Cross functional fitness workouts are trending in 2019. HIIT classes, home fitness workouts and Cross functional fitness classes have enabled people to maximise their training in the shortest amount of time.
To support this type of training and keep at the forefront of sports nutrition we have launched our first ever targeted X-Functional Training range. We've partnered with expert CrossFitter Mike Lee to get the low down on why CrossFit will keep you more active for longer.
"I’m Mike and I’m one of Reflex’s newest ambassadors. I’m massively into CrossFit, so much so that I've recently taken over as CEO of CrossFit London, Europe’s first CrossFit gym and the 9th affiliate globally. Check out my bio page to learn more about me.
My day-to-day training is a regime that allows me to look good, feel good and move more weight than a person of my size should be able to. My philosophies revolve strongly around health, fitness and lifestyle over a lifetime as opposed to living in the moment.
CrossFit has been at the forefront of fitness headlines in one way or another for close to twenty years, whilst this is relatively young as a fitness discipline and sport it's popularity is warranted. Emerging onto the fitness scene back in 2005, when the first affiliated gym opened, it's growth through the past 14 years has been rapid and for a good reason.
First of all, it's important to understand that CrossFit promotes "functional fitness". While this is indeed a buzzword in today's fitness market, CrossFit has genuinely earned the right to call itself the market leader when it comes to promoting the use of functional fitness. The principle behind all of its programming is simple, create a stronger, more useful, healthier population.
So let's get into the five reasons that you're going to want to try CrossFit this year."
1. Staying power.
If you're not part of a CrossFit gym, take a look around at your gym setting. It's likely there are plenty of people you have never seen before, and those that you did recognise might be gone the next week. A study taken of over 5000 people showed the following: "The general survival curve shows that 63% of new members will abandon activities before the third month, and less than 4% will remain for more than 12 months of continuous activity". It's a shocking statistic, even more so when you think that those people who had a negative gym experience are also less likely to be involved in physical activity in the future.
Joining the correct CrossFit gym means that you'll be guided through a process every step of the way and taught new skills under strict supervision. You'll be held accountable to progression, the reason you joined a gym in the first place, and if your motivation drops, you'll have a coach there to talk to point you in the right direction.
2. Confidence
There is no better feeling than feeling invincible. CrossFit certainly creates that feeling. With so many skills to work on, the chances are that you're getting stronger and fitter in something every day. Some of my favourite moments have been watching unassuming people perform extraordinary feats of strength and skill. When you possess the power to lift heavy weights from the ground to overhead in a majestic moment, suddenly the way you carry and present yourself rapidly changes.
3. Motivation
When you're part of a collective of people who are all present in the gym to pursue the common goal of feeling better, looking better and being happier, you'll soon find that motivation becomes an afterthought. It's normal to have dips throughout the year, especially in the winter months and working alongside a group of people who are always there.
4. Results
If you've been part of a gym for a while or had a personal trainer for what seems like your whole life, it's likely you're doing something wrong. Any CrossFit gym worth its stripes will have programming, lifestyle and nutrition guidance to help you in the direction and an explanation as to why it is suited to you. The programming should be results driven, making the community fitter and stronger with some individual guidance on areas where you may be weak, this is the formula that I have found to be the most successful. Very few members at CrossFit gyms or undertaking a sensibly written programme have failed to achieve any results.
5. Community
Community partly plays into motivation; however, when you join a CrossFit gym, you'll find that there is a budding community present. I've seen that the key to finding the right CrossFit gym is asking yourself the question after your first week "Do I feel welcome?" If you do, you're likely on the right track. CrossFit gyms are a place for everyone from partners in law firms to first-year students, and the support that each receives from those working alongside them is so far unrivalled in any other fitness discipline that I've seen. It's not uncommon to find that your original drive for joining a gym has been superseded by the fact that you simply enjoy training with the people alongside you.
Remember, a gym that welcomes you has a community, a gym that doesn't, has a cult. It's a fine line between becoming a clique and being a community, and in the CrossFit gyms that have the happiest populations, everyone is welcome.
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