World Camp CrossFit Scales Elite Training to All Levels of Ability
Monday, August 22nd, 2011
Many champion martial artists and elite military and police units use a CrossFit training approach, which involves the use of high-intensity cardiovascular sessions and compound movements such as squats, pull-ups and push-presses. Supporters of the CrossFit approach believe it is more effective in achieving desired fitness results than a typical workout of isolated movements and extended low-intensity aerobic sessions. At World Camp CrossFit in Albany, the general public and local athletes can access these state-of-the-art techniques, scaled to fit their individual capabilities.
“People look in the windows at our facility and see ropes and rings hanging from the ceiling and think it’s crazy stuff. But there’s a method to it and we can scale every movement to the abilities of the person doing it,” said Kris Morrill, owner of World Camp CrossFit.
Morrill opened his strength and conditioning facility in June 2008. Two years ago, the facility became one of 4,000 affiliates around the world of the CrossFit General Physical Preparation program. The program seeks to optimize physical competence in ten areas: cardiovascular and respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance and accuracy.
Placing 18th in the world games
World Camp CrossFit has made a big name for itself in the two years it has been an affiliate of the CrossFit program. In the 2011 Reebok CrossFit Games in California, the team from World Camp placed 18th in the world.
“Our team of three girls and three guys came in third in the regional games and then finished 18th in the world. That’s a big accomplishment in a competition where the winning team is proclaimed the fittest in the world,” Morrill explained.
The CrossFit Games is a three-day competition in which teams compete in a variety of workouts. According to Morrill, the workouts included hauling sandbags, doing Olympic lifts, swimming 400 meters in the ocean, running, doing pull-ups, squats and other fitness tests. The workouts for CrossFit Games are different every year and the details are announced only a few days before the event. That means teams must train all year to be ready for almost any type of fitness test.
Preparing for the unexpected
According to Morrill, most people perform the same fitness routine every workout – jogging or a session on the elliptical machine followed by a circuit on the weight machines or work with dumbbells or on the bench press. Yet varying a workout routine can lead to better results.
“The human body is an amazing piece of equipment. It gets use to stimuli very quickly. We want to constantly freak the body out in training with unexpected stimuli because that leads to greater work capacity and better performance,” he continued.
Every CrossFit affiliate is unique in its daily programming. Morrill creates a daily program for the Albany gym based on the attributes of the facility’s members.
"I try to program variables that we could be better at as a gym. We're a strong gym so in keeping with that we will also program body weight movements and Olympic lifts to ensure we are evening things out," he said.
Form is the key to the movements in CrossFit and that enables each movement to be scaled to match the abilities of each individual. World Camp CrossFit has a membership with broad demographics. Adult members range in age from 15 to 72. In addition, the facility offers kid’s camps for ages 5 to 14.
Membership at World Camp CrossFit is $200 per month. A $50 discount is available for students, military, police, fire and emergency response workers. More information on World Camp CrossFit is available at www.worldcampcf.com or contact Kris Morrill at [email protected].
