I like Crossfit-style WODs (Workout Of the Day) because each workout has measurement built in, and you work to perform as well as possible against that measurement, which means motivation is built in, too. They're suitable for "startup" fitness because you can do the workouts by yourself or in a small group, and because you can adapt them to whatever equipment and facilities you have available.
For example, a circuit training-like WOD might be to do the following in the shortest time you can:
21 pullups
21 burpees
800m run
15 pullups
15 burpees
400m run
9 pullups
9 burpees
200m run
If you don't have space to run, you can jump rope, and if you don't have someplace to rig up a pullup bar (unlikely!) you can do rows with something heavy.
Or you might do the following as many times as possible in 15 minutes (in Crossfit lingo, AMRAC -- As Many Rounds As you Can):
10 deadlifts
20 wall balls (throwing a medicine ball against a 10' target on a wall)
400m run
After the workout, you record your time or number of rounds and the weights you used for each exercise. The numbers motivate you and allow you to measure your progress if you repeat the same workout every couple of months. For me, it helps a lot to have the measurement in mind while I'm working out. The harder I work, the better the numbers I get to write down afterward.
You can do this on your own, like I said, but for some people the pressure of performing in front of other people helps a lot. It's certainly true for me, even though I'm completely the opposite when it comes to mental work. Having instructors is good, too. They'll push you to pile on the weight or ease back on the weight as appropriate. If joining CrossFit is impractical or unaffordable, and you can't talk your friends into working out with you, competitive sports can serve the same purpose of providing motivation and measuring improvement.
I regret sounding like that guy, but Crossfit didn't invent "scaling" or measuring your workouts. I know you're not making that claim explicitly, but the way you framed "Crossfit includes measurement!" can be misread.
The concepts of record keeping and adjusting volume/intensity/exercise selection to the trainee are older than dirt. I'd be surprised if there aren't clay tablets with rep counts on them in a museum somewhere.
In its defence, Crossfit:
* Gets people off their backside to do actual hard training,
* Provides social structure to encourage consistent training, and
* Introduces people to Oly lifting, which as an Oly lifter I don't begrudge at all.
Working out that way is synonymous with Crossfit for most people the same way desktop computing is synonymous with Windows and OSX for most people. They didn't invent it, but they deserve a lot of credit for making it convenient for people to just sign up for a class and do it. Most of the people griping about Crossfit getting too much credit weren't doing anything to make it accessible and convenient for people until Crossfit came along and proved there was a market for it. If I wanted to train that way before Crossfit, I would have had to: find a suitable place to work out, buy or construct some of the equipment, schedule sessions with a personal trainer to make sure I was doing the exercises correctly, recruit friends to work out with me, and so on. And there certainly would have been compromises. Most gyms aren't set up to allow you to do a set of cleans, drop your weights, and then run 400 meters without dodging cars or pedestrians. (Hell, most don't let you drop weights, period. As far as I am aware, there are only two commercial gyms in my city that have bumper plates, not including the four (at least) Crossfit locations, and one of them is a specialized Oly training facility that costs more than Crossfit.) With Crossfit, I just show up, pay attention, work hard, and have fun. It's a great service.
For example, a circuit training-like WOD might be to do the following in the shortest time you can:
If you don't have space to run, you can jump rope, and if you don't have someplace to rig up a pullup bar (unlikely!) you can do rows with something heavy.Or you might do the following as many times as possible in 15 minutes (in Crossfit lingo, AMRAC -- As Many Rounds As you Can):
After the workout, you record your time or number of rounds and the weights you used for each exercise. The numbers motivate you and allow you to measure your progress if you repeat the same workout every couple of months. For me, it helps a lot to have the measurement in mind while I'm working out. The harder I work, the better the numbers I get to write down afterward.You can do this on your own, like I said, but for some people the pressure of performing in front of other people helps a lot. It's certainly true for me, even though I'm completely the opposite when it comes to mental work. Having instructors is good, too. They'll push you to pile on the weight or ease back on the weight as appropriate. If joining CrossFit is impractical or unaffordable, and you can't talk your friends into working out with you, competitive sports can serve the same purpose of providing motivation and measuring improvement.