Sean: Hey Team, welcome back to Kinetic U.
I'm sitting here with Scott Winges, head trainer, manager, part-owner, and certified stud at
Northwest CrossFit, Interbay.
And we're here to talk about CrossFit.
For those that are unfamiliar with CrossFit, there's a lot of questions that come with
it, and we're here to just answer all those questions.
And so, what I wanna start with first, Scott, is really, what is CrossFit?
Scott: Yes, the most common question, probably, we get.
So CrossFit is defined as constantly varied, high-intensity, functional fitness, which
doesn't necessarily mean a whole lot to the average person.
But basically, it means that our workouts change constantly, so it's a lot of variety
and a lot of different ways.
The intensity parts of the workouts are not usually easy, pretty much challenging for
everyone.
But it's a scaled intensity, right?
So it's gonna be hard for someone that's been doing it for four years, and hard for somebody
that's day two, but not necessarily in the same way.
And then the last part is the functional fitness, means that our movements that we do are things
that you might see in everyday life.
So things like picking things up, putting them up overhead, you know, basic gymnastics,
pull-ups, push-ups, that type of stuff.
You see a lot of those types of movements.
So, that's really, in a nutshell, what CrossFit is.
Sean: Awesome.
Well, what makes CrossFit different from other fitness systems out there?
Scott: Yeah, I think there are a lot of different things.
I could probably give you a long list.
But if I was to pick two big things, I'd say that the variety is probably the biggest main
difference.
Not only do we change, you know, how long the workout is, if it's an interval, if it's
3 minutes, if it's 20 minutes, if it's 30 minutes, you know, whatever the time frame
is.
We do power lifting, Olympic lifting.
We do gymnastics, running, rowing, jump-roping.
I mean, we do so many different things that it's hard to see much fitness programs that
do provide that type of variety.
So I think that's probably one of the biggest things.
The other thing is definitely that community aspect that we have.
It's really unique, I think.
It's hard to describe just how cool it is to work out with these people.
You kind of get to know everyone in the class and you have this sense of camaraderie when
you struggle sometimes through the workouts, or crush the workout.
Either way, you do build that kind of sense of camaraderie, which is really unique, I
think.
Sean: Got it.
Well, what are common questions that you get from prospective members?
Scott: Yeah, so common questions besides "What is CrossFit?"
I'd say the most common I get is, "Am I in good enough shape to do CrossFit or come in
CrossFit?"
And, like, "Do I need to workout for three months before I can come in or whatever?"
No, you don't need to.
We have a beginner series, we do an on ramp that takes people and breaks things down a
little bit to get you into it.
And then the whole point is that we do scale things, right?
So whether you're next to somebody that's been there for five years, or it's day two
or whatever it is for you, the workout is not necessarily gonna look the same, but it's
the same idea.
You just scale it.
So there's less weight, or the movements are changed up a little bit, but you still do
the workouts together.
So you don't need this background, necessarily.
The other one sometimes I get is, like, when people see it on TV or something and they
go, "Oh, there's no way I can do that."
It's not necessarily a question, but it's like, "No, the whole point is like..."
This is what my job is, is to get people prepared to the point where they can actually potentially
do things like pull-ups and get themselves into these movements that they might look
at and go, "There's no way I can do it."
But there's progressions for these things, and that's part of what we do.
Sean: Well, what would you tell a potential member who expresses concerns about getting
injured?
What would you say to that member?
Scott: Yeah, that's a big one.
This is something we take very seriously.
Obviously, we've partnered with you guys, Kinetic, a little bit here, so we work on
trying to make sure that our warm-ups, and cool-downs, and the workouts themselves are,
you know something that we have people sort of prepared for the movements and as safe
as possible.
But, with that being said, as soon as you leave your couch, obviously your chance of
injury goes up.
You could slip, you could trip, fall, whatever happens.
Any sort of physical activity comes with some inherent risks.
With that being said, I think CrossFit, statistically, is actually pretty low on the spectrum, compared
to other sports, certainly less than sports like basketball, stuff like that.
So, it's something that we do take very seriously, because obviously, if everyone is hurt, then
they're not doing our programming, and so they're not making progress.
So, you wouldn't see the progress if everyone got hurt doing it.
But it is a concern.
That's something that, you know, for any physical fitness program, safety should be included
right up there with what you're programming, what you're doing, what your trainers are
trained to do.
Sean: Well, the CrossFit Games just finished up last month.
And without a doubt, it's becoming exponentially more popular to watch.
And, you know, you're seeing the fitness athletes of the world endure the biggest test of, like,
mental and physical stamina.
And with that exposure, I think people might perceive that as being kind of a norm.
Like, people will see the workouts as being something that's also endured by CrossFit
members across the world on a daily basis.
What would you say to that member that's asking those questions, or that presents like, you
know, "I saw the games last month.
That looks incredibly difficult.
I don't know if I can do that."
What would you say to that person?
Scott: Yeah, that's a funny one.
I mean, the games are something that's...it's kind of a blessing and a curse in that sense
because it is really, really cool to see just how far CrossFit athletes have come.
Athletically, the things that they're doing are just insane, sometimes.
Like, it's really cool to watch.
And for somebody that's been doing it for a while, it's really like...I mean, it's just
fun for me to watch.
I watch it somewhat religiously.
But, with that being said, it is very intimidating.
You watch these people doing crazy, crazy things.
It's not necessarily what we do in here.
So something I would tell those members is, "Maybe 99% of the stuff that they do out there,
you know, I'm not gonna have...
Day one, you're not gonna do 100 weight press pull-ups in your workout.
It's not something that I'm prescribing for you."
So it's not like exactly what they're doing in the games.
This is the 1% of the 1% that make it to these games at this final level.
So these are people...
Almost all the athletes at the games also have really competitive sports backgrounds,
whether they're doing rugby, professional gymnastics, and stuff.
So they come from something else, in addition to the CrossFit.
So, if that is your ultimate goal, potentially, you can, you know, start training for four
or five hours a day and stuff, but for most people, it's more of a lifestyle choice in
trying to become healthier, become fitter.
You know, get that, whatever, pants size down or whatever you're looking for.
It's a little bit different than what they do on the TV.
I'm not gonna have you, you know, pick up a 500-pound yoke and you walk around the room
and do lunges with it or something like that, day one.
It's not happening, so calm down.
Sean: Well, you guys offer a great beginner series.
I know that, because my wife just finished the beginner series a few weeks ago.
Scott: She crushed it.
Sean: Now, she's an active member in the CrossFit community.
What are the goals of that beginner series?
Scott: Well, a lot of goals, I guess I just pick a couple, so I don't ramble.
Two big ones, I'd say is, number one, we want to introduce people to movements that they
might not have seen before.
So, we generally structure it, so about four new movements a day and we're just going over
how to safely perform these movements, basically.
What the muscle groups we're trying to engage are, what can go wrong with the movement?
So, starting with basic things like air squats, and push-ups, and sit-ups, and that type of
thing, and then moving on, kind of build on it a little bit, to some of the more complex
things we do in here.
We do so many different things.
It's nice to have the series to kind of at least get people prepped so they have a foundation,
so when they come into classes, it's not quite so intimidating.
The other thing that we do with it is, it is six days that they have six workouts in
it.
And so we do ramp the workouts up a little bit, so you kinda get that heart rate used
to being elevated a little bit more.
We do have people that come in, haven't worked out for five, six years or whatever.
So, rather than going in on any sort of random workout that we might have during the week,
that might be a little bit more challenging, we know day one what we're doing with these
people.
And it gives the coaches a chance to kinda figure out, "Oh, this person has things where
there may be, ankle, knee, hips, or things going on there, so now I know to watch for
that," before they're put into a really hard challenge.
So there's a lot of things, but yeah, those are the two main ones.
Sean: Well, the final question I have for you, Scott, is, what would your members say
is the best part of CrossFit?
Scott: I mean, besides their awesome coach?
Sean: Yeah.
Scott: I think, probably the community is the main one out here.
Again, when you do these workouts together, there is something very cool.
It's camaraderie to it, where you come together.
You're doing this thing that is sometimes challenging.
Oftentimes, the most exciting part of the day, in general, is you're doing like, you
know, "Oh, maybe I never did a pull-up before!
Now I'm doing them!"
You kind of see everyone else grow.
Everyone's there to better themselves.
But the community aspect is really...it's hard to even describe, necessarily, until
you get into it, but it's very fun.
Yeah, that's probably the main one.
Sean: Thanks for your time, Scott.
Absolutely appreciate it.
Scott: Absolutely, Sean, my pleasure man.
Good to see you.
Sean: You heard it here first.
Scott Winges, head trainer, manager, and of course, certified practitioner of awesomeness.
Hopefully that helps clear the air, or the chalk, if you will, on CrossFit, answers questions
that you have, and motivates you a little bit more to maybe pursue CrossFit in the future.
Thanks for watching.
Be kinetic.