Boogieman065

Is anyone here a Crossfitter? I really want to bike more often but with doing 5 WODs a week, I'm not sure how I should incorporate one without harming the performance and progression of the other.

I typically do Crossfit in the afternoon so I'm thinking biking in the morning? I've tried this a few times but was exhausted for the WOD and my time suffered. I usually ride 20-30 miles at a time.

IndyFelt

Boogieman

Looks like we have a lot in common. I cross fit, ride a bike and a motorcycle. I have actually cut back on the WODs to get my biking in. I'll ride 60 - 90 min and with this heat I am beat afterwords. Look at Cross Fit endurance. They have a bike WOD if you want to do both.

Sourpuss Magee

What is cross fit?

Da Sherm

Some say it's a cult of fanatics that do nothing but talk about cross-fit and brag about their numbers. I for one, will not drink that kool aid.

As for myself, I know a few cross-fitters. I would guess that cycling could impair your crossfit times. But you could argue that the other way, cross-fit can improve your cycling times. You don't need to blow people out of the water with working out. It's not a competition in that sense. If that's the case for you, then you're working out for the wrong reasons.

I'm sure with time and training your body will get used to cycling and cross-fit and your times will get better. Just take satisfaction in knowing you're working out more than the next guy, even if your times are slower.

AdelaaR

That just taught me nothing about this misterious "cross-fit" at all.

Jordi

See here:
https://www.crossfit.com/cf-info/what-crossfit.html

Crossfit is what you make of it. If you want to be insane, all about getting jacked up, and completely obsessed about your times, go for it. For me, it's about overall fitness, getting stronger, and getting a more complete workout than I could on my bike. My strength has improved considerably, but so has my endurance. There's a lot of interval training in the WODs and those will undoubtedly improve your cycling. The key is joining a gym with a trainer who understands what YOU want. My trainers are not total meat heads and try to cater to individual goals.

As for the original poster, you will need to sacrifice one thing to improve on the other. There's no way you could dedicate considerable time to cycling doing 5 WODs a week. You need to rest at some point. My ideal balance is 3/4 WODs and 3 rides a week. Unfortunately, my schedule often doesn't allow for it.

mdrew9

I crossfitted for a while, you should check out the crossfit endurance page as mentioned above.

Velo Gator

I had a fitting some by a professional fitter about a month or so ago, and he was on and on about how crossfit is a great way to train for triahlon. When crossfit comes up on a tri forum, it's usually a flame war. The point where people tend to disagree is, does it help your long-course endurance?

byrnemm

Crossfit endurance has longer distance intervals, etc. to help with long distance races.

The whole point of Crossfit is non-sport-specific, total body fitness. It is a compromise of speed, agility, power, balance, weight, etc.

From an untrained starting point, Crossfit will improve your power:weight ratio over your entire body. So yeah, you can do crossfit for biking, marathons, triathlons, etc but you won't be part of the elite because crossfit is not designed specifically for... anything.

For long-distance endurance you don't need the overall power (and hence mass/weight) in your arms, back, etc.

In biking the power:weight ratio comes from your legs. Once you can sustain a certain amount of power on the pedals for a certain period of time, the best thing you can do is to drop weight elsewhere. So the muscle mass that crossfit will build in your arms, back, etc is actually detrimental.

But that really starts to make a big difference at a higher level of competition, which we may or may not be at. Dropping 10 lbs will always help your endurance, but having a certain level of all around strength, agility, and coordination will too.

Boogieman065

Awesome, thanks. I do CF at a local gym so I'm kindda stuck to what they organize though. They usually do shorter sprint WODs (no longer that ~15mins)

RT

I just saw the Reebok 2011 Finals on ESPN last night. Holy Crap, that looks brutal, and yet I want to do it. Can't tell from the threads I've read how it conclusively helps/hinders cycling. It's like an online review of anything - 50% say don't bother, 50% think it's the best thing since the electric knife.

Seems to me if I am able to tone what I have and build a core like the Crossfitters, it would be nothing but win.

simonaway427

I was a religious crossfitter for about 4 yrs.....lost interest and much prefer cycling.

Its a great program, if done correctly. But some of those WODs are just screaming for injury - 75 clean and jerks for time? Recipe for bad form and a strained back.

Quel

Crossfit will make you more generally "fit".

Cycling will make you a better cyclist.

You won't necessarily "harm" one or the other by doing both, but you won't improve as significantly as focusing on either. Decide what your goals are and proceed.

RT

Fitness, for sure - that's why I ride (not a racer). Seems to me as a P90X alum that Crossfit is P90X on steroids. The woman who won (Annie Thosidottir) could beat most of the men at the endurance events, and this doesn't seem like a chemically enhanced type of competition, but natural.

OldChipper

Crossfit - Injuring Elite Athletes

doh!

I mean "Forging Elite Fitness"

But seriously, check out the Crossfit Games on ESPN2. How many of those guys look like Frank Schleck or Cadell Evans? There's your answer.

Crossfit, as has been mentioned, is geared toward overall fitness i.e. it's not a specialized activity. Cycling is a very specialized activity. Crossfit started out as training for good overall fitness to improve other activities (work or play). It has "evolved" into a sport in its own right. Neither good nor bad - just what it is.

I do something more similar to Crossfit Endurance (The Alpine Training Center in Boulder, CO) to get better at my primary activity(s) i.e. ice and alpine climbing. I also enjoy and do a lot of cycling during the last 2 summers (used to race bikes in the mid 90's) and in general I think it provides a good base for cycling in terms of work capacity, core strength and mental toughness. Be clear though, climbing and cycling are my main sports - not working out in the gym. Most of the athletes at the gym have this same approach as does the coach i.e. gym workouts are not an end in themselves. Bottom line though is that once you have a good base, the only thing that will help your cycling is cycling (old school, I know but note my disclaimer regarding base fitness).

I'm an old fart so I find that I can't do anywhere near 5 gym workouts a week and still perform well in my primary sports - just not enough rest. Between seasons, I'll do 3 gym workouts during one week and 2 the next with 2 days of rest per week and gym/outdoor climbing or cycling on the other days. Once I'm "in season," I can only manage 1 or at most 2 gym workouts per week since I'm going hard on the weekends. YMMV especially if you're a young pup.

I would also recommend placing importance on form for any power lifts done in your Crossfit workouts, even if your particular Crossfit gym doesn't. Just too easy to get injured when you're trying to go fast. Doesn't matter how your times compare to someone else. What matters is if you're getting fitter and staying healthy for your main activity.

AND if you want your main "sport" to be Crossfit, that's cool too.

wkg

I don't know what cross fit is or why you would want to do it but if it's messing up your riding maybe you should just ride your bike.