Crossfit...Yay or Nay?

I am debating jumping on this Crossfit craze, i hear great things and bad things. Has anyone tried it? Did you like it? Was it for all fitness levels?

It's like anything, it has it's good and bad points. The good is obvious. The bad is that often coaches don't teach good form or even bad form is encouraged (i.e. with "pull-ups"). The other bad is that you're often doing technical lifts in an exhausted state which can be a recipe for injury.

I just went to an intro, and I really liked it because the coaches pushed me harder than I push myself, so it was like cheaper personal training. It is for all fitness levels, except if you aren't willing to push yourself to your limit. In the intro class, there was one woman who stopped early because she said she couldn't do it. I believe, however, that that is utter poppycock and that she could have completed it by just going her pace and finishing. I felt like I was going to puke at the end because I had pushed myself as hard as I could... which is, I think, the point. No matter what your abilities, you're just supposed to do the best you can.

I agree with what Nick said about the pros and cons. I'm going to do a month trial and see if I'm interested in continuing or not.

Crossfit is rather expensive. Most gyms cost over $150 a month! However, many people find the camaraderie of working out in a group very helpful. Also, the workouts are timed and/or measured. It pushes you a little harder (perhaps) and makes it easy to know when you are making progress.

I love it - why not try a few sessions? I am sure there are places that would offer you a trial so you could participate where able and get a feel of what it's about. There are plenty of Crossfit haters on here, many I'm sure have never tried it.

I did it for about four months a couple of years ago and you really have to give it a try to determine whether it's right for you.

What I liked about CrossFit is that no matter how great of shape you are in you will end every work out feeling completely "wrecked". All the work-outs are timed so you will be pushing for a better time or to do a higher number of reps. The work-outs are also really short so from a time stand-point you certainly maximize your work-out. Plus all of the people that I met doing it were really supportive and very cool.

The thing to bear in mind, however, is that CrossFit is heavily based on doing Olympic Lifts and you have to be extremely careful when it comes to form. And if you get carried away, no matter how good your instructors are, there is a strong chance of injury. I herniated my disc doing it, which is why I stopped, but even before this happened to me I met several people who were "returning after an injury" at the "box" where I was working out.

CrossFit will certainly get you in shape, make you able to handle almost any physical challenge, and connect you with some great people but if your goal is to just "look good naked", and feel good, there are many "roads to Rome", as they say, that are not quite as intense.

Olympic lifts done for high reps for time. Many other nonsensical and dangerous exercises.

Nay. The end.

Basically a metabolic conditioniong workout in a group setting. It will depending largely on the instructors. More or less anyone can become certified. There are lots of horror stories (and videos) of the people lifting with criminally bad form and the instructors rooting them on. On the other hand, there are also plenty of stories of people who have had outstanding experiences with great instructors.