Don’t do anything until you’ve taken on board these invaluable tips from the UK’s fittest, Zack George
1. Find your local box
Learning CrossFit works best in a group setting. Each box is unique with its personality and community. If possible, try a couple before you commit, you want to find a place that feels like home!
Most boxes will run an on-ramp that introduces you to the fundamental movements in CrossFit and the class structure.
Try to commit to a certain number of classes each week. The go-to prescription is three days of training, and one day of rest.
2. Don’t compare yourself to others
It’s your journey, nobody else’s. Don’t get consumed by the leaderboard. Instead, keep your own scores diary. The best person to compete with is yourself, and if you keep good records, you can chart your progress more effectively.
3. Learn the basics well
Learning good movement mechanics early on is vital. There are nine foundational movements in CrossFit. If you can master those, you have the blueprint for good mechanics. Continuously pursue form over complexity or weight. If you can’t do the movement with a broomstick, you shouldn’t do it with a loaded bar.
4. Be patient
CrossFit defines fitness and health as work capacity across broad times and modal domains. Your health is built on your ability to produce work in all domains throughout your life. This predicates a preference for steady, consistent improvements rather than a period of intense training and then falling away.
One of the most common beginner mistakes is training three times a day and getting injured after six months. I’d much rather see you train solidly once a day, five days a week, before starting to think about scaling up your volume.
5. Enjoy
The process of learning new and varied movements has huge benefits from a neurological perspective, complex coordination and spatial tasks create structural changes in the brain that help prevent mental decline and improve mood. These challenges are often things that have been left behind since childhood but should be approached daily.
The feeling of physical mastery should be savored and enjoyed. Enjoy the process and revel in the small wins, you’ll realize eventually that the process of working towards something offers more reward than the actual ‘achievement’.
There is a special kind of bonding that happens in groups that undergo shared ‘suffering’, and you will find that CrossFit communities are some of the closest-knit friendliest groups you know.
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Zack George – The UK’s Fittest Man: “I’m ready to step back onto that field”
