Common CrossFit Mistakes Most Beginners Make (And How to Avoid Them)

Common CrossFit Mistakes Most Beginners Make (And How to Avoid Them)

When you start a new fitness routine, you want to get used to the moves to perfect your form, avoid injury, and ultimately get the best results. This is especially true for high-intensity training like CrossFit.

Getting started on your first boxing or CrossFit WOD is a little different than any boot camp class you'd try at your local gym - the strength training and plyometric movements involved are complex and require precise form and familiarity. Winging isn't really a viable option if you want to avoid injury.

This isn't to say you should be afraid to try something hard or new; quite the opposite. But learning about the common CrossFit mistakes that most beginners will make can at least help you feel more comfortable with what to expect on day one. (First step? Lace up the right pair of sneakers for your workout.)

Here, CrossFit trainers share common mishaps when starting a CrossFit program, as well as some safety tips. Once you've mastered the basics, don't be surprised if you're excited about this heavy training style.

CrossFit Mistake #1: Poor form

There are a lot of exercise names that get thrown around (or written on a board) in CrossFit rooms. This can be confusing and intimidating for newbies, says Melody Sanchez, an instructor at Brick in NYC, because you may not know what certain exercises mean. For example, what is a goblet squat? Experienced CrossFitters may be able to jump right in, but this is a dangerous idea for beginners.

Ask for help. There is no shame in telling the instructor that you are new to this field. Damn, you're out there trying to get strong with the others. Each box has an experienced instructor who can break down the correct form for you to ensure you are safe. If he or she doesn't immediately ask if there are beginners in class, simply indicate your presence.

Two exercises that many CrossFit beginners get wrong: the air squat and the deadlift, says Sanchez. And these two power movements are important because they are "fundamental foundational movements of any weighted or other complex movements" you might do later in class.

How to do a proper air squat:Stand with your feet hip-width apart and point your toes slightly outward. With weight in heels and chest lifted, bend knees and squat deeply, keeping knees behind toes. Push up through your heels and squeeze your glutes to come to a standing position.

How to perform a proper deadlift:With feet slightly less than hip-width apart, holding the weight in both hands, slowly pivot at the hips and lower the weight just in front of your shins. Keep your back straight and be careful not to arch or round. Push through your heels and squeeze your glutes to come to a standing position.

Additionally, new (and sometimes even experienced) CrossFitters alike sacrifice form for repetitions and try to do too much before they're ready, says Todd Nief, owner and lead trainer at South Loop Strength & Conditioning, a CrossFit studio in Chicago. Beginners tend to go all out too quickly, where "they might be willing to lose technique in order to make a workout faster or get more reps in a certain time frame," he says. Mistakes and injuries happen here.

End effect:It's not your fault if you have poor form at the beginning, but it's up to you to ask the instructor to show you proper form. Master the form from the start, and you can safely grow as an athlete from there.

CrossFit Mistake #2: Not pacing yourself

When new to CrossFit, "many people have a poor understanding of how to pace themselves in challenging conditioning workouts and reach a point of global exhaustion relatively early in a workout," says Nief. (Here are a few tips on how to pace yourself in CrossFit AMRAPs.)

"If you have 20-minute intervals and go out way too hot, you may find that after five minutes you can barely hold it together," he says. If you give it everything you have on Round 1, every subsequent round will feel impossible.

The goal of such a training session is to find an uncomfortable but sustainable pace, he says. "Someone with a poor understanding of their own pace may go out at a 1:45/500m pace in their first minute of rowing and then do 20 burpees in their first minute." (FYI, that's a really fast rowing time and a LOT of burpees.) If you hit the ground while sprinting, your muscles and endurance will deplete at the end of an interval, building up yours as well. If your form is out of whack, overcompensating for weak, fatigued muscles can lead to injury.

Learn how to pace yourself properly by maintaining the same ratio of reps to time with perfect form, suggests Nief. As your endurance and strength progress, you can work your way up to using proper form with higher reps.

CrossFit Mistake #3: Being hypercompetitive

There's no denying it: CrossFit can fuel your competitive drive, which is fine to a certain extent since competition can be motivating. Of course, support and camaraderie are present in the box, but the high energy levels and stats written next to names on a whiteboard (275-pound back squats?!) can make it easy for a newbie to compare themselves to more experienced heavylifters or even CrossFit Games hopefuls in the room.

“Often newcomers tend to compare themselves with their neighbors,” says Sanchez. This disrupts the “slow and steady” mindset. "You may feel pressured to lift the same weight because you don't want to be seen as the weak link in the class," she says. But the reality is that no one cares – everyone is competing against themselves.

Instead, rely on your gut feeling. If a weight feels too heavy, drop it (gently) and choose something more within your reach. Track your progress and over time you will see how you can successfully and safely work your way up. (Here's a guide to choosing the right weights for your workout.)

CrossFit Mistake #4: Drastically changing your diet

Let's face it: CrossFit isn't typically for casual athletes, so it's likely you're looking for a performance boost, a fitness challenge, or a body composition change when you sign up. But when you get caught up in the promises of a hard booty and chiseled abs, you might think you need to go all out with your workouts and your diet.

"A lot of people who are new to a program like CrossFit are excited and want everything fast. They want results. They want to compete with the people in the classes who have been training for years," Nief says. To get there, you may need to switch to the latest diet (like the keto diet or counting macros or IIFYM, just because that's what your new CrossFit friends are doing. While these restrictive diets can have their benefits for health and performance, they aren't for everyone or every CrossFit athlete, and they can be difficult to implement in the real world, says Nief.

When it comes to training and getting results, it's really about finding a balanced diet that provides energy and nutrients to power through your workouts and fuel and recover afterward. It can be that simple.

CrossFit Mistake #5: Not being consistent

While you know that consistency is key to achieving results, having difficulty sticking to a new workout routine or maintaining your motivation when the going gets tough is a totally valid and real thing that even the most experienced athletes know a lot about. And LBH, CrossFit has a learning curve - from the lingo to lifting - there's a lot thrown at you as a newbie. But staying on track is crucial for CrossFitters who really want to push their training and see those 1-rep maxes increase.

Find a buddy or mentor who can help you stay accountable and sign up for these early morning classes with you. When work, life, travel, and DOMS get in the way, you will push each other to stay strong and committed. Give it a few months: If you're officially a WOD junkie, great, but if you've given it your all and realize CrossFit just isn't for you, that's OK too. If fitness is fun, you will be more likely to want to exercise. Finding out what works and what doesn't is part of the process.