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Adrenaline Junkie Rage hits Truckee

Kelly Hassell-Cramer
Special to the Sun

TRUCKEE, Calif. and#8212; What is the latest rage for the Adrenaline/Fitness Junkie? The answer is CrossFit.

Living here in the Sierra we are surrounded by elite athletes in a variety of disciplines. We have mountain bikers, skiers, kayakers, triathletes, etc. to name a few.

Those of us who may not be sport specific definitely enjoy the great outdoors and being active. If we were not active, we probably would not choose to live here in such dramatic terrain and conditions.



What is fit?

Many of us have tried it all and settled on our favorites sports, but what does it mean to be fit? Is the triathlete more fit than the decathlete? The CrossFit brand of fitness endorses a continuum that ranges from sickness to wellness to fitness. CrossFit makes use of three different standards or models for evaluating and guiding fitness. Collectively, these three standards define the CrossFit view of fitness.



The first is based on the 10 general physical skills widely recognized by exercise physiologists. They are cardiovascular/respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy.

The second standard is based on the performance of athletic tasks. The implication here is that fitness requires the ability to perform well at all tasks, even unfamiliar tasks, tasks combined in infinitely varying combinations. Nature frequently provides largely unforeseeable challenges, suggesting that set notions of sets, rest periods, reps, exercises, order of exercises, routines, etc. be dis-invested. Instead, train for the challenges of nature by striving to keep the training stimulus broad and constantly varied.

The third is based on the energy systems that drive all human action. There are three metabolic pathways that provide the energy for all human action. These and#8220;metabolic enginesand#8221; are known as the phosphagen pathway, the glycolytic pathway, and the oxidative pathway. The phosphagen dominates the highest powered activities those that last less than about 10 seconds. The second pathway, the glycolytic, dominates moderate-powered activities, those that last up to several minutes. The oxidative pathway dominates the low-powered activities, those that last in excess of several minutes.

Total fitness, the fitness that CrossFit promotes and develops, requires competency and training in each of these three pathways or engines. Balancing the effects of these three pathways largely determines the how and why of the metabolic conditioning or and#8220;cardioand#8221; that we do with CrossFit. Favoring one or two to the exclusion of the others and not recognizing the impact of excessive training in the oxidative pathway are arguably the two most common faults in fitness training.

Who benefits from CrossFit?

Keeping these fitness standards in mind, the question regularly arises as to the applicability of a regimen like CrossFitand#8217;s to older and de-conditioned or de-trained populations. The needs of an Olympic athlete and our grandparents differ by degree not kind. One is looking for functional dominance the other for functional competence.

Competence and dominance manifest through identical physiological mechanisms. We get requests from athletes from every sport looking for a strength and conditioning program for their sport. Firemen, soccer players, triathletes, boxers and surfers all want programs that conform to the specificity of their need. While admitting that there are surely needs specific to any sport, the bulk of the sport specific training has been ineffective. Our military, skiers, mountain bikers and housewives have found their best fitness from the same regimen.

What is CrossFit?

A strength and conditioning program that uses and#8220;constantly varied functional movementsand#8221; executed at and#8220;high intensity.and#8221;

Since CrossFit trains movements, not muscles, all workouts can be scaled to your individual fitness needs.

What is your Fit? Come by CrossFit Truckee and discover your fit potential. Get your free introductory class, Saturdays, 8 a.m. Located at 11430 Deerfield Drive in the same building at the Charles Gracie Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy of Truckee/Tahoe. For more information visit http://www.CrossFitTruckee.com or call 587-3226.

CrossFit Truckee: Itand#8217;s all the rage!

and#8212; Kelly Hassell-Cramer is a longtime Truckee resident and owner of Revolution Athletics Training Center. She coaches children and adults in CrossFit, Brazilian

Jiu-Jitsu and Self Defense, building a fitness

connection throughout the community. She can be reached at 587-3226.


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