About Karma CrossFit
Why Karma? Whether you are familiar with CrossFit or not, the name Karma probably brings to mind a yoga studio. I assure you this is not yoga. Karma can most simply be understood as the relationship of cause and effect and CrossFit is a perfect vehicle to improve the cause and effect relationship in your life.
A CrossFit workout causes a considerable effect on your body. That is easy to see. The CrossFit methodology of Constantly Varied, Functional movements at (relatively) High Intensity is sure to effect your body. At Karma, we love that effect! But just as important to us is the effects you never saw coming. CrossFit is hard. There, I said it. If you can look inside of yourself and find the strength of character to continue you will effect your entire life. CrossFit can be the cause behind you overcoming things you thought were beyond your abilities, not just in the gym, but in your life. Like JFK said of our mission to the moon, “we choose to go to the moon…not because it is easy, but because it is hard.” This is what we believe in at Karma CrossFit because most people seek out what is easy, but life isn’t always easy, and we believe that by seeking out what is hard you will grow more as a person and be better for it.
Karma CrossFit, and CrossFit more generally, is a community. We want to encourage this element because so often in life the focus is made on our differences and not on our similarities. We will struggle through our workouts together but this will make us strong together. Karma is a community, a family, and our extended family is CrossFit and all other affiliates. If we can be family with these people we have never met and may never meet, then we can extend that to the entire human family.
At Karma CrossFit, we believe our similarities are greater than our differences. We believe what we do now will have consequences, either good or bad, and we need to respect that. We not only need to train consciously but we also need to live and work consciously. Make choices not just for today but for tomorrow, and tomorrow’s tomorrow. Live a healthy life not just for you but for your kids, grandkids, and the planet. Our actions are the cause, and the future will be the effect, and “…what we do in life echoes in eternity.”
FAQ
WHAT IS CROSSFIT?
Well that’s the million dollar question isn’t it. I will try to explain as concisely as I can what CrossFit is, but really you will never know until you give it a shot (but for the record Coach Glassman doesn’t even like explaining this because its hard for non-CrossFitters to understand).
In a nutshell CrossFit is:
1. A fitness program whose specialty is in not specializing, creating a BROAD, GENERAL, and INCLUSIVE fitness accessible to any and all people.
2. CrossFit uses CONSTANTLY VARIED, FUNCTIONAL MOVEMENTS performed at HIGH INTENSITY.
3. This creates INCREASED WORK CAPACITY ACROSS BROAD TIME, MODAL, and AGE DOMAINS (thats what you want).
(We have several links on our home page to articles and videos that help to better understand)
SO MANY PEOPLE ARE THROWING AROUND THE WORD ‘FUNCTIONAL.’ WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?
A lot of people use the term, but almost nobody defines it. CrossFit defines Functional Movements as having three characteristics:
1. They are not invented and do not need to be taught because they are in our DNA. For example, if I ask you to stand up from a seated position you do it, and we call that a squat.
2. They move in a core to extremity pattern, and do not “isolate” muscles. Lifting something heavy over your head requires contractions on many muscles of the trunk before the arms can do their part of the lift, and many joints are in motion through that movement.
3. Functional movements are unique in the ability to move LARGE LOADS (heavy weights), LONG DISTANCES, QUICKLY. This gives CrossFit a very definable equation for intensity, and thats what CrossFit is all about. The scientific definition of work is mass moved times distance, so the heavier the load and the greater the distance moved the more work you do. Power is defined as work divided by time, so the quicker the work is done the higher power output. High power output = INTENSITY = RESULTS!
IS THAT INTENSITY SAFE?
Absolutely! We want a systematic build up of each athlete going from first learning the proper mechanics of the movements, developing consistency of the mechanics and then increasing the intensity. This is what is meant by scalability in CrossFit the intensity is entirely dependent upon your capabilities.
EVEN IF I HAVE A BAD BACK, KNEES (Etc) IS IT OKAY TO CROSSFIT?
Yes, absolutely! It is well documented that the best way to mitigate injuries is to learn efficient movement patterns, and that is what CrossFit is all about. Having enough flexibility to properly perform a full range of motion and then creating strength through that range of motion will help keep you pain free. Group workouts can be scaled to whatever is appropriate for each person within that group until they can perform full range of motion pain free.
BUT WHAT IF I AM A SENIOR CITIZEN, WILL CROSSFIT BE TOO HARD?
Life doesn’t worry how old you are, why should you? What we mean is we live in Southern California, when the next Earthquake happens don’t you want to know that you are physically ready to deal with whatever you might have too? Or maybe even something as mundane as a flight of stairs and a bag of groceries, life doesn’t stop and neither should you.
CAN I TRY A CROSSFIT WORKOUT WITHOUT SIGNING UP?
Yes! Your first workout is free you just need to contact us and schedule a 1-on-1 session. We will explain a little bit about what makes CrossFit so different and take you through a workout that is a good introduction to what our workouts will be like.
WHY IS YOUR FIRST WORKOUT FREE?
CrossFit is hard, even when scaled back to the lowest fitness levels its hard for that person. At Karma CrossFit we are here to help people change their lives and make a living doing what we love. We love CrossFit, and we think you might too, but not everyone wants to work at a high intensity. CrossFit might not be what you are looking for, it might not be for everybody. If you think, but are not sure, whether you are ready to give up the TV watching treadmill workouts for something that will provided greater results and more fun then schedule your free workout and see if it starts you down the path of greater fitness.
IF I LIKE KARMA CROSSFIT, WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE FIRST FREE WORKOUT?
There are a few options here. You might like the workouts but might not be comfortable in a group setting right away, and if that is the case then private coaching might be your option. So many of the benefits of CrossFit though lay in the group setting because of motivation and support. We want to have as many people doing groups as possible, but for your safety and the continuity of the group structure we require everyone to go through fundamentals to learn the movements before joining groups.
YOU SAY CROSSFIT ISN’T FOR EVERYBODY, WHAT DO YOU MEAN?
CrossFit is hard work. Far too many people are looking for some “magic bullet” of fitness but it really doesn’t exist. If you want to sit down and exercise CrossFit might not be for you. If you have ordered any fitness equipment from a TV commercial CrossFit might not be for you. If you believe that eating hundreds of dollars of supplements a month will give you the body you want CrossFit might not be for you. But if you like sports, comraderie, sweat, high-fives for a job well done, and don’t mind the hard work, well then maybe CrossFit is for you!
DO YOU OFFER ANY DISCOUNTS?
Yes. We offer a 15% discount to law enforcement, firefighters, first responders, and active duty military in our open group classes. Other discounts are available in small private groups compared to 1-on-1 training.
Also, we will have pre-sale up until (date to be determined) where everyone signing up for an EFT contract will receive a 20% discount for the duration of the initial contract.
