Crossfit???

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alyssarenea1996
alyssarenea1996 Posts: 90 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Thoughts on crossfit; benefits and risks - and go!?
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  • alyssarenea1996
    alyssarenea1996 Posts: 90 Member
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    @LazSommer - haha well, that is very to the point. I'm starting crossfit for the first time today and am very nervous. I've never lifted or done anything of the sort, but I want to get strong. I'm just worried because everyone keeps talking about how they know someone that's had a injury from doing it.
  • aub6689
    aub6689 Posts: 351 Member
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    Work on getting form down before trying to do the movements quickly or move a lot of weight. If you go to the crossfit box that does not support form as a priority.... RUN! A lot of people do get injured in crossfit. It can be an excellent workout, but without building a foundation first, it can be dangerous.
  • DreesPerformanceTraining
    DreesPerformanceTraining Posts: 187 Member
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    All Crossfit boxes are different, so you're at the mercy of each coach. Anecdotally, I would say 1/4 are good, 1/2 are 'OK,' and 1/4 will send you to physical therapy.
  • Krissi1330
    Krissi1330 Posts: 16 Member
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    I went to a crossfit gym without knowing anything about it - and the first class was brutal. So was every single class after that. The benefits: I got in shape super quick and increased my strength and endurance in a very short time. It also made me stronger mentally - I learned that I can push myself through damn near anything. But! I don't think it's safe. Some of the exercises focus more on speed than form, so you're more likely to injure yourself. There's also a greater (debatable) risk of major damage from rhabdo. I have a love/hate relationship with it - I don't do it anymore but overall it was an awesome experience.
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
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    aub6689 wrote: »
    If you go to the crossfit box that does not support form as a priority.... RUN!

    That's the problem with the affiliation structure - there's no real central oversight so it's a bit of a punt as to what you will get.

    This is my own opinion but I think if a person's primary goal is to get stronger or work with resistance they are better off, on balance, with the traditional route of a personal trainer with a decent certification or using books and / or videos tutorials where resistance is used in a more controlled manner with suitable progression.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    DreesPerformanceTraining wrote: »
    All Crossfit boxes are different, so you're at the mercy of each coach. Anecdotally, I would say 1/4 are good, 1/2 are 'OK,' and 1/4 will send you to physical therapy.

    This.

    If it's a good box they should make sure your form is good and warn you off of weights that mess up your form.

    If they are encouraging you to go heavier or faster and your form is falling apart, find a different box.

    They also should have a good beginner or "on ramp" program to teach you form and how it works.
  • alyssarenea1996
    alyssarenea1996 Posts: 90 Member
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    I think the one I'm going to today has a program for beginners. My coworker is who has been encouraging me to come with her and she said they usually start you off with just a light bar and show you the ropes before ramping you up any.
  • _Bro
    _Bro Posts: 437 Member
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    It's pretty easy to rush into it and start overdoing exercises in a fatigued state and, consequently incur injuries from bad form.

    Furthermore, some of the exercises like Kipping Pullups involve a lot of excessive movement in the legs and lower spine, and as a result places unwanted/additional forces on your shoulders. This movement is (IMHO) less effective at building strength since you use momentum (not muscle) throughout most of the move. For most novices, a 'regular' pullup would be much more beneficial.

    The issues noted above with the Kipping Pullups underlie the main issue that I have with Crossfit -- it seems to put an emphasis on speed and weight instead of form and technique.

    So, for a novice I would probably recommend staying away from Crossfit to begin with....
  • alyssarenea1996
    alyssarenea1996 Posts: 90 Member
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    @_Bro Thank you!
  • julie_broadhead
    julie_broadhead Posts: 178 Member
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    I had a great experience with Crossfit. I had excellent trainers who started me off slowly. They always corrected my form and showed me how to improve my lifts.
    My coaches never let me move fast and sloppy.

    I think you are going to have a great time:-)
  • stingrayinfl
    stingrayinfl Posts: 284 Member
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    injuries happens with anything one does...pros and cons of everything..one needs to find what they enjoy and do it. There are many similar cross fit threads on My Fitness Pal
  • alyssarenea1996
    alyssarenea1996 Posts: 90 Member
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    @nomadcelt Thank you so much! Definitely the reply I was looking for on here with lots of explanations. I very much appreciate it.
  • Sarc_Warrior
    Sarc_Warrior Posts: 430 Member
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    Crossfit is awesome. Good technique is better than high numbers /good times. Remember that and you're good to go.
  • SteveJWatson
    SteveJWatson Posts: 1,225 Member
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    I looked into crossfit, but then I saw how much it cost and just decided to go to the free bootcamp classes my gym offers to members....
  • jonthemusse
    jonthemusse Posts: 106 Member
    edited May 2016
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    TL;DR be aware of pitfalls, don't trust the box until you do. Read up on it. Have fun. Don't be proud of torn callouses. Get ripped.

    I was doing CF alone in the very early days when it was just about only in the public domain and no buzz, the time when you just looked weird doing it. Progressed to the only gym in my country, grew out of it before the box owner did. Things have gotten a bit crazy over the years, and the goals of CF have definitively murkified. I peek into the main site every now and then, and the direction it's taken is a bit weird, me thinks.

    That said, with correct subbing an absolute blast. Hinges totally on your box. There's nothing inherently special about CF other than it keeps an AD mind at peace, and beats you up in a very motivational way. It used to be an easy solution for all your exercise needs; just follow Glassman and check Rip for form.

    There's a point quite soon - 6 months to a year - when you'll grow out of the programming and you find yourself training for CF by not doing CF. At that point a re-evaluation is in order.

    All this discussion of kipping pull-ups and form is close to intermediate stuff at least. If you're playing with barbells against time on your first visits, consider walking out.

    I still occasionally (when in shape) do the first dozen girls for fun. They're a good fun tool to have in the kit.

    Edit: caveat, no idea what's been going on the last four years at least.

    Edit 2: all you really need is a pull-up bar, some exercise paraphernalia, a stopwatch and a friend to yell at you. Any corner of a decent gym will do the trick.
  • alyssarenea1996
    alyssarenea1996 Posts: 90 Member
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    I tried it for the first time last night and it was great! The coach slowed it down and changed the workout to suit my level. Thank you all for your input!!
  • BalletAndBarbells
    BalletAndBarbells Posts: 334 Member
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    nomadcelt wrote: »
    I'd have to provide some context to some of the debate above. I've been a CrossFit Trainer for 4 years and have coached in two gyms. I also get to a lot of boxes around the world through my actual day job.

    There is absolutely no evidence anywhere to support the 'anecdotal' theories that CrossFit (as a methodology) is any more dangerous than any other fitness training. I've spent a lot of time going through 'evidence' from supposedly reputable institutions, only to find they've got an axe to grind on other matters and the reporting is flawed or plain wrong. HOWEVER!!!!!
    People ARE dangerous. Many 'coaches' are not coaches. They do not have the moral strength to stop others from lifting incorrectly when the client's ego gets in the way. Personally, I've always taken the approach that if you're not willing to listen to the coach then I'm not willing to coach you and you can please leave. But that is down to the coach; a decent coach in anything is able to motivate their client well and have them understand the rationale for taking things slowly.
    Indeed, I was in the Middle East not so long ago and there was no CF gym to drop in to so I took part in a local 'HIIT' session. The trainer was a Les Mills-qualified instructor and the session was abominable. It was by far the worst PT session I've ever had the misfortune to take part in with weights being launched around the park, terrible form by most of the individuals and no actual movement coaching at all - it was all just against the music and stopwatch. I know he was instructed very well indeed by the Les Mills team originally but once he's out in the big, bad world, he is unregulated. It's obviously the same for CF. I would say the same as said above though, if the focus is not on Form First, then run away. That facility will soon shut down because people WILL get injured and they'll vote with their feet.

    I'll mention the kipping pull up, just because it's been written above. Bang on.....again, sometimes people are more focused on speed then technique. The Kipping Pull Up (Butterfly or regular Kip) will rip that shoulder apart in moments. However, if it were dangerous as a technique then gymnasts wouldn't use it to move around the rings and bar - it is a fundamental gymnastic movement. I don't allow any form of kipping in the pull up until the individual can strict (with pause) pull up a minimum of 5 times, in order to demonstrate requisite strength and control. Yes, it relies heavily on momentum and is not a strength developer in the same way that a strict pull up is. Neither is it supposed to be. It is a gymnastic movement that requires significant amounts of coordination, agility and balance (3 of the fundamentals of CrossFit) to achieve properly; it is just a shame that some 'coaches' do not have the courage to stop athletes from attempting it before they are ready.

    The perks of CrossFit though? A lot of work done in a short amount of time (power) generates genuine change in the body. Stick with it, keep safe and have a thirst to learn as much as you can from your coaches, and you will achieve a fantastic amount. However, don't listen, dive straight in and let your ego guide you and you will get injured....and will blame it on CrossFit ;)

    Where are you a CF trainer as I'd like to give it a go and you sound like you know what you're doing?!
  • lancehietpas
    lancehietpas Posts: 13 Member
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    The theory behind crossfit is good. Combining all sorts of different approaches to fitness to become well-rounded. The practical application of crossfit as a whole is bad. Why?

    Because it's a fad, a lot of inexperienced people from the general populace try to jump into crossfit.

    It's often very large group classes with 1 or 2 instructors trying to teach very advanced techniques.

    A lot of instructors are simply bad. They barely know what the exercises are. So they can barely teach 1 person at a time, nevermind 20 at a time.

    A big emphasis is placed on olympic lifts. And a big emphasis is played in using olympic lifts for high reps. Olympic lifts are highly technical and are generally never performed for more than 3 reps at any moderate or higher weight. It's just stupid trying to turn such a lift into a cardio exercise. A recipe for inuries.

    A lot of people try to jump 100% into crossfit, pretending they're seasoned athletes and breaking down their bodies. Some people experience injuries. Some people even get rhabdomyolysis (ordinarily only commonly experienced by high level athletes when put under extraordinary pressures of athleticism). However rhabdomyolysis is far more common in crossfit than any other sport.

    Training crossfit will make you OK at crossfit. If you want to be great at crossfit you won't do any crossfit-specific workouts until a few weeks before competition.

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