General starting guidelines

[Dan Aloma]

Hi everyone. I've been reading the boards for about a month now, and I've decided to give Crossfit a try. I'm 245# and 5'9", so I'm definitely a big guy. Not sure about body fat % and whatnot, though I'm sure that's pretty high.

I just wanted to see if anyone could give me some general guidelines for someone starting out. I've been lifting and doing cardio 4x a week for about 4 months (obviously not as hard as Crossfit though). I'm going to start with the beginners routine in the May 2003 Journal.

I was just wondering if there were any other general tricks to keep me going. That's what I'm concerned about.

[Paul Findley]

Measure your progress.

[Bryan Gollhofer]

Paul's advise is wise. Keep a log of everything you are doing for reference down the road. That, will keep you going when you start to look back at your progress. Trust me, if you stick with it, you will start seeing progress very soon.

Good luck, and welcome!

[Dan Aloma]

great point Paul. I will definitely do that. I hope I can make it through the 12 week beginner program. It's going to be a challenge, but definitely one I welcome. I've been looking to change up my workout routine, so this is great. Thanks again guys.

[Robert Miller]

Dan,

Have you considered implementing the Zone Diet? You may want to look into it if you're up for losing a few pounds.

Tip#2 (broken record time!) - get 'Starting Strength' by Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore. It'll show you the finer points of all the major lifts and put you on the right track from the start.

Tip#3 was going to be 'get some basic instruction in the Olympic Lifts', but I guess you don't need that just yet. If you get hooked on XFit (i'm sure that you will), you might want to invest in this kind of instruction down the road.

Thanks!

Rob Miller
Springfield, PA

[George Brothers]

dan
i agree with all of the above with and also try the following:
scaled wods at brand x martial arts website.
mens journal article on crossfit can function as a beginner program.
diet is definitely something not to be ignored.
good luck to you.

[Don King]

As stated above, measuring your progress is key to Crossfit success. Here is the link to an Excel spreadsheet to record your Personal Records(PRs).

http://www.crossfit.com/cf-info/CrossFitPR.xls

[Dan Aloma]

Man, this is great. I've never seen a place where people are so supportive.

I will definitely try to read up on the zone diet. I've read a bunch of people say it works great. I'm looking for something that's not just a fad diet, something that I can actually stick to.

I have Starting Strength in my amazon list. I'll be getting it in the next couple weeks.

Don, thx for the spreadsheet. That'll help a bunch.

Thanks again to all of you. Glad I found some place that people are actually supportive (very few of those on the 'net).

[Jeremy A Thompson]

Greetings,
I'm also 5'9" and weighed 246# last year when I decided to start getting more active. I didn't do it with Crossfit, but the one thing I wish I had done was take pictures of myself. From 246# I'm down to 204# and my wife and I both like it.

You'll notice little things that change. I noticed my shoulder got more cut and I could see muscle lines. I still have a little gut, but nothing like it was. If I had pictures I would really be able to motivate.

I used the Fat Smash diet to lose weight. It really helped me change my attitude and eating style.

Good Luck!
JT

[Connie Morreale]

if the zone has too much counting for you read up on the south beach diet. the only thing wrong with this diet is the hokey title. it is the exact same concept as the zone without the block counting. i've done both and find the south beach more user friendly.
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dy try n