Crossfit
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natruallycurious wrote: »jseams1234 wrote: »Give it a go - you won't know if it's a fit for you until you try.
You will certainly build some muscle with CrossFit. Will it be as much as a proper hypertrophy bodybuilding program? Nope, not even close.
You will certainly build some strength with CrossFit. Will it be as much as a proper stength based or Powerlifting program? Nope, not even close.
CrossFit is kinda like the jack-of-all-trades master of none type of activity. It's interesting, since I know several people who are very into CrossFit and have been regularly training for years. None of them is what I'd call heavily muscled - with clothes on you couldn't even tell they lifted... well, there *is* one dude who is pretty big... but he was a bodybuilder for years and went into CrossFit with a pretty impressive build to begin with.
They are all in great shape though and love their "boxes" and the social aspect of it. One of the guys though - was pretty skinny when he started and told me he was gong to get "jacked". Well, it's been two years and he's still nowhere close to that goal. CrossFit might not have been the best choice for him considering the outcome he wanted.
I agree with some of this, but not all. CrossFit definitely aims to not specialize. It's in the level one trainer's handbook that their specialty is not specializing. The goal is to build a solid foundation in all 10 fitness domains, not just a couple.
I also agree that you will not become as strong as a powerlifter, or as defined as a bodybuilder. However, a lot of that is genetics and steroids. Look at top level CrossFit atheletes. They definitely look like they lift, but they are putting in way more than one training session a day. For the average person attending a few classes a week, you aren't going to build a ton of muscle or get super strong. But you likely wouldn't on a dedicated strength or hypertrophy program either. Genetics plays a big part. I started CrossFit in January. I look like I've been lifting for years. It's my body type. My coach was a bodybuilder for nearly a decade before starting CrossFit. Looking at him, he looks like he's in shape, but he's not big at all, even though he spent years trying to get as big as possible (the clean way, no steroids).
Um.you do realize that more than likely all the top crossfit athletes have used steroids during training and are genetic freaks to boot. Every year a couple get busted at the games.
Not once has a crossfit athlete started ground up in crossfit and won the games. It's not how it works. They are trained freak athletes who came into CrossFit to compete and earn money.
Those who want to compete in crossfit, should definitely do crossfit training. Arguably there is more optimal ways to train and get stronger outside of crossfit. That being said if you want to do crossfit, have at it. Enjoy.
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I like that it's not the same thing each day. It's reminiscent of phys ed when I was a kid in school and I never knew what we'd be doing on any given day. The anticipation and surprise of it makes it more exciting to go to the gym for me, like each day is workout Christmas, woooooo! There are some workouts that I like less than others and I agree with naturallycurious that some can encourage rushing rather than proper form but it's still more engaging than endless cardio or a repetitive lifting program.0
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Genetics and drive and.....well, I'll just leave this here for discussion: https://www.t-nation.com/powerful-words/crossfit-and-steroidsThose top tier Crossfit competitive athletes were going to excel at whatever they happened to do - genetics and drive.
Indeed the daily training helps them greatly. Though as mentioned, if they didn't already have their abilities, like lifting, it would have taken longer merely using the program to reach some of the weights they are at.
But I'd bet someone doing a specific hype lifting 3 x weekly program would see faster results than cross-fit 3 x weekly - if muscle gain was their desired goal.
Starting from the same point in time.
And I'll add that top tier Crossfit athletes =/= Crossfit population in general. Just as IFBB pro bodybuilders =/= gym population in general.
Please...
What's with the link?
It's to an article from three years ago and it's written by a guy who has absolutely no evidence of what he claims except, he informs us, his own 'good eye' for this kind of thing.
This woman is maybe going to her first Crossfit session, just to try it out. How are performance enhancing drugs at the top of the sport relevant?3 -
natruallycurious wrote: »jseams1234 wrote: »Give it a go - you won't know if it's a fit for you until you try.
You will certainly build some muscle with CrossFit. Will it be as much as a proper hypertrophy bodybuilding program? Nope, not even close.
You will certainly build some strength with CrossFit. Will it be as much as a proper stength based or Powerlifting program? Nope, not even close.
CrossFit is kinda like the jack-of-all-trades master of none type of activity. It's interesting, since I know several people who are very into CrossFit and have been regularly training for years. None of them is what I'd call heavily muscled - with clothes on you couldn't even tell they lifted... well, there *is* one dude who is pretty big... but he was a bodybuilder for years and went into CrossFit with a pretty impressive build to begin with.
They are all in great shape though and love their "boxes" and the social aspect of it. One of the guys though - was pretty skinny when he started and told me he was gong to get "jacked". Well, it's been two years and he's still nowhere close to that goal. CrossFit might not have been the best choice for him considering the outcome he wanted.
I agree with some of this, but not all. CrossFit definitely aims to not specialize. It's in the level one trainer's handbook that their specialty is not specializing. The goal is to build a solid foundation in all 10 fitness domains, not just a couple.
I also agree that you will not become as strong as a powerlifter, or as defined as a bodybuilder. However, a lot of that is genetics and steroids. Look at top level CrossFit atheletes. They definitely look like they lift, but they are putting in way more than one training session a day. For the average person attending a few classes a week, you aren't going to build a ton of muscle or get super strong. But you likely wouldn't on a dedicated strength or hypertrophy program either. Genetics plays a big part. I started CrossFit in January. I look like I've been lifting for years. It's my body type. My coach was a bodybuilder for nearly a decade before starting CrossFit. Looking at him, he looks like he's in shape, but he's not big at all, even though he spent years trying to get as big as possible (the clean way, no steroids).
Um.you do realize that more than likely all the top crossfit athletes have used steroids during training and are genetic freaks to boot. Every year a couple get busted at the games.
Not once has a crossfit athlete started ground up in crossfit and won the games. It's not how it works. They are trained freak athletes who came into CrossFit to compete and earn money.
Those who want to compete in crossfit, should definitely do crossfit training. Arguably there is more optimal ways to train and get stronger outside of crossfit. That being said if you want to do crossfit, have at it. Enjoy.
CrossFit is a sport. People get busted in every sport where it is illegal. Yes, there are some top tier athletes that use them, just like every sport, but certainly not all of them.
And also, CrossFit hasn't been around long enough for someone to come in from the ground up. Though you're right, there are things that will provide you a stronger background for it. Most CrossFitters don't come in with a big background in lifting, but they were in shape beforehand. Katrin was a gymnast before CrossFit (one of the best foundations you can start with), and then there are retired Navy Seals competing, etc.
And you'd be a fool to think that most competition bodybuilders or powerlifters are completely clean.3 -
It took me a really long time to finally talk myself into joining crossfit. It is a good deal of money, and I heard constantly about how "dangerous" it is. I went to check out one place and they immediately wanted me to commit to weight/body fat goals that I felt was irresponsible and wouldn't be healthy for me, given that I am already very lean. Then 6 months later I tried a friends gym, it was enjoyable but I felt like a burden to the coach because I was so unfamiliar with the lifts, and he seemed to feel it was my friends job to teach me the form. Finally that same friend suggested a female owned/operated box closer to my home, I did the 3 week "fundamentals" class with that coach and quickly fell in love with crossfit.
All this to say, the coach and the other members make a huge difference. I personally am highly motivated by group activities, I love that comradery, but I am only interested in competing with myself and my individual goals. I don't mind being last, but I will push myself harder just being around people who are really pushing themselves. My coach is constantly right there watching your form, offering feedback, and cheering you on. The other members will stay and encourage those still working too, I've never seen anyone there become overly competitive because that's not the environment my coach created. You might need to check out multiple places before finding the right fit, or maybe it just wont be a fit at all, but you wont know until you try!4 -
I am a fully signed up CrossFit Cult member. I have been CrossFitting for 4 years now and can't imagine trading it in for anything else. Sure i run, play netball, hike and swim alongside it but its my main passion in the world of fitness. CrossFit has given me strength, muscle, a lean body that can tackle life and enable me to undertake challenges i couldn't before. It has given me the mental and physical stamina to run faster and going to the dark place in a WOD has given me mental strength that i use in every day life.
Our coaches are great and so is the community. Make sure the coach knows what they are talking about. do they demonstrate good technique? do they correct form? do they encourage you to go heavier and slow you down when you are lifting with bad form? Constant class engagement is really important to me and our coaches are great for that. Everyone supports each other. some of the longer members will offer advice if they feel it will help and when you achieve a new PB its celebrated by the whole class.
I do classes and some specific strength training on the side. You need strict strength before you can "kip" your movements and our box is fixated on that which is great. If you can't do a strict pull up then no kipping pull ups for you. There are always adaptations made so everyone can join in the WOD and feel challenged and exhausted at the end.
Basically i Love it!!6 -
@samiejones1 , Within CrossFit there is a joke: For my workout I lift weights... for cardio I lift weights FASTER! LoL
I think this does summarize CrossFit. It is more of a HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) activity. There are short BURSTS of strenuous activity, then some "active rest" which means you are really jacking up you heart rate! This DEFINITELY translates into fat burning... for me sometimes translates into vomiting.
...but it DOES work, if you enjoy it and stay consistent as with any program. The critical thing to remember is to always be SAFE and maintain good form in your movements.
Here is my "guy crush," the Premiere CrossFitter, Rich Froenig:
FWIW, this guy didn't get to looking like this with just CF.4 -
There's people on these boards that think everyone wants to be/look like an Olympic lifter.
Some of us just want to be Ninja Warrior type fit.....1 -
annaskiski wrote: »There's people on these boards that think everyone wants to be/look like an Olympic lifter.
Some of us just want to be Ninja Warrior type fit.....
I don't think so...
I quoted the post with the pic because some people might think that you get to be looking like that guy by doing CF and either 1) want to look that way...which CF would be sub-optimal...or 2) don't want to look that way and think CF makes you look that way so they don't try it for fear of looking that way.
That guy has done a ton of traditional weight lifting to look that way and also has awesome genetics.2 -
natruallycurious wrote: »...And also, CrossFit hasn't been around long enough for someone to come in from the ground up...
It hasn't? It's been around for 18 years (founded in 2000). My earliest recollection of it is a few coworkers who were doing it around 2005-2006, so it's not like it's a brand new thing. If the athletes need more than 18 years of training to become competitive, that doesn't say much about it as a training modality.
Also, I know a number of people who are currently doing Crossfit, and not one of them looks anything even remotely like Rich Froning (the guy pictured above). I mean, they're all in good cardio condition and can lift some decent weight, but if you see them in street clothes you wouldn't think of them as gym-goers.4 -
Thanks again for everyone’s comments.
I’m most certainly not looking to achieve anything too crazy, just loose a little more weight and begin to gain some strength and hopefully start to see a change in my bodyshape to avoid that ‘skinny-fat’ look! And 100% no steriods for sure! 😂
My first session is Tuesday so I’ll report back next week with how I got on!
Thanks again (again!!) I really appreciate your opinions and guidance!6 -
natruallycurious wrote: »...And also, CrossFit hasn't been around long enough for someone to come in from the ground up...
It hasn't? It's been around for 18 years (founded in 2000). My earliest recollection of it is a few coworkers who were doing it around 2005-2006, so it's not like it's a brand new thing. If the athletes need more than 18 years of training to become competitive, that doesn't say much about it as a training modality.
Also, I know a number of people who are currently doing Crossfit, and not one of them looks anything even remotely like Rich Froning (the guy pictured above). I mean, they're all in good cardio condition and can lift some decent weight, but if you see them in street clothes you wouldn't think of them as gym-goers.
I didn't say it takes 18 years to become competitive. But CrossFit Kids is newer, and you don't typically start training straight out of the womb. What I meant is that it hasn't been around long enough for someone to start their training with only CrossFit at around 5 years old, which is when most top tier athletes of any sport start training (not that I would recommend starting CrossFit at such a young age).
Also. GENETICS. I know people who were lifters and bodybuilders for years before CrossFit, but you wouldn't know it when seeing them in street clothes. I know others who have been doing a CrossFit a couple years and look pretty similar to Rich Froning. It's not reasonable to expect everyone to look that way, and genetics and nutrition play a big part.1 -
natruallycurious wrote: »natruallycurious wrote: »jseams1234 wrote: »Give it a go - you won't know if it's a fit for you until you try.
You will certainly build some muscle with CrossFit. Will it be as much as a proper hypertrophy bodybuilding program? Nope, not even close.
You will certainly build some strength with CrossFit. Will it be as much as a proper stength based or Powerlifting program? Nope, not even close.
CrossFit is kinda like the jack-of-all-trades master of none type of activity. It's interesting, since I know several people who are very into CrossFit and have been regularly training for years. None of them is what I'd call heavily muscled - with clothes on you couldn't even tell they lifted... well, there *is* one dude who is pretty big... but he was a bodybuilder for years and went into CrossFit with a pretty impressive build to begin with.
They are all in great shape though and love their "boxes" and the social aspect of it. One of the guys though - was pretty skinny when he started and told me he was gong to get "jacked". Well, it's been two years and he's still nowhere close to that goal. CrossFit might not have been the best choice for him considering the outcome he wanted.
I agree with some of this, but not all. CrossFit definitely aims to not specialize. It's in the level one trainer's handbook that their specialty is not specializing. The goal is to build a solid foundation in all 10 fitness domains, not just a couple.
I also agree that you will not become as strong as a powerlifter, or as defined as a bodybuilder. However, a lot of that is genetics and steroids. Look at top level CrossFit atheletes. They definitely look like they lift, but they are putting in way more than one training session a day. For the average person attending a few classes a week, you aren't going to build a ton of muscle or get super strong. But you likely wouldn't on a dedicated strength or hypertrophy program either. Genetics plays a big part. I started CrossFit in January. I look like I've been lifting for years. It's my body type. My coach was a bodybuilder for nearly a decade before starting CrossFit. Looking at him, he looks like he's in shape, but he's not big at all, even though he spent years trying to get as big as possible (the clean way, no steroids).
Um.you do realize that more than likely all the top crossfit athletes have used steroids during training and are genetic freaks to boot. Every year a couple get busted at the games.
Not once has a crossfit athlete started ground up in crossfit and won the games. It's not how it works. They are trained freak athletes who came into CrossFit to compete and earn money.
Those who want to compete in crossfit, should definitely do crossfit training. Arguably there is more optimal ways to train and get stronger outside of crossfit. That being said if you want to do crossfit, have at it. Enjoy.
CrossFit is a sport. People get busted in every sport where it is illegal. Yes, there are some top tier athletes that use them, just like every sport, but certainly not all of them.
And also, CrossFit hasn't been around long enough for someone to come in from the ground up. Though you're right, there are things that will provide you a stronger background for it. Most CrossFitters don't come in with a big background in lifting, but they were in shape beforehand. Katrin was a gymnast before CrossFit (one of the best foundations you can start with), and then there are retired Navy Seals competing, etc.
And you'd be a fool to think that most competition bodybuilders or powerlifters are completely clean.
The difference with CF, it's very easy to predict who would finish where respectively because it's always the same people, literally barring injury the same people are there. Other sports not so much, and yes the elite athletes of crossfit get busted more percentage wise than other sports. It's not a bad thing, it's just obvious and repetitive.
We are not talking powerlifters or bodybuilders being clean. That is for a different thread. I'm saying CF training alone did not get them to that level. Not one of them started training crossfit because it takes more than crossfit to be that level. The elites came into CrossFit for the money. Powerlifters didn't come for the money, because it's not there. There are elite powerlifters who only train powerlifting style to be elite.2 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »annaskiski wrote: »There's people on these boards that think everyone wants to be/look like an Olympic lifter.
Some of us just want to be Ninja Warrior type fit.....
I don't think so...
I quoted the post with the pic because some people might think that you get to be looking like that guy by doing CF and either 1) want to look that way...which CF would be sub-optimal...or 2) don't want to look that way and think CF makes you look that way so they don't try it for fear of looking that way.
That guy has done a ton of traditional weight lifting to look that way and also has awesome genetics.
Agreed. It's very simular to the booty shot girls on IG who claim that they are coaches and certain exercises will get you the same booty. There are different layers to the appearance.
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Their mascot is a clown hooked up to a dialysis machine, from getting sick from Crossfit. No thanks.
Plus, where is the specialization? What if you have puny arms and thick legs? Why do more squats? Or if you have huge shoulders and puny legs? Why do more shoulder presses?
The programming is for the CLASS, not for YOU. Your goals are immaterial to Crossfit. Your goals are what they say they are that day, and every other day you go there.
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IHaveMyActTogether wrote: »Their mascot is a clown hooked up to a dialysis machine, from getting sick from Crossfit. No thanks.
That's Uncle Rhabdo - because working out so hard that you get rhabdomyolysis is apparently funny and/or a badge of honor in Crossfit.
The other mascot is Pukie the Clown (an exhausted clown holding a puke bucket) - because working out until you puke is also apparently funny.2 -
I love Crossfit.
but not because of the training.
...... I just can't resist a really nice group photo.
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MistressSara wrote: »Motorsheen wrote: »I love Crossfit.
but not because of the training.
...... I just can't resist a really nice group photo.
Are you in these photos? I’m going to break out my magnifying glass to find you if you say yes.
maybe ?2
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