You know the craze, we’ve all seen those Reebok CrossFit commercials, branding themselves as the “Sport of Fitness.” You’ve probably encountered a CrossFit enthusiast, telling you how awesome their workouts are, or how much better they are than you (kind of reminds you of vegans). Well, I’m never one to give up meat, so vegans, the score will not be settled anytime soon. As for a new and supposedly life-changing way of working out? That I can try. As of Monday, I will be starting my own CrossFit 30 day challenge. I’m curious to see what it’s all about, if it’s as amazing as its hardcores say it is and if I’ll really never go back to a normal gym after I’ve given it a shot.

So what exactly is CrossFit?

I wish I’d done the research before my introductory class on Wednesday and I would have known it’s far more intense than a Thursday pre-bar workout at good old Ian Stewart Complex, a.k.a. the ABC’s (Abs, Biceps, Chest). I showed up, got a brief rundown on the CrossFit culture and then was thrown into action.

A 400m sprint with a 20lb medicine ball, max pushups in 1 minute, max sit-ups in 1 minute, max pull-ups, and then finishing things off with the brutal Tabata Squats.

Less than a 30-minute workout and I was seconds away from ralphing and my legs are still the sorest they’ve been in recent memory. It should be an interesting month…

For your convenience, I have taken the definition of CrossFit from its website:

CrossFit is a strength and conditioning program using functional movements (no isolation exercises, i.e. bicep curls) that are constantly varied (no routine) and executed at a high intensity. CrossFit focuses on 3 modalities, Gymnastics, i.e. pull-ups, pushups, dips, medicine ball throws, plyo-box jumps, handstand pushups etc., Cardiovascular conditioning,  i.e. running, jumping, swimming, biking, rowing, etc., and Weight Lifting ,i.e. squats, deadlifts, clean and jerk, snatch etc.  CrossFit believes that the ultimate athlete is equal part, gymnast, sprinter, and weight lifter.

In CrossFit there are 10 domains of fitness: endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance and accuracy.

Sounds intense.

I’m definitely looking forward to the variety that CrossFit brings forth. With its signature WOD (Workout of the Day) you do a different workout with different exercises every day. It’ll be a nice change-up from that gym routine, which we all know gets stale fast—but I will miss those casual conversations between bench press sets…

I’ll give an update at the halfway point and at the end of month, complete with photos and bodyfat calculations. We’ll see if it gets you both jacked and healthy.

As for diet, I’m going the whole nine yards and doing the Paleolithic (Paleo) diet for the next 30 days. I’m going to try my best to stick to it, but will be including dairy (I couldn’t possibly get by without my milk). For those who want to know more about the Paleo Diet, Deep Dan will be providing an in-depth post on the “Caveman” diet next week.