Crossfit take two

I'm on my second try with Crossfit. The last time I tried it I ended up doing too many kettlebell swings and hurt my back. I was laid out on the couch for a few days afterward trying not to strain my back any further. Despite that injury, I've always liked the concept of Crossfit - short, intense workouts and strength training, along with a team aspect. There's a Crossfit gym here and two of my friends are into it, so I started going with them.

I've gone for about 3 weeks now, several times a week. The verdict: There are things I really like about Crossfit, but I'm not completely sold on it yet. Some of the workouts have been great and I really like learning new lifts. We've gone over deadlifts, cleans, squats, shoulder press, and rows. I also really like working on pull ups, handstands, and double unders. I've been practicing handstands and pull ups at home because I want to be able to do them without assistance!

First day: This was a great starting workout. Nothing too hard. I can't do toes to bar, so I did knee-ups instead while hanging from the bar.

SWOD: (Strength workout of day)
Back Squat
Bench Press 

5@75%,  3@85%,  1+@95%

WOD: 12 Minute AMRAP (As many rounds as possible)

200m Shuttle Run (50m x4)
50 Single-unders
15 Toes to Bar

Second day: Also a really fun workout. I did knee-ups instead of knees to elbows and handstand holds instead of the push-ups. We did some sit-ups and cleans at the end.

WOD: 4 Rounds For Time

21 Wall Balls (20/14)
15 Knees to Elbows
9 Handstand Push-ups

Third time: I liked practicing deadlifts and learning the proper form. For the WOD, I did handstand holds facing the wall (which is tougher than outward facing).

SWOD:
Dead Lift and Shoulder Press 

5 @ 75%,  3 @ 85%,  1 @ 95%

WOD: 3 Rounds for time:
50m Walking Lunge
50 ft Handstand Walk
50 Abmat Sit-ups

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Week 2 Day 1: The deadlifts and burpees were actually really tiring, and this was the first workout that I thought was maybe a little too repetitive with the deadlifts. Deadlifts is a big full body movement and we did a LOT of them. I was glad I kept the weight relatively low.

SWOD:

Back Squat and Bench Press
5 reps @ 40%,  5 reps @ 50%,  5 reps @ 60%

WOD: really long to type out, but it was basically a bunch of deadlifts and burpees for 3 min x3 AMRAP, and then we did a full 3 min of ab mat sit-ups at the end.

Week 2 Day 2: I actually enjoyed this workout even though I had to modify everything! I used a band for pull-ups, I did push-ups on my knees, and I used a band for dips. BUT it's a lot of arm muscle movements, especially triceps.

WOD: 4 Rounds For Time (2 minutes rest in between each round)

Run 400 Meters/Row 500 Meters
20 Pull-ups
20 Push-ups
20 Dips

Week 2 day 3: I liked the GHD sit-ups at first. It's on a device that lets you extend your trunk and reach for the ground, then tuck up into a crunch. But after doing a few rounds, it made me a little dizzy. The trainer wanted me to try handstand push-ups with abmats under my head, but I really struggled with it and ended up kind of falling on my head a little bit. This is one of the problems with Crossfit: too much too fast!

WOD:
30 GHD Sit-ups

20 Cleans (155/105)

10 Hand Stand Push Ups
20 GHD Sit-ups
10 Cleans
5 Hand Stand Push Ups

So there were some good workouts, and some that I felt were too much (either too much of one thing, or too many exercises using the same muscles). Some of the trainers were better than others; the really good ones focused on form and making sure the workout was scaled for each person. And overall I had fun and enjoyed most of the workouts and met some cool people!

I still have my reservations about Crossfit. It's easy to overdo it, especially if you're competitive and like to push yourself (like me!). If the workouts are too repetitive or if they aren't varied enough from one day to the next, it's easy to overwork one group of muscles. However, I like working out with a group and having the workouts written for me. I like the high intensity intervals. I like the strength training, especially deadlifts and squats!