Katie Hogan: CrossFit for Beginners

Not too long ago I wrote about indicators, creating a list, and giving yourself the chance to PR everyday. Because there are so many different things you can add to this list and various ways to tailor it to athletes with varying ability levels, I want to break down some ways to approach this for the beginner athlete.

With athletes who are new to CrossFit, it can be intimidating to realize there is a long list of exercises that they have yet to learn, let alone master. As CrossFitters, we are taught not to specialize but to adapt a broad, general, inclusive fitness that covers a wide range of movements. How does a new athlete approach this list, stay focused, PR everyday, and see improvements across the board?

I would first start with an individualized list of the more fundamental skills found in CrossFit workouts. Some skills to continue bringing along with the intention of completing these exercises as prescribed in the near future. These can be technique or strength based in their development, but ultimately the athlete needs to spend a concentrated amount of time in order to continue besting their performance and reach a level of proficiency.

Here is a basic skill list for beginner athletes:

-double unders

-box jumps

-pull-ups

-wall ball

–push-up

These are some movements that I regularly see new CrossFitters scaling day in and day out. With our goal to PR everyday, we need to keep checking in on these and not just focus on our strengths. Improving our weaknesses and testing to see progress in these areas should be a weekly goal.

Now let’s attach some examples of tests we can do for each of these exercises. We are not breaking down how to scale these movements for workouts or how to practice them, but instead listing how to test if they are improving through indicators.

Double unders:

– Flight Simulator: complete each set unbroken before advancing to next set and always break between sets 5-10-15-20-25-30-35-40-45-50-45-40-35-30-25-20-15-10-5 (get as far as possible in 20min)
– 50 doubles for time

Box jumps (be consistent with height on indicators)

– MAX height box jump
– 2min AMAP

Pull-ups

– 1 kipping pull-up or attempt, EMOTM for 20min (see how far you get)
– MAX set unbroken

Wall Ball (be consistent with weight of ball and height of target)

– For time: 5 sets of 10 reps unbroken, rest as needed but sets must be unbroken
– Tabata : 20 work, :10 rest, 8rds (record scores of each round, lowest number is final score)

Push-ups

– 50 reps in as few sets as possible
– MAX set AMAP, immediately followed by AMAP with Sling Shot.