Crossfit......

layindoor84
layindoor84 Posts: 13
edited October 6 in Fitness and Exercise
What is everyone's opinion on it? I am thinking about giving it a go in January to see what it's all about.

Replies

  • RAFValentina
    RAFValentina Posts: 1,231 Member
    All the boys on my course did it... they got ripped and so fit and toned so quickly - they benefitted massively! :)
  • JHB2011
    JHB2011 Posts: 153 Member
    They work you hard but from the results Ive seen, its worth it!!
  • missy32806
    missy32806 Posts: 9 Member
    Great workouts but if you go to a Crossfit gym it can be really expensive!
  • layindoor84
    layindoor84 Posts: 13
    All the boys on my course did it... they got ripped and so fit and toned so quickly - they benefitted massively! :)

    That is what i hear. I am pumped about it, and a little nervous too.lol
  • layindoor84
    layindoor84 Posts: 13
    They work you hard but from the results Ive seen, its worth it!!

    If it were easy, everyone would sign up, right? Gotta pay to play.
  • layindoor84
    layindoor84 Posts: 13
    Great workouts but if you go to a Crossfit gym it can be really expensive!
    I am going to do it mainly to jump start me and shred some of this unwantedness off.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,330 Member
    The good: A very demanding and calorie burning workout that will give you some good functional strength.

    The bad: Some Crossfit gyms emphasize speed so much so that they make participants compromise good form in their exercises. This can lead to injuries. If the gym you are considering doesn't keep you doing the various exercises in proper form, don't go there. There is also a tendency among Crossfitters to push too hard to the point where there is serious muscle damage (not just the post workout soreness) and they play down the danger of pushing that hard.

    Overall I like it. I have not gone to a Crossfit gym, but the workouts I do are very similar to a Crossfit WOD, and it has gotten me more fit than anything else I have done. It improved my cycling a great deal, gave me excellent recovery ability, burned off fat more than slow steady state cardio, and even though I am not a runner it made running with my 6 year old son much easier to the point where I can out run and have better endurance than him (something that was not the case a year ago).
  • alliecore
    alliecore Posts: 446 Member
    I have several crossfit friends in my group and they are amazing. I would do it in a heartbeat if I could afford it but it is dang expensive :( I've done some of the WOD's though and they are stellar.
  • zenJes
    zenJes Posts: 198 Member
    i have been doing it for 3 months and i love love love crossfit.. i think most of it depends on the coach but the coaches in Dunedin.. Grant and Speedy are amazing and i never have a bad workout and i always leave with a smile.
    I highly recommend the box101 class for fitness as the crossfit work outs are more strength orientated.. GPP is also great and i really love the bootcamp- if you want to get fit and see the greatest benefit i recommend the bootcamp and then go to the classes from then on... haven't tried crossfit woman's as i love training with men but if your focus is on loosing weight as well as fitness then that is the class for you.. so really it all depends on how fit you are to start with as to which lass you take but i highly recommend it, as it has fully helped me get fit after being ill for many months!!
  • zenJes
    zenJes Posts: 198 Member
    the crossfit gym i work at has some great deals on grab one etc so it actually works out to be less than most gyms.. ie les mills etc.
    im a poor student but i find the money to do the things i love and i find that crossfit understand that so let me do the deals etc.. n if you get a membership you get 20% off 10 card passes etc..
  • zenJes
    zenJes Posts: 198 Member
    i work out at lol not work at.. i wish i worked at crossfit
  • Justjoshin
    Justjoshin Posts: 999 Member
    I have heard that crossfitters look at injury as badges of honor opposed to results of improper form etc.

    So as someone else mentioned, the speed aspect, being more important than form, concerns me a bit.
  • thecrossfitter
    thecrossfitter Posts: 424 Member
    I have heard that crossfitters look at injury as badges of honor opposed to results of improper form etc.

    So as someone else mentioned, the speed aspect, being more important than form, concerns me a bit.

    I know I'm being picky, but could I amend this to say, "I have heard that some crossfitters..." ?

    There are gyms out there that aren't good. (I've been to 3 boxes. Two were wonderful and one was awful!) Make sure if you do it you find a place where they teach you proper form , review it, correct you and care more about technique than speed or weight. My coaches tell us that if they see our form breaking down they will personally come and remove the weight from your bar haha. They say it all in good kindness and love though (not as a jerk). I believe that some individuals who crossfit may have the above mentality- but if you're in the right gym/box you will not find these people there :)
  • zenJes
    zenJes Posts: 198 Member
    yeh our classes are always kept to low numbers so that they can keep an eye on your form and you only work to your potential... if you are trying hard and they can tell they usually just keep you going rather than pushing you to hurt yourself and tell you to go faster.. well thats what ive found atm.. n when you are injured like i am (sprinting rolled my ankle) they want you to heal up but they are more than willing to accommodate a change in the program for you so you can still work out and not hurt yourself.. but individual gyms vary
  • blakeman187
    blakeman187 Posts: 53
    I love it. Great workout, can get pretty expensive, but from my own experience it has been worth it.

    Typically, its very intense workouts, that change constantly and are SUPPOSED to adapt to your own skill level. But as stated earlier, some gyms aren't as good as others, and you can get injured easily.
  • directorj
    directorj Posts: 537 Member
    It's great, just don't do what this guy did with his cross fit :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

    http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2011/12/01/man-with-mask-causes-san-jose-bomb-scare/
  • DJStewie
    DJStewie Posts: 92 Member
    I love it, started about a year and a half ago. If there are multiple boxes in your area visit each one. They are only as good as the people who run them. I personally love the box I goto in Madison AL.

    In response to "injuries as badges of honor comment", we try to avoid injuries because that gets in the way of training. Form always comes first in my experience. The goal is to improve health, not to hinder it. If anyone ever advises you to sacrifice form at risk of injury...walk away and don't look back.
  • layindoor84
    layindoor84 Posts: 13
    Cool, thanks for all thefeedback everyone. The one here offers a free session on Saturdays just to see if it is for you or not. If I don't have to work this Saturday, i am goin gto go by there and give it a shot. Thanks again. I love this place.
  • Health_Gal
    Health_Gal Posts: 715 Member
    Good luck with your workouts, but I just wondered if you've seen this article about Crossfit? I know some people that tried it for a while, and after they decided Crossfit wasn't for them, they said the article was pretty accurate


    Getting Fit, Even If It Kills You (from the NY Times)
    http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/22/fashion/thursdaystyles/22Fitness.html?pagewanted=all
  • thecrossfitter
    thecrossfitter Posts: 424 Member
    Good luck with your workouts, but I just wondered if you've seen this article about Crossfit? I know some people that tried it for a while, and after they decided Crossfit wasn't for them, they said the article was pretty accurate


    Getting Fit, Even If It Kills You (from the NY Times)
    http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/22/fashion/thursdaystyles/22Fitness.html?pagewanted=all

    This is why you need to find a quality gym with great coaches.

    "The emphasis is on speed and weight hoisted, not technique."

    False - NOT what crossfit is about. The coaches at my gym kindly remind us they will personally come and remove the necessary plates from our olympic bar if we are doing more than we can with proper form. In fact, they give us percentages of our 1 rep max to do the workout off of. The fact that this guy was using a 44lb KB after not working out in two years is ridiculous. Good coaches won't let you do this. (And seriously - I maintain that I have some personal responsibility in this. If I walked into a gym and a coach (that obviously is doing a poor job) gave me something that was too much for me, I would put it down. Yes the coaches have responsibility in this, but I maintain that I have a responsibility to myself as well.) Is crossfit for everyone? No. But I don't think it is a "one size fits all" program - the entire concept behind the program is that you scale it to your level.

    There ARE bad crossfit gyms out there - but the idea behind crossfit isn't speed and weight over form. Do we push ourselves just to the point our form is about to break down? Yes. We will. And then we stop.

    There is an ugly side to certain crossfit facilities, and of course there is a right for this to be brought to light - but this is another example of the "crazies" and "extremists" being represented as the whole. Happens all the time in the news.
  • engineman312
    engineman312 Posts: 3,450 Member
    i'm at a commercial gym in NY, my trainer is a crossfit buff, and he's got me doing crossfit work outs. very very very good work outs, more focused on "functional" muscles. if your goal is something like doing mud runs, its great.
  • Health_Gal
    Health_Gal Posts: 715 Member
    Like I said, some people I know that got involved with Crossfit found that the mentality of the Crossfit gym they tried was very much like what was described in the article. Maybe the coaches you work with are not like that, but the do-or-die trying mentality of that Glassman character that started Crossfit is reason enough for most people to avoid it.

    "Mr. Glassman, CrossFit's founder, does not discount his regimen's risks, even to those who are in shape and take the time to warm up their bodies before a session.

    "It can kill you," he said. "I've always been completely honest about that."
  • thecrossfitter
    thecrossfitter Posts: 424 Member
    Maybe I just like the extreme things - but all things we do have a risk (heck - so do high school sports) - I can die running a marathon, going sky diving, zip lining, white water rafting, rock climbing and hiking glaciers... but I do all those things :) They make me happy, and I know how to do it properly while listening to my body and taking appropriate precautions under the supervision of those whom I trust to make appropriate judgments.

    To each their own :)

    EDIT after reading post below: And I properly prepare my body before hand and don't jump into things before I am ready. Yay scaling!
  • midwifekelley2350
    midwifekelley2350 Posts: 337 Member
    you wouldn't attempt to run a marathon the first time you run. crossfit workouts can be scaled to your fitness level. i do the same crossfit workouts as my son and my husband but we all do them at our own fitness levels. do what makes you comfortable...i, for one, like to push myself
  • Health_Gal
    Health_Gal Posts: 715 Member
    I run, and I push myself at that sometimes. And I do weightlifting, kickboxing and other classes at the YMCA., and always try to do my best.

    But some of the stuff I've heard people push themself in during Crossfit routines can be unnecessarily dangerous. While variety is good, the sheer number of different lifts and other elements they have in the routine can make it hard for many people to remember the proper for for them all. I've heard some controversy about the Olympic lifts in the program.

    I'm not saying that all Crossfit facilities are like this, but from what I've heard, in some Crossfit facilities, the coaches and other members look down on anyone that doesn't look like they are about to die by the time they are finished with the WOD. And even if you're scaling, who wants to deal with having to try to keep up with a bunch of people that are doing WAY more than you may ever be able to do and be the last person to finish? That causes many Crossfitters to push harder than they know they should, which sometimes results in trips to the ER.

    Besides, for those who like this sort of thing, all sorts of boot camp classes being offered by YMCAs and other gyms these days that don't put money into the Glassman guy's pocket.

    Here are some good articles on the less-than-positive side of Crossfit

    http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/health/2009/june/Extreme-Exercise--CrossFit-Pushes-the-Body--Sometimes-With-Dangerous-Results.html

    http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/08/marine_crossfit_081608w/

    http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/22/fashion/thursdaystyles/22Fitness.html?pagewanted=all
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