Welcome to your first CrossFit® class!

You might be nervous starting CrossFit®, and that’s normal. You will see excercises you may have never done before, people doing many different variations of a workout, and lots of friendly faced and fist bumps at the end.

But this is just the start of your exciting CrossFit® journey. You will meet a new community of people all rooting for you to achieve your fitness goals, and with time, you will start to see just how strong your body can be.

So, before you jump into your first CrossFit® class, here is everything you should expect and how to prepare.

The friendly faces at Shapesmiths

What to Bring

All you need to bring to your first CrossFit® class is a water bottle, comfortable workout clothes, and relatively flat gym shoes. All other equipment you may need for the workout will be provided for you at the gym.

When are our classes? & how to book.

We have ~190 classes throughout the week ranging from early in the morning (6AM starts) to the evening (last class 730PM) and you have a spot waiting in one of them if you’re keen to explore joining our community.  We even have an extra early 545AM class on Tuesdays (?) if you need to be at your desk nice and early!

Monday to Friday we have classes available every 15-minutes at peak times morning and evening. Then every hour throughout the daytime. To reserve your spot message us via our business WhatsApp [insert link]

We will get you booked in at a time that works for you, we can slot into your daily routine – seamlessly.  Our classes have cap of 12 to ensure your coach can give individualised attention to everyone in the class, so it’s important you reserve your spot before you arrive.

Show Up Early

Show up 10-minutes early so we can introduce you to our facility, there’s over 14,000 sq ft of space and we want you to feel right at home. We will show you where to put your belongings, where the restrooms are and where the you’ll be working out.

Find Your Coach

Before class starts, introduce yourself to your coach and let them know this is your first CrossFit® class or first class at Shapesmiths. They will walk you through everything throughout the class and answer any questions you may have.

If you have any injuries, make sure to let them know so they can scale your workout appropriately.

Coaches are here to guide you!

What Does your first CrossFit® Class Look Like?

A CrossFit® class is a one-hour group session led by a coach. A typical class looks like:

  1. Workout brief — At the start of class, the group will gather around or TV screen. The coach will talk through the workout, the movements within it, the intended stimulus — the purpose of the workout and what level of intensity it’s designed to elicit — and ideas for scaling. You’ll also get insight into key events and announcements. 

Don’t worry if you don’t understand the movements listed on the board. The coach will walk you through the movements after the workout brief. Your first class will focus on learning the movement technique, using a PVC pipe or very light barbell for any barbell movements and scaling other movements to your current fitness level and ability.

  1. Next you will warm up, prepare all components of the workout and get chance to clarify any questions at the Workout Rebrief, back around the TV screen. 
  1. Finally at the end of class, you will gather at the TV screen again for a Workout debrief, instructions on how to record your score and most importantly celebrating any mini-wins. These little wins each class will add up to BIG progress!

Remember CrossFit® training is measurable, observable, and repeatable. We use scores to track our fitness over time, so the next time you do the same workout you can see your progress.

This is your first class, so don’t worry about comparing your score to other members. This is your starting point!

Introduce Yourself to Your Classmates

Say hello, with a hug!

A big part of CrossFit is the community. Introduce yourself to your fellow classmates. They all remember the first time they walked into a CrossFit® gym and can help you acclimatise to class.

This is also your time to trial our gym’s community to see if it’s the right fit for you. You’ll be made to feel at home, quickly at Shapesmiths.

Keep an Open Mind

CrossFit® is not easy, but ANYONE can learn. A little bit like with driving lessons you don’t need to know how to drive to start, it’s the same here. You don’t need to know how to do all the exercises to start. You will soon be able to do things you never thought you could do before. You will be able to flip onto your hands into a handstand, lift barbells and kettlebells safely, climb a rope, or even get your first pull-up one day.

But it doesn’t happen overnight.

Use your first class to get a taste of CrossFit®, learn more about our CrossFit® affiliate, and have fun. You will learn more with time.

Next steps

Post trial class, it’s time to ask as as many questions as you like to one of our team and get started by signing up for one of our memberships! We can help you find the right membership for you, there’s lots of options for any budget!  FYI we operate with a monthly rolling contract and there are no joining fees. So you can get stuck in and really immerse yourself to experience one of the best CrossFit® communities in the world!

Just a small percentage of our members gather for a workout!

See you soon!

To level with you, it’s perfectly normal to be nervous, anxious or a little intimidated by starting CrossFit®.  Anything where you may be a beginner for a while, where there’s new people to meet and a little of the unknown can make you feel like that. Think about your first day of a new job and the nerves that come with that. Have a read of the rest of this article as I explain more about how everything we do at Shapesmiths is set up to help beginners succeed.

Our Programming and the Workouts you’ll do.

60% of our classes are what we call Practice days. These sessions include built-in rest periods, allowing you to focus on maintaining high-quality movement—ideal for getting comfortable with everything. Our coaches excel at scaling workouts to your level, and they’re always ready to assist. Please, be chatty and ask if you need more help.

Within the CrossFit® world tracking your workouts to collect some data on your fitness levels is extremely useful. That’s why we program benchmark days, where we measure your fitness through a workout helps us take a scientific approach to what you do. Benchmark days are Measurable, Repeatable and Observable and they account for 30% of our classes. Benchmark days feature multiple options (Rx, Intermediate, and Novice), and we can further scale these as needed. This flexibility is crucial, especially during Benchmark workouts, where modifying the workout to suit your needs will help you preserve the intent of the workout. This approach is the fastest route to making gains, progressing, and mastering the movements we use in CrossFit®.

It’s also important to remember that, while it may not always be obvious when you look into a well organised class, many novices are thriving at our gym. Everyone here is incredibly friendly and supportive, so you’re in good company.

The final 10% of programming includes Resilience Days. These days are there to help you develop resilience through focus on breathing, goal setting, positive self talk and visualisation. These things will not only help you with workouts but also outside of the gym, in your day to day lives.

Workshops, Seminars and Events

We also support our newbies with a variety of workshops and seminars for all levels, and with over 200 classes a week, there’s always something to fit your schedule. We even offer specialised classes, like Gymnastics and Weightlifting, designed to help you build confidence and improve your skills. Spending time in these classes will set you on the path to success.

The range of exercises in CrossFit®

It’s important to press the simplification button on the CrossFit® methodology and we have done this below.

Despite the wide range of movements in CrossFit®, they all boil down to seven core movement categories:

  1. Squat
  2. Hinge
  3. Push & Pull
  4. Flex & Extend
  5. Rotate & Twist
  6. Run
  7. Jump

No matter the exercise you’ll be developing your proficiency across these 7 key areas! If you ever have questions, don’t hesitate to ask the coaches—they’re approachable and always happy to help!

New to the Community?

If you’re new to Shapesmiths and looking to meet people, check out our Events diary. We host quarterly meet-ups for members who have been with us for three months or less. The Events diary is packed with workshops and social events, providing plenty of opportunities to connect with others.

Welcome to the community—we’re thrilled to have you here!

If you want to get a pull up…do these things…

This article is a short piece to help those of you who have asked us about pull ups, be it strict or kipping. Before I continue, let me say that I am a firm believer that if you can dedicate the time to something, consistently, it will eventually be achieved. The pull up is no different.

The purpose of strict pull ups simply is to build strength in the upper body; the other, kipping pull ups, is to produce a higher power output or roughly translated, to achieve more work in less time.  They are both different and are not intended to replace one another.  Given that being stronger and also increasing our work capacity are some of the main aims of CrossFit® we should be developing both. How, though?

Hollow Hold. Learn to love this position. It gives birth to a whole host of benefits for the exercises we use in CrossFit.

Ring Rows. Vary the angle at which you use the low set of rings. But, always maintain a hollow position and focus on using your arms and back muscles.

Strict Banded Pull Ups. Don’t be afraid of using a band to allow you to move through the full range of motion required for a strict pull up. 

‘Negative’ Pull Ups. These things are gold. Grab a box, step on it so you can then take a grip and hold your chin over the pull up bar. Then work your hardest to lower yourself as slowly as humanly possible. Think Neo from the Matrix dodging bullets slow. Adding in a  second hold for those who have kipping pull ups already is a big help too.

Bent Over Row. Assume the Deadlift position, unloaded, and while maintaining a flat back pick up a pair of Kettlebells or a barbell and pull the object to just below the Sternum.

Build more useful lean muscle and lose non-useful body fat. This one happens by showing up to the gym as often as you can, putting in the hard work and having control of your nutrition. Simple. There’s no magic pill here.  If you are unsure about what to eat,start here!

Your rule with the above is, you should never do two sessions in a row with the exact same method. Variety is key.  If you are wondering about reps and sets, just keep it simple 3-4 sets of 5-8 reps on any of the above, three times per week will have you on your way. Be aware, it could take up to 12 months for some people. Embrace it and you’ll be better for it.

Furthermore we run several pull up workshops throughout the year to help you boost your abilities.

Within the workshops we work through the differences in grip (overhand/underhand) and why you get more bang for your buck with your thumbs around the bar, particularly for strict work and if you’re just starting out in CrossFit.

We also talk through the scap pull up, use of negatives to build strength (Pull up negative), partial reps to build strength in specific ranges (Partial reps to improve specific range – bottom half and top half), and different rig set ups to help you build stronger pull ups (Low bar pull up – toe assisted, Low bar chin up – more top end range, Low bar pull up – feet elevated).

We then move on to kipping pull ups, where we took time to understand the timing of the pull combined with the kip swing with various drills that can be supported with a buddy (Banded kip swing – to make sure we’re moving through the torso not just the legs, Single leg box assisted kipping pull up, Kipping pull up with half pause, Kipping pull up with pause), the ideal shapes of a kipping pull up to identify what requires working on (C/I/J).

For further inspiration below is a great list of Pull Up Drills. Each one has a video accompanying it too!

Pull up negative

Low bar pull up – toe assisted

Low bar chin up – more top end range

Low bar pull up – feet elevated

Partial reps to improve specific range: 

Banded kip swing – to make sure we’re moving through the torso not just the legs

Single leg box assisted kipping pull up

Kipping pull up with half pause 

Kipping pull up with pause

If you would like to get some additional help with pull ups or any other gymnastics movement get in touch with us straight away for a chat!



SO YOU WANT TO TRAIN DOUBLE-DAYS & DOUBLE SESSIONS? HOW TO OPTIMISE YOUR PROGRESS.

In a headline: We have made mistakes, so you don’t have to. 

Doing more than just the Workout of the Day (WOD) and training back to back sessions is very tempting for a number of reasons. 

  • If you modified the weight, reps or movement you may feel you ‘didn’t get enough out of the workout’. 
  • You may have doubled up on a second WOD because you are eager to improve your fitness or readiness for competitions. 
  • You may just love the feel good endorphins of smashing two hours of working out and being around the gym and the community. 
  • Some folks want to drop the ‘extra weight’ they gained on holiday.

Below we want to discuss the best way to spend your time in the gym and outside of the gym to optimise your progress and ensure our community is functioning in the best possible way.  We hope to provide some education so you don’t fall into the trap that I and many of your coaches and co-owners have fallen into. 

We have made mistakes, so you don’t have to. 

Technique is everything. 

Firstly, let us  start with a quote from the founder of CrossFit® himself, Greg Glassman. We believe in this, wholeheartedly.  

Technique is EVERYTHING. Without it you will not express power in any significant measure and you will be remiss in trying. You may expend a lot of energy trying but you will not be efficient or effective in your efforts…

To make the most of the technical elements of CrossFit®, like gymnastics and weightlifting you need to be fresh. Your body absorbs the technical work better that way. 

If you smash a WOD and then go straight into Weightlifting or Gymnastics you are actually stunting your progress. Please, avoid doing this at. all. costs. If you DO want to train twice per day and you have had a good chat with a coach about the benefits for you of doing so, we would like to see AT LEAST 4 hours between sessions but ideally 6!*1

Under developed technique will of course influence your intensity (intensity being kilograms lifted or maintaining a certain pace) and without intensity you may feel like you missed out on your workout. But believe us, putting in the effort to get better technically will improve other elements of fitness you may not have considered. 

  • Coordination
  • Accuracy 
  • Agility 
  • Flexibility 
  • Balance 

And through the above it leads to development of Strength and Power.

This is why Practice Days make up 60% of our training days with built in rest to preserve quality movement. This is why we have several dedicated GYMNASTICS CLASSES for you to book into and why expert coaches are on hand for you to book in with for skills session if you so wish. 

Shapesmiths Top tip: Stay patient and ‘trust the process’ when it comes to getting better at barbell work and gymnastics. Work with your coaches to ensure you are ready to increase your intensity and when you do and are given a green light, don’t be afraid to push hard during your workout. It may hurt for a minute or two, but it’s where the results are. The only difference between your workout and someone else’s, is what you put into it. If done properly, there should not be a need to add a second WOD.

DOING VOLUME FOR VOLUME’S SAKE, WITHOUT INTENT.

Have a purpose! More is not better; better is better.

We have often observed folks, who are really into CrossFit®, that load up and increase volume because they see the best CrossFitters in the world are doing two or three sessions per day, 4-5 days per week.

As you will read, further in this article, doing two sessions in a day is not necessarily a bad thing. You just need to have a purpose and understand the bigger picture. With no purpose and no big picture in mind you will simply break yourself down and impede your gains, brah! 

Having a purpose means knowing the energy system and muscular groups you’re trying to tax during a workout. Knowing how you are going to pace a workout to teach your body to thrive and not just get slower as a WOD progresses. It allows you to work smart and hard, not just hard. 

REST DAYS ARE GROWTH DAYS

In order to see consistent progress in your time spent at the gym you are going to need to take some rest days. These days allow you to grow. They allow your muscles to recover. They allow your neural system chance to recuperate. 

An essential player in the recovery process is Growth Hormone (GH). It allows the body to repair itself after intense exercise through muscular hypertrophy and plays a significant role in the maintenance of lean body mass. Bigger picture: you should know that nearly 50% of GH secretion occurs during the third and fourth NREM sleep stages.

If you are regularly skimping on sleep, you are missing the body’s prime production time of GH, and thereby not recovering as you could or should be. Basically all the effort you put into your training was just thwarted by a significant percentage if you were sleep-deprived during it.

ARE TWO SESSIONS PER DAY – EVERY SO OFTEN – FOR YOU? 

They could be for you if you are able to 

a) get enough sleep in the realm of 7.5-9 hours. 

b) you take one complete day off and one day where your volume is really low and kept to cardio/biking/trail running/yoga/swim type activities 

c) you have relatively low stress in your life. 

d) you can space the two sessions out by a minimum of 4-hours but ideally 6 hours so you can refuel, rest and recover. Back-to-back classes of any kind a huge NO.  

e) you can afford the time.

I think it’s pretty clear that only a small amount of people are capable of truly being able to hit all of the above. Therefore it’s wise to be sparing with any two per days. 

What extras can I do to keep progressing?

If you have some time and energy before or after a WOD, here are a few things you can do to get more out of your workouts:

  • Instead of doing an extra workout, practice, practice, practice! The more comfortable you get with the CrossFit movements, the sooner you’ll be able to add intensity to your workout.
  • Come into the gym 20mins early to prep for the WOD. During the WOD class utilise every available moment to practice.
  • Take advantage of any workshops and seminars. 
  • A little a day will go along way! Don’t kill yourself trying to perfect the snatch in one day. Practice a little everyday and you’ll get the hang of it.

As usual, come at use with any questions or follow ups. We are here for you!

 

 

 

Reference:

*1 A Story, S Wong et al (2012) Eur J Appl Physiol. Divergent muscle functional and architectural responses to two successive high intensity resistance exercise sessions in competitive weightlifters and resistance trained adults.

ADVICE: Injuries, niggles & scaling, we’re here for you!

Ring muscle up

Remnants of your past sporting or desk-bound endeavours can be brought to light in the CrossFit® gym.

This is nothing but a positive thing. Backed by our world class medical staff, the Shapesmiths team have lots of opportunities to improve and fix the injuries and niggles you have been meaning to get looked at for a while. T.L.C on tap, if you will (feel free to hashtag that). 

Here’s a couple of ways you can optimize your training, and just as important, your cooldown, if carrying a niggle/injury.

  1. Talk to your coach about your niggles/injuries.

Quite commonly every coach will see issues that focus around the ankle, knee, hip, shoulder and wrist. The Shapesmiths coaches genuinely love to help you guys and girls find appropriate modifications/scalings. So please know that if you are carrying a niggle/injury that we are here to help, we are here for you.

If you are already aware of an injury/niggle the best time to highlight it and seek a suitable scaling is before a class or at the TV screen briefing.

You can also drop us a whatsapp message and flag any medical issues really early. We can pick up the thread and advise what the best course of action is quite easily.

  1. Talk to your Livewell Clinic team about your niggles/injuries.

If you have something going on, please do touch base with The Livewell Clinic!

They offer you an amazing 15min free consultation that could give you insight into whether or not you should keep training, train with modifications/scalings or, if it’s serious (think broken bones etc), to stop all together. 

Livewell practitioners can help you by using soft-tissue techniques, articulation of joints and manipulation in differing degrees to break down scar tissue and improve range and quality of motion in the body. Perfect for CrossFit®.

Contact info here: http://thelivewellclinic.co.uk/contact-us/

Keep healthy, keep happy, keep CrossFitting

 

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