CrossFit

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from espnW here on FitSugar!

By Lindsay Berra

Muscle-up. Say it, and it just sounds hard. Learn what it is — an athlete must move from a hanging position below a set of gymnastics rings to a supported position above the rings, with straight arms — and it sounds even harder. Try it — do a pull-up to get your chest level with the rings, roll your torso through the rings into a dip position and then push your arms straight, and do this all about 10 feet off the ground — and your suspicions about its difficulty will be confirmed.

The muscle-up is one of the most challenging movements CrossFit athletes are expected to perform, and it strikes fear into the hearts of even the best of them. Iceland's Annie Thorisdottir won the 2011 CrossFit Games last July, then became an international star; you've seen her, with her trademark golden ponytail and Reebok high socks, flipping tires and squatting sandbags with Chad Ochocinco in that Reebok ZigTech commercial. Now, Thorisdottir is the odds-on favorite for the 2012 games, which will take place in Los Angeles this weekend. And her journey to the top of her sport began with a single muscle-up.

Ingrid Kantola: Survival of Fittest

Thorisdottir, whose last name appropriately translates to "Thor's daughter" — as in the hammer-wielding Norse god of thunder and lightning — arrived at the 2009 CrossFit Games in Aromas, CA, with just two months of CrossFit experience. She had been taking and teaching bootcamp classes at home in Reykjavik when a friend suggested she enter the Iceland CrossFit regional on a lark. She did, and she won, qualifying her for the games. In Aromas, the raw strength and body control Thorisdottir had acquired over her years as a competitive gymnast and pole vaulter had her in second place heading into the last of eight workouts. But in the middle of that final workout, competitors were required to complete 10 muscle-ups. Thorisdottir had never done even one. "We calculated that all I had to do was finish the final workout within the time limit, and I could keep second place," Thorisdottir recalled. "But I had never even tried a muscle-up before. I was insanely scared. I've never been that nervous in my life."

In the two hours leading up to the final workout, Thorisdottir practiced backstage as dozens of CrossFit coaches and athletes tried to teach her the technique she needed to conquer both the rings and her fear. She entered the arena for her workout and, buoyed by the support of her family and several thousand screaming fans who had fallen in love with "Iceland Annie," completed a single muscle-up, her first. "It wasn't pretty," Thorisdottir said. "But at least I got it." But because she didn't complete the workout, Thorisdottir dropped to 11th place. Still, it was an amazing finish for a young woman — she was 19 at the time — so new to CrossFit.

Recipe for cycling success:

Keep reading for more on CrossFit's reigning women's champ.

Have you gotten on the CrossFit bandwagon? Many celebrities are fans of CrossFit, and it's becoming more and more popular as a way to get results fast without being bored. Mel Ockerby is one such fan. The former gymnast started CrossFit training just two and a half years ago and now spends her days challenging herself and others as a Puma trainer and member of the reigning champion team in the Reebok CrossFit Games (I took a 12-minute workout with her last month, courtesy of Puma, and let me tell you, she knows what she's doing). I recently spoke to her about how she got into CrossFit, and asked her to share a bikini-ready workout with us.

FitSugar: Why do you like CrossFit so much?
Mel Ockerby: It's fun! You work out with your friends. The workout changes every day. It's never boring. It never gets "easy." Yes, you get better at certain movements, but once you're good at a movement, you either want to add more weight or do more reps to make it challenging again. There's always a challenge, and it can be competitive.

FS: What does your weekly workout routine look like? Do you have a rest day? Do you have less-intense days?
MO: I work out five times a week, usually two workouts per day, each lasting an average of 12 minutes. Some "rest" days, I will do a very low-intensity jog.

FS: What do you say to someone who is scared to try CrossFit?
MO: Just walk in the door! The people are super nice, the coach will scale the workout to your fitness level, and the feeling after you finish a [workout] is unmatched by anything else!

FS: What diet tips do you recommend for someone trying to get in shape for Summer?
MO: Eat real food! Lean meats (fish, chicken, grass-fed beef, seafood, turkey), veggies, nuts and seeds, and avocados. Avoid processed foods. Don't overdo the fruit and nuts.

CrossFit is all about simple, scalable moves that you can make more difficult by adding weights or reps. Mel recommends you try the following workout to get in shape for Summer, going as hard as you can without breaking form. Continue adding reps (or weights) to each exercise when you're ready — it's more important to "get the mechanics down first, perfectly" before you make your workout harder, Mel warns. "[There should be] no intensity until movements are consistently great," she says.

Read on for the workout.

FitSugar reader meetcasey interviewed CrossFit expert Robert Sax, owner of the CrossFit Amped Gym, and posted the Q&A in our Get Fit For 2012 community group. Check out what Robert had to say about this rising fitness trend!

Meet the Expert: Robert Sax

Can you begin by telling us a little about yourself?

I am 27 years old and a Capricorn (yes, that’s the goat). I’m originally from Portland, ME (the first Portland), and I currently live in Bellevue, WA. I graduated from Springfield College in Massachusetts with a BS in exercise science. I own CrossFit Amped, coach during the day, fight crime at night, and occasionally put down an entire jar of fresh-grind almond butter. Mmmmmm, fat!

What is CrossFit?

Textbook definition: it is constantly varied functional movements executed at a high intensity. CliffsNotes version: constantly changing workouts that involve body weight movements, gymnastics, aerobic and anaerobic training, Olympic lifting, power lifting, strongman movements, and anything else my twisted mind can conjure up! It is a universally scalable platform for exercise that allows any man or woman of any age and ability level to participate. I have worked with every walk of life and haven’t been stumped yet. In fact, I am currently coaching two men who are deaf, which was a challenge at first because of the amount of detail needed to comprehend and apply to certain movement patterns. Now it is no problem. In fact, I’ve learned some sign language because of it!

Learn more about what a CrossFit workout is and how it can change your body after the break