CrossFit
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Poor form is never celebrated.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne5FGRvP5Is
Forward to 4:41 where Dave Castro, one of the main employees of Crossfit, does a horrendous 20 second attempt at a deadlift that is way too heavy....then is congratulated by Dave Lipson, another main employee of Crossfit, for his effort. Not once did the two Crossfit "trainers" step in in reference to his form. In fact, Dave Lipson, right after that, does a horrible jerky version of a deadlift and is celebrated for it.
Also from an article written by someone who attended the Level 1 Certification class:I arrived for the second and final day still smarting from my failed Fran experience, but also a little confused. The instructors had painstakingly taught correct technique, yet during Fran, some of the form I saw on the thrusters was pretty ugly. Why weren't the instructors calling this out?
As luck would have it, the first order of business was to discuss strength vs. technique. Pat Sherwood, our instructor, began with a CrossFit riddle:
If an athlete gets pinned under 225 pounds in the bench press, but three months later can successfully press 225, did he get stronger?
Collective nods.
If the same athlete fails at performing a muscle-up (an extended pull-up in which you finish with your arms straight), and three months later is successful, did he get stronger?
A few head nods, but also some disagreement. I joined the dissenters. "That could be just improved technique, through practice and repetition," I said.
According to CrossFit, I was wrong. "The athlete is stronger because in CrossFit, strength is the productive application of force," Sherwood explained.
Technique be damned?
"Unsafe is unacceptable," Sherwood said. "But perfect form is also unacceptable. What we look for is CrossFit slop."
If you're doing a high-rep, high-effort set of cleans, and your back starts to round, that's unsafe and therefore unacceptable. But if you're doing that same set of cleans with textbook-perfect form on every rep, that's also unacceptable. You've either chosen too light a weight, or you're not working hard enough.
The sloppy ideal is a small breakdown in technical form, maybe 20 percent off from perfect. In CrossFit, that's the optimal balance of effort and safety. "That's where the intensity is," Sherwood said.
I got it, but I wasn't buying it. Other coaches I've worked with were sticklers for impeccable form. Hell, Poliquin would stop a set for a breach of tempo, even if my form was perfect. He'd **** hypertrophied bricks if a client's form strayed 20 percent from the ideal on an Olympic lift.
To my mind, lifting is a learned endeavor. You practice perfect form over and over until it becomes second nature. That's especially true for Olympic lifting. How can you get good at an exercise if you force yourself to keep a set going past the point of technical breakdown? Aren't you just creating poor muscle-recruitment patterns that compete with the correct patterns?
"Technique only has to be good enough to increase the intensity," Sherwood answered. "The goal is never perfect form. Remember, it's the speed of the set that is the goal."
http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_investigative/crossed_up_by_crossfit0 -
Nobody thinks the movements are unique to Crossfit.
How could anyone think a pushup or pullup is new? The problems occur when people think they can jump straight in to performing a 'Snatch' with perfectly correct form after a half hours practice. Some of the lifting moves can take a year to learn correctly....until that time, you lift light.
Let's face it, it's the powerlifting / olympic lifting that people baulk at.
Why not vet the coach first and see what their background is before diving in? If they simply have a level 1 cert, then perhaps walk away. If they're a powerlifting personal trainer as well as a box owner, then perhaps you might be onto a winner.
The point is -- problems that cause injuries occur at Crossfit on a very frequent basis.
It is NOT a rare thing for trainers to allow or even encourage Crossfit participants to over-do it in workouts, especially after they complete the onramp. intro classes.
There is nothing special enough about Crossfit to make worth the outrageous prices. Crossfit can be, and often is, extreme, elitist and cultish, so why spend your time and money with them unlesss that kind of an atmosphere is really what you want?0 -
Like I said originally, it's Marmite. You either love it or hate it.
Personally, my Crossfit box / gym is cheaper than the globo gym I used to belong to.
Yes it can be extreme but there's absolutely no elitism...I cant deny it does seem a little cultish at times, along the same lines as Apple...but overall it's fun. It's constantly varied so you don't fall into boring routine and makes fitness into a sport (do I work for Reebok?)
Vet your coach. I like the idea of a massively cheap, by comparison, personal trainer with me every time I train.0 -
If you haven't tried it the value of your opinion drops considerably. As far as poor form, varies by box. I recommend researching local CrossFit affiliates if you have the luxury of having multiple ones in the area. Most coaches have a background in more than just the Level 1 cert. A lot of them have been doing competition lifting and were collegiate athletes. We even have a coach that was a yoga instructor for 15 years before starting CrossFit so she incorporates a lot of yoga into our warm ups.
All the injuries that I have seen members of my gym have were all from things outside of CrossFit; recreational skiing, hiking, backpacking, running, etc. People get hurt running marathons, people get hurt running triathlons, I've heard MFP pals claim they were injured after doing things like Zumba, heck, I got injured doing P90X. Just part of the deal. You have to listen to your body and until you can do that you have a high risk of injury. Do my coaches push me past what I think my limits are? Yes, because they understand that half the issue is mental. If I don't want to go for it, I don't have to. No one is holding a gun to my head forcing me to add 10lbs to my max.
Not only am I basically getting a personal trainer three times a week for $155 a month, I am getting a community of driven people which has been hard to find since moving 1500 miles from my hometown, I am getting many valuable nutrition seminars (non of them campaigning for Paleo like everyone assumes all CrossFit affiliates force you into), and also some important seminars on goal setting and learning how to healthily push yourself during your workouts.
If you don't like, don't do it. If you like it, then go for it.0 -
It's fine to get kids exercising at a young age - just don't get them involved in the Crossfit Cult.
Rachel?
Haha, good to see someone else has thought of this too.0 -
i'd ignore health_gal if i were you. about 75% of what she posts is negative, and generally advocates against women lifting and crossfit in general.
I'm so tired of seeing her copy and pastes. over itttt CF for lifeee ha0 -
I don't have time to argue with people who have never tried CF for themselves, never experienced the community and take what the NY Times says as gospel (cause we all know they are the pinnacle of responsible journalism (blech)). What I will say is that I have done CF at a number of different gyms for the past 4 years. I started CF on my own, with a friend at a weight of 317#...since then I have lost 140#, gained massive amounts of strength and reduced injuries that had been plaguing me for years. I can't imagine I would have had the same results any other way, I might have, but this is what worked for me. The best part is the community, while some may call it cultlike, if you can keep a good sense of humor and not lose yourself in the idiosyncracies of it all then you will find some of the best people in a CF gym. How many times have you been working through a tough set of bicep curls at your local gym and had 20 people cheering you on lik you were a freaking olympian? Probaby never. But at a CF gym no matter who you are, where you are from, your body shape, how much you can lift, how fast you are etc, you are always being cheered on and supported. Yes there are bad gyms out there, there are bad trainers out there, the certification program leaves much to be desired, however they are working on improving it. Some fo the best and brightest in the sports, powerlifting, oly lifting, nutrition indudustry are associated with crossfit or have been associated with CF. The main thing is, don't take someone elses word for it...just check it out, see if you like it. Take is slow at first, listen to your body, learn as much as you can on your own about lifts and movements. If you want to be a brain surgeon you read about the brain right, if you want to be an oly lifter or crossfitter, you need to read about health and fitness and lifting. Educate yourself, try it out and it may or may not be for you. But it might at least put you in the right direction, anything to get the body moving is beneficial, just take the time to learn and rest and you will be A OK
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P.S. for those of you that said you havnt seen a CF gym cost less than 100$ a month, the first one I belonged to cost 60$ a month unlimited and the one I belong to now costs 75$ a month for 5x per week. If you live in an area with multiple gyms they might offer more competitive rates and I know alot of the CF gyms have groupons or stuff on living social that you can get discounts from. Just add up all the $$ you spend on fast food per month and put it toward your fitness 0
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Tried it. Coach gave 5 min of poor instruction before having students performing Olympic movements for time. Recipe for disaster IMHO0
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I have been to the box where that kids is pictured lifting! Wow, small world.0
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Here is my experience...
Got a Groupon for 15 Crossfit classes...I have had friends in various parts of the country do it for awhile now so I figured why not give it a chance....
Gym is a smaller outfit - with 3 coaches...they have Level 1 Level 2 and a barbell/strength class available - only 6 students per class...
warm up is about 5-8 minutes of mobility/warmup stretches, time is spent working on certain things depending on what the Workout of the Day (WOD) is - if squats are on the menu then we might spend some time doing gobble squats to open up our hips...if push presses are on the menu we might spend some time working with PVC or empty barbells to make sure everyone is getting the form right...
Only then do we add weights...everyone is different - in our gym everyone takes turn with thier reps so the coach can watch the form and make sure they are doing it right...
Our coach will suggest a weight based on your previous lifts (huge boards to record your weights at the gym) if you are new to that lift then you start low and work your way up for a few reps...
For rounds i.e. you might have a round that included 100 M row, 12 pull ups, 12 situps - as many rounds as possible in 10 minutes...you aren't competing against anyone else but yourself...you push as much as you can based on what you feel...
THAT BEING SAID - I happen to go to an awesome gym with GREAT coaches and the people who come are so nice and friendly and I have never once been made to feel like I am a failure or I need to do something at a higher weight than I feel comfortable with...the other day we did front squats and I suck at squats - rather than going up in weight I stayed the same weight for all my reps (4 rounds of 4 reps each) in order to work on my form and get it better...my coach would rather see less weight and proper form then simply trying to lift more with bad form...
I will say just like any other type of gym out there there is bound to be a bad apple or two...
If you have a chance to check it out and give it a try for a month at a lower rate I say got for it...I figured when I did the Groupon if I went a few times and decided it wasn't for me I wasn't out a lot of money...
I blasted through the classes in about 2 months time and I eagerly signed up for another 3 months...
Is it something for someone who is just beginning working out - probably not...I had been doing gym work and kickboxing for a year before I started
It is expensive - I won't deny it - but for me it is worth what i pay for it...and expense is relative...I choose to cut back in other areas of my life so I can afford to do things like this...
I do not recommend trying it on your own - you can go to the main crossfit site and get WOD's but unless you know the proper form it is best to have someone who knows what proper form is...for example I would feel fine going to my other gym and doing things like strict presses or deadlifts because my form is good for those (only can't drop the weights at my other gym and that is best part of deadlifts ) but I wouldn't ever attempt a back or front squat because I know my form needs work....
BTW - my kids have had to come with me to 2 of my classes and they are jealous - they want to lift bars over their heads and "play" around on the rings...0 -
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Crossfit workouts have caused much more injury and harm to participants than any good that could possibly ever come of it.
I hope the popularity of that Crossfit exercise cult soon drops to the point that no one will want to risk their health of pay outrageous prices to join their gyms. Any "good" Crossfit coaches could easily find employment with other gyms if the Crossfit boxes all went out of business.0 -
Like I said it all depends on the affiliate you go to...The one I go to is very straight forward and the coaches are fantastic...and they have turned away people because they do not think they are physically fit to even attempt to try and have told them - get in better shape and come back and see us again.
My workout on Monday was front squats with rounds of kettle bell swings...my workout tonight is deadlift followed by open work on the rings.
As for soreness - I am usually more sore from kickboxing then any crossfit workout I have done.
There are inherant problems...I won't deny that - someone who is only in it for money and will accept everyone regardless of thier physical fitness ability...People who push themselves against the advice of their coach...People who choose to lift or workout when they know their body isn't up to the task...
I personally think running is a big *kitten* sham...and people shouldn't run because of the risk of injuries over time...that is my personal opinion...because I have cut running out (except in small doses for HIIT workouts) as a possible exercise for myself I have found other things to round out my exercise routines...
No matter what you do there is a risk...heck I sprained my ankle and was down for 3 weeks doing a stupid Wii game...
It isn't for everyone - through it I have learned I really like lifting...will I continue with it for years - probably not but it has given me a variety in my workout that i need right now...
Unless you have a specific ways it has affected your life personally I would refrain from making judgements about it...0 -
Crossfit affected my life personally when some of my team mates were not able to run the half marathon due to Crossfit workout injuries.
We had all planned to do the half marathon together last fall, and were training together until part of the group made the mistake of joining Crossfit because someone convinced them that program would make them a better runner. Before long, they started calling in about being too sore to do the practice runs because they thought they just HAD to do the Crossfit workout or their Crossfit coach would yell at them. Then in the month before the race, two people on our running team got injured at Crossfit before the race and could not even run/walk it.0 -
Has anyone tried this at their local CrossFit gym? I have a great deal on a one month membership for unlimited classes, and it sounds/looks great but I wanted to hear about what to expect, results people have seen in a month's time with these classes, and any concern about injuries, etc.
I don't personally like it but I do respect those that really get into it because it's not easy.
Personally, if you're going to do it I would recommend finding out about all the exercises involved and just learn how to do them correctly first. Cross-fit involves lifts like the Power Snatch, Power Clean, Deadlift, Overhead Squat, etc which are all technical lifts, it's not just about pure strength, endurance, or even will power. The Power Snatch especially, in my opinion, is like 70% - 80% technique. Depending on how atheletic you are or aren't will determine how quickly you learn these.0 -
LMAO. I do think that allowing the participants and especially event competitors to do chin-ups like that is ridiculous.0 -
I think it's awful that people are letting their kids get involved in Crossfit. The YMCA is a much better enviornment for children.
It may be awful letting him go out the house with those pants on, but not getting into exercising at a young age
LOL.
That little dude in your pic has what, a 60lb snatch going on there? Not bad for a little guy. I'd rather have my kids doing that than sitting on their *kitten*.0 -
Crossfit affected my life personally when some of my team mates were not able to run the half marathon due to Crossfit workout injuries.
We had all planned to do the half marathon together last fall, and were training together until part of the group made the mistake of joining Crossfit because someone convinced them that program would make them a better runner. Before long, they started calling in about being too sore to do the practice runs because they thought they just HAD to do the Crossfit workout or their Crossfit coach would yell at them. Then in the month before the race, two people on our running team got injured at Crossfit before the race and could not even run/walk it.
Grown people worried about being yelled at by someone they pay...now that's just sad...I wouldn't put up with it...neither should they...we are grown-ups - no one is going to FORCE you to do something you don't want to do...
Heck yesterday in my Kickboxing class the intstructor decided to do burpees...I just looked at her and continued to do high knees with lunges...I don't do Burpees...if she wanted to yell at me she could...not going to affect me any...
maybe they were hurt because of running and sore because of running...I have a good friend who broke her tail bone and has had stress fractures in both feet because of running but she gets healed up and then goes out for more - I think she is nuts but that is what she likes- but I don't go on all the running topics and say "well my friend runs and her body has gotten all jacked up"0 -
I think it's awful that people are letting their kids get involved in Crossfit. The YMCA is a much better enviornment for children.
It may be awful letting him go out the house with those pants on, but not getting into exercising at a young age
LOL.
That little dude in your pic has what, a 60lb snatch going on there? Not bad for a little guy. I'd rather have my kids doing that than sitting on their *kitten*.
Our YMCA has weights...and they teach kids how to lift weights...ooooooohhhh no....I guess the YMCA is bad too now...0
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