CrossFit kids classes give me great exercise

Do you know what CrossFit is? CrossFit is a way to get in shape, to get healthier and to work out.

In CrossFit you do a lot of different things. I go to kids CrossFit once a week. During the kid classes you use barbells and a ladder, and perform exercises such as pushups, squats, planks and burpies. In adult classes, you lift weights and use your own body weight to strengthen your muscles.

Classes begin with fun warmups, doing exercises like high jumps, butt kicks and bear crawls, and of course the dreaded pushups. After a warmup, we look at the big whiteboard to see what the workout of the day is. Because we are kids, we do not use much weight. They have bars, which resemble poles. The bars are weighted, and you can tell how much they weigh based on their color.

We most recently practiced cleans. To do a clean, you hold the bar so that your arms and legs are spread apart about the same distance. A little trick is that your shoulders and hands should be even with your legs and feet. You start with the pole at your feet. Then you slowly start picking up the pole to your hips, and your hands should be like a scarecrow. When your hands are like a scarecrow, your elbows are out to the side. Then you pick up your hands and arms and start pushing straight up. After you straighten your elbows and the pole or barbell reaches for the sky, you bend your elbows and then you start bringing your hands down.

Just when you think the workout is over, there is more. At the end of the class, we do four rounds of burpies and cleans in eight minutes and no drink (but you can if you want). You don’t think it is hard as it sounds, but it is. We are all so tired at the end of the class.

CrossFit is really fun for all different ages, kids and adults. I go to Skypoint CrossFit at 48A Atlantic Ave. in Lynbrook; learn more at skypointcrossfit.com