IN MY OWN personal quest for fitness and looking good naked I came across one of the most interesting concept in physical training I've ever seen: Crossfit. This is an endeavor created by former gymnast Greg Glassman, who launched the training program from his garage in Santa Cruz back in 2001. The results of crossfit training are so positive that is now becoming a part of many gyms not only in the Bay Area abroad as well.

This relatively new concept in fitness consists of executing a variety of functional movements at high intensity levels. That's the technical definition, so to better understand the real meaning I visited Crossfit Unlimited in Milpitas, where they happened to be setting up a friendly competition in preparation for the Second Annual Crossfit Games that are coming up July 5–6 in Aromas.

Although the event was held outside, I got a peek at the area of the Health and Fitness Gym where crossfit athletes train. It is surprisingly devoid of complex treadmills and ellipticals, but it has all the basic equipment you will ever need, even that gritty garage feel. This was definitely an intense first impression of what I was about to witness. The WOD, or workout of the day, was selected at random and consisted in running 400 meters, then immediately after executing 30 thrusters, as in lifting a bar loaded with 90 pounds for men and 65 for women, and then do 30 pull-ups. Easy? Not if you have to do this three times in 30 minutes. By the end of the first round, it was apparent that there's a lot more to this than catching up on pop culture reading while walking up a Stairmaster.

For more information go to www.crossfitunlimited.com or www.crossfit.com.

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