CROSSFIT ONRAMP

Miska
4 days ago
4 min read

WHAT IS A CROSSFIT ONRAMP? HOW DO YOU GET STARTED WITH FUNCTIONAL TRAINING?

CrossFit has a reputation of being tough and high intensity, maybe even dangerous (it is not more injury prone than other sports or forms of exercise according to studies linked in the bottom and this youtube video summarising the review articles here:)

There are a lot of new movements in Functional Fitness. Most of the full body movements we train on a weekly basis require a lot of skill. So it makes sense to train that skill before going into a High Intensity Workout. That skill training is something that we do in progressions:

Dictionary Definitions from Oxford Languages progression /prəˈɡrɛʃn/ noun 1.the process of developing or moving gradually towards a more advanced state."good opportunities for career progression" 2.a number of things in a series."the vista unfolds in a progression of castles and vineyards as seemingly endless as the Rhine itself"

We call our progressions by belt colors, kind of like karate has belts for measuring levels:

White Belt = starting levels, workouts that are possible for any able bodied beginner without previous experience

Yellow Belt = a well rounded beginner

Orange Belt = building on strength and endurance, an still working on the basic skills

Blue Belt = above average strong, and gradually training the more advanced skills, still with some caution

Purple Belt = serious color, we’ve built the necessary strength to support and stabilize in dynamic movements like the kipping pull-up and heavier weightlifting in a HIIT setting.

Brown Belt = (amateur) competition level in CrossFit

Black Belt = Lower National Championship level

Red Belt = Lower World Championship level

For reference: our gym overage is ORANGE III (each color has 4 sublevels, and OrangeIII is just one step below blue overall).

Most CrossFit Gyms start their members with a foundations course, where they do a couple of introductory workouts - which is a good thing, but inadequate. The thing is, a course of a weekend doesn’t take you from white belt to blue. The journey from white to blue might be a year of balancing out weaknesses.

If you have worked out before you may have some levels on blue or orange. Maybe a bench press or running, but perhaps your pull-up and shoulder stability are weaker in comparison and only on yellow. Fixing that imbalance takes concentrated effort, and time.

That’s what we are here for: creating a holistic balanced strength and endurance, a well balanced health.

So instead of a weekend course, we have regular Technique workouts 3 times per week.

If you’re interested in training with us, you can try 2 of them for free. After that the continuation requires no specific course, all technique classes are included in the membership. To do the normal battery of assessments, or a full baseline for the belt color, we’ll usually need 7 or 8 technique classes. You can start trying out the regular group training classes already after the 4th technique class, and finish the full set of 8 gradually over your first 2 months of training with us.

So instead of a weekend course called an onramp, where you test out the waters a little bit, we suggest a longterm progression of:

Step 1, ASSESS:

learn weightlifting and gymnastics safety
make objective measurements
- This part can be individualised a lot, if you have special needs, limitations, or goals, book a free "meet a coach" and we can make a plan before starting with the general assessments.
define your goals + get a personal plan

Step 2 TRAIN:

Personal Training, Technique workouts, functional training and hyrox classes, or individual programs
If there are imbalances, this is where we work on strengthening the weaknesses.
All our workouts are coached and explained in detail at your measured level.

Step 3 PROGRESS:

On average each person made 4,8 level-ups quarterly. Measuring progress helps keep motivation because you have evidence that your work is paying off.
When we go from a level to another the progression changes a little bit, so gradually you push your own limits further.
If your goals change we can realign the plan.

HOW TO GET STARTED

OPTION 1: Would you feel more comfortable starting with a personal trainer? Book a “Meet a Coach” to talk about your goals and possible limitations and we can give you a good option. Or buy an Onramp Package of 6 hours personal training at a discounted rate here (we’d stil invite you to meet a coach to discuss your goals and make an individual plan later)

Book: Meet a Coach

OPTION 2: Or do you want to go straight to group classes? Book a technique workout for free here. You can book 2 for free, after which you can get a membership that suits your schedule. We’ll still invite you to meet a coach later to discuss what you want with training and make an individual plan; it can also happen after your finished your first assessments, so we have some data to look at also.

Book a Free Class