Anyone into CrossFit?

Phrakman

I 'm glad the gym I belong to doesn't have the kind of cult mentality that many Crossfit boxes seem to have. Every pro-Crossfit post I read on here makes me even more convinced that Crossfit a good organization to stay away from!

I guess it makes some people feel important to be able to tell all their pals they do Crossfit, but it doesn't matter now many "benefits" that grueling exercise program has when people are so sore they can barely move after a workout and the injury rate is much higher than what you would encounter in more reasonable exercise programs.

Hopefully, the Crossfit fad will soon fade out and more reasonable exercise programs will become just as popular.

Hmm some people enjoy actually testing the limits of their bodies. But you can stick to your water aerobics and low impact cardio if you chose. Good luck with your goals in 2013.

Health_Gal

Hmm some people enjoy actually testing the limits of their bodies. But you can stick to your water aerobics and low impact cardio if you chose. Good luck with your goals in 2013.

Actually, I do a boot camp class 3 times a week, an indoor cardio cycling class, and some other activities -- including outdoor running. I am not overweight, and just want to stay fit and healthy -- but not push things to the point where I am risking injury or feeling too sore to function.

Xfit_4me

I'm 36 and not what you would call "in-shape". My husband and I joined Crossfit in January and we LOVE it!! Sorry to hear that some of you out there had bad experiences with it. But our group is a very diverse crowd with kids in high-school up to 60-65 years old. There are men, women, fit and un-fit, obese, overweight, ideal weight. But everyone has the same goal - to get fit in a supportive community. There are some who have to modify everything and some who don't modify anything. We all complete the WODs together, support each other, and everyone gets a great workout.

Our gym has on-ramp classes that last 4 weeks, teach you proper form, find your baseline, discuss proper nutrition and more for $75. Then you pay as you go per month - no contracts, no pressure. It is more expensive than the Y or other gyms - but I get a nutritionist, personal trainer, and a workout all tailored to me and my own goals all in a supportive community, so for me and my husband it's worth it.

I had a full knee replacement two years ago and bad arthritis in my wrists. So there are some exercises I have to modify, or my coach will give me a different exercise to do.

Crossfit isn't for everyone, but I'm not sure there is an exercise routine out there that is for everyone.

So, if you crossfit and would like support from a fellow crossfitter - feel free to add me.

RimRK

The OP sorta got hijacked here eh? Keep on doing what your doing babe! You've done it before you'll do it again.

AS for the CrossFit "fad"
I've been Crossfitting for the last four weeks, 6 days a week.
I love walking around knowing I can deadlift/squat someones weight
I also love that my CF classes are capped at 7 with two coaches making sure every move is perfect
I love that every week you discover something that your body can do that you never thought possible
I love that both girls and guys at our box chirp, hustle, and cheer for you as if you won the lottery with every improvement.
I love that we spend our time laughing, lifting heavy things, pushing ourselves and having fun all at 6 am in the morning.
Call it what you will, a cult, a fad, a craze. It makes me pretty damn happy.
As for intensity, it's what you put in, but I can tell you that my hockey off ice workouts previously hurt more on certain days.

Stay awesome
Rim

AmyRhubarb

Thread title: Anyone into CrossFit?

Every other post in this thread: from someone who is clearly NOT into CrossFit, and feels the need to say so and why in every other freaking post!

We get it, you're anti-CrossFit - move along, change the record, whatever. You've made your point.

I think it looks like a blast and would love to try it someday, but I don't have the funds for it (or any gym membership for that matter) at the moment. I have several friends who teach/work at CrossFit gyms (or is it a box?) - they are all professionals who don't push people to the point of injury etc - I've seen nothing but praise from their clients.

I'm sure it varies from place to place, just like any gym and their employees and tactics can vary - I've seen plenty of horror stories posted about bad gym and personal trainer experiences here.

RobfromLakewood

You're an idiot.

I have been to three different CrossFit gyms in the past two years and I have never been pressured into any specific diet, to buy anything, or to do anything so EXTREME that I wasn't comfortable doing it.

I run half marathons too and I lift heavy things, but you hate all those things too, right? I guess my volleyball and basketball coaches in high school were evil too since I could rarely walk or even get out of bed after most practices.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I did write a post in kind, but thinking it over, I realize, why be like you. You can't disagree without being insulting? What a difficult time people must have dealing with you. But of course, looking at what else you wrote, I am sure you consider it all their fault.

shutupandlift13

You're an idiot.

I have been to three different CrossFit gyms in the past two years and I have never been pressured into any specific diet, to buy anything, or to do anything so EXTREME that I wasn't comfortable doing it.

I run half marathons too and I lift heavy things, but you hate all those things too, right? I guess my volleyball and basketball coaches in high school were evil too since I could rarely walk or even get out of bed after most practices.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I did write a post in kind, but thinking it over, I realize, why be like you. You can't disagree without being insulting? What a difficult time people must have dealing with you. But of course, looking at what else you wrote, I am sure you consider it all their fault.

I apologize that I finally got fed up after seeing this same user hi-jack every heavy lifting or CrossFit thread that comes around.

And I really don't think people have a hard time dealing with me, but I'm probably just delusional. :drinker:

CorvusCorax77

Health_gal, seriously, drop it already... we get the idea, you don't like anything that pushes your body too hard or even makes you uncomfortable...

OP, check out the CrossFit Love group on here, lots of good folks in there.

I think its fine that Healthy_gal wants to put out there that she thinks its a gimmick and doesn't care for it....but seriously no need to go on and on. OP has already said she is into crossfit- and it's not like it's some crazy ED thread, or promoting starvation or diet pills.

I want to give my two cents on crossfit now, but i feel like i forgot what the heck this thread was about in the first place... so sorry OP if anything I say here is totally useless.


I do crossfit exercises and I love them. I never joined a crossfit gym. I do them on my own as part of my powerlifting routine. I like the exercises. Bear complex is fun. 20/20/20 is fun. I think they burn fat and are not dangerous, at least the ones I do and how I do them, since I'm all about form.

as for calories, i'm sure it burns a lot, but i don't log exercise cals. I eat based on TDEE. It really eliminates the problem of trying to guess how many calaories you burned. You just eat TDEE -500cals (or 20%), hit those macros and work out like a beast.

Also, intensity is the key to success if you want to become an elite athlete. HIIT, Bear complex, heavy lifting, and hitting those macros. Of course, if you just want to be a healthy weight, I don't think you have to do these things so intensely. You can just track calories and not be obese. You can do steady state cardio and benefit from that. It's about what you want, what you can do, and what you can do properly without damaging your body. For me, that's lifting heavy, doing crossfit exercises, and running intervals. For OP it may be crossfit with no heavy lifting. For healthy-girl it may be steady state cardio. It's ok for people to be different in their goals and approach.

stormsusmc

No..friends are...and its hilarious. Improper form for most of the lifts and kipping pull up...come on.

Otherwise, sure you're moving and working out all different muscles. I'd rather swim for cardio and work just about every muscle in my body and doesn't take such a large toll on joint and lift heavy 4 times a week...Just my opinion...

CorvusCorax77

Oh! Here was OP's question:

"Wondering if there are any other CrossFit enthusiasts out there? "

Answer: I'm not super crazy cross fit enthusiast as in I Have never joined a crossfit gym. On the other hand, i totally look up the crossfit WOD's and do them on my own. I even want to design one that will be named after me so people will say my name when they are all sweaty and sore and curse my name and love my name at the same time

CorvusCorax77

... Improper form for most of the lifts and kipping pull up...come on....

I edited this comment to show the part I want to respond to.

I have seen videos on youtube of some crossfit gyms and this *is* something I find concerning. Proper form is really important or else you will be injured. I saw this video of some crossfit gym where they were encouraging young teen girls to do crazy lifts with 125#, but the girls' form was all sketchy and the coach was cheering them on. That's bad badness. But as i said in my earlier post, I use proper form. I use what i have learned from powerlifting and incorporate that into my crossfit exercises. I mean, really, what is Bear Complex? It's 5x7 of the following lifts done in succession non-stop:

power clean (or DL and hanging clean)
squat
push press
squat
push press

It's not some big new copyright invention. But you tell some 11 year old scrawn girl to power clean 125# and cheer her on while she does crappy dead lift after dead lift, you are not a good coach.

But I want to assume this is an aberration from the normal Crossfit Gym standard. Maybe I'm wrong.

shutupandlift13

... Improper form for most of the lifts and kipping pull up...come on....

I edited this comment to show the part I want to respond to.

I have seen videos on youtube of some crossfit gyms and this *is* something I find concerning. Proper form is really important or else you will be injured. I saw this video of some crossfit gym where they were encouraging young teen girls to do crazy lifts with 125#, but the girls' form was all sketchy and the coach was cheering them on. That's bad badness. But as i said in my earlier post, I use proper form. I use what i have learned from powerlifting and incorporate that into my crossfit exercises. I mean, really, what is Bear Complex? It's 5x7 of the following lifts done in succession non-stop:

power clean (or DL and hanging clean)
squat
push press
squat
push press

It's not some big new copyright invention. But you tell some 11 year old scrawn girl to power clean 125# and cheer her on while she does crappy dead lift after dead lift, you are not a good coach.

But I want to assume this is an aberration from the normal Crossfit Gym standard. Maybe I'm wrong.

From my experience this is NOT the typical CrossFit gym standard. You can find all kinds of videos and pictures of people doing things with really poor form at any gym.

I always recommend people drop in at as many boxes in their area as they can to get a good representation of what's available and also to RESEARCH what proper form actually is for a lot of these complex lifts. If there is a gym available with coaches that have higher level certifications beyond the Level 1 cert or with an Olympic lifting cert that's probably the better route to take. Also, anyone could youtube a video of a lot of the lifts and realize when their coach is spouting nonsense.

kelr0110

... Improper form for most of the lifts and kipping pull up...come on....

I edited this comment to show the part I want to respond to.

I have seen videos on youtube of some crossfit gyms and this *is* something I find concerning. Proper form is really important or else you will be injured. I saw this video of some crossfit gym where they were encouraging young teen girls to do crazy lifts with 125#, but the girls' form was all sketchy and the coach was cheering them on. That's bad badness. But as i said in my earlier post, I use proper form. I use what i have learned from powerlifting and incorporate that into my crossfit exercises. I mean, really, what is Bear Complex? It's 5x7 of the following lifts done in succession non-stop:

power clean (or DL and hanging clean)
squat
push press
squat
push press

It's not some big new copyright invention. But you tell some 11 year old scrawn girl to power clean 125# and cheer her on while she does crappy dead lift after dead lift, you are not a good coach.

But I want to assume this is an aberration from the normal Crossfit Gym standard. Maybe I'm wrong.

From my experience this is NOT the typical CrossFit gym standard. You can find all kinds of videos and pictures of people doing things with really poor form at any gym.

I always recommend people drop in at as many boxes in their area as they can to get a good representation of what's available and also to RESEARCH what proper form actually is for a lot of these complex lifts. If there is a gym available with coaches that have higher level certifications beyond the Level 1 cert or with an Olympic lifting cert that's probably the better route to take. Also, anyone could youtube a video of a lot of the lifts and realize when their coach is spouting nonsense.

Agree - I mention a while back that our coach checks everyone's form with a couple sample reps and adjusts the weight accordingly before any WOD is started. If you're doing it wrong, he will correct you, reduce the weight, or have you do something else. If you haven't gone to Powerlifting class which is separate once a month, you're not allowed to do certain moves in certain WOD's (power cleans, snatches, etc etc). His certs are Olympic lifting and powerlifting.

As long as you research that they're not telling you a bunch of crap like shutupandlift just said, I think it's fantastic.

mostein

I have never done crossfit but I think everyone still needs to use common sense when starting a workout regime. Obviously if a person hasn't done much exercise they shouldn't just join crossfit or attempt to run a marathon. You work your way up until eventually you are fit enough and experienced enough to take on more difficult and complex workout programs. When I started taking tabata for example I thought I was going to puke 10 minutes into the class now I have moved on to something that is more challenging for me because my body adapted to the tabata and I am more fit and able to workout at a higher intensity. Jumping into programs that your body isn't ready for is probably what accounts for injuries as well as feeling overwhelmed and like you aren't good enough to be in the class.

T_R_A_V

I live and breath Crossfit....it is absolutely addicting and is just as safe in my opinion

Try it for yourself and you will become addicted

If you have questions ask away

Marianke

Agree. There is a lot of lifting in my cross fit work outs. I have build stamina and toned up.
But for cardio I recently added cross country skiing to the work out a few times a week. An hour up hill and down hill cross country skiing is a great cardio work out. What a burn, and I feel awesome afterwards. Considering our winter showed a little late in Alaska, and has come and gone (we got some great fresh powder lately), makes for a perfect additional work out. I do not resort to cross fit alone. But I do love it!
You do have to apply cross fit, where it fits best for you. That is why I started with a cross fit trainer, thank God for free, on base. A perk I enjoy as the spouse of a US Service Member.

difabu

"Anyone into CrossFit?"

Me! Just started my second week and I'm really enjoying it. I like the variety. I like the challenge. I would never craft workouts like this or complete them on my own. I love my trainer's careful instruction, spotting and coaching. I got a 30-day starter deal for me and a friend/co-worker but am 90% sure I'm going to continue afterwards. CrossFit is not for everyone (I actually talked another co-worker OUT of doing CrossFit), and that's alright. I'm not stupid; I'm not going to do anything reckless or dangerous. This particular Box is more friendly than competitive, at least at my time of day - 6 a.m. The evening classes seem more Type-A. I like that the WOD is scaled for us (we're both newbies: teachers in our 40s) and we're not expected to do crazy, unrealistic workouts with unbearable weight or speed. If some CrossFit Boxes are aggressive with the exercises and Paleo stuff, well that's them. As with anything in life, people and places vary. Humans are like that.

stormsusmc

I have never done crossfit but I think everyone still needs to use common sense when starting a workout regime. Obviously if a person hasn't done much exercise they shouldn't just join crossfit or attempt to run a marathon. You work your way up until eventually you are fit enough and experienced enough to take on more difficult and complex workout programs. When I started taking tabata for example I thought I was going to puke 10 minutes into the class now I have moved on to something that is more challenging for me because my body adapted to the tabata and I am more fit and able to workout at a higher intensity. Jumping into programs that your body isn't ready for is probably what accounts for injuries as well as feeling overwhelmed and like you aren't good enough to be in the class.

Tabata of any exercise...perfect sub for boring cardio

"Cardio..you mean lift weights faster?" ... love that saying lol


Nothing against Crossfit, I just think the community is hilarous. Not to mention yes there are a lot that injure themselves because of lack of knowledge, true with anything of course I suppose. Everyone has different goals, if you want to be ok at everything instead of great at something do crossfit.