Walk into a commercial gym today, and chances are you’ll find an uninspiring environment filled with rows of cardio equipment with built-in TV screens, set up for mindless exercise. Machines that have been designed to mimic human movement, but ultimately do everything but. Some people work out staring at screens, repeating the same movements over and over again. And while it may keep you in shape, it sure isn’t very motivating or fun for everybody. Luckily there are other more entertaining and effective ways to help you stay fit and healthy besides your standard gym routine, and one of them in particular is taking the health and fitness world by storm—CrossFit.

CrossFit is a combination of gymnastics and body weight exercises. Its philosophy is not to specialize in a single discipline such as weight lifting or running, but to develop a strong and fast body across the board. It mostly involves natural body movements such as pushing, pulling, thrusting, throwing, lifting, jumping, climbing and running and uses back-to-basic gym equipment like barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, but also sand bags, ropes and tractor tires. Try finding those in your local gym!

CrossFit has rapidly become the training program of choice for many law enforcement agencies and military forces around the world including the Canadian Forces. But don’t worry—you don’t have to be an elite soldier to enjoy the benefits of CrossFit. CrossFit routines can be adapted to meet any level of fitness for anyone who wants to have a healthy lifestyle, including pregnant women, seniors and even children. In Canada and the U.S., CrossFit has been adopted by several high school physical education teachers and sports teams.

A typical CrossFit workout consists of a warm-up session, a skill development segment, followed by a ten to twenty minute high-intensity part. CrossFit gyms offer new workout schemes every day, called Work-out Of the Day or WOD, to keep your body on its toes and also to keep things fresh and fun. And because it’s so efficient, it doesn’t take up a lot of your precious time either. Instead of spending an hour milling about in the gym, you can be in and out the CrossFit door in less than 30 minutes.

So if you’re looking for a new and challenging way to help you stay fit, have a go at CrossFit at any of these locations.

Have a great and safe work-out!

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