One of the few places where “I’m too old” isn’t an appropriate reason, CrossFit gyms have established tailored training sessions for men and women “Legends”, the 45-50+ crowd.

The old stereotype of CrossFit is slowly breaking down and for good reason!  What used to be known for its tire-flipping, grungy garage gym throwdowns and shirtless “bros” has continued to transform into a clean and organized fitness approach for all.  And we really do mean ALL.

So what does CrossFit over 50 years old look like?

Here’s a sneak-peek into a day-in-the-life of a CrossFit OP Legends class:

Mobility

Workouts take place every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 11:00am-12:00pm.  The workouts begin with a thorough group warm-up and lots of focus on mobility.  Improving and maintaining full range of motion through your muscles and joints is vital as you age.  We understand that importance and keep this as a major focus of every session.  We want to keep you here until you’re 100 years old if we can! And that’s only possible if you are injury free, healthy and feeling good.

Stability and Balance

As you progress in age, balance seems to go out the window!  Much of this is due to a lack of strength (we’ll touch on that next), but a lot of it is also due to a lack of practicing the skill of balance.  We implement a handful of practice drills throughout warm-ups and in addition to each workout that require you to work on your stability and your balance.  This helps improve your overall strength and ability which therefore helps improve your confidence in activities of daily life!

Strength

At least once a week, maybe twice, the Legends class will have a Strength portion to their daily workout.  Every lift we program has infinite scaling options to make the movement suitable for any limitations you may have.  Almost everyone has something that is aching, painful or just completely limited so there is always multiple options for how to complete the lift.  We also prioritize range of motion, form and technique over heavy weights, so you’ll never lift more than you’re comfortable with!  Even working with light weights will help you improve your overall strength and as you continue to improve in your form, the coach will help you progress to continue seeing progress.

Conditioning

Almost every workout session will consist of a Conditioning piece.  This means a combination of movements that you’ll work through continuously for a certain timeframe.  Sometimes it’s short and fast (relative) and lasts for 5 minutes.  Other times it’s long, slow and steady and lasts for 20 minutes.  Just like with the strength portion, our conditioning workouts can be scaled a number of ways to help each individual get the intended “feeling” of the workout completed successfully.  You’ll never do more than you’re ready for but the coach will be sure to still keep you challenged and improving week by week!  These types of workouts improve cardiovascular health.

Community

Our CrossFitters in the Legends class – and those 50+ who participate in our regular weekly group classes – have a special bond within the community together!  They understand that the journey of life, fitness and health is different for each person, yet everyone deserves to be cheered for and supported wherever they are in that journey!  Our Legends class is especially tight-knit and one of the most supportive and encouraging classes we offer, especially to someone who is brand-new to the class!

Longevity

Lastly, CrossFit over 50 years old looks like longevity.  Of your independence, your happiness, your health, your favorite hobbies…CrossFit provides the strength, stamina, health, wellness, mental-health support, and flexibility to continue living life the way you’ve always known, if not even better.

Not to mention, CrossFit Headquarters is continually working to make the sport of CrossFit more accessible and welcoming.  This year’s CrossFit Open – a worldwide fitness test in March – is including adaptive divisions plus newly added 60-64 and 65+ age divisions.  The new divisions allow more individuals to establish legitimate scores that can be compared year after year to assess fitness improvements.  Ever wondered how fit you are compared to another 61 year old in Canada, China or Brazil? Now you can find out :).

If you’ve been curious about CrossFit and wondered if you could do it, we promise you that YOU CAN!  Schedule a No-Sweat Intro to come meet a coach, check out our facility and learn more about our programs and how we can help you with reaching your health and fitness goals.

*Athletes pictured may or may not be over 50 😉