In the early days of CrossFit (geez we're getting old), you'd hear a lot more references to the Globo gym lifestyle. The term Globo Gym comes from the movie Dodgeball and refers to your typical body building or classic isolated lifting done in a "regular" gym.
As CrossFitters, we've had it ingrained in us to reject all things globo and aesthetic, so we can chase after the functional. While we still mostly agree with this, that functional fitness will 100% serve you well later on in life (think of the 80-year-old version of you trying to get off of a toilet) we still want to look good in the meantime. That's not a crime is it?!
So here is our updated philosophy:
Functional fitness is good. Full range of motion, strength, performance-based training is all very good. But isolated lifts, fitness for aesthetic purposes, and training smaller muscles that get left out of compound lifting (best example being the glutes)– well those things can be good too.
This summer (once we get back to our regular post-quarantine schedule) expect to see some new moves. We'll be starting a 6-week aesthetic cycle where some isolated lifts are programmed into the class on Mondays and Thursdays, with Fridays being a make up day. You'll always have an option between upper body and lower body, with abs being included in every day as well.
If you feel you've been at this CrossFit thing for awhile now, and you train hard but still aren't seeing the results you want, then we hope you'll commit to this 6-week cycle. Please ask us questions and give us feedback along the way! Let us know how you're doing and what your struggles are. It is also important to remember that diet does (and will always!) play a role in your results (or lack thereof). This is the perfect time to assess your overall training and diet lifestyle to see where you can improve. We can help you there too! Email info@crossfitkindle.com and ask us about our custom meal plans.
And if you're perhaps one of the few hardcore CrossFit theologists that still exist and you just can't shake your hatred of all things globo, then we'd ask you to look into how much "accessory work" high level athletes typically include in their daily training. The reason not necessarily being for aesthetics, but because no one can deny the fact that compound lifts, like the Clean and the Snatch, allow your body's larger muscles to take over (like the quads). This results in people being able to lift a lot of weight, but not necessarily having proportionate strength and shape in all the different parts of their legs.
Fitness is fitness! Let's use it to be both healthy and look good.