CrossFit Catonsville: Bridging Fitness and Community

We are proud to announce the opening of CrossFit Catonsville, a group fitness and personal training studio located at 3916 Vero Rd, Suite F, Baltimore MD 21227.

Web: http://www.crossfitcatonsville.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crossfitcville
Phone: 443-963-9348
Email: chris@crossfitcatonsville.com
Twitter: @cfcatonsville

At CrossFit Catonsville we take the adage that you should be ready for anything to a new level. We believe that everyone, from soccer mom to Navy SEAL, has a Superhero inside them waiting to be brought out. Our training and classes reflect our passion for pushing the limits of the human body in a way that builds strength, power, speed, and cardiovascular health while minimizing the risk of injury. At CrossFit Catonsville we'll help you achieve things you never thought possible, and then we'll show you how to go above and beyond that.

 Our facility is a 2,700 square foot space designed for easy flow from entrance to workout space, complete with separate male/female bathroom facilities (no showers...yet!) and changing rooms. Feel free to hang out in our reception area while you wait for your WOD, or come in and stretch out as the last class finishes up.

Our programs follow the CrossFit training methodology: Constantly Varied, Functional Movements, Executed at High Intensity. We use circuit training, strength training, and metabolic conditioning drills to improve the whole continuum of health.

At CrossFit Catonsville we recognize that "intense" means different things for different people. An Olympic powerlifter may not get intense at a 400 lbs deadlift, but a new athlete may be working intensely at a 25 lbs kettlebell press. We strive to make every workout intense in a safe and effective manner for every athlete. Never be afraid to come into class; we'll push you to your limits, not someone else's.

We offer two main Programs of Study:

CrossFit Standard
The CrossFit methodology is, at it's baseline, fairly simple: practice a constantly varied structure of functional movement exercises, operating at your individual level of high intensity for a given movement. Your workouts should cover all your fitness "bases". Each workout should provide the maximum benefit possible in the time you spend on it, and should be as intense as your abilities allow for each exercise.

In addition, for the general population there is very little need to specialize and become good at any one thing to the detriment of something else. Sports specialists tend to work on one skill so much that other skills can suffer. For instance a swimmer may be able to move like a fish in the water, but may run like a turtle on land. Since most people have more General needs than they do Specific needs, your workout plan should include many general skills developed in an intelligent way.

The CrossFit Standard program supports this goal several ways:

1. Education: we teach you what you need to know, to know what to do to improve on both your weaknesses and strengths. 
2. Structure: CFC has a plan, and we're using it to help you get in better condition. We have Macro-, Meso-, and Microcycles which focus on skill building, metabolic conditioning, and strength in equal portions, spread throughout the year.
3. Community: the staff and other members are here to help, teach, and encourage you at all times, whenever you need it.
4. Fun Variability: the stuff we do kind of looks crazy sometimes, but it is seriously fun. You won't be coming in and staring blankly at the wall from a treadmill belt ever. You will always have something new.
5. Challenge: You will do things you never thought possible. You will set new Personal Records often, and you will break them. You will get stronger, faster, more flexible, and more in touch with your body than you ever have been. It will be hard, and you will love it!

CrossFit Standard is appropriate for all adults, regardless of experience or current ability. You *do not* need to "get in shape" before starting CrossFit classes with us. We will guide you from couch potato to athlete, or anywhere in between.

 You are not too fat. You are not too weak. You are not too old. It does not matter if you work a desk job. It does not matter if you haven't worked out in five years (or longer). It does not matter if you're a soccer mom. If you have the Will, we have the Way, and we want to help You along it.

CombatFit Tae Kwon Do
Lets start with the big question first: Is this just for kids?

The answer: No! Adults (men and women both) can benefit from martial arts and defensive conditioning just as much as kids. Adults are also much more likely to be placed into a situation where they would need to use this type of training AND be effective in doing so. You may not want to hit someone, but that doesn't mean you won't ever need to. We're preparing for need; not want.

Tae Kwon Do is a traditional Korean martial art that uses powerful, dynamic kicks as it's main form of attack, while teaching hand and balance techniques for defense. It focuses heavily on keeping the opponent outside the very personal range of grappling, where in a street-combat situation it can be detrimental (or life-threatening) to "go to the ground".

Commonly refereed to as TKD ("tee-kay-dee") by practitioners, it was codified by the Korean armed forces in the 20th century based on influences from older Korean arts as well as Japanese and Chinese traditions. It is sometimes referred to as a "hard style", with more crisply defined movements than "soft styles" like Kung Fu. This distinction does not in any way refer to the effectiveness of any art, but only to the patterns of movement typical of those arts.

CrossFit Catonsville expands on the traditional TKD practice by further developing two martial disciplines within the art: practical self-defense techniques, and General Physical Preparedness (GPP). While we still teach the forms, kicks, blocks, and strikes of TKD, we also make it a priority to work on the application of our movements and preparation to use those movements in a life-threatening situation. We call the hybrid of CrossFit GPP and martial arts "CombatFit Tae Kwon Do".

Are there belts and ranks? Yes. We use a tiered instruction method that objectively evaluates your understanding of the curriculum on a regular basis. When you show proficiency in one level of instruction, you move on to the next. Each level anticipates that you will understand the levels below it, and thus they build on one another. Think of it like completing the 101, 201, 301, etc. levels of a college-level Major. Sure, they could let you take Biology 410 before the classes before it, but you probably won't know what's going on. The same idea applies here: educate > promote > repeat.

Everyone is expected to progress through the tiers, adults and children, at their own pace. We don't guarantee how quickly you will go from start to "black belt" because that depends on you. We offer tests every month for anyone who is ready for them, so you can progress soon after reaching each level of proficiency.

Our workouts are always changing, hitting new muscles, new movements, new combinations. Monday may be as simple as 60 weighted squats for time, or as complex as a Hero WOD. We build constantly varied workouts so that we can train for any situation; to be able to perform in any capacity at any time is the goal of CrossFit Catonsville. You will do things you never thought you could do, and we will never be shy about cheering you on when you accomplish something new. All of our workouts can be scaled to each and every individual.

What are you waiting for? Join us for a FREE introductory workout.

Web: http://www.crossfitcatonsville.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crossfitcville
Phone: 443-963-9348
Email: chris@crossfitcatonsville.com
Twitter: @cfcatonsville