Happy SPRING!
Library dates with Dashiell

Team Wharton CrossFit-style workouts

  Familycrossfit

When I shared our Team Wharton workout calendar I mentioned that we've been doing some family CrossFit-style workouts. I'd love to share more!

Surely you know someone who's obsessed with CrossFit; it might be our generation's Jazzercise (minus the awesome workout wear). CrossFit workouts consist of high intensity interval training.

High intensity = it's really hard!

Interval training = but you don't have to do it for long! 

During a CrossFit workout you'll do lots of functional fitness exercises. That's what Chris (the nutrition professor) told me. I said, "What the heck does that mean?" He said, "Multi-joint movements that mimic real life." So there you go. These include basic exercises like push-ups, squats, crunches, and lunges as well as more complex movements like burpees. Exercises might use only body weight or simple equipment like a medicine ball or resistance bands.

Trackshadow

Chris was in to CrossFit for a while but found the workouts so intense that he was too sore to workout again that week. And the $100+ per month fees are pricey. To save his achy muscles and a few bucks Chris started doing his own CrossFit-style workouts at a track near our house. We tried it out as a family with Dashiell in the jogging stroller and found we can fit in a great workout in 30 minutes or less. It's cheap, it's efficient and, most importantly, it's tolerable to the wee Wharton.

Dash_crossfit_stroller

Our Team Wharton CrossFit-style workouts consist of sets of exercises with a lap of jogging/pushing Dash in baby jogger in between exercises. Chris and I switch off so I'll run a lap while pushing Dash as Chris does an exercise set and then we switch. Can you picture the baton hand off during an Olympic sprint track event? It's exactly like that. 

To do the workouts we head to a high school track near our house but we could do the workout in our neighborhood, too. All we need is a place to run a short distance with the baby jogger and a spot to do some exercises.

We often choose to do 3 exercises with one set each of 21, 15 and 9 reps for each exercise. For example, push-ups, lunges and crunches. To warm up, Chris and I run a couple of laps together. Then, we switch off between running a lap with the baby jogger and completing the exercises in a spot off to the side of the track.

So, if I started with the exercises I'd do 21 push-ups (which I definitely cannot do all at once!), 21 lunges and 21 crunches. Then I'd run a lap while Chris did all of those. Then I'd do 15 push-ups, 15 lunges and 15 crunches, and then run a lap, etc. It's tough but you're never doing any one thing for too long and I like that I'm always getting to move on to something else.

And that's how we do Team Wharton CrossFit workouts!

Oh, and don't think that Dash just gets to lay around:

Dash_crossfit 

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