Awesome unbiased CrossFit review article

SHBoss1673

This guy really knows his stuff. I respect him about as much as anyone in the fitness industry. You can take what he says to the bank. When you think of an expert in the Fitness industry, think of this guy.

http://www.acefitness.org/certifiednewsarticle/962/crossfit-is-the-gain-worth-the-pain-ace-experts

nursevee

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE CrossFit! My hubby started doing it as part of his PT sessions and my Personal Trainer is a CrossFit legend so I caught onto it. Such a great workout!

kdiamond

Very informative.

I am now rounding out my 3rd full month of CrossFit - 3x a week sessions.

Keep in mind I am a small girl, approximately 107 pounds, and have had 2 kids.

I have definitely seen a HUGE difference, the biggest ever in my life, in my fitness level. I am doing things I never thought possible, lifting weights I never thought possible, losing body fat I never thought possible, and feeling amazing and I really do owe it all to CF. Before this I couldn't run a mile in under 12 minutes, now I run in under 9. Before I would deadlift using 25 pound barbells, now I am deadlifting 130 pounds. My cellulite is gone, my legs, abs, shoulders are ripped. It is an amazing thing!

I had tried it 2 other times with different instructors before it stuck. You DEFINITELY need the right instructor who knows what they are doing, so they can cater it to your individual needs. But they also have to be motivating and helpful. Finding a good instructor is key. This was my big concern, getting hurt. The instructor plays a big part in this.

angebean

I have been thinking about trying this out. Now I am completely motivated to do it! Thanks for the feedback..

XFitMojoMom

I'm a convert - I'm going 4-5x week... it's a lifestyle, a way of life... yes we are cultish but I've never met a bunch of individuals as genuine as I've met at CF.

bobspdx

I have been taking part in Crossfit since February, now I go 5x per week. I absolutely LOVE it and feel stronger and more confident than ever. If you saw me on the street you probably would be shocked at what I can accomplish. A year ago I did Murph in 60+ minutes, this past October I improved to 50 minutes! I was sooooo happy with myself! When lifting I always have to modify but I am OK with that. When I first started I was running a 12-13 minute mile, now I am right at 10 minutes. I could not do one situp or pushup, now I can lots of them!

I can see how it is not for everyone. I am so thankful that I was introduced. I can't workout any other way except when I go running.

Azdak

This guy really knows his stuff. I respect him about as much as anyone in the fitness industry. You can take what he says to the bank. When you think of an expert in the Fitness industry, think of this guy.

http://www.acefitness.org/certifiednewsarticle/962/crossfit-is-the-gain-worth-the-pain-ace-experts

I ended up attending two workshops that Fabio taught a few weeks ago at Club Industry in Chicago. Didn't know him before those sessions, but I definitely agree with you. Great presenter and is current with the research--although I couldn't get used to seeing him as a "Fabio" after he started talking, because he has a definite Scottish-type accent. It was disconcerting.

Anyhow, the tone of this article is very much his style. At first I thought it was going to be a paen to Crossfit, which would have been odd, because we sat and talked for quite awhile after his presentation and he was very up front with his criticisms and reservations. But I read through the whole thing and it was exactly the same balanced viewpoint I heard in person.

Definitely one of the good guys.

SHBoss1673

I went to a few cubes to check it out. It's not really for me as I design my own high intensity, multi-group musculature workouts that are extremely demanding (from what I saw at crossfit, my were about the same intensity, or maybe a touch worse) but then again I was a college athlete so for me crossfit is, intensity wise, similar to a football practice (pre-season) or a rugby practice (mid-season), so it just seems normal to me. I can see how someone who's not used to pushing their body to it's limits would be terrified by this type of workout and maybe quit after one or two sessions.

The only concern I have is the same concern the author of the article has, the possibility for injury. Even in rugby we never did things fullspeed without first practicing them multiple times at half speed, usually you'll be fine, but it only takes that one overbalanced move, or jerky muscle movement to tear something or break something, and then you're screwed for months.

SHBoss1673

This guy really knows his stuff. I respect him about as much as anyone in the fitness industry. You can take what he says to the bank. When you think of an expert in the Fitness industry, think of this guy.

http://www.acefitness.org/certifiednewsarticle/962/crossfit-is-the-gain-worth-the-pain-ace-experts

I ended up attending two workshops that Fabio taught a few weeks ago at Club Industry in Chicago. Didn't know him before those sessions, but I definitely agree with you. Great presenter and is current with the research--although I couldn't get used to seeing him as a "Fabio" after he started talking, because he has a definite Scottish-type accent. It was disconcerting.

Anyhow, the tone of this article is very much his style. At first I thought it was going to be a paen to Crossfit, which would have been odd, because we sat and talked for quite awhile after his presentation and he was very up front with his criticisms and reservations. But I read through the whole thing and it was exactly the same balanced viewpoint I heard in person.

Definitely one of the good guys.

now I'm jealous, I've never had a chance to meet him, read a bunch of his articles though, he's pretty bright .

Azdak

This guy really knows his stuff. I respect him about as much as anyone in the fitness industry. You can take what he says to the bank. When you think of an expert in the Fitness industry, think of this guy.

http://www.acefitness.org/certifiednewsarticle/962/crossfit-is-the-gain-worth-the-pain-ace-experts

I ended up attending two workshops that Fabio taught a few weeks ago at Club Industry in Chicago. Didn't know him before those sessions, but I definitely agree with you. Great presenter and is current with the research--although I couldn't get used to seeing him as a "Fabio" after he started talking, because he has a definite Scottish-type accent. It was disconcerting.

Anyhow, the tone of this article is very much his style. At first I thought it was going to be a paen to Crossfit, which would have been odd, because we sat and talked for quite awhile after his presentation and he was very up front with his criticisms and reservations. But I read through the whole thing and it was exactly the same balanced viewpoint I heard in person.

Definitely one of the good guys.

now I'm jealous, I've never had a chance to meet him, read a bunch of his articles though, he's pretty bright .

Come to Chicago next October--I'm sure he'll be back.....

He was actually singing the praises of long,slow endurance training--basically saying that it provided virtually all of the benefits of HIIT, and while it took a little longer, adherence was much more likely. He went a smidge farther in that direction than I would, but it was nice to hear someone of his stature providing some sensible counterbalance to the current HIIT mania.

He was also highly critical and dismissive of people like the Crossfit folks who are touting the "tabata" model for routines and modalities that have no relationship to the Tabata experimental studies at all. (You alluded to something similar in a previous comment when you mentioned that you try to do the actual Tabata protocol the way it was done in the study; although you didn't elaborate, I caught the reference right away).

I'm sure he does a lot of things for ACE--hopefully you will get a chance to catch one of his "shows" someday.

Azdak

I went to a few cubes to check it out. It's not really for me as I design my own high intensity, multi-group musculature workouts that are extremely demanding (from what I saw at crossfit, my were about the same intensity, or maybe a touch worse) but then again I was a college athlete so for me crossfit is, intensity wise, similar to a football practice (pre-season) or a rugby practice (mid-season), so it just seems normal to me. I can see how someone who's not used to pushing their body to it's limits would be terrified by this type of workout and maybe quit after one or two sessions.

The only concern I have is the same concern the author of the article has, the possibility for injury. Even in rugby we never did things fullspeed without first practicing them multiple times at half speed, usually you'll be fine, but it only takes that one overbalanced move, or jerky muscle movement to tear something or break something, and then you're screwed for months.

I feel the same way. I like to look at some of the videos and get some exercise ideas (esp the "fight gone bad" one) and I think a lot of it is fun. But, I just can't go along with all of the other stuff that comes with it--I know some of the "reasoning" is just plain goofy and I have never liked herds. But I also feel similarly about things like Pilates and yoga, so I don't mean to single out crossfit and I know it can feel exhilarating and empowering to a lot of people.

whyflysouth

That IS a really well written and thoughtful article there. I'm no fitness professional but I'm also a person who likes to play it safe and read up and be as certain as I can when it comes to getting in shape for the long haul and I'm not so much in a rush to pick one extreme fitness/diet ideology over another. I expect nothing to be 100% bad and nothing to be 100% good and perfect and I like how well he was able to break down the problems with CrossFit.

I've never done it, but I've seen the videos and I really like the idea of working with a group but doing more than just straight-up cardio. Seems that the whole "circuit" training / HIIT thing has really taken over and traditionally for me I like to catch my breath when weight-training alone, don't really want to push myself to move from bench to squat to rows to I don't know what without taking a break... but if there's a group involved and some competition, that adds so much more motivation and would allow me to really push myself.

But I've been concerned about injury also as I see on the videos people look like either they're taking on too much weight or swinging around to such an extent that it's questionable whether they're exercise is actually focussed on the target muscle group. If they'd slow it down just a bit I think it would be better, but I guess the endurance and stamina parts of it are more important to the program.

Btw, I loved how he spoke about the diet and protein concentrations. Way too much talk has been centered on eating 1.5 x body mass for protein when seriously lifting and idk it seems insanely high - probably pushed by the supplement industry. I'm glad he mentioned that 40% carbs isn't enough for someone who's working out at such intensity. Maybe a sedentary overweight or obese person can be ok on a high protein (no carb) diet but it just seems like another extreme people have taken things when the healthy bmi range person who wants to do HIIT, look like an underwear model, and maybe lose at most 10-15 lbs of fat gets obsessed with not touching a slice of bread.

douganl

I belong to a Crossfit Affiliate named "Outlaw Crossfit" - it is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!

SHBoss1673

This guy really knows his stuff. I respect him about as much as anyone in the fitness industry. You can take what he says to the bank. When you think of an expert in the Fitness industry, think of this guy.

http://www.acefitness.org/certifiednewsarticle/962/crossfit-is-the-gain-worth-the-pain-ace-experts

I ended up attending two workshops that Fabio taught a few weeks ago at Club Industry in Chicago. Didn't know him before those sessions, but I definitely agree with you. Great presenter and is current with the research--although I couldn't get used to seeing him as a "Fabio" after he started talking, because he has a definite Scottish-type accent. It was disconcerting.

Anyhow, the tone of this article is very much his style. At first I thought it was going to be a paen to Crossfit, which would have been odd, because we sat and talked for quite awhile after his presentation and he was very up front with his criticisms and reservations. But I read through the whole thing and it was exactly the same balanced viewpoint I heard in person.

Definitely one of the good guys.

now I'm jealous, I've never had a chance to meet him, read a bunch of his articles though, he's pretty bright .

Come to Chicago next October--I'm sure he'll be back.....

He was actually singing the praises of long,slow endurance training--basically saying that it provided virtually all of the benefits of HIIT, and while it took a little longer, adherence was much more likely. He went a smidge farther in that direction than I would, but it was nice to hear someone of his stature providing some sensible counterbalance to the current HIIT mania.

He was also highly critical and dismissive of people like the Crossfit folks who are touting the "tabata" model for routines and modalities that have no relationship to the Tabata experimental studies at all. (You alluded to something similar in a previous comment when you mentioned that you try to do the actual Tabata protocol the way it was done in the study; although you didn't elaborate, I caught the reference right away).

I'm sure he does a lot of things for ACE--hopefully you will get a chance to catch one of his "shows" someday.

yeah, I'm not a huge fan of bastardized tabata training. The modality was very specific, and for very specific purposes. And those purposes weren't for calorie burn, they were for maximizing performance gains for short periods for experienced athletes. And while the protocol should work for anyone, they won't offer results outside the scope of the study, or at least there's no proof that they will.

Don't get me wrong, I like the concept of HIIT training, but not as a solitary means for exercise. I myself do long, medium intensity runs about twice a week, I find it to be a great way to keep the body off balance, mixed with some HIIT to keep the muscles guessing and with traditional resistance, it can be a great way to keep your overall functional strength high.

kplima

I've been going to Crossfit for about 5 months now - 4-5x/week and I love it. It may depend on the Crossfit gym, but at mine, they are sticklers for a good warm up and sticking with good form. I've never felt better. In fact, my aches and pains I used to get from sitting at my desk all day or riding a bike are gone.

As far as a competitive nature, it's competitive - but in a friendly, good way. I've never been more encouraged by people I just met then at Crossfit. It's incredibly supportive. I have to admit, I'm addicted.

run2jeepn

I went to a few cubes to check it out. It's not really for me as I design my own high intensity, multi-group musculature workouts that are extremely demanding (from what I saw at crossfit, my were about the same intensity, or maybe a touch worse) but then again I was a college athlete so for me crossfit is, intensity wise, similar to a football practice (pre-season) or a rugby practice (mid-season), so it just seems normal to me. I can see how someone who's not used to pushing their body to it's limits would be terrified by this type of workout and maybe quit after one or two sessions.

The only concern I have is the same concern the author of the article has, the possibility for injury. Even in rugby we never did things fullspeed without first practicing them multiple times at half speed, usually you'll be fine, but it only takes that one overbalanced move, or jerky muscle movement to tear something or break something, and then you're screwed for months.

I agree totally with this.