance. Don’t let a particular workout dissuade you from going to the gym that day. The point is to vary your movements. Challenge yourself with workouts you may not want to do.

•If your gym hosts nutrition challenges, participate in one to learn more about how what you eat has an impact on how you feel.

•Give yourself time to recover between classes. It’s a lot of new movements at a higher intensity than you may be used to. You may feel quite sore.

CHALLENGE YOURSELF

Your intro series may cover a full month, depending on your gym. If not, consider adding the following goals:

Level Up: Work on mobility outside of class, such as using a foam roller on hips or glutes, or stretching your feet (see “Recovery: Myofascial Release”). This also is useful for recovery in between intense classes.

Reach Goal: Take a cross-functional fitness class one extra time per week. Work on foundational skills, such as a pull-up or double-unders. If your gym posts the workouts online, see if you can go without looking at the workout of the day beforehand so you don’t skip workouts you dislike.

Adventure Goal: Sign up for a cross-functional fitness competition. Do it with others at your gym for the fun and challenge of it.

DISCOVERY: Cross-Functional Fitness

	1ST	2ND	3RD
DATE
DURATION
RATING (1 TO 5 STARS)
What preconceptions did you have about cross-functional fitness (or HIIT, CrossFit, etc.) before deciding to take a class? Did you think it was cultlike or that there was no way you would do it?
What did you discover about cross-functional fitness after taking a class? What did you learn about yourself by doing the workouts?
What was the most challenging part of a high-intensity interval workout? Why?
What have you discovered about your perception of your own strength and health since trying HIIT? How has your body changed since taking classes?