Thoughts on crossfit?

I agree with niner. I tried cross fit too early. Then paid for it with an injury.

That’s a great goal to work towards. Just make sure you have achieved the fitness level needed first.

Enjoy

Your going to trigger folks by asking.

It’s a live wire discussion with people strongly for and against.

karenbeckwith5 wrote: »

A good CrossFit box with good coaches should be able to manage beginner lifters as well as those who are experinced making sure everyone is moving correctly. Me I LOVE CrossFit. Fully signed up member of the cult. I am a firm believer in anyone being able to do it and you can go and get good results in the hours group classes. For me CrossFit is about the community as well as the exercise. I have got a lot stronger and fitter and my mental game is also in a better place. Any good box will scale all workouts and make sure you and working within your limits, though they will push those limits and so they should to ensure progression. Also you should have a foundation course or a couple of ramp up sessions where you are taught all the lifts and standard movements. Go and see and try if you can. I say CrossFit can be done by everyone but it isn't for everyone.

I agree with this. I love Crossfit...but, I also started with a background in lifting.

Depending on the particular Crossfit gym, they might or might not have onboarding programs where they introduce you to the various lifts with proper form and technique (ESPECIALLY snatching). If the particular Crossfit gym you're looking at doesn't have this, you may want to seek out instruction elsewhere before starting Crossfit. If the instructors at the Crossfit gym are competent they will adjust the programming for you to make sure you learn to do the lifts properly before adding any significant weight.

With that in mind, here's a few things Crossfit will and will not do for you:

1. It WILL increase your aerobic capacity and endurance.

2. It WILL increase your explosiveness/make you quicker at a wide variety of movements.

3. It WILL work your entire body.

4. It WILL help you "tone up."

5. It WILL NOT make you a competition level weightlifter or endurance athlete. There's not enough of a focus on any one activity to make you truly great at any of them without extra work outside of Crossfit. Doing Crossfit improves your overall fitness in a variety of ways, but mostly it just makes you better at Crossfit.

CrossFit can be fun and make you excited to go to the gym every day. But it can also be pretty dumb and a disaster waiting to happen. Doing your homework and proceeding with care can avoid the latter.

I did CF years ago and tried a couple different boxes and this was pretty much my experience. The first box I tried was just a disaster waiting to happen...classes were too large for the number of coaches, everything was super high volume and pretty much nobody was keeping anything resembling good form for their movements and a couple of noobs ended up puking over in the corner of the gym due to working well beyond their current fitness levels and nobody stopping them.

The other box I tried was much better, but it ultimately wasn't my thing...I gave it a good go for a couple of months, but it just wasn't for me. My primary reason for trying it was that in high school I was a track and field sprinter and jumper and as part of my training I did quite a bit of Olympic lifting and wanted to get back into that. The particular box I went to did very little in the way of Olympic lifting in their standard WODs and what they did do was pretty much lighter weight and higher reps...they had a separate class that focused on Olympic lifting and other lifting on the weekends, but it was an additional fee on top of the already exorbitant fee to belong to the box and take the regular WOD classes 3x per week.

My fitness did improve measurably over those couple of months, but I always felt like things were just very random and I just really couldn't wrap my head around their being any real purpose other than to exercise for the sake of exercising and be really good at general exercising and a wide variety of movements. I suppose part of my issue could have been that growing up I was involved in a variety of athletics...mostly track and field as a sprinter and jumper, but I also did gymnastics, played football, wrestled, and was a swimmer for a couple seasons...I've always been more accustomed to my training being very purposeful in regards to what I was competing in.

My other issue was that I had to be their at a specific time which is true of any workout class...it was difficult because the early evening class was so close to quitting time at work that I would often barely make it in time with my commute and I always felt rushed and flustered when I got there...the alternative was a later evening class when I should really be at home with my wife and kids and having family time. It was also difficult and I had to miss classes when my schedule got wonky and I had to stay late at the office or something. Ultimately I needed/wanted for more flexibility...I like to go to the gym when I want to go to the gym and not be restricted to some specific hour block.

I certainly know people who love it, and the only way you're going to know is to try it. Personally, I just like to go into the gym and run my programs in the weight room when I want to and do a lot of endurance cycling.

cbohling1987 wrote: »

A guy at my gym has a shirt that says "World's Okayest Exerciser" which I feel like captures Crossfit pretty perfectly.

Haha someone at my box also has this shirt.

I would agree with saying that crossfit alone is not going to make you great at any one thing. However, it does focus more on functional movement, so you would likely find that things in everyday life might be easier. For example, I have someone at my new box who was sharing her story with me, and she used to use running as her primary form of exercise. Even though she could run for miles, she feels much better now doing crossfit, because things like carrying her kids up the stairs don't make her tired anymore.

Also, there seem to be a lot of people at my gym that put in extra work outside of crossfit as well. I know many of them train for half marathons, and others enjoy training for obstacle course races.

Regardless, choose a form of exercise you love and stick with it! And always listen to your body and trust it to tell you when you're working too hard or when it's time for rest.

MistressSara wrote: »

natruallycurious wrote: »

cbohling1987 wrote: »

A guy at my gym has a shirt that says "World's Okayest Exerciser" which I feel like captures Crossfit pretty perfectly.

Haha someone at my box also has this shirt.

I would agree with saying that crossfit alone is not going to make you great at any one thing. However, it does focus more on functional movement, so you would likely find that things in everyday life might be easier. For example, I have someone at my new box who was sharing her story with me, and she used to use running as her primary form of exercise. Even though she could run for miles, she feels much better now doing crossfit, because things like carrying her kids up the stairs don't make her tired anymore.

Also, there seem to be a lot of people at my gym that put in extra work outside of crossfit as well. I know many of them train for half marathons, and others enjoy training for obstacle course races.

Regardless, choose a form of exercise you love and stick with it! And always listen to your body and trust it to tell you when you're working too hard or when it's time for rest.

I agree with what you’re saying here but wanted to add-

I’ve wondered about this statement since that seems to be a major critique. Most people I know IRL and online are not looking to be sport specific in their training, but are looking to be healthy, physically fit (vague, I know), and to look good. Crossfit can do this.

Sport/art specific training is different and a good thing for many people. Lifting, dance, running, swimming. You want to be a top performer in those sports, you need to be dedicated to them.

But when I compare crossfit to other things people do to simply achieve health, fitness, pleasing aesthetics, I can make the same critiques. Lifting static weights only makes you better at picking up pieces of metal (or rubber) and putting them back down. An elliptical machine makes you better at a movement that doesn’t exist in the real world. Zumba makes you good at wiggling.

Crossfit is broad. So is life. It seems like a good thing.

I feel weird defending it like this because I’m not really a zealot and there are things I don’t like about it, but there it is.

I agree with you on things like zumba or the elliptical or most classes or boot camps, etc...basically exercise for the sake of exercise (and nothing wrong with that)...but lifting weights has a lot of practical translations to everyday life...I recently moved and had to do a lot of dead lifting of boxes and furniture...and in regards to sport specific training, I've done a lot of that and it always includes weight lifting because it makes you better at your sport. When I was a track and field sprinter and jumper, we did a lot of Olympic lifting because it helps develop strength and explosiveness. Lifting for sport specific training also helps to stave off injury.

I primarily cycle these days and like to do a few events every year...while I'm certainly not an elite level cyclist, I do like to do the best I can...much of my lifting is geared towards being better on the bike..more power in my legs, turning the pedals over faster, etc. It's also beneficial cross training.

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MistressSara wrote: »

cwolfman13 wrote: »

MistressSara wrote: »

natruallycurious wrote: »

cbohling1987 wrote: »

A guy at my gym has a shirt that says "World's Okayest Exerciser" which I feel like captures Crossfit pretty perfectly.

Haha someone at my box also has this shirt.

I would agree with saying that crossfit alone is not going to make you great at any one thing. However, it does focus more on functional movement, so you would likely find that things in everyday life might be easier. For example, I have someone at my new box who was sharing her story with me, and she used to use running as her primary form of exercise. Even though she could run for miles, she feels much better now doing crossfit, because things like carrying her kids up the stairs don't make her tired anymore.

Also, there seem to be a lot of people at my gym that put in extra work outside of crossfit as well. I know many of them train for half marathons, and others enjoy training for obstacle course races.

Regardless, choose a form of exercise you love and stick with it! And always listen to your body and trust it to tell you when you're working too hard or when it's time for rest.

I agree with what you’re saying here but wanted to add-

I’ve wondered about this statement since that seems to be a major critique. Most people I know IRL and online are not looking to be sport specific in their training, but are looking to be healthy, physically fit (vague, I know), and to look good. Crossfit can do this.

Sport/art specific training is different and a good thing for many people. Lifting, dance, running, swimming. You want to be a top performer in those sports, you need to be dedicated to them.

But when I compare crossfit to other things people do to simply achieve health, fitness, pleasing aesthetics, I can make the same critiques. Lifting static weights only makes you better at picking up pieces of metal (or rubber) and putting them back down. An elliptical machine makes you better at a movement that doesn’t exist in the real world. Zumba makes you good at wiggling.

Crossfit is broad. So is life. It seems like a good thing.

I feel weird defending it like this because I’m not really a zealot and there are things I don’t like about it, but there it is.

I agree with you on things like zumba or the elliptical or most classes or boot camps, etc...basically exercise for the sake of exercise...but lifting weights has a lot of practical translations to everyday life...I recently moved and had to do a lot of dead lifting of boxes and furniture...and in regards to sport specific training, I've done a lot of that and it always includes weight lifting because it makes you better at your sport. When I was a track and field sprinter and jumper, we did a lot of Olympic lifting because it helps develop strength and explosiveness. Lifting for sport specific training also helps to stave off injury.

I primarily cycle these days and like to do a few events every year...while I'm certainly not an elite level cyclist, I do like to do the best I can...much of my lifting is geared towards being better on the bike..more power in my legs, turning the pedals over faster, etc...

OK, I can see that.

ETA: to be clear, I don't have a problem with exercise for its own sake. I think it can be beneficial.

Yes, moving more is always beneficial...

I think a lot of people who critique thing like CF and other stuff for being random and whatnot are probably like me and have more of a background in sport specific training...one of the reasons I struggled early on was that much of my exercise was for the sake of exercise because I knew I needed to do it for my health...but I really had to will myself to do it because I was not accustomed to just randomly training...cycling saved me because I was at the point of just not wanting to do anything anymore because I was bored with it all...having events and the like to look forward to keeps me focused.

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PetiteHabanero wrote: »

Okiludy wrote: »

Your going to trigger folks by asking.

It’s a live wire discussion with people strongly for and against.

Haha I figured. But this girl did cross country running and totally plateaued. She started crossfit and barely ran and ended up beating all her PRs in cross country and placed in a 10k. I figure I can't knock it til I try it. And perosnally, I am for any form of exercise as long as it gets people moving.

You should totally try it...it's the only way to know.

IMO, CrossFit isn't great for a total beginner - not that they can't get through it with careful instruction, but I feel like the risk of injury is just too great with underdeveloped muscles, form, and a lack of muscle memory for basic activities.

For the OP, if the gym has good coaches that will work with you closely and the classes aren't huge and you can get help as you need it, and the coaches are checking on people regularly, then I say go for it. It can be a great workout, and really hit a wide variety of muscles and you can get a full workout in a relatively short time.

Even with CF strength and cardio should be rotated, but I feel like it's great for developing all of the supporting muscle groups a lot of "normal" routines tend to miss.

I'm having my trainer incorporate CF style training into my next workout plan as I know it will help kick my butt into shape.

The biggest issue I see with CF is people pushing too hard too fast in attempts to "keep up" with everyone else. If you can control that competitive nature, and listen to your body, give it a try and see what you think of it!

rybo wrote: »

I'm struggling to see why so many argue against it being for beginners. There's at least a good chance the beginner is going to get decent instruction and coaching, compared to stepping foot into a gym with no guidance whatsoever.

The second box I tried had a good ramp on and the classes were of a size that the coach's could give beginners the attention they needed and monitor/scale their workouts. The first box I tried felt like a free for all and was utterly insane...

I think a lot of people maybe had experiences like that of my first box which was not beginner friendly. There were quite a few beginners at my second box and they did fine...

This was back in 2012...not sure how much has changed.