Is crossfit worth it?

fitforlife34

QUICK background story:

I get bored with the gym, and the workout classes are never convenient times, and it's about 15 minutes in the opposite direction where I live (anyway, giving excuses).

On the other hand, I saw that we have an excellent Crossfit location close to me that looks very interesting. I need that social interaction, something new and different each day, and a mix of strength training and cardio opposed to doing them separately. Only downside is it is 140.00 a month opposed to the 34 I pay at the gym. I don't make much money, but I want to get in shape, and I am sure losing weight will help me with my self esteem, energy levels, and mood. Which could make a huge difference in my life and job too.

What do you guys think of Crossfit? Is it really worth it? Because it's gotta be EXCELLENT if I am investing that much money. I want to drop the pounds, and if this is the ticket, I am willing to sacrifice other things to pay for it. ALSO, can you be overweight already, and not at a great fitness level? And does it bulk you up?I already have a very muscular build, runs in my genes.

AJ_G

In my opinion it's absolutely not worth the money. You'd be better served finding somebody to go to the gym with. Your profile says you're in Seattle, I'm sure you could even find someone on MFP in the Seattle area that would want a gym buddy. Paying four times as much for Crossfit isn't worth it especially when you could do the workouts on your own to be honest.

fitforlife34

I don't have anyone to go to they gym with, and it's hard for me to stay motivated. But thanks for the advice! Hope to hear more.

ninerbuff

Couple of things:

Weight loss is more dependent on your calories in/out than actual exercise regimen.

Crossfit idea is great. Training from "boxes" differ immensely. Shoulder injury rates are about 25% from Crossfit according to a report from the Journal of Strength and Conditioning. That's higher than Olympic and powerlifting competitors (who move much higher amounts of weight).

If you're inexperienced in weight training, it's probably NOT a good idea to join Crossfit.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

meshashesha2012

i dont think it's worth it unless you can get it at a price less than $100 a month. I used to belong to a box that was $70 a month and it was perfect but they moved location and are now like $175 a month.

i dont think it's worth it for me because
- you have to go to specific class times and the class times at the box near me don't work for me because they are all during 9-5 work hours.
- for that price i'd expect to have a pool, a sauna, a jacuzzi, etc you dont get that at most boxes i've seen. hell they dont even give you a towel
- i got sick of having coaches try and push paleo diet on me

one thing to keep in mind is that you would not be doing crossfit everyday since you'd need to recover. not all boxes keep that in mind which i imagine is one way people get injured.

if you have the money then go for it, if you dont then you can always try the WOD at your own gym. in fact, many of the athletes who compete in the crossfit games dont spend the majority of their workout time in crossfit gyms

librarydebster

If you want both cardio and strength training, kettlebells are the way to go. I am taking a class at a local recreation centre. It's $55 and I'm learning moves that I can then use at home with my own kettlebells. It's a workout that burns calories like crazy. If you rent a video from your local library you can hopefully learn about proper form. Some gyms are way too expensive.
We have a set of 500 stairs that I walk up and down, that joins the top of our city to the downtown area.

shmerek

If you can find a good gym with experienced trainers it can be a lot of fun. If you do go just make sure you get instruction and keep to your own pace. Don't let the clock or any other bozo make you work harder than you can or compromise your form.

Here is a link to the study mentioned above as well as a link analysing the data

http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/24276294
http://www.stackactive.com/2014/01/16/crossfits-injury-rates/

and here is a link for what not to do on your first day
http://www.stackactive.com/2014/04/11/zercher-squat-fail/ lol

Madame_Goldbricker

Not being funny but draw up a list of pro's/con's?

1. You state you have limited funds. Crossfit is far more expensive - why spend money you don't have?
2. You state you don't feel motivated to use the gym membership you already have due to boredom - mix it up with some strength training as well as cardio?
3. The gym is only 15mins away from you and you factor this as being too far away - this really isn't very far is it realistically?
4. The gym classes aren't a convenient time - make time?

Bottom line if you want to workout then don't make excuses. Why spend a lot more money on something you may or may not stick to?

*Edited to add - why not look up generic boot camp groups in your area? They are normally a lot cheaper & you'd still get the group interaction at a fraction of the price.

fitforlife34

Thanks everyone! Yeah, because of the price I am starting to have second thoughts. Plus, I did read from some women who say it can make you look more muscular, which is NOT what I need. I want to have lean muscles. I understand that diet is very important too.

meshashesha2012

Thanks everyone! Yeah, because of the price I am starting to have second thoughts. Plus, I did read from some women who say it can make you look more muscular, which is NOT what I need. I want to have lean muscles. I understand that diet is very important too.

looking more muscular has more to do with the amount of body fat you carry. and muscles are muscles there's not a lean type

shmerek

Thanks everyone! Yeah, because of the price I am starting to have second thoughts. Plus, I did read from some women who say it can make you look more muscular, which is NOT what I need. I want to have lean muscles. I understand that diet is very important too.

:huh: :huh: It takes years to "look more muscular" trust me it will never happen. No matter how hard you work out you will never wake up one morning too muscular.

darrensurrey

Only downside is it is 140.00 a month opposed to the 34 I pay at the gym.

**** that! For 140 a month I'd expect to lose weight without having to put any effort in. :laugh:

I don't pay anything for my gym - apart from the initial purchase of moderately heavy weights.

Also 15 minutes travelling time is nothing! I've driven 30+ minutes to gyms I've attended in the past.

coretemp

Don't think Crossfit is worth it at all. Download "Impetus" to your phone and incorporate some HIIT into your routine at the gym if you'd like to pick things up a little : )

darrensurrey

Thanks everyone! Yeah, because of the price I am starting to have second thoughts. Plus, I did read from some women who say it can make you look more muscular, which is NOT what I need. I want to have lean muscles. I understand that diet is very important too.

:huh: :huh: It takes years to "look more muscular" trust me it will never happen. No matter how hard you work out you will never wake up one morning too muscular.

You know when they say, "I don't want to bulk up so I won't lift heavy weights" it's like saying, "I only want to drive to the local shops so I'll only drive at 1mph."

Inkratlet

I absolutely love CrossFit.

Its what gets me out of bed in the morning when I'm having a depressive episode. The community support is second to nothing and is the best motivational tool I've ever found.

But I don't pay anything like $140 dollars a month to be fair.

And no, it won't make you bulky. Most men at my CrossFit gym aren't even bulky. It tends to make them lean and athletic but it doesn't make for huge muscles.

CipherZero

The local crossfit places around here run $150-$180 a month.
My home gym setup, with all the gear required to do powerlifting and olympic lifting, cost under $1000.
The math was easy.

jimmmer

The local crossfit places around here run $150-$180 a month.
My home gym setup, with all the gear required to do powerlifting and olympic lifting, cost under $1000.
The math was easy.

This throws it into stark relief.

We don't have cf here (or maybe we do nowadays, I haven't checked recently) but I did something similar with regular gym fees and worked out that it was much, much cheaper in the long term to buy my own gear. With cf that price difference gets so much larger it is, as the Americans say, a no brainer.

If you mean worth in a non-financial sense, then it may well be worth it given what some people seem to get out of it's social aspect. I'm totally anti-social, so the whole thing seems a bit much to me. But I am not everyone and some people do seem to thrive in a social/competitive/vaguely cult-like setting.

Flab2Fab27

QUICK background story:

I get bored with the gym, and the workout classes are never convenient times, and it's about 15 minutes in the opposite direction where I live (anyway, giving excuses).

On the other hand, I saw that we have an excellent Crossfit location close to me that looks very interesting. I need that social interaction, something new and different each day, and a mix of strength training and cardio opposed to doing them separately. Only downside is it is 140.00 a month opposed to the 34 I pay at the gym. I don't make much money, but I want to get in shape, and I am sure losing weight will help me with my self esteem, energy levels, and mood. Which could make a huge difference in my life and job too.

What do you guys think of Crossfit? Is it really worth it? Because it's gotta be EXCELLENT if I am investing that much money. I want to drop the pounds, and if this is the ticket, I am willing to sacrifice other things to pay for it. ALSO, can you be overweight already, and not at a great fitness level? And does it bulk you up?I already have a very muscular build, runs in my genes.

Based on what you're looking for, I think you would really enjoy it. Most boxes offer a free intro class which would give you a better idea of how you feel about it.

I think you should just try it for yourself and see if it suits your fitness goals.

Flab2Fab27

Couple of things:

Weight loss is more dependent on your calories in/out than actual exercise regimen.

Crossfit idea is great. Training from "boxes" differ immensely. Shoulder injury rates are about 25% from Crossfit according to a report from the Journal of Strength and Conditioning. That's higher than Olympic and powerlifting competitors (who move much higher amounts of weight).

If you're inexperienced in weight training, it's probably NOT a good idea to join Crossfit.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Seriously? No.
I had never picked up a bar before joining crossfit and never once got injured. Saying that newbies to lifting shouldn't join crossfit is ridiculous.

emacb123

I love it! The cost is a problem, but the CrossFit gym I go to is associated with my regular gym, so I just pay a little more and have access to both. I've decided that for me, this is worth it.

I love the strength part! I HATE the cardio part (because it kicks my *kitten*)!!

I was strength training on my own before joining and honestly didn't think I'd like the group setting, but I'm now part of a small group of "6AM'ers." Also (the post below mine made me think of this) I like having a coach, it is weird to have someone watching me work out, but he pushes me to my limits while keeping an eye on my form and safety.

My goals are to get leaner and stronger.

cwolfman13

If you like doing CF and having a coach, etc then yeah...it's worth it. To me, not worth it at all...I tried it and didn't really like it overall. Most boxes offer a free intro class so you should probably go check that out and decide for yourself. CF tends to be a love it or hate it kind of thing.

If you do it, just make sure the box is a good one and the coaches are good...I tried two different boxes and one of them was pretty horrible...classes were too large and coaches couldn't really monitor everyone...most people had horrible form on their lifts and pretty much everything else as well and there was a great deal of emphasis on just busting stuff out as fast as possible with complete disregard for doing the exercise properly. The other box was much better, but it just wasn't my thing...I don't like working out with a bunch of people.