There are few workouts out there that have the same impact on your body as Crossfit.
Even if you’re fit, Crossfit can challenge your limits and push you to new heights you never thought possible.
However, the Grace Crossfit workout adds an element of grace and finesse to the typical Crossfit regimen, making it even more effective and efficient than the regular style of this workout.
Here’s how to do it right and get results fast with the Grace Crossfit workout!
What Is CrossFit?
CrossFit is a fitness program that emphasizes constantly varied, functional movements performed at high intensity.
The word cross-training refers to sports that utilize several different skills and body parts in a single workout.
At its most fundamental level, a cross-training exercise routine is designed to increase overall performance.
CrossFit takes advantage of our ability to adapt quickly by doing just that, training across many different systems for increased performance rather than specializing in one system or type of exercise only.
What Is Grace In CrossFit?
The grace workout is a great fitness option for those with busy schedules.
The entire workout takes no more than 10 minutes and can be done anywhere.
Essentially, the workout consists of 30 clean and jerks for time.
Men will do the workout at 135lb while women perform the workout at 95lb.
And of course, you can do the workout at least weight.
But for your time to be official, you need to perform it at the RX weights.
There are many benefits to completing these repetitions in such a short amount of time.
For example, one benefit to doing Grace is that it forces you to use perfect form.
Many people fall into bad habits when they are forced to rush through their workouts but when you only have 10 minutes you have no choice but to do things right!
This will help build up your muscles quickly so that you can see results fast.
Related Post: The 5 Best CrossFit Barbells – RX Your Training With These Must-Have Bars
What Is A Good CrossFit Grace Time?
If you’re not familiar with The Grace, it’s a workout that involves 30 clean and jerks for time.
The clean and jerk is a total body movement that builds strength, endurance, and overall athleticism.
Because of its complex nature and demand on technique, however, completing it quickly is something most trainees work toward achieving over time.
With good coaching and great programming, though—especially through CrossFit—most people can increase their grace times considerably over their first few months of training.
The goal is to get in around four minutes or less.
How Do You Train For Grace?
To get your body ready for doing clean and jerks, start by doing a warm-up that includes 10 minutes of light cardio, then spend 20 to 30 minutes doing some strength training exercises.
Do 4 sets of 5 repetitions of front squats and deadlifts. You will also want to add push press and push jerks into your training.
The stronger you are with these movements the easier you will find doing clean and jerks.
With a good base level of strength, you can start working on the finer details of your clean and jerk.
How Often Should I Do This Workout?
The Grace workout is intended to be a one-time fitness test.
It’s designed to push you to your limit, so we don’t recommend doing it more than once every few months.
For most people, that will require performing it as an alternative to another CrossFit workout (rather than pairing them together).
The purpose of working out is to improve your fitness, so in order for your body to benefit from a fitness test, you need to exceed your previous maximums—and that takes a lot of work.
If you over-train on any one type of exercise or exercise variation, you’re more likely to damage yourself.
Related Post: What Is Functional Strength Training?
What Are Clean And Jerks?
The clean and jerk is one of the most grueling Olympic weightlifting exercises.
To do it, you need to set up a barbell and then lift the weights off the ground and over your head with explosive speed.
It’s important to make sure that you’re balanced, so try to lift the bar in a fluid motion while keeping your back straight.
The goal is to generate power by pushing off the floor. If you don’t have access to an Olympic-sized barbell, or if your gym doesn’t have one available for public use, there are alternatives that can still help improve muscle tone and get you on track for peak performance.
In fact, these other tools might be better suited for beginners or those who haven’t done any strength training before.
A smaller diameter tool like a PVC pipe can help minimize shoulder strain as well as keep muscles engaged more easily.
My wife and I got roped into doing a Crossfit competition with just a few weeks’ notice. Check out the video below to see how we went!
How To Do Clean And Jerk
The clean and jerk is a two-part weightlifting exercise that trains both power and strength.
Power comes from starting a lift explosively, while strength plays a key role in how much weight you lift.
The clean and jerk’s key muscle groups are your glutes, legs, back, shoulders and arms. To perform a clean and jerk, follow these steps.
- Start with an empty barbell on the floor in front of you.
- Bend down and grab it with an overhand grip, hands just outside your knees
- Lift it off of the ground by extending through your hips and knees as if jumping
- When it reaches chest height, turn your elbows through and catch the bar on your chest.
- Stand up straight with the barbell resting on your chest. Bend your knees slightly to lower yourself down.
- Now start the jerk by driving back up through your heels and using the momentum to press the bar up above your head.
- Bend your knees back into a squat so you can catch the bar above your head with your arms locked out.
- Once you have control over the bar stand back up to finish the jerk.
- Lower the bar back onto your chest.
- Lower the bar back to the floor.
Final Mop Up
So to wrap things up Grace is a challenging workout that should really be used as a test.
As are all the benchmark CrossFit workouts.
All of them being tough and challenging in their own right, be decided to test your improvement in all the principles of CrossFit.
If you want to know how you can start training when and where you want.
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