CrossFit: Getting Down All the Right Moves

My second week at was harder than . This is the point where quitters make for the door, but not Patch. We're sticking it out for three months.  

Week 2: 

It was actually tough walking yesterday. I guess that's what happens after you curse your way through an intense WOD [Workout Of the Day] of sled drags, dumbbell push-presses and sit-ups followed by an hour-long foundations session of repeatedly flipping a 250-pound tire and then wailing on it with a sledgehammer.  

It will be nice to get these foundations classes out of the way. As I mentioned in my last article, everyone who joins CrossFit Liberation has to go through six of them. We're learning all the moves, and, since I've never really lifted weights before, my challenge is not how much weight to lift, but lifting it correctly so as not to create any bad habits. 

I was speaking with some of my panting colleagues about the issue on Wednesday. Turns out that most CrossFit participants are still working on getting their moves right—even those who are in super shape and have been doing it for more than a year. Some of the moves are very simple, but others make you wonder if they were invented by a team of cruel scientists in a mansion on top of a dark mountain (imagine lightning crashing, nerds laughing). 

A sinus infection and busy work week made it tough this past week, but I made it to four WODs.

Below is some of what I've learned so far: 

Push-Ups: They're very different. You rest your whole body on the ground and push up from there. 

Sit-Ups: Tough compared to your regular sit-up. You lie down, put your arms behind your head and then throw them forward—shooting your body into a sitting position.  

Pull-Ups: Doing a full-body "Kipping pull-up" correctly looks great. Right now it looks like I'm wriggling like a fish, and incorrectly using the momentum in my legs and hips to propel toward the bar. I made more than a dozen attempts to get the technique down, and now have a dimple in my chin. 

Wall Balls: Crazy hard. You've got to throw a medicine ball 10 feet in the air from a squat position. Paul, the other new dude next to me, did more than 90 in 12 minutes. I did 54.

Tire Flipping: Ever watch those strongman competitions with the insanely huge guys who flip 750-pound tires? That's basically what we're doing at CrossFit, but with smaller tires. 

Sledgehammer Strikes: Hitting one of those huge tires with a sledgehammer is a nice way to get rid of aggression. You're definitely more chilled out after swinging and connecting 50 times. 

Kettlebell Swings: The kettlebell swings are all about balance, all about controlling the weight after you swing it from under your legs and then over your head. 

Sled Drags: Simply, you put weight on a sled and then drag it.  

Next Week: Trainers and the Crossfit Diet