CROSSFIT???

Is every session or time you go in a class? Or is it just a big, basic empty warehouse with a few basic items? I gather that you take a $100 introductory class.

OK I have to post a link to my FAVORITE youtube video ever

Crossfit Women
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufVcD2_2dXg

Here's an alternative viewpoint written by a friend of mine in the fitness industry who happens to be extremely bright.

http://www.ampedtraining.com/strength/functional-cross-training-vs-specific-training/

Here's an alternative viewpoint written by a friend of mine in the fitness industry who happens to be extremely bright.

http://www.ampedtraining.com/strength/functional-cross-training-vs-specific-training/

But the claim that "When you not only encourage bad form and injuries, but are proud of it, that’s when you’ve officially become a ****head." I am not sure where that happens, but it doesn't happen in my box, and doesn't seem to be happening based upon what I read on Crossfit affiliated websites like BrandX, or, even, crossfit.com. Of course, as the author states, you can't account for what every affiliate is doing.

As for crossfit...

It has really taken a beating the last couple of years as being retarded. And in many contexts, it's a deserving title. Why?

From their website....

"We’ve used our same routines for elderly individuals with heart disease and cage fighters one month out from televised bouts"

When I first read this I thought to myself, "This has to be a joke." I mean seriously. If they honestly believe an MMA fighter 4 weeks out from a fight should be on the same program as an elderly individual with heart disease they are out of their minds and have no understanding whatsoever about how the human body works.

It is fundamentally flawed thinking to believe that having no structure to a program means it produces general results and this is better than specific. Doing everything at random doesn't mean you develop all sorts of different things optimally - this is simply not how the human body adapts to stress. There is no such thing as a jack of all trades physiologically speaking, an elite marathon runner will never be an elite powerlifter and vice versa.

Throwing a bunch of methods together at random doesn't mean the body gets better at everything and there are much better ways of progressively developing "general" fitness that will improve health than their haphazard approach.

Now many setups operate like this; Curves, BodyPump, etc, etc. And I don't generally agree with any of these blanket approaches either. That said, Crossfit's offense in this regard is grander given the intensity at which most crossfit programs are operating at and the movements involved. Due to the skill set required to do the movements typical of a crossfit workout proficiently and intensely, applying guidelines without proper screening, individualization, and specificity is not only absurd... it's also dangerous.

In a sense the lifts they do probably offer more benefit than the standard gym approach when done correctly. Then again performing heavy explosive lifts and training completely randomly without being physically prepared to do the things is a recipe for disaster in the long run. Taking a bunch of people, most of whom have little to no background in training outside of general health and fitness routines, and throwing them into an intense program of explosive and heavy lifts without any preparation work is one of the dumbest things you could possibly do.

It's one of the fastest growing segments of the fitness industry. Chains are popping up everywhere and people are buying into it like the gold rush. Invariably when such trends exist, you're going to see the sycophants come out to aggrandize popularity and belief.

I'll say someday I'd like if my gym looks like your typical crossfit gym. They have all the "right tools." It's the application of said tools that often leads me to cringe anytime I see a crossfit video on the net. That's sort of general though and I know for a fact there are "coaches" out there that apply crossfit-like programs in logical, safe, specific and productive ways.

Matt Perryman and I were actually just talking about this on another forum last week, actually. He's about the king of haters when it comes to fads in the fitness industry. And he's looking to open a gym soon and it will resemble a crossfit set up. But there's one glaringly obvious difference between what his gym will be and what most typical crossfit gyms are - the coach who's applying programs.

I do crossfit-esque stuff with many of my clients, even.

Unfortunately, crossfit gyms are run by crossfit certified coaches. Guess what it takes to call yourself that? About a grand and a few days. Gee willy... as if the barriers to entry in the fitness profession weren't terribly short already!

The point is, how it's popularly applied is garbage more than it's not. As with any other method of training, there are pros and cons. When a good coach takes a crossfit-esque style of training and magnifies the pros and minimizes the cons, it can be a great set up. Unfortunately, that's not what happens at most crossfit facilities.

Probably more than you wanted to hear, but I've been thinking about crossfit quite a bit lately so it was fresh on my mind.

Tell your friend she's free to sign up here and bounce whatever questions or ideas she might have off me.

I didn't see where anyone said anything about forcing people into trying it.

That's not the point, at all.

And "packaged" workout ideas like this get buried in zealotry not b/c they work - but because of a lot of fancy marketing and folks who think uncritically.

If you enjoy it and if you've been successful with it, that's great. I'm happy for you. The point, however, of communities such as this is so all sides of a question/debate/discussion can be presented and hashed out. This way uninformed people can make better informed decisions.

And the point remains, a lot of the ideas espoused by CF don't make a whole heck of a lot of sense. That doesn't mean people can't improve their fitness following such programs. It simply means they're not very grounded in scientific rational, which most aren't going to care about anyhow. The same can be said for p90x and their muscle confusion principle.

And in an already very battered field (fitness), the last thing we need is a wildly popular fad pumping out so-called CF professionals by having guys pay a grand and go to a 3 day seminar. We already have enough so-called "professionals" bringing down the state of this industry.

Different perspectives, is all. I make my living in this field. You view it as just another workout choice. No fault to either perspective. But it's obvious how we're going to see things a bit differently.

Best to you.