If you are doing CrossFit, you have heard it before. “Constantly varied functional movements, performed at high intensity.” These are the three definitive properties of CrossFit.
As a coach, I hear the grumbles when people walk in and see “burpees” on the board. While most of us are quick to recognize the correlation between a deadlift or squat in everyday life, there are some movements that we may not. Burpees seem to be one of them. In my FitOver50 program we do just as many burpees as our regular programming. They all do full burpees, right to the floor and all the way back up. I have shared this story with some of you. A couple months ago my 89 year old Grandma fell. She lives independently in an assisted living building and wears a “call button” when she is in her apartment. She had taken her call button off getting in to bed and placed it on her nightstand. Then she fell. She lay there until 7am when the morning check ins happen and she didn’t’ have her sign out. She could not get off the floor. Burpees are about as functional as it gets.
The CrossFit Journal released an article the other day entitled “Defining CrossFit Part 1: Functional Movements”. In the article they use the example of an L-sit as not being directly related to a functional movement. Completely agree. We could make a list of all kinds of things that aren’t “functional” and relatable to every day life. I will use a kettlebell swing for example. Just like the L-sit, it builds a strong and stable core and midline. This aids us in nearly every movement we execute throughout our day. So while not every movement we do each day is “functional”, they are all relatable to living a healthier, fuller, and fitter life - today, and long in to our years!
Give the attached article below a quick read for a little deeper dive into the words direct from CrossFit Headquarters. It’s a great quick read into the “why” of our crazy world of functional fitness.
https://www.crossfit.com/essentials/defining-crossfit-part-1-functional-movements