If you’ve spent any amount of time around the office you already know that Dr. Eric, the staff, and I, along with a good number of the patients at Healthsprout do Crossfit. We do it for a number of different reasons, obviously the health benefits of high intensity workout is a major factor. I simply enjoy it, as painful as it can be most of the time, it is a lot of fun. And I also enjoy the community you become part of, a group of people all trying our best, pushing ourselves, and supporting one another. I simply love it. You’ve probably heard the complaint out in the world somewhere that people who do Crossfit, only talk about Crossfit. Which I understand this, and I believe it’s simply because people enjoy it, and get passionate about it, which is not typical for just “working out” so they get excited to share it with their friends because they want everyone to have the chance to love working out. As much as any of us in the office would encourage you to just try Crossfit, we also understand that it might be something you are completely uninterested in, which is fine. But the idea of high intensity training is something that really everyone needs to incorporate.
I often find inspiration for what to write about on Facebook. (By the way if you never have, search Healthsprout on Facebook, then like and follow our page to keep up to date with us and to get continual health info). While scrolling through my feed I came across an ad for an app that gives daily workouts for short amounts of time. The workout the app had in the add was to complete 3 rounds of 30 air squats, 30 push-ups, and 30 burpees, and to try to complete it in 16 minutes. Unfortunately I don’t remember the name of this specific app, but when I tried searching fitness there were a whole lot of apps that came up, many of which aiming for that 7 minute workout. The great thing about high intensity workouts is that they simply don’t take much time, and can be done with no equipment at all. If we’re really honest with ourselves, we can find 10-20 minutes out of the day to commit to a workout like this. If the above mentioned workout seems intimidating to you turn it into a tabata exercise. Do air squats as fast as you can for 20 seconds, then rest 10 seconds, and then do squats again for 30 seconds and rest 10. The next minute do the push-ups the same way, and then the burpees. Do the whole thing 2 more times and you have a highly effective workout in under 10 minutes that can be done anywhere.
If you think you can be committed but need some guidance as to what to do, a fitness app might be a good place to start. But if you struggle with staying committed and need some accountability a Crossfit gym would be a great fit. I’d love the opportunity to workout along side more of you over at Crossfit Bridgemill in Canton.
-Dr. Mark