The CrossFit Austin Difference || Coach Wes Kimball

The CrossFit Austin Difference

There are ton’s of option for people out  there when it comes to their fitness, but we like to think we encompass the most complete solution. A quick disclaimer we’re big believers that any exercise is good exercise. Doing something is always better than doing nothing. So in today’s article will look at some different options out there and some reason why we feel like we’re doing things better.

Yoga:
Yoga is great. For some things. Namely for mobility and recovery. And there’s nothing wrong with a glorified stretching workout. The older you get, the harder it is to maintain functional mobility, so if yoga helps you do that, that’s great. But that’s all it is: Stretching and balance. Maybe a bit of coordination, although you’re probably moving too slow to truly challenge coordination. Yoga doesn’t get you strong, and yoga doesn’t improve your cardiovascular endurance, speed, stamina or power.  In reality it’s a great supplement to a training program but not a great stand alone program to get you fit.

Running and Cycling:
The obvious here is that both are great for cardiovascular endurance and stamina, but do a poor job developing  strength (especially upper body strength), power, speed, coordination, flexibility etc… Both are one dimensional and lend themselves to some  “overuse” movement issues. Lots of runners we work with struggle to maintain a full range of motion in their ankles and hip, that can lead to overuse injuries in the IT-Bands, knees, calves, achilles. High volume cycling lends to an overdevelopment of the quads and creates poor posture in the upper and lower back. 

Generic “High Intensity” Training:
With the growth of CrossFit there has been a number of entities that have tried to replicate the “intensity” aspect of CrossFit. Companies like Orange Theory, Soulcycle, and other HITT training programs all tend to focus solely on the cardiovascular endurance and stamina aspect of fitness. In this type of training there is always going to be some short terms results, and working hard always makes you feel great. However for long term results strength development, improve mobility and movement quality, and smart variation of “intensity’ is the answer.

What do we better?

We will provide you with broad, useful fitness for life. We want carrying four bags of groceries up three flights of stairs to be a piece of cake. We care about helping you maintain your mobility as you age, and about ensuring you can go skiing or hiking for an entire day when you’re 20 and 65. We want you to be the fittest person on your softball team at 40, and the person who is still living independently at 85.

The nuts and bolts of our of our program will improve all the skills needed to live a long, fit, healthy life: Strength, speed, power, cardiovascular endurance, stamina, flexibility, coordination, agility, stamina and balance. But the real reason it works is the implementation of that program which is two fold.

Coach for life
We don’t throw our new clients right into the fire. We meet you where you’re at and work with you on your individual strengths and weaknesses to keep you safe and injury-free so you can continuously become more fit and healthy.

With us, you will have a personal coach for life to help manage your health and fitness and as well as individualize our program to your specific needs. Our coaches are well trained and some of the most qualified experts in the fitness industry. And it also means your coach is a career coach and his or her professional success is tied to how successful you are at achieving your fitness goals.

Community-based
We’re not just a gym. We’re close friends who socialize together, both in and out of the gym. It’s a perfect community in which to raise your kids—where they grow up witnessing people who care about being fit and healthy for life. (And if you’re single, there’s a good chance you’ll have better luck here than on the latest dating website.)

In other words, corny as it might sound, you’ll have fun. That’s important because above all else “fitness” is a habit.  Ingraining this habit into your life is allot easier when you have a great support system around you and you actually enjoy what you’re doing!