Absolutely, I'm biased but after a week training with Crossfit's new box in Paris, I couldn't wait to get back and have a FreshFit session Sunday afternoon. CrossFit definitely has it's merits and the day full of hang cleans and pull ups left me dead, but for our audience, FreshFit edges it out in intensity, endurance and mental challenges.
Here's what we did the three days I was in there:
Day 1 - Deadlift practice culminating in finding 1RM (one rep max). Then on to the timed effort, max double unders (jump rope with the rope circling twice in one jump) and when you stop, you have 10 box jumps (20" box). Space was a little cramped for double unders but it was tough enough. Got up to 18 DU's a couple of time but never 19. After, everyone circled up and did rounds of burpees, squats, squat holds, etc. Tiring but not exhausting...stuck around an extra 30 minutes or so with some core training after
Day 2 - Hang Cleans...a lot of them. Started with some hang clean tutorial and a gradual build up of some cleans to warm up. Then straight into the WOD (workout of the day). 10 rounds of 7 hang cleans and 7 strict pull ups (no swinging or kipping) done for time. Dropped down from the Rx weight of 135lb (60kg) to 115lb (50kg) and only used the lightest band on the last 2 sets of pull ups when my grip was non-existent. Even though we don't use weight that heavy in FreshFit, the sheer intensity and pace of this one was most similar to the sessions we run. I finished in just over 15 minutes but could have dropped a good minute or 2 off with better grip strength. Some guys Rx'ed (prescribed weight) this at 10 minutes...insane.
Day 3 - Off day. Wasn't as sore as I thought I'd be after 70 hang cleans but needed the day off regardless.
Day 4 - Warmup with some dynamic movements and a short tutorial on the WOD's exercises. Spiderman crawls (forward and backward), wall climbs (imagine starting in a push up position with your feet against a wall and walking backward up the wall so your body ends up flat against it doing a hand stand), broad jumps (two foot jump forward) and sit-ups (standard CrossFit, butterfly sit-ups). The WOD consisted of 5 rounds of : 7 broad jumps, 4 wall climbs, 9 sit-ups and 4 spiderman walks back and forth in a 5 meter distance. Tiring but not really that taxing. I felt that there was much more energy left in the tank.
In all, it was good to come down and see how these guys ran their show with a lot of new CrossFitters mixed in with the regulars. With the whole CrossFit thing becoming a such a global trend, people of all training abilities are signing up and though most Boxes (what they call CrossFit gyms) have on-ramp courses for new members, I didn't see that on offer here. Seeing how they handled a wide range of abilities for some very technical movements was good.
They said next time I come in, we'd set up a CrossFit x FreshFit challenge to see who comes out on top...
