Functional Training for Beginners. Keys to Start with Guarantees

If you follow the Velites blog , you’re surely a CrossFit enthusiast or athlete. But if you’ve just landed on our website or blog and barely know our flagship sport, you’ve come to the right post, because today I want to talk to you about CrossFit for Beginners.

A very complete and well-detailed exercise sheet that will help you start this sport in a month, progressively and suitable for all kinds of people. Whether you have practiced sports before or are starting from scratch, this downloadable will surely motivate you to push your body.

What is CrossFit and how can it help you?

CrossFit is defined as a strength and conditioning training system that optimizes your fitness and condition, based on very varied functional exercises performed at a relatively high intensity.

It uses a large number of exercises and sports disciplines (track and field, artistic gymnastics, weightlifting, etc.). From these, techniques or movements are selected that we can apply to daily life, combining them in different ways; its specialty is precisely non‑specialization.

Training adaptability to the athlete

The training is designed for universal scalability, meaning it can be perfectly applied to any committed person, regardless of experience. The same routines can be used by older adults as well as amateur or professional athletes.

The difference lies in adapting the work to each person’s characteristics. That work is called a WOD, the English acronym for the workout of the day (Workout of the Day). As its name indicates, it’s the daily workout that varies from day to day. That is one of the hooks of this sport: it adapts to the athlete’s fitness and is highly varied in terms of exercises and workouts.

The word “training routine” doesn’t exist in CrossFit and as a beginner you’ll soon realize 😉

SEE ALSO: 10 CrossFit Workouts You Shouldn’t Miss

History of CrossFit and why it’s a perfect sport for beginners

Its origins date back to 1995 in Santa Cruz, California, where the first gym offering this type of training opened. Later, in 2000, Greg Glassman shaped the concept and registered this sporting discipline under the CrossFit brand. The first box to officially affiliate with the brand was CrossFit North in Seattle, which became the epicenter of the movement.

Its creator, Greg Glassman, realized through his work as a coach in California gyms that traditional bodybuilding training, for example, was not efficient. They invested a lot of time and the performance was low. For that reason, he decided to start a new training system based on varied functional movements performed at high intensity. He soon realized the results were much better than those achieved with traditional exercise routines.

In this way he began using the program to train police officers and later for training marines, firefighters, and U.S. military personnel.

In CrossFit, the mental attitude  is as important as the physical one and that’s why if you’re new to CrossFit, you’ll soon realize to what extent this sport hooks you because it makes you stronger physically and mentally.

CrossFit. A growing sport with a great future

Currently in Spain there are almost 300 CrossFit‑affiliated boxes according to data from its official page.

These facilities generally have an industrial‑warehouse look, from 200 to 1,500 square meters, where you can find all kinds of equipment and material to practice the exercises.

If you’re a CrossFit beginner, you’ll find elements you might not know and others common to any other gym. You’ll find bars, plates, rowers, air bikes, rig‑structures, med‑balls, kettlebells, jump ropes, climbing ropes, bands for assistance, etc.

Each box usually has an open activity area and equipment and material for functional work.

Benefits of practicing CrossFit if you’re a beginner

Due to its comprehensive training program, this functional sport provides many benefits, both physical and psychological; among them I would highlight the following:

• Improved aerobic capacity: due to the type of sustained activity, the body’s ability to function and respond efficiently improves without experiencing fatigue or requiring excessive effort.
• Strength gains: by working from day one with our own bodyweight, global and functional exercises, strength gains become noticeable from the first weeks.
• Spirit of self‑improvement: it’s not only about competing against others, but against yourself. Having a goal, whether time or work, makes you push to reach it and improve day by day. By the way, very important: remember to record your results; it is essential to track your progress.
• Community: if something sets CrossFit apart, it’s its community spirit, camaraderie — the WOD or workout of the day doesn’t finish until the last of your teammates finishes.

How to start in CrossFit

But we must also say that viewed from the outside it does not seem as wonderful as when you’re inside. We know this: many people who come to the box arrive with some uncertainty and even fear. They have heard of a harsh, military‑style workout that leaves everyone on the floor.

This is where the most important work comes into play: explaining and making these people aware that CrossFit is totally practicable for all kinds of individuals, from children to older adults. There are no secrets, to plan and program daily work individually to the extent of our possibilities, which should be many.

Once we have succeeded in getting them to come and try this fantastic sport, we must be clear that the first day must be treated specially, and of course the following ones too, if we want them to come back…

Generally, our beginner crossfitters arrive at the box the first time shy, wary, and eager. The first step to properly welcome a CrossFit beginner is to introduce them to the staff and box members, so they begin creating an emotional bond with teammates and build trust.

In our case we consider it essential, and we have implemented by protocol, to ask a series of important questions before starting the first session:

Do you practice physical activity, exercise or sport?

It is important for adapting the sessions; one must always consider the principle of progression — a session for an inactive person will not be the same as for an active one. Knowing what sport they practice will give us more information on how to help and, above all, how not to disrupt their planning.

What is your goal?

The most important thing is that we know what they want to achieve and why they are visiting the box. If we as managers/coaches don’t know their objectives, what are we going to offer? CrossFit? Yes, but for what purpose?

Do you have any pathology, condition or injury?

An essential matter we must always ask about, so they should and we must know it beforehand to act accordingly. We are aware of the sensitivity of certain information, but it is inevitable to disclose any that may have consequences with the practice of CrossFit, in the worst case it can cost a life.

What is your occupation?

This question is not among the most important we’ve seen, but it gives us a lot of information. There are jobs where people stand for long periods, lift, or sit in an office; such positions, like others, tend to have similar diagnoses by default, and it also makes them feel understood.

And above all train safely and with the best equipment available to you:

Conclusion

If the sessions for experienced crossfitters have a high degree of personalization, the CrossFit work sessions for beginners are even more so, because it is very necessary to adapt the exercise to the physical and mental capacity of the person starting in this sport.

If you’re a beginner, go ahead and try CrossFit because it will hook you. Also, if you’ve been training for a short time or are unsure, leave your comment and we will answer your questions. If you are already an athlete who has been practicing CrossFit for a while, you surely have a lot of advice and experiences you can share that will definitely help those starting in a box.

You can share the post on your social networks and also remember that if you need a training or competition rope, at Velites we have the most advanced on the market.