With the first slate of Regionals is set to begin on May 9th, CrossFitters will soon be travelling around the country to compete against and support their fellow athletes. If you plan on travelling to see the Regionals—good for you! I’m sure you’ll be wanting to drop-in at a local box while on the road. But what happens when dropping-in isn’t an option? What if there are no local boxes?? HOW WILL YOU GET YOUR CROSSFIT FIX???
Calm down, there’s no need to panic. Here at BoxLife we understand that being away from the box while travelling can be a traumatic experience—but it doesn’t have to be. Have a look at our suggestions for doing CrossFit on the road.
1-Get familiar with bodyweight WODs
No barbell? No problem! Sometimes the only ‘equipment’ you need is your own body. The ability to move your own body in an efficient manner is often overlooked and underappreciated, as we can get distracted by ‘sexier’ movements like snatches and push jerks. But are you strong enough to perform handstand push-ups? Flexible enough for pistols? Do you have the endurance to do both movements, then perform 50 air squats and run a mile? Thankfully, your own body is a great tool to developing these skills, and it goes wherever you do. You can find a comprehensive list of CrossFit bodyweight workouts online, but here are some of my personal favorites (and most popular):
Angie: Complete in order:100 pull-ups100, push-ups,100 sit-ups,100 squats
Murph*: Run 1 mile, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 squats, Run 1 mile
Partition the pull-ups, push-ups and squats as needed.
Cindy: 20 minute AMRAP of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 squats
2-Invest in travel-friendly CrossFit equipment
If you’re serious about keeping on top of your fitness while on the road, then you should definitely invest in some easily portable pieces of equipment that will compliment bodyweight workouts nicely. Here are some items that you can add to your CrossFit travel repertoire:
-A solid duffle bag
-Jump rope
-Weight vest
-Light/Moderate kettlebells
-Sandbag
Once you’re happy with your CrossFit travel pack, you can incorporate some spice into the workouts you can do on the road:
Annie:
50-40-30-20-10 double-unders and sit-ups
Modified Helen:
400m sprint, 21 kettlebell swings, 12 push-ups
Ivan the Terrible:
50-40-30-20-10 lunges, push-ups sit-ups and double-unders (90 seconds between rounds)
Event 7 of the 2009 Games (slightly modified):
8 minute AMRAP of 4 handstand push-ups, 8 kettlebell swings, 12 sit-ups
3-Turn your hotel gym into your personal box
‘Traditional’ gyms might have been one of the reasons that pushed you to try CrossFit in the first place, so the thought of returning to such an environment probably doesn’t sound that appealing. But desperate times call for desperate measures, right? Follow the example of Jason Khalipa who, while at a hotel during a Level 1 certification, performed a killer WOD drawn up by fellow Games competitor Chris Spealler. Using 35lb dumbbells, Khalipa performs 100 hang squat clean thrusters for time—plus five burpees every minute. He finishes in 10:53, and looks pretty gassed by the end of it. There’s no reason not to use what equipment you may have at your disposal (including what you’ve packed to take with you!), and you can do some pretty challenging workouts with what’s available in a hotel gym. The NorCal CrossFit site lists some pretty interesting WODS, including:
“The Jason Khalipa Special”
: “30 seconds on 30 seconds off. Set the treadmill to the highest incline, speed starts at a jog for a while then at moderate for 3 minutes, more challenging for 3 minutes, very challenging for 3 minutes. Hard as hell for 7 minutes. 15% incline and level 8.5mph is pretty legit. Total WORK time is 10 minutes.”
Every 30 seconds: Perform: 6 burpees for 10 minutes. Immediately after, run a mile for time on the treadmill.
AMRAP 5 minutes: 7 heavy lat pull-downs, 10 push-ups
4-Use the great outdoors
Travelling may be the perfect time to engage in some active recovery, so why not get out from your hotel room and go for a light run? Hopefully there will be some good running trails or parks nearby that you can put to good use. Like Josh Bridges says, fitness isn’t just barbells in a gym. So get outside and see what you can do with your body away from the four walls of the box.
Run a 5k for time
Surfer on Acid:
3 rounds for time, 400m run, 21 burpees
Tabata Sprints:
Sprint 20 seconds, rest 10 seconds (8 rounds)
5-Give up all hope and commute 4 hours to the nearest box
If all else fails, and withdrawal from the box has you clawing at the walls of your room until your fingers start to bleed, then there’s only one thing left to do: Suck it up and make it to the nearest box, no matter the cost, no matter the distance.
