If you’re new to CrossFit, it’s normal to feel both excited and overwhelmed by the intense workouts and fast-paced environment. In this blog, we’ll share ten CrossFit tips for beginners to help you build a strong foundation, avoid injury, and stay motivated as you progress through your training.
10 CrossFit Tips for Beginners
Whether stepping into your first class or still CrossFit-curious, these tips will help you succeed.
Find the Right Gym for You
Going to the gym that best suits you will motivate you to train. So, I recommend visiting a few different gyms to see which one works best for you.
You’ll want to ensure their class schedule gels with yours and that it’s not too far from home or work, but it’s more than that.
All CrossFit gyms have a similar training methodology (constantly varied functional fitness at high intensity). They are also generally known for being friendly and social.
However, different CrossFit gyms have very different communities and very different vibes.
For example, we’re a longevity-focused gym. We believe in listening to your body and dialing back the intensity at times so that you can still lift when you’re 90. Our gym will encourage you to be your best, but we are not competitive with each other.
Other gyms might be more competitive, have huge classes, or offer different coaching styles, and that’s cool! Choose the one that feels best.
Get Clear on Your Goal
Once you’ve settled on a gym, meet with a coach and tell them what you hope to get from your time there.
Whether you’re hoping to squat 200 pounds, get up and down off the floor easier so you can play with your grandkids, or lose a little bit of weight, your coach needs to know that.
Once you’ve put your goal into the universe (or the gym office), your coach will create a roadmap to get you there. They’ll tell you what kinds of workouts to prioritize and suggest other services that would increase your odds of success–like nutrition coaching if you’re hoping to lose weight.
Sign Up for On-Ramp
CrossFit is a little bit different than most other group fitness classes.
Unlike, say, Orange Theory, where a newbie could catch on from day one, CrossFit has a bit of a learning curve.
In CrossFit, we perform quite a few complex and highly technical movements, like snatches, cleans, and jerks. These movements are much easier to learn in a one-on-one session.
At Two Six, we offer an on-ramp consisting of several one-on-one sessions to set you up for long-term success. During the on-ramp, we break these technical movements into smaller pieces, using just a PVC pipe or sometimes no weight at all.
Your coach will help you dial in your form and answer any questions. One of our goals is for you to leave these sessions knowing how to do a beautiful squat, deadlift, and press–so that you can always do them safely, no matter where your fitness journey takes you!
(Want to know more about our client onboarding process? We talk more about it in more detail here.)
Embrace the Gym Community
Community is one of the best parts of CrossFit, and fully embracing it from day one will help you get off to a great start.
Every single person doing CrossFit has been a beginner at some point, so our members have lots of great tips for getting into a groove.
We also throw periodic socials and community events at Two Six to bring our gym family together. Many of our members also schedule fun events outside of the gym.
Everyone has those days when they don’t want to work out. Making friends at the gym will keep you coming even when your motivation is low.
Be Consistent
CrossFit can only help you achieve your goals if you do it consistently.
I recommend attending between three and five classes weekly for most new athletes. In my experience, this is the sweet spot where you can make good progress without feeling too tired and sore.
Scheduling your workouts in your calendar (like you would any important appointment) is a great way to ensure that you hit at least three classes per week.
Take Rest Days
If working out is good, then working out more is even better, right?
Not necessarily.
Working out seven days per week is a recipe for burnout and injury. Not to mention, overtraining can actually keep you from building muscle.
Let me explain.
Lifting heavy weights (like we do in CrossFit) creates small tears in the muscles. It sounds scary, but this is a necessary part of the muscle-building process.
Resting gives your muscles time to heal and grow, making you stronger over time. In other words, you don’t always want to be in muscle breakdown mode.
Taking two to three rest days weekly will help you stay healthier while you train–leading to better long-term results.
Form First
I was in absolute awe of the women at my gym during my first few months of CrossFit.
Having been a runner and aerobics queen before CrossFit, I’d never seen women lift so much weight. And I wanted in on the action.
Three months after starting CrossFit, I approached one of the strongest ladies and asked, “When do I get to lift the big girl weights?”
She gave me the CrossFit tip I most needed to hear as a beginner: “Not until you improve your form with lighter weights.”
Look, I get it. The FOMO is real when everyone around you is squatting 500 pounds. But those people became great lifters by putting in tons of reps at lower weights.
Don’t believe me? In his book HWPO, former junior national champion in Olympic weightlifting and five-time CrossFit Games Champion Mat Fraser describes spending weeks working on just one tiny component of the snatch, using only a broomstick for weight.
If it’s good enough for a champion, it’s good enough for the rest of us.
Focusing on form over weight is the best way to progress in CrossFit, keeping you safe and healthy along the way.
Don’t Compare Yourself to Others
This tip goes hand-in-hand with the last one (and is the most important CrossFit tip for beginners, IMO).
When starting CrossFit, avoiding comparing your day one with someone else’s day 500 is important.
I was often guilty of this. I’d look at the people in my class and wonder why I wasn’t as fast, strong, or fit as they were. No surprise, this made me feel inferior and self-conscious.
Here’s what I wish I realized as I was getting started.
Everyone was a beginner once, and everyone has their strengths and weaknesses.
The next time you get a case of comparisonitis, take a minute to acknowledge a recent gym win. It might be a compliment from a coach, a PR, or even just showing up when you didn’t want to.
Whenever you think, “I can’t do that thing Sheila is doing,” add the word “yet” at the end of the sentence: “I can’t do what Sheila is doing yet.”
If you do the work, you’ll get there (I promise).
Fuel Your Body
Let’s do a little math, shall we? If you attend five CrossFit classes per week, you spend less than three percent of your time working out.
What you do with the remaining 97 percent of your time makes a huge difference in how you feel and look.
As a registered dietitian, I’m probably biased. But fueling your body properly is just as important as working out. This means:
- Eating lots of fruits and veggies
- Getting plenty of protein
- Consuming adequate calories for your body size and activity levels (but not too much)
- Limiting alcohol, added sugar, and ultra-processed foods.
Many people find this easier said than done. If you sometimes struggle with eating healthy, I can help! Click here to learn more about nutrition coaching at Two Six.
Do Your Mobility
At Two Six, we program daily mobility work to help you feel and perform better.
We do mobility before workouts to help our bodies get into good and safe positions, and we have a suggested mobility sequence that you can complete at the end of class (or on your own at home).
Taking ten minutes to do these sequences will keep your muscles and joints happy and, when done consistently, can make you a stronger athlete.
Start Now
We’ve talked a lot about CrossFit tips for beginners, but let me tell you my biggest rookie mistake.
I was so intimidated that I waited FOREVER to get started.
I’ve never been particularly coordinated or athletic, so I was convinced I’d make a fool of myself. This fear of what other people thought made me put off starting for months after I first got the urge to try CrossFit.
When I finally got the courage to try a class, I was shocked by how unfoolish I felt. Each person in the class worked at a comfortable level for them, so I fit right in.
Today, I think about all of the ways that CrossFit has improved my life, and I wish I’d started years earlier.
Final Thoughts on CrossFit Tips for Beginners
Well, there you have it: My top ten CrossFit tips for beginners.
Whether you’re a few weeks into your new fitness journey or haven’t even started, I hope these tips will help you find lasting success!