May 2007 Archives

This week's issue of Cool Cleveland has a short blurb about CrossFit CLE.

Good news! We learned yesterday that our funding source has increased. Currently we have enough equipment for 6-8 people. We'll be doubling and tripling up on items over the next three weeks, enough to reasonably handle 20-25 people by July. If we have more people than equipment we will start splitting into two or three groups 45 minutes apart.

Two brave souls, Jim and Mary, showed up at 6:30am on Memorial Day for CrossFit! Jim left before we got out the camera, but here are Mary and I after our first ever CrossFit CLE workout.

If you come to work out with us and decide that you still haven't had enough, you can always do a few hill sprints to finish off your day.

The LA Times had a nice article on CrossFit just over a year ago.

"He's prouder of the pat on the back he got last summer from the Canadian Infantry School in Gagetown, New Brunswick, which conducted a seven-week trial of CrossFit versus its own rigorous Canadian Fitness Manual training plan. The results: CrossFit scored higher in every fitness category and was ranked more enjoyable by most of the 110 officer candidates tested."

This is where you will be doing pull-ups! If you can't do pull-ups, they scale down by starting with jumping pull-ups, which you can do. We'll have boxes for you to stand on if you need the extra height.

We've gotten a few questions about how long the workout-of-the-day will take. This varies, but most workouts take 20 minutes - occasionally up to 35. Conveniently, intensity (one of the core CrossFit principles) simply isn't sustainable for over 20 minutes. Our workouts are time-efficient.

If you include 15 minutes for warm-ups you can be in and out in 50-60 minutes.

Men's Journal has an article up about CrossFit: "Adapted from a program called CrossFit, which has developed a vast underground following on the Web, the plan is not only scarily effective, it's the most time-efficient workout you've ever seen."

Daily workouts will begin on Monday, May 28 at 6:30am in Brainard Park.

We will be doing each day's workout-of-the-day as prescribed by CrossFit.com. Workouts will be scaled based on individual fitness levels. All ages and fitness levels are invited.

Check out this top 5 list:
1) New Orleans, LA
2) San Antonio, TX
3) Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN
4) Cleveland-Lorain-Elyria, OH
5) Orlando, FL

We shouldn't be proud that Ohio has two of the top five most unhealthy cities. In fact, this makes us angry. We are launching with the specific goal of improving the fitness of Cleveland residents. Spread the word. Workouts are starting soon!

See also: What is Fitness? (PDF) from the Crossfit Journal

Eight different parks were surveyed yesterday for their Crossfit feasibility. It has been decided that we will be meeting at Brainard Park, just off 271 near the intersection of Cedar & Brainard. There is plenty of parking, the park is easy to locate, and it has access to the all important pull-up bar. Start date and times are yet to be determined.

Bill Russell is organizing an open Crossfit workout this Saturday at 10 on the West side of Cleveland. More info...

Aaron Shaffer is now a Level I CrossFit Trainer and CrossFit CLE is a licensed CrossFit affiliate! He will be organizing CrossFit group workouts in the near future.