Thinking about starting a CrossFit class in your gym or opening a CrossFit box? The amount of equipment that people may recommend to get started can be overwhelming.
Here are the top 10 pieces of equipment or machines you’ll need for CrossFit.
Pull Up Rig
While there are many simple pull up rigs out there that aren’t overly complicated the best one you can buy is a power rack.
The power rack will be your go to machine for pull-ups and back squats. You can even attach rings to the rack and do your ring pull-ups.
Weightlifting Bar
The weight lifting bar consists of a barbell with bumper plates on either side. The bar can be used for back squats, dead lifts, and more.
As far as CrossFit goes the weightlifting bars without the center knurl are most popular. You can get a bar with harder grips and a softer center knurl for less bite on the way up or down.
Bumper Plates
Bumper plates are rubber coated weights used on the ends of weightlifting bars and can be added or removed depending on your lift preference.
The rubber coating prevents the plates from cracking when dropped and also protects the flooring and foundation in your home or gym.
They are available in both pounds and kilograms and you can get them in simple black or Olympic color coded by weight.
Kettlebell
Kettlebell workouts engage the entire body and are great for cardiovascular, strength, and flexibility training. When working out with kettlebells you are building strength and endurance in the lower back, legs, shoulders, and grip strength.
There are 3 common exercises used with the kettlebell in CrossFit and they are the swing, the snatch, and the clean and jerk.
Medicine Ball & Slam Ball
Medicine balls, or weighted balls, are important for CrossFit because they provide a good strength workout. You can get them in many different weights depending on what you need. The more durable version of a medicine ball is called a slam ball.
Slam balls are made to absorb the abuse a regular medicine ball might endure during a high impact slam ball exercise. Slam ball exercises are also a good strength workout.
Jump Rope
Everyone can get a good workout from a jump rope and they don’t have to be expensive to buy. You can buy a regular jump rope for less than $10 and a good speed rope for $15.
A jump rope can be used as a great cardio warm up or a high intensity cardio workout.
Battle Rope
If you find the room in your budget there are also battle ropes. Battle ropes can be good for shoulder warm-ups, to prevent injuries in athletes, and also for people who are out of shape. The rope mimics the conditioning aspect of a high intensity workout without the high impact.
It’s recommended that you choose a 40ft or longer to avoid the workout being too easy for some advanced CrossFit participants.
Plyo Box
Plyo, or plyometrics, are any exercises that use jump training. Jump training involves your muscles exerting maximum force in short periods of time. This helps you increase in both speed and power.
When using a Plyo box you are focusing on increasing your performance, which is helpful in CrossFit training. You can buy a Plyo box in many different finishes but wood and metal are the most popular.
Concept 2 Rower
Using an indoor rower will help you work on strength and endurance. While there are many indoor rowers on the market today those who take part in CrossFit swear by the Concept 2.
With the Concept 2 you will get a comfortable 14” seat height, an aluminum rail, and a stainless steel track for a smooth back-and-forth workout.
Glute & Ham Developer
This machine is also known as the GHD and is most commonly used for sit-ups and back extensions. While these are great workouts and can be efficient the machine was made for what it’s named after, working out your glutes and hamstrings.
To get the full effect of a glute & hamstring workout you’ll need to do glute-ham raises. Glute-ham raises help develop your Olympic lift, squats, and deadlift.
If you own a gym you may already have some of these pieces of equipment or machines. That can be a good advantage budget wise, as you won’t have to spend as much to get started.
While these are the top 10 pieces of equipment or machines that are used in CrossFit there are many more.
Once you’ve hired an instructor get with them on what CrossFit equipment they need to provide a high intensity CrossFit workout.
You can check out our complete inventory used CrossFit equipment for big savings.