My Issue with CrossFit Workouts

BigDougie1211

It definitely says Lat Burpee in that picture.
I wonder is it short for Lateral - as in you push the legs out to one side rather than into a standard plank.
They're in Insanity - but just called Side Burpees.
It's the only thing I can think of though.

BigDougie1211

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju2-jLXwYL8

link for LAT burpees!!!!

I can't access Youtube in work, but will check that out later. Thanks for that.

EmmaLA16

Just watched it on my phone, it's bonkers, I think I'd die after that!!!!

BigDougie1211

ZealousMissJJ
Given that you have been doing Crossfit for a while and are in a position to speak from an informed standpoint, what would you say are actual - as opposed to perceived - flaws and weaknesses wthin Crossfit?
There are bound to be some ( nothing is perfect ) and maybe pointing out some actual problems with the system would make it a bit redundant for people with less experience to attack it.

And for the love of God will someone please tell me what a LAT BURPEE is?

Flaws within Crossfit? Like any form of exersize it has flaws. Running gives me super painful knees. Crossfit gives me bruises! That is my personal bad experience. I'm kind of skinny in my neck and back, so the heavy bar will bruise my neckbone a bit. At my gym they have a cushion covering it. HOWEVER; last Monday my instructor noticed I had trouble with the weight because it hurt my neck, and asked me if he should by a cushion for the bar. I told him I think I can squat heavier if only the bar wasn't killing my neckbone, so problem solved. Also, brastraps will give me bruises while doing medball getups. And swinging a kettlebell against the back of your knee will also cause a bruise in my case. I don't mind it though; the WOD went great and I felt amazing!

Other flaws I can think of are that if - with any exersise- you don't listen do your body, you can cause injuries. Just use your common sense. The point during a crossfit workout is to go outside your comfort zone, but not to the point that you get injured. There will always be some people that overdo it, and those people will need the 'puke-bucket'.

I can't think of any other flaws to be honest. My brother in law is coming to join me for a free trial session tonight. I'll ask him what he thinks.

And I lave NO idea what a lat burpee is :laugh: !

Those would really be issues with your own execution of the exercises rather than with the system / implementaion of it though wouldn't they? Have you never noticed any flaws or problems with " Crossfit " as an entity or plan rather than the occasional individual exercise?
I can't really be any more specific as I don't know enough. So, I have to chose my words carefully and be deliberately vague here, because I'm not asking for anything in particular.

BigDougie1211

Got it on my own phone there.
Thank God!
That would have absolutely annoyed the life out of me all day if I hadn't found out.

ZealousMissJJ

Those would really be issues with your own execution of the exercises rather than with the system / implementaion of it though wouldn't they? Have you never noticed any flaws or problems with " Crossfit " as an entity or plan rather than the occasional individual exercise?
I can't really be any more specific as I don't know enough. So, I have to chose my words carefully and be deliberately vague here, because I'm not asking for anything in particular.

Yes, those would probably have to do with my execution of the exersises. I know that if I hold the bar differently, the weight is carried by my shoulders more than my neckbone. I've just started a couple of months ago myself, so am still learning a lot.

I'm not sure if you are asking me politely if there is a cult-vibe to crossfit, but I'll answer the question just in case . I follow my own box on Facebook too and seriousely, I can't say anything negative about them when it comes to cult-like people. There are people that eat Paleo, there are people that don't (like me). There are people who wear crossfit gear, there are people that don't (like me), there are people that talk about crossfit all the time (because they love it) and there are people that don't. It is a non-judgemental atmosphere where people in all shapes, sizes and experience are welcomed.

As someone who wasn't expierenced in weightlifting at all (I was a cardio-bunny), my box is very non-judgemental. There are just awesome people that make me laugh, smile and want to be better. I remember running into my old gym instructor (hadn't seen him in years) and after our WOD he high-fived me. Some may think that's stupid, but I really appreciated it! I sucked, but I gave it my all and he complemented me on it. I've made some really amazing friends there that share the same decicated mindset, which I absolutely love. I guess that could be similar to joining a runners-club or football club.


Again, I can only speak from MY personal experence (but it beats opinions that are based on hear-say).

pcastagner

Those would really be issues with your own execution of the exercises rather than with the system / implementaion of it though wouldn't they? Have you never noticed any flaws or problems with " Crossfit " as an entity or plan rather than the occasional individual exercise?
I can't really be any more specific as I don't know enough. So, I have to chose my words carefully and be deliberately vague here, because I'm not asking for anything in particular.

Yes, those would probably have to do with my execution of the exersises. I know that if I hold the bar differently, the weight is carried by my shoulders more than my neckbone. I've just started a couple of months ago myself, so am still learning a lot.

I'm not sure if you are asking me politely if there is a cult-vibe to crossfit, but I'll answer the question just in case . I follow my own box on Facebook too and seriousely, I can't say anything negative about them when it comes to cult-like people. There are people that eat Paleo, there are people that don't (like me). There are people who wear crossfit gear, there are people that don't (like me), there are people that talk about crossfit all the time (because they love it) and there are people that don't. It is a non-judgemental atmosphere where people in all shapes, sizes and experience are welcomed.

As someone who wasn't expierenced in weightlifting at all (I was a cardio-bunny), my box is very non-judgemental. There are just awesome people that make me laugh, smile and want to be better. I remember running into my old gym instructor (hadn't seen him in years) and after our WOD he high-fived me. Some may think that's stupid, but I really appreciated it! I sucked, but I gave it my all and he complemented me on it. I've made some really amazing friends there that share the same decicated mindset, which I absolutely love. I guess that could be similar to joining a runners-club or football club.


Again, I can only speak from MY personal experence (but it beats opinions that are based on hear-say).

Thanks for clearing that up.

BigDougie1211

I'm certainly not asking about the cultish vibe - I mentioned on a previous thread that I think an a**hole would be an a**hole no matter what the pastime. So I doubt it's unique to, or something worth holding up as, a criticism of Crossfit.
I just meant more in tems of the physicality and implementation.
Do you find there's sufficient recovery time. Periodization etc.
I suppose I'm just tying to learn what the actual flaws in Crossfit are from soemone who knows them first hand as opposed to the standard " attack " - " defend " - " thrust " - " parry " fights that these threads always seem to move towards.
To take an example - I love football / soccer for our U.S. friends.
I play, I coach and I'm a fairly rabid Arsenal supporter. Have been active in local football since I was a child.
As such, I feel better placed to see the flaws within the game and it's structure than someone who has watched 15 minutes of one game and decided " it's boring " " it's to low scoring " " it's too soft " etc.
In a discussion, I'll use my knowledge of the game to defend what seem like unreasonable criticisms but that same level of knwoledge means I'm vey open to and aware of the basic flaws within the structure as it is.
I suppose what I'm trying to do here ( as someone who knows very little ) is pick your brain ( as someone who knows much more ) as to what the geunine flaws are within Crossfit so as to try to get a more balanced view of it.

BigDougie1211

I'm certainly not asking about the cultish vibe - I mentioned on a previous thread that I think an a**hole would be an a**hole no matter what the pastime. So I doubt it's unique to, or something worth holding up as, a criticism of Crossfit.
I just meant more in tems of the physicality and implementation.
Do you find there's sufficient recovery time. Periodization etc.
I suppose I'm just tying to learn what the actual flaws in Crossfit are from soemone who knows them first hand as opposed to the standard " attack " - " defend " - " thrust " - " parry " fights that these threads always seem to move towards.
To take an example - I love football / soccer for our U.S. friends.
I play, I coach and I'm a fairly rabid Arsenal supporter. Have been active in local football since I was a child.
As such, I feel better placed to see the flaws within the game and it's structure than someone who has watched 15 minutes of one game and decided " it's boring " " it's to low scoring " " it's too soft " etc.
In a discussion, I'll use my knowledge of the game to defend what seem like unreasonable criticisms but that same level of knwoledge means I'm vey open to and aware of the basic flaws within the structure as it is.
I suppose what I'm trying to do here ( as someone who knows very little ) is pick your brain ( as someone who knows much more ) as to what the geunine flaws are within Crossfit so as to try to get a more balanced view of it.

ZealousMissJJ

I'm certainly not asking about the cultish vibe - I mentioned on a previous thread that I think an a**hole would be an a**hole no matter what the pastime. So I doubt it's unique to, or something worth holding up as, a criticism of Crossfit.
I just meant more in tems of the physicality and implementation.
Do you find there's sufficient recovery time. Periodization etc.
I suppose I'm just tying to learn what the actual flaws in Crossfit are from soemone who knows them first hand as opposed to the standard " attack " - " defend " - " thrust " - " parry " fights that these threads always seem to move towards.
To take an example - I love football / soccer for our U.S. friends.
I play, I coach and I'm a fairly rabid Arsenal supporter. Have been active in local football since I was a child.
As such, I feel better placed to see the flaws within the game and it's structure than someone who has watched 15 minutes of one game and decided " it's boring " " it's to low scoring " " it's too soft " etc.
In a discussion, I'll use my knowledge of the game to defend what seem like unreasonable criticisms but that same level of knwoledge means I'm vey open to and aware of the basic flaws within the structure as it is.
I suppose what I'm trying to do here ( as someone who knows very little ) is pick your brain ( as someone who knows much more ) as to what the geunine flaws are within Crossfit so as to try to get a more balanced view of it.

In terms of physicality and implementation; I'm only allowed to attend 3 sessions per week. To make sure people get their rest-days, they've made sure there's a WOD1, WOD2 and SOF a week that you can follow. You can't enroll into more than 3 classes. On Satuday there is 'open gym' but it is only available for skills, such as rope climbing, pull ups, and so on. It's not meant to do another WOD. This means I usually attend on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. It leaves me enough time to rest up.

Crossfit isn't for the experienced; you can start at your own level, with your own weights. I still do the press without the weights and with a ligher bar (I have noodles for arms). If you don't have proper form you're not allowed to use any weights. My instructors made me squat with a wooden stick on the medball using an elastic band around my knees before I could even start using the normal bar and weights.

The WOD's usually have a certain amount of time per set. This month, we need to be able to do between 5-8 reps with a maximum of 5 sets. When you fail to get 5 reps, you have to stop (either the weight was too much for you if you have to quit after 1 or 2 sets or you're just done). For example, this months squats are 2 seconds to get 'your *kitten* to the grass', 1 second hold, up again in 0 seconds (sorry, it's hard to translate from Dutch).

Does this answer any of your questions?

This is an example of our WOD, so this one was 3 seconds / 0 seconds / 2 minutes rest for each set.


This is an example of our SOF (no compound movements)

BigDougie1211

My instructors made me squat with a wooden stick on the medball using an elastic band around my knees before I could even start using the normal bar and weights.

Quality imagery right there.

ZealousMissJJ

My instructors made me squat with a wooden stick on the medball using an elastic band around my knees before I could even start using the normal bar and weights.

Quality imagery right there.

Lol, dirty bird

usmcmp

My two cents is that it depends largely on the box.

Even in my area I have friends that go to one box and are constantly getting hurt. My friends at another have rare injuries (just like any other sport).

The problems with the high injury rate box is workout set ups like the example and no concern for proper form.

These conditions are not unique to just crossfit. There are powerlifting gyms that have poor workout set ups and no concern for proper form.

What is unique to crossfit is the speed at which someone jumps in to defend the name of crossfit. If you were to post a video of a guy or girl powerlifting with terrible form other powerlifters will jump in and laugh at them while discussing how expensive rehab will be for them in the next few years. The only time they would defend it is if the form is actually not bad. Such as defending squatting with knees past the toes (which is okay and actually backed by science).

I'm not calling it a cult, I'm just saying it's a different community and culture than any other sport.

pcastagner

My two cents is that it depends largely on the box.

Even in my area I have friends that go to one box and are constantly getting hurt. My friends at another have rare injuries (just like any other sport).

The problems with the high injury rate box is workout set ups like the example and no concern for proper form.

These conditions are not unique to just crossfit. There are powerlifting gyms that have poor workout set ups and no concern for proper form.

What is unique to crossfit is the speed at which someone jumps in to defend the name of crossfit. If you were to post a video of a guy or girl powerlifting with terrible form other powerlifters will jump in and laugh at them while discussing how expensive rehab will be for them in the next few years. The only time they would defend it is if the form is actually not bad. Such as defending squatting with knees past the toes (which is okay and actually backed by science).

I'm not calling it a cult, I'm just saying it's a different community and culture than any other sport.

This is the impression I've gotten as well. As a brand, crossfit will have to get past this. As a consumer, I think I would be wise to remember "caveat emptor", and keep my wits about me. When it's time, if my local box isn't the best thing around, I will have to remember to calm down and just say no.

Mummyadams

My instructors made me squat with a wooden stick on the medball using an elastic band around my knees before I could even start using the normal bar and weights.

This is actually good advise - I have issues with my knees turning in when squatting - am guessing having a band around the knees forces you to keep them turned outward as the idea is to keep the band tight. Will try this - thanks

ZealousMissJJ

My instructors made me squat with a wooden stick on the medball using an elastic band around my knees before I could even start using the normal bar and weights.

This is actually good advise - I have issues with my knees turning in when squatting - am guessing having a band around the knees forces you to keep them turned outward as the idea is to keep the band tight. Will try this - thanks

You're welcome :happy:. I tend to bend my knees inwards too while squatting, so the elastic band will force me to keep my knees bent outwards or they will end up around my ankles.


*@pcastagner: A shame that after calling me nitpicky, backpaddeling, smug and unhelpful you did'nt even comment on my feedback (exept for the feedback that I gave Dougie) which you asked for (or did you not even bother to read that being too busy calling people names?)*.

HelloDan

So, whilst I agree with the OP that this programming is not great, I don't think it's exclusive to crossfit, I also see PTs, Coaches (both at public gyms and in organisations such as schools) and individuals working on their own all use crappy programming. I also see crappy form all the time, because of ego weights, which is pretty much the same effect as fatigued lifting, in terms of increased injury risk.

I think the real issue is with poor programming, particularly when it's put together by an organisation (crossfit or otherwise) or professional who people (who may not know better) have placed their trust in.

I've never been involved with crossfit, and probably never will, but I think it's unfair to single out one organisation out of many that all have the same problem.

pcastagner

My instructors made me squat with a wooden stick on the medball using an elastic band around my knees before I could even start using the normal bar and weights.

This is actually good advise - I have issues with my knees turning in when squatting - am guessing having a band around the knees forces you to keep them turned outward as the idea is to keep the band tight. Will try this - thanks

You're welcome :happy:. I tend to bend my knees inwards too while squatting, so the elastic band will force me to keep my knees bent outwards or they will end up around my ankles.


*@pcastagner: A shame that after calling me nitpicky, backpaddeling, smug and unhelpful you did'nt even comment on my feedback (exept for the feedback that I gave Dougie) which you asked for (or did you not even bother to read that being too busy calling people names?)*.

Did I not hit the reply button or something?

I wrote one! It said thanks for clearing that up, which was meant non sarcastically. I appreciate that you took the time to answer and I got some useful information. Mainly, that some of these boxes kick *kitten*. I will be looking for one like yours when the time comes.

Thanks again!