CrossFit

moe0303

[*] If you're following the crossfit WODs, you are not training, you're exercising.

I find this to be an odd conclusion. Can you elaborate on the differences?

As for the difference between training and exercising, that's a dive into esoterica and defintions that's probably better suited to another discussion.

I'd still like an explanation if you don't mind. We have a lot of smart people here who are always down for some enlightenment.

musclegood_fatbad

Keladelphia wrote: »

Pros
Crossfit classes when programmed properly (combined with diet) will most definitely get you fit...like really fit.

People tend to get pigeon holed into the type of fitness that they enjoy. Crossfit (being a general prepardness program) targets many different areas of fitness such as strength training, cardio etc. It forces participants to hit areas they might skip if they were working out in a regular gym or alone (I mean who would row a 10K by choice....no judgement).

Crossfit has helped people to become more comfortable with the idea of women lifting weights, being strong, and feeling comfortable in their own skin. I've seen this newfound strength translate to other areas of life for many members, especially the women.

The hardest part about any gym routine is finding consistency. The community aspect of Crossfit keeps people coming back and that's a fact. You go to the classes and socialize and people question and are concerned when you aren't there. Nobody at Planet Fitness gives AF if you're not there to jog on the treadmill.

There is great value in having trainers constantly around you to help you with form critiques and skills IF they are good and knowledgeable trainers.

Cons

Specific strength/fitness goals can often be achieved more efficiently through other means. You'll get strong from crossfit, sure. However, you won't get THE STRONGEST or THE FASTEST. There are reasons why the programming of people who train for competitive Crossfit doesn't look anything like what you would see in a typical Crossfit class.

There are plenty of "coaches" who have no idea what they're doing. They push members too hard or too fast or don't even know what proper form should be. This most definitely can lead to unnecessary injuries.

Crossfitters tend to get in the mindset that Crossfit is the best way or the only way for people to get fit. This is obviously untrue. I think so many people find a love of fitness for the first time through crossfit. This creates that sense of superiority because they think "I tried everything and this finally worked so it must be right for everyone"

The word box is dumb

Certain movements are dumb (I'm looking at you sumo deadlift high pulls and medicine ball cleans)




Overall I love crossfit and think it could be a good fit for many (but definitely not all). I've seen it impact people in amazing ways and I personally lost 70 LBS doing it. I guess my only real pet peeve is frequently when Crossfit is promoted to the masses it's with the super fit bodies of top crossfit athletes. Those bodies were not created with an hour crossfit class a day and it's generally not what you'll see at your typical crossfit gym. I really realized this when I switched from traditional crossfit programming to competition crossfit programming. It's almost purely strength training with a metabolic conditioning workout or two thrown in everyday. You lose much of that community experience that people love so much. I personally love training this way. I just feel so many people have gotten so fit from just regular crossfit classes...why not promote the average fit Joe? He's the one people will actually relate to anyway.

Nailed it.

This is why I do heavy lifting along with crossfit as I want to see the strength increases that I will not get from crossfit alone. Crossfit does force me to do gymnastic type movements though that I am not good at but by doing them helps me with my overall fitness and athleticism.

Timshel_

Crossfit, P90X, and all these exercise programs are nothing more than marketed calisthenics. There is no magic there, beyond the fact that doing exercise and sticking to a calorie moderated eating programs will get you in shape.

moe0303

Timshel_ wrote: »

Crossfit, P90X, and all these exercise programs are nothing more than marketed calisthenics. There is no magic there, beyond the fact that doing exercise and sticking to a calorie moderated eating programs will get you in shape.

While I agree that CrossFit has no magic, I question your understanding if you think it only contains calisthenics.

mrevansx

I've been doing it about a year and a half and love it. I absolutely try not to be "evangelical" about it, avoid posting non stop about my new PR and asskicking work out I did today (but I slip up and it's hard to keep my big mouth shut when I do something I never thought I'd be able to do) and there are drawbacks to every program but this is the first fitness program that I have done that has kept me motivated and showing up consistently for more then 3 or 4 months at a time (other than martial arts). One of the biggest benefits of crossfit, for me, has been how well it has highlighted my lack of mobility and at the same time helped me correct those limitations and imbalances while improving my strength and endurance.

My strength and conditioning has increased and after a year I'm still getting stronger and faster and hitting new mile stones consistently. My mile run has gone from 9:40ish down to an 8:45 pretty comfortably, my deadlift (which I never really did before a year ago) has gone from 285 to 375 and is still improving, I can climb a rope 24 times in 30 minutes, hold a handstand for a minute (without feeling like my wrists are breaking or my shoulders are coming out of socket), I've learned to love my barbell and look forward to the olympic lifts now (I dreaded them until only a few months ago when I finally started getting getting full hip extension before I started my pull) and never would have know how awesome the olympic lifts are and certainly never would have tried them much less done them consistently. I don't know what to say about having them programmed into WODs. I haven't had an issue, I scale as much as I need to to feel like I'm putting in the work and getting the right impetus from the workout and I've never felt unsafe.

I agree that the competitive nature and poor coaching programming can combine to create a potentially dangerous environment but I've been lucky to have a fantastic coach that pushes form non stop and will not hesitate to stop somebody and strip weight or force a scaling option if she sees someone's form slipping. I know this is not the story at all "boxes" (I hate calling a gym a box) but I do think that if you want you will be able to shop around and find a good crossfit gym. Also there is inherent danger in any fitness activity, just look at weightlifting fails to see how badly you can get injured in a globo gym with no supervision, power lifters tear biceps and pecs on a regular basis, blow out knees, Long distance runners are practically non stop injured and the list is long. Crossfit is not alone in being an activity that can cause injuries and there is a lot to be said for having some supervision and guidance which is rare in the fitness world. How many people actually have qualified trainers watching there every workout, programming their runs or lifting sessions and then watching to make sure that you are doing the moves correctly and consistently?

If you want to do an activity that is almost guaranteed to cause injury and have an overall negative impact on your overall fitness, strength and health I'd recommend long distance running. Now, I love long steady distance running and trail running but I no longer consider it "training" and now I know why I had such a hard time getting my body composition to improve while I was logging 30+ miles a week and doing zero resistance training, zero hard sprints and still constantly battling sore injured calves, knees and feet while my body fat consistently hovered around the 25% range. I still run trails, just once a week and it's my active recovery day or sometimes a fat mobilizing finisher but I mostly do it because I love the solitude and time to think and active meditation not for the amazing training benefits.

There is a reason that crossfit costs so much, in my opinion, you are basically getting a personal trainer as many times a week as you want. Again, how many people have personal trainers programming for them and then watching and teaching them 5 hours a week. I hired a personal trainer when I was first getting serious about trying to get fit. I saw him once a week for an hour or twice a week for thirty minutes. It cost me substantially more then my crossfit membership and while I learned a lot and got some results they could not come close to what I have gotten out of crossfit. Same can be said for martial arts (which I also enjoy and have done nearly my entire life) I never realized how much I let my strength and mobility go without giving it any thought and I spent as much for three classes a week as I do for unlimited classes at my gym now. The owner has even agreed to let me hang a punching bag and use the gym to do bag work (she really is awesome! did I mention that she is going to the games again this year?) and I can use the open gym time to martial arts programming to if I chose to. Also, I'd say that the social support is unparalleled in the globo gym market. You might come close to it at dojo, jujitsu or MMA club or other sports team but not really anywhere else that I've found. That alone is worth the price of admission and keeps me going back and being consistent. I've made friends that hold me accountable and expect to see me, bust my chops when I don't show up or dog a workout. It's pretty close to priceless to me.

It is intense and it isn't the be all end all of fitness and certainly isn't for everybody. But if you like pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, facing new challenges and meeting great people I'd recommend it and contrary to popular belief anyone can do it if they want. (Now if I could just get my eating cleaned up and consistent I'd be on my way to meeting all my goals).

lrankine788

Not sure if this is the place for this but how does one go about logging a CF workout in Fitness Pal? Is there a generic "CF 1 hour" type of thing or do you need to log each exercise?

moe0303

lrankine788 wrote: »

Not sure if this is the place for this but how does one go about logging a CF workout in Fitness Pal? Is there a generic "CF 1 hour" type of thing or do you need to log each exercise?

Only use the time spent moving. There is a link to a calculator on my profile.

Wetcoaster

Will Brink's thoughts....

The Brink Bottom Line:

For specific details, pro and cons, etc, you really need to read the report above. Here’s my basic summery however: CrossFit is a system of high intensity circuit training. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that and done correctly, high intensity circuit training can lead to a solid balance of conditioning, endurance, and functional strength. CrossFit has developed specific protocols for their particular brand of circuit training. So far so good.

The issue is, circuit training is not remotely original to CrossFit. CrossFit proponents tend to make a lot if claims – similar to the kettlebell followers BTW – that range from untrue to total fantasy, and that’s where they tend to get into trouble with people. Some of the exercises recommended are an injury waiting to happen, or simply goofy. People, being social animals, like to be part of something, and CrossFit is a system which holds your hand and enters people into the cult-like group that is CrossFit. Bingo, you’re in the “in crowed” by doing CrossFit and that’s attractive to many people…

Can a person get into great shape using CrossFit? Absolutely, but it’s just one more tool in the tool box of ways to go about getting into good condition (defined here as a balance between functional strength, endurance, and bodycomp) and various ways of conducting high intensity circuit training has been around many decades before CrossFit. The training I conduct with tactical law enforcement (e.g., SWAT, etc.) revolves around high intensity circuit training, but is more specific to that population’s requirements and includes guns! See my vids if interested.

There’s many ways to approach training, so feel free to try CrossFit for a change of pace, but don’ drink the kool-Aid and end up in any cults

moe0303

Wetcoaster wrote: »

Will Brink's thoughts....

The Brink Bottom Line:

For specific details, pro and cons, etc, you really need to read the report above. Here’s my basic summery however: CrossFit is a system of high intensity circuit training. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that and done correctly, high intensity circuit training can lead to a solid balance of conditioning, endurance, and functional strength. CrossFit has developed specific protocols for their particular brand of circuit training. So far so good.

The issue is, circuit training is not remotely original to CrossFit. CrossFit proponents tend to make a lot if claims – similar to the kettlebell followers BTW – that range from untrue to total fantasy, and that’s where they tend to get into trouble with people. Some of the exercises recommended are an injury waiting to happen, or simply goofy. People, being social animals, like to be part of something, and CrossFit is a system which holds your hand and enters people into the cult-like group that is CrossFit. Bingo, you’re in the “in crowed” by doing CrossFit and that’s attractive to many people…

Can a person get into great shape using CrossFit? Absolutely, but it’s just one more tool in the tool box of ways to go about getting into good condition (defined here as a balance between functional strength, endurance, and bodycomp) and various ways of conducting high intensity circuit training has been around many decades before CrossFit. The training I conduct with tactical law enforcement (e.g., SWAT, etc.) revolves around high intensity circuit training, but is more specific to that population’s requirements and includes guns! See my vids if interested.

There’s many ways to approach training, so feel free to try CrossFit for a change of pace, but don’ drink the kool-Aid and end up in any cults

Doesn't strike as a particularly interesting opinion. We have much better analysis by people on this thread, and it is only about 70 comments deep at this point.

cecsav1

mskessler89 wrote: »

Plus without CrossFit, how would I get to ogle Camille Leblanc-Bazinet?

Mat Fraser yessssss please!

CipherZero

lrankine788 wrote: »

Not sure if this is the place for this but how does one go about logging a CF workout in Fitness Pal? Is there a generic "CF 1 hour" type of thing or do you need to log each exercise?

I don't bother tracking calories burned by weight workouts, only the time.

GiddyupTim

I'd like to chime in here.
One of the major gripes that your sanctimonious weight lifters tend to have with Crossfit is that Crossfit does Olympic lifts and compound lifts fast and for high reps -- an accident waiting to happen, they say.
Maybe. But the data that exists does not bear that out. (Data, imperfect as it is, says the injury rate for Crossfit is less than for cheerleading and running, and about the same as for standard weight lifting.)
But, here's where the style of lifting you do in Crossfit may have benefits.
I injured my knee and had ACL replacement surgery. When I went to the gym, and I squatted and deadlifted, I tended to favor the good side, as one does, and maybe got a bit imbalanced. But, when I go to Crossfit, and am told that I have to do cleans for 10 minutes, or 100 front-squats for time, and it is a bit of a competition (with myself, at least), I go too fast to favor a side.
In my case, I think Crossfit helped me to rehab my repaired knee and to even out.
Plus, everyone has exercises they like and exercises they do not like, and try as we might not to, we often tend to overdo those we like and undo those we don't. For example, I HATE doing abs, and I avoid it. But, when I go to Crossfit, I have to follow the programming there. And, most Crossfit gyms try to balance things out with their programming -- some lifting, some cardio, some lower body, some upper body, etc. That means, when I go in, I am going to get a healthy dose of sit-ups, toes-to-bar, Turkish get-ups, etc.
That is, more core than I would force myself to do on my own.
I don't like it. But I appreciate it.

stevencloser

tufel wrote: »

I'd like to chime in here.
One of the major gripes that your sanctimonious weight lifters tend to have with Crossfit is that Crossfit does Olympic lifts and compound lifts fast and for high reps -- an accident waiting to happen, they say.
Maybe. But the data that exists does not bear that out. (Data, imperfect as it is, says the injury rate for Crossfit is less than for cheerleading and running, and about the same as for standard weight lifting.)
But, here's where the style of lifting you do in Crossfit may have benefits.
I injured my knee and had ACL replacement surgery. When I went to the gym, and I squatted and deadlifted, I tended to favor the good side, as one does, and maybe got a bit imbalanced. But, when I go to Crossfit, and am told that I have to do cleans for 10 minutes, or 100 front-squats for time, and it is a bit of a competition (with myself, at least), I go too fast to favor a side.
In my case, I think Crossfit helped me to rehab my repaired knee and to even out.
Plus, everyone has exercises they like and exercises they do not like, and try as we might not to, we often tend to overdo those we like and undo those we don't. For example, I HATE doing abs, and I avoid it. But, when I go to Crossfit, I have to follow the programming there. And, most Crossfit gyms try to balance things out with their programming -- some lifting, some cardio, some lower body, some upper body, etc. That means, when I go in, I am going to get a healthy dose of sit-ups, toes-to-bar, Turkish get-ups, etc.
That is, more core than I would force myself to do on my own.
I don't like it. But I appreciate it.

Depends which data you look at.

https://www.strengthandconditioningresearch.com/2014/07/08/injury-strength-sports/