An Okotoks fitness centre is giving some free instruction on how variety isn’t only the spice of life, it also might add some years to your life.
Natural High CrossFit is offering free crossfit classes on Saturday mornings.
“We want people to understand what we do out here — it’s a little different than other workouts,” said Natural High CrossFit manager Dan Rogers. “The main thing we want to do is to encourage people to get active, do something different and get them out of the routine.”
Rogers defines crossfit as constantly varied functional movement performed at high intensity, but it is more than that.
“What we do in here is combine everything from gymnastics, to power-lifting to Olympic lifting and combining them in as many different and creative ways as possible,” Rogers said. “It allows people to get stronger overall… It really prepares them for anything that might come up in their daily lives.”
The variety of activity also doesn’t allow for your body to get complacent from one activity. While a daily 10km run is great, your body can get used to just one activity.
“There are several reasons why you want to keep your exercises varied,” Rogers said. “Your body doesn’t get used to it and you avoid those plateaus, but beyond that it’s really fun.
“Every day we are doing something different. The gym can be someplace that you want to go to, not where you feel you have to go to.”
The Saturday free classes will be CrossFit 101 — the basics.
“In the free intro-sessions we like to keep it really basic — teach people how to squat correctly, pull correctly and push correctly,” Rogers said. “I guarantee whether you are a high-end athlete or a person who hasn’t moved much for the past five months, I can get you to do something in the class and you will be challenged as well.”
Rogers won a Canadian Regional Crossfit competition in 2010; an event held in Okotoks and seeded his roots in the community.
“I got into crossfit about three years ago,” Rogers said. “I had played college basketball at a small school and when I graduated, I was looking for something more competitive. When I won in Okotoks, I got hold of Andrew (Natural High owner Andrew Gustafson) and told him I wanted to get more involved in the community and the sport.”
Lynton Knap, an Okotoks resident and firefighter in Calgary, got into crossfit after some gentle coaxing from his wife.
“She got me into it and convinced me it was something I should try,” Knapp said, while taking a break from doing chin-ups and then jumping up and down on a box. “It is something anybody can do. They can modify the exercises here.
“We have people who are older and retired and they just modify the workout.”
Knap said the toughest part for him is getting to the gym because of his shift work.
“Everything else, the instructors have tuned me up so I can do the exercises,” Knap said. “I would really recommend this rather than just going to a normal gym.”
The free Saturday morning classes are at 10:30 a.m. Natural High CrossFit is located at 113 Fisher St. in the Okotoks Industrial Park. For more information call 403-995-3602 or email at [email protected]
