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Jesse Hodorowski, who lives in Nevada County and works for the City of Davis Fire Department, works out at the Crossfit Sierra fitness center.
“Your workout is our warm-up.”
The truth of this boast is evident as a group of CrossFit devotees moves through a 15-minute warm-up that would leave most casual exercisers ready for a nap.
They haven't even begun.
A recent 9 a.m. session at CrossFit Sierra consisted of the Workout of the Day — nine overhead squats (95 pounds for men, 65 pounds for women), 15 pull-ups and 21 box jumps, followed by a run to the gate and back.
At first glance, the workout does not seem unbearable — and then you realize the participants are striving to complete five rounds. At maximum capacity. As quickly as possible.
“This is crazy fitness,” said CrossFit enthusiast Mike Deme, a Calfire captain and paramedic. “At 46 years old, I've never been stronger. It makes my job a lot easier ... I can do a fire with a lot less air.”
Mixed martial arts competitor James Bancroft first came to CrossFit seven months ago, wanting to drop some weight before a national pankration championship. Pankration is “basically MMA without any punching to the face,” Bancroft explained.
“It's pretty physically demanding,” he said. “I thought I was in pretty good shape until I started doing CrossFit ... In six weeks, I dropped 20 pounds and my body fat percentage went into the single digits. I'm stronger than I've ever been before.”
And that's exactly the point of CrossFit, gym owner and trainer Norm Rager said.
Many athletes who train conventionally run the risk of over-specializing their workouts — and that provides segmented results, he said. CrossFit, on the other hand, is all about mixing up functional movement — and increasing intensity once the proper body mechanics have been learned.
“Everything is extremely simple, but it's not easy,” Rager said. “In reality, it's re-learning how our bodies actually move and are designed to move. Some of the people who have the hardest time with that are people who are pretty elite in their sport.”
Rager designs his workouts of the day to be accessible to all levels of fitness.
While the goal might seem out of reach to all but the super-fit, the intensity is up to the individual. If you can't do a pull-up, for example, you do body rows on the rings. If you can't lift a weight bar, you start with a wooden dowel. And you take as long as you need to finish each round, ideally improving that time with every passing week.
In just two years, Rager has expanded CrossFit Sierra twice — he now operates out of the back of the Gray Electric building on Loma Rica Drive. And he has expanded his clientele as well, just recently adding the Nevada Union swim team.
Dave Eubanks currently helps out by leading some of the sessions; plans are under way to add kids' classes in late summer.
“I have all ranges, from young athletes to lawyers to stay-at-home moms to firefighters to grandmothers who are discovering what they can do,” Rager said. “There's nothing more amazing and fulfilling for me, personally, to have someone say they didn't know they could do that ... That's what feeds the fire of CrossFit.”
That fire is evident at CrossFit Sierra, where participants rave about the results and cheerfully admit to being addicted to the regimen.
After six weeks of CrossFit, Bancroft placed fourth in the pankration nationals in November — and has continued to train since then, coming in about five times a week.
“There's a mental thing involved,” he said. “Even when your body says you're done, you can still push it ... It puts you in phenomenal condition.”
Tresa Kennedy came to CrossFit to improve her bow-hunting skills, after five years of working out at a gym and with a personal trainer.
“I had muscle, but not endurance,” she said, adding with a laugh, “I still have a long way to go.”
Like Bancroft, Kennedy thought she was fairly fit.
“I didn't realize how out of shape I was until I came here,” she said. “I can come here for an hour and get more cardio and weight work than in two hours at the gym. It's a great workout for overall health.”
Part of what makes CrossFit so appealing is the relative briefness of the training session — enthusiasts scoff at the kind of people who spend an hour on the stationary bicycle, reading the newspaper. After the 15-minute warm-up, most people make it through the prescribed rounds of workouts in about 30 minutes.
“It's results-driven,” Rager said. “If it's not improving someone's capacity to work — and that's the holy grail of fitness — it's not something we will do.”
While some media stories have focused on the extremists in CrossFit who work out to the point of vomiting or injuring themselves, Rager emphasizes scaling the workout to your capacity and learning proper form before attempting to increase the intensity and speed of any routine.
“We're looking for good mechanics,” he said. “Is it intense? Yes. Is everyone at the same intensity level? No.”
Rager recommended that anyone interested in CrossFit come in for a free introductory evaluation session first. From there, a newcomer would go through a series of three skill sessions to teach the body mechanics for squats, presses and pulling.
“Nine to 15 movements in three sessions gives you a good introduction,” Rager said. “Then you can start integrating into the classes.”
Because of its hands-on nature, CrossFit is pricey. The three skill sessions and a month of classes cost $220; the cost to train runs about $120 to 150 a month. Students and law enforcement personnel get discounts.
“I like to have people come in and see if it's something that's going to work for them,” Rager said. “You'll either run away screaming — or it's exactly what you've been looking for.”
For more information, visit www.crossfitsierra.com or call 913-5878.
To contact Staff Writer Liz Kellar, e-mail lkellar@theunion.com or call 477-4229.敞
The truth of this boast is evident as a group of CrossFit devotees moves through a 15-minute warm-up that would leave most casual exercisers ready for a nap.
They haven't even begun.
A recent 9 a.m. session at CrossFit Sierra consisted of the Workout of the Day — nine overhead squats (95 pounds for men, 65 pounds for women), 15 pull-ups and 21 box jumps, followed by a run to the gate and back.
At first glance, the workout does not seem unbearable — and then you realize the participants are striving to complete five rounds. At maximum capacity. As quickly as possible.
“This is crazy fitness,” said CrossFit enthusiast Mike Deme, a Calfire captain and paramedic. “At 46 years old, I've never been stronger. It makes my job a lot easier ... I can do a fire with a lot less air.”
Mixed martial arts competitor James Bancroft first came to CrossFit seven months ago, wanting to drop some weight before a national pankration championship. Pankration is “basically MMA without any punching to the face,” Bancroft explained.
“It's pretty physically demanding,” he said. “I thought I was in pretty good shape until I started doing CrossFit ... In six weeks, I dropped 20 pounds and my body fat percentage went into the single digits. I'm stronger than I've ever been before.”
And that's exactly the point of CrossFit, gym owner and trainer Norm Rager said.
Many athletes who train conventionally run the risk of over-specializing their workouts — and that provides segmented results, he said. CrossFit, on the other hand, is all about mixing up functional movement — and increasing intensity once the proper body mechanics have been learned.
“Everything is extremely simple, but it's not easy,” Rager said. “In reality, it's re-learning how our bodies actually move and are designed to move. Some of the people who have the hardest time with that are people who are pretty elite in their sport.”
Rager designs his workouts of the day to be accessible to all levels of fitness.
While the goal might seem out of reach to all but the super-fit, the intensity is up to the individual. If you can't do a pull-up, for example, you do body rows on the rings. If you can't lift a weight bar, you start with a wooden dowel. And you take as long as you need to finish each round, ideally improving that time with every passing week.
In just two years, Rager has expanded CrossFit Sierra twice — he now operates out of the back of the Gray Electric building on Loma Rica Drive. And he has expanded his clientele as well, just recently adding the Nevada Union swim team.
Dave Eubanks currently helps out by leading some of the sessions; plans are under way to add kids' classes in late summer.
“I have all ranges, from young athletes to lawyers to stay-at-home moms to firefighters to grandmothers who are discovering what they can do,” Rager said. “There's nothing more amazing and fulfilling for me, personally, to have someone say they didn't know they could do that ... That's what feeds the fire of CrossFit.”
That fire is evident at CrossFit Sierra, where participants rave about the results and cheerfully admit to being addicted to the regimen.
After six weeks of CrossFit, Bancroft placed fourth in the pankration nationals in November — and has continued to train since then, coming in about five times a week.
“There's a mental thing involved,” he said. “Even when your body says you're done, you can still push it ... It puts you in phenomenal condition.”
Tresa Kennedy came to CrossFit to improve her bow-hunting skills, after five years of working out at a gym and with a personal trainer.
“I had muscle, but not endurance,” she said, adding with a laugh, “I still have a long way to go.”
Like Bancroft, Kennedy thought she was fairly fit.
“I didn't realize how out of shape I was until I came here,” she said. “I can come here for an hour and get more cardio and weight work than in two hours at the gym. It's a great workout for overall health.”
Part of what makes CrossFit so appealing is the relative briefness of the training session — enthusiasts scoff at the kind of people who spend an hour on the stationary bicycle, reading the newspaper. After the 15-minute warm-up, most people make it through the prescribed rounds of workouts in about 30 minutes.
“It's results-driven,” Rager said. “If it's not improving someone's capacity to work — and that's the holy grail of fitness — it's not something we will do.”
While some media stories have focused on the extremists in CrossFit who work out to the point of vomiting or injuring themselves, Rager emphasizes scaling the workout to your capacity and learning proper form before attempting to increase the intensity and speed of any routine.
“We're looking for good mechanics,” he said. “Is it intense? Yes. Is everyone at the same intensity level? No.”
Rager recommended that anyone interested in CrossFit come in for a free introductory evaluation session first. From there, a newcomer would go through a series of three skill sessions to teach the body mechanics for squats, presses and pulling.
“Nine to 15 movements in three sessions gives you a good introduction,” Rager said. “Then you can start integrating into the classes.”
Because of its hands-on nature, CrossFit is pricey. The three skill sessions and a month of classes cost $220; the cost to train runs about $120 to 150 a month. Students and law enforcement personnel get discounts.
“I like to have people come in and see if it's something that's going to work for them,” Rager said. “You'll either run away screaming — or it's exactly what you've been looking for.”
For more information, visit www.crossfitsierra.com or call 913-5878.
To contact Staff Writer Liz Kellar, e-mail lkellar@theunion.com or call 477-4229.敞
