Today’s guest post is by none other than the highly respected, but always hard-hitting, Fit Jerk.
FJ Doesn’t beat around the bush nor water anything down. I share an affinity with FJ’s writing style and subject matter in many ways and it felt fitting when the subject of CrossFit came to the table, that I contact FJ and see whether he’d be interested in attacking the subject whilst simultaneously putting it to rest for the last time. Lucky for us, he said yes.
Here’s why you should avoid CrossFit. Take it away FJ…
—-
So how does CrossFit Forge Elite Failure?
What’s one trend that bastardizes two of the world’s hardest and most respectable sports in one fell swoop, while simultaneously incurring a massive amount of injury the process? Yup, CrossFit (CF). And if you’re thinking about joining a Crossfit gym, are already at a Crossfit gym or have ever entertained the idea of this ridiculous new trend, then hopefully in the following paragraphs, I can provide you with a solution that is not only more effective and bad ass, but safer too. You’ll become stronger, sexier, and be able to lift for years to come while ditching that loyalty card for the local chiropractor.
Let’s first break down the identity of CrossFit because it has started to tie itself up with many things that it is NOT, thereby leaving people with with serious misinformation.
CrossFit is NOT Gymnastics.
I am more qualified to say this than any other coach you’ve probably come across. Why? Because not only did I do competitive gymnastics and power tumbling, I’m a Nationally certified gymnastics coach myself, first and foremost, and I say it proudly. CSCS certification? Don’t make me laugh. People would much rather learn a back flip while looking sexy than a deadlift. But we’re getting off track.
So why does CF feel the need to call itself “gymnastics based” and scar the sport I truly love? Because it was originally started by a gymnastics coach… and yes, he brings great shame to us all. Ask any legit gymnastics coach and they’ll get annoyed just hearing the name Greg Glassman (more on this f*cker in just a moment).
CF uses steals like, 3 or 4 conditioning drills and exercises from Gymnastics and voilà – all of a sudden you’re doing the sport, right? Not!
Doing a few pullups or muscle ups on rings does not mean you’re doing gymnastics.
Doing completely retarded and misinterpreted kip pullups does not mean you’re doing gymnastics.
Doing handstand pushups does not mean you’re doing gymnastics.
It just means you’re doing watered down gymnastics inspired conditioning. Doing actual gymnastics involves knowing skills on the floor, vault, bar, beam, rings, parallel bars and pommel horse. So please, next time someone ties CrossFit to gymnastics in ANY way shape or form, give them a swift kick in the face… from me.
Since when did sh*tty technique, haphazard (or downright dangerous) program design and sheep heard mentality become a good f*cking idea?
CrossFit is NOT for the elite
Nor does it create elite individuals, I might add. Since when did sh*tty technique, haphazard (or downright dangerous) program design and sheep heard mentality become a good f*cking idea? There is a reason why the “elite” athletes of the world don’t do Crossfit… And the ones that have tried it, quickly looked at themselves in the mirror and bitch slapped themselves back to reality.
I remember one WOD (workout of the day) which for reasons beyond my intelligent comprehension, recommended high-rep deadlifts BEFORE more high-rep C&J’s (clean and jerks). The person responsible for spreading such a mess to the population should be shot.
If you don’t know why the exercise order above was a bad idea, let me explain: Doing deadlifts before c&j’s is like building the foundation of your house on sticks and straws; no matter how much of it you use, eventually it will all crumble. Heavy, high-rep deadlifts fatigue your lower back rather quickly (since that’s one of the major muscle groups they work) and if you want to do a dynamic movement such as the C&J while staying injury free, it is imperative that your lower back is not already fatigued. This also the reason why it’s a bad idea to do deadlifts before squats – yet I’ve seen Crossfit gyms recommend that too. What a surprise.
Now you might see individuals that are in decent to exceptional shape who practice CF. But ask how many of them actually achieved their body with such a type of training and the answer is not many. A majority of individuals that seem “elite” or those that you see going beast mode at the CF games were actually already strong athletes and lifters before. It’s like those wrestlers and retired NFL athletes that make the jump to MMA. They didn’t get in shape by doing MMA type conditioning, it just seems that way because of what they are currently doing. Don’t let that confuse you. The “eliteness” of CF is an illusion and I have clients who were former CF’s that kept plateauing, to prove it.
CrossFit is NOT true Olympic lifting
Another problem with CrossFit is how much they love high-rep stuff. Now I wouldn’t mind if they liked high-rep pushups, pullups, squats etc., but its the fact that they love to combine Olympic lifts with high-reps, which is a recipe for disaster. One look at the number of lawsuits that have popped up against CrossFit recently confirms this.
Olympic lifts are highly complex movements that are best done in triples, doubles or singles. Visit a real Olympic lifting facility, and you’ll soon see that they don’t do 30 rep snatches. Why? Because at some point they figured out that it was a stupid idea. Instead, you’ll see them doing heavy singles and doubles.
This is not to say that Olympic lifters don’t practice high volume… oh do they ever! But they are intelligent about it by training in multiple daily sessions that last about 45 minutes. And judging by the truly insane amount of weight these athletes can manage along with the great shape they are in, I’d say their coaches know a thing or two. So why Greg Glassman decides to swoop in and recommend what clearly doesn’t work and deems it effective, is beyond me. Do you need anymore proof that CrossFitters are following in the footsteps of a moron?
Oh you do? Well let me help you with that…
The Blind Leading The Blind
Let’s talk about Greg for a second. For those that are a part of CrossFit, how in the world can they feel proud having this man as their leader, their champion, their genius symbol of “elite”. Either Greg knows this CF sh*t is dumb as f*ck and therefore doesn’t bother doing it, which means he’s trolling everyone (including Reebok) in the process or, he has been using all the money his heard of sheep are throwing at him to indulge in endless buffets. Either way, he does not walk his talk, and all it takes is for you to listen to this douche puppet talk for 5 minutes before you realize the nonsense this man vomits. Or, was that just me thinking out loud?
The Solution
So what’s the alternative? Well it all depends on what your goals are. Don’t be like CrossFit, which at this point doesn’t even know what the hell it is. I’ve seen CF gyms bring in legitimate Olympic coaches and practice intelligent programming, do proper strength and condition work and generally things that aren’t dumb… which means they are ditching the essence of CF itself. I guess that’s a good thing, but then why associate your gym with the CF name? Just to piggy-back off the marketing? I wouldn’t bother. Build your own brand; one that is known for excellence.
So back to the point – have a goal. If your goal is to get as lean and shredded as humanly possible, there is no reason for you to be doing snatches. You simply don’t need them because the movement is so complex, you’ll first need to spend months mastering the technique before you can use it as a tool for fat loss (assuming you’re a noob). In those very months, if you came to me, I would have stripped your ass down to 10% bodyfat (or lower depending on your starting point) with a customized diet and simple movements like the deadlift, heavy dips, chinups, squats etc. If you’re interested in the exact fat loss methods that I use, they’ve been revealed in my new book. When it comes down to it, the idea is to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible – in a straight line. Doing complex Olympic movements just complicates the process for no reason. [On a side note: if you’re already highly competent at doing snatches or C&J then they can be part of a great fat loss program]
If your goal is to build muscle, then hypertrophy is the name of the game. This means you’ll be doing some heavy compounds (bench, deadlift, squats) to build strength along with other basic movements at a high volume at 60-70% of your max. So again, you won’t be doing anything fancy. In fact, there was a study done recently which showed that a lower load lifted to failure results in similar hypertrophy as a heavy load lifted to failure – which basically means that the “pump” style workouts which bodybuilders have been doing for the longest time, were actually legit. Go figure.
However, what if your goal is to be brutally strong and possibly compete? Well, now is when complex compound movements (CCM’s) come into play. If this is your goal, seek out a legitimate facility with coaches that have a proven track record and know what they’re doing. Personally, my greatest strength is knowing what my weaknesses are, and my Olympic lifts definitely need work. So I’m not afraid to ask for help with the C&J or Snatch. But you won’t see me doing 30 reps of the stuff.
The Elite Conclusion
Hopefully, I’ve made a solid case as to why you need to stay away from CrossFit and its shenanigans. If I deterred even ONE soul on this planet from joining such madness, mission accomplished. I personally wanted to stay away from talking about this trend. I thought people would eventually figure it out.
But they didn’t. So when Clint contacted me, I knew I had to put on my cape and bring forth the sh*t storm of truth.
You can only bite your tongue for so long before people start to associate CF with general lifting – and that will be a dark day indeed. One I don’t plan on seeing. So please, do yourself a favor and stick to sh*t that works and has always worked. Eugen Sandow and Reg Park (bodybuilders in the era before steroids even existed) didn’t do CrossFit, and also happened to be leaner and stronger than 99.9% of the dorks that touch a barbell today. How’d they do it? Through simple hard work and simple effective nutrition.
Don’t complicate your life with CrossFit. Simplicity is the way forward.
good article! i’ve always thought it was a dangerous way to train
Ever tried it? I’m guessing not.
Dayum that was some shoddy form in that video. Never looked into crossfit and never planned to but this article should set a few people straight.
Clint/Fit Jerk,
Nice post. I’ll admit, I didn’t know much about CF before, but I’ve heard a lot of people praise it. I’m glad you shed some light on the subject. Personally, I wouldn’t choose to pay that much money to workout either way. If you know what you’re doing there is really no need to purchase this type of training program.
Alykhan
WOW. for me that video cemented how unsafe CF really is. i had never considered CF as a training method but heard it was a fitness trend people were into. when i saw it was in the crosshairs of both FJ and Clint, that’s the only time i had any interest! as a woman, seeing the women in the video doing it just made me shake my head. FOR SHAME, i say.
It obviously all depends on the coaches. Believe it or not – there are CrossFit facilities out there that do an outstanding job training athletes to perform and avoid injury. I’ll admit that I find the writer’s crassness and arrogance mildly amusing – but he paints all of CrossFit with a pretty broad brush stroke which isn’t really fair.
Anyone can make an argument that gymnastics, martial arts, and any other form of physical activity is bad for you because of x,y,z. I can even show you youtube videos of the best in the world doing things incorrectly and possibly injuring themselves let alone beginners. Again, it all depends on the facility and those in charge.
The writer is entitled to his opinion as much as every single human being is entitled to do any fitness program that works for them. If they can do it safely and have fun – who’s to argue that they shouldn’t? The article might have been better served written again inefficient coaches rather than CrossFit as a whole…but that probably wouldn’t be as funny.
That’s my $0.02.
pumping?.do you mean that humping the air technique? because that is called momentum, your muscles aren’t working at all. i have been doing this stuff for 4 months, its a decent work out bu ive lost more weight and lifted more with the conventual arnold lifting style
I am not going to argue with you regarding the merits or perceived lack of merit inheritant to CF, but a main component of CF that you leave off your analysis and comparison is the competitive nature of CF. Whether or not you think it is stupid, I don’t really care. But it is actually really fun to be fairly proficient in a wide array of lifts and movements and actually compete against others in competitive formats. Bottom line, it is a sport and it is fun when you can do it at a high level. Working out and dieting to get or maintain a physique only isn’t enough for a lot of people. what can you do with your muscles? You might be lean and muscular which is great, but if you aren’t also functional what’s the point besides stroking your ego when you look in the mirror? it can be and should be more than that.
Maybe you missed the part about FJ being a level 2 gymnast and a gymnastics coach. Gymnasts are hands down the most functionally fit athletes. So I doubt his training is to just build a physique to stroke his ego.
Haha this article is so true! I don’t know of ANY Crossfit guys that built their muscle with crossfit. They’ll get on the crossfit bandwagon for a couple months then realize they haven’t made any progress and go back to the proven lift heavy ways.
HOWEVER, there is one kind of crossfit I DO like: Crossfit football. They use low reps (instead of the high rep bs) and focus on 1 or 2 lifts a day.
Great article,
Jeff
Very interesting article Guys-Keep up the good work. Some startling facts on cross fit!
@Michael – Indeed. That’s the goal
@Alykhan – Yup, enjoy your savings. Spend may now spend it wisely; like on bacon.
@Jazz – Good to see you’ve seen the light.
@COTC – “there are CrossFit facilities out there that do an outstanding job training athletes to perform and avoid injury” – No shit. But a majority of the LEGIT gyms are just using CF to piggy back off the marketing, as I’ve stated. Exceptions ALWAYS exist. However, polish a turd and its still a turd. And you’re blaming ME for “broad brush stroking” this absurd system when CF ITSELF is a broad brush stroke on fitness? C’mon now.
You can’t sit on two horses with one ass.
@Brett – Dude, if you want to compete, they go and REALLY compete. Why would you try and compete under retarded training protocols. If I said, “Hey lets have a competition. Let’s see who can jump off the highest bridge and land in icy cold water. Ok you first”. Would you do it? No? Well to me CF’s high rep snatches with twirls and shit sounds equally ridiculous.
@JEff – Yup. They do have a problem with plateauing.
here’s an idea…how about you try it before passing all this bullshit judgement..you have just targeted CF because you know it will stir up a lot of comments and hopefully increase the amount of hits you have on your webpage.
Crossfitters doesn’t confess to being Olympic lifters or olympic gymnasts it merely takes some basic elements of these and incorporates it into the work outs. Pretty sure Coach Mike Burgener, olympic weight lifting coach and crossfit affiliate would have a few things to say about your lack of real insight into the CF philosophy..
Isn’t it more about doing something, anything that gets you off the couch and improving you health and fitness.. who cares if its olympic lifting or going for a walk, exercise is exercise as long as you enjoy what your doing..
So you know what, I challenge you to attend a reputable CF box, give it a go for a couple of months and then after that if you still have something to say about it then maybe your comments might carry some merit
Haha what a great, no BS post. I know this will definitely offend some people, but I enjoyed it. I’ve heard of crossfit before, but I’ve never done it myself.
I don’t think I ever will either.
I agree, we need more hard-hitting truth in this world and let me say for the record that crossfit is for lemmings, been there, done that. Totally over-rated.
Here he is again, King Douche.
I think you make some good points in here but for the main, your argument takes some half truths and then shows/proves why they are only half true, as opposed to providing any compelling reason why Crossfit is inherently wrong or dangerous.
I’m a crossfitter and member of a Crossfit gym in North Sydney and have trained this way for about 4 years. I’m an advocate without being a kool aid drinker after a background in professional sports. I choose to do Crossfit and am passionate about it but have no profit/interest in my views.
the video is horrific and ridiculous but doesn’t prove so much that Crossfit is bad, but rather that there are some idiots training and competing in Crossfit. (I know the guy in that awful kercher front squat thing at the beginning of the vid and he was a meathead long before he started crossfitting – he has a video of a one armed 180kg Back squat out there too). He is a strong man competitor and ex league player.
I’ve never seen anybody claim Crossfit IS gymnastics. Ever. Rather, they claim to have taken elements and movements from gymnastics and applied them to a broader form of cross training. Same with Oly lifting. Now of course, purist gymnasts or Oly lifters will look at this and say that it isn’t properly reflective of their sport and they’re right. But I would be absolutely certain that Crossfit has helped bring in new members and enthusiasts to both sports. Ask the guys at Triumph Weightlifting or Narrabeen Gym Centre whether it has been good for their business and helped bring new people into the sport.
Part of Crossfit’s problem is their business model. By having such a pure franchise model and allowing people to open gyms with so little supervision/qualification period and to perform their own programming, they open themselves up to this type of criticism. There is definitely some shocking programming out there and some coaches who focus too much on intensity and not enough on form. But tell me there aren’t shit gymnastics coaches. Go to any mainstream gym and watch people paying trainers $80-100 for 45 minutes to be given incline dumbbell curls or half Smith machine squats. You should have met some of my rugby coaches in South Wales.
You can’t judge a sport or a philosophy by the extremes or the bad practitioners. you just can’t.
I also think that the Games has been a fantastic PR vehicle for Crossfit but is in some way distracting to the purity of the original philosophy, which is about learning proper movements across broad domains – getting out of the routine or same old same old and training the right way across all types of fitness.
At my Crossfit gym, we have outstanding coaches who focus on form first and intensity second..
I see women who came in hopelessly out of condition practicing their pull ups after class
a bloke who has lost 55 kg in 9 months
out of shape former sports players loving finding an outlet for their competitiveness after years of inactivity
countless members bringing their friends/business partners/spouses down
a brilliant community which is supportive and collaborative both in the gym and out.
Cliff notes
– Crossfit is an outstanding fitness philosophy and approach which is significantly more effective than almost any other fitness methodology
– in the wrong hands it can be abused and be made to seem less compelling than it really is
– while it may offend purists of gymnastics, O lifting, power lifting, running etc, it actually gives these sports respect and brings new people both to the sports and their benefits
–
cracking reply dude.
I agree with Nicks post above, you can’t judge Crossfit in its entirety on some individual and poor coaching. Its like seeing someone in a Globo Gym having bad deadlift form, and then producing an Youtube video to “prove” the deadlift is the worst exercise in the world and is the cause of world hunger…
Even if you only look at the fact that Crossfit is getting people back to the core primary movements like , Squat, Deadlift, Pressing with Olympic movements and bodyweight movements, Push Ups/ Pull ups etc – this has to be a positive in the world of exercise. We see young and old being motivated by lifting more weight or getting their first pull up. This has be to be step forward from Step Classes, Swiss Balls and dare I say Zumba.
How to write an article by Clint Nielsen:
– Hi-jack hot topic in the fitness industry
– Rip apart the worst aspects of the ‘fitness topic’
– Show a funny video to get a few laughs
– Flog your own book
– Sit back and watch the sales roll in
As per Nick’s comment; every sport or training program has members / participants who take elements of the sport, claim it to be right while completely embarrassing themselves and the wider sport/training program in general. If someone reads your book, goes to the gym, takes elements of your advice, tells people they follow Clint Nielsen’s programming whilst curling in the squat rack because you mentioned curls, does that make your programming complete rubbish?
Hi James,
Welcome to the site. I can see this article has hit a nerve with you, and is encouraging lengthy discussion (which is GREAT).
Please note though — If I catch you doing curls in my squat-rack, I might just have to round-house you to the face.
Love from me.
C.
Clint, I’m not sure round housing people to the face is going to build your business too much, although it may make for a fun youtube video
True story! I’m not sure James would agree to the filming however…
lol, damn this post has brought the worst out of me. Cross fit it so freaking fad and so freaking dangerous. Let people learn on their own and watch these egomaniacs return to read the wise posts after they injure themselves. You can’t cure stupid and wisdom is something that often comes with time.
You are right it has brought out the worst…your posts!!
lol James!I agree with you!Fitjerk!what a stupid name! go jerk somewhere else fitJerk!
Whilst the offer sounds amazing I have no doubt that you sir would f*ck me up in a big way. I have written a short piece dedicated to your beloved round house though…
How Karate is ruining our youth
While there are many sports out there keeping the youth of today fit and strong one sport is leading our kids down the wrong path. Karate is teaching our kids to not only potentially injured themselves but make a d*ck out of themselves in the process. One fine karate student can be seen here displaying one of the more advanced movements of the discipline – the roundhouse (a favourite of our friend Clint). With the Nintendo Wii and Xbox now encouraging our kids to get off the couch and throw air punches at the television during their combat games why is it that we would send our kids to karate lessons. Not only can kids throw air punches in the safety of their own home they can use pretend swords and move through the levels of their favorite game much quicker than it would take to earn their next karate belt. With so many benefits of the Wii or Xbox it’s amazing any sane parent would send their kids to karate lessons.
Nah.. i wouldn’t f*ck you up mate. I just like to kid around.
YOU however, should totally consider creative writing.
Let’s talk.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4rbLiUAvew
go to 1 minute 10 on the link
what a douchy hate filled diatribe
No it’s pretty spot on, though a bit tactless. But it’s not like you CF crazies have listened to the tactful info. I have a Masters in Exercise Physiology and I can tell you CF does not support a healthy structure in exercise programming. You don’t see CrossFitters sticking with it for life, why? Because you can’t! That type of programming is so hard on your joints and is an inefficient method of training. But I’m sure you are some kind of crazy-amazing athlete and this doesn’t apply to you.
truth hurts huh?
@Nick “Crossfit is an outstanding fitness philosophy and approach which is significantly more effective than almost any other fitness methodology” – That’s the dumbest fucking statement I’ve ever read, and it instantly nullifies any point you were trying to make or will ever make.
More effective than Oly training methods from Russia and Bulgaria that produce gold medallists?
More effective than linear, progressive overload which helped Ed Coan deadlift a weight that has stood as a record since the late 1980’s?
More effective than the high volume training Bob Peoples used to deadlift over 725lbs at 181 in 1949?
More effective than the high volume gymnastics training which has helped China dominate the sport for like, ever?
Right. Take Greg Glassman’s cock, and insert it directly up your ass… it seems you’ve been sucking on it for long enough, so might as well take the next step. It’ll be, “more effective”.
Wow, that certainly represents an enlightened argument. Is Crossfit aiming for any of those things? Would anyone aiming for a gold medal or world record bother to walk in to a Cross Fit? The stupid ones, I suppose.
dear fit jerk (well named apparently)
you’ve clearly taken too many steroids or you just have small man’s little c*ck syndrome. I have politely and constructively disagreed with you using personal experience and reason and you have
a) completely missed the point
b) started swearing
c) loaded up on personal insults and sexual innuendo.
are you 12 years old? why do you feel the need to bring sodomy and oral sex into an argument about a fitness philosophy? You say that I can’t be taken seriously because I make a legitimate point but then expect yourself to be taken seriously despite doing nothing but making disgusting comments.
you’ve humiliated yourself on a public forum, but unfortunately, I think you’re too thick and myopic to realise it.
I’m sure it took this guy hours to look up the polysyllabic words you used, nick.
You are a fucking idiot. Omar Mateen should have shot up a crossfit gym shince all the membrs are queers.
Why isn’t it possible for this to be another iteration of the evolution of fitness that started out with a lot of assholes doing shit poorly and has moved into what is now becoming prevalent which is a smarter approach that takes aspects from crossfit and those you mentioned above and melds them much like Rich Froning does. No it isn’t for everyone but for those of us that it is for it is possible that it is evolving. Before you blast me step back retort with a half ass logical rebuttal before you start screaming and sound all butthurt again.
You must have Attention Deficit, or something, since you haven’t understand what CF’s ideas are..
all the examples you gave are for specialized athletes…
No CF coach has ever said that will turn normal people to pro Olylifters, or record holder Deadlifter… nor a Gymnist competitor…. everything is taught to its basics… no be a FITNESS PROGRAM… not a Pro athletes converter…
Thank you, could not have said it better. Crossfit=crossfag.
Cross fit sucks a hairy
you know i was cf curious but now that you mention it i played football and then coached for 4 years out of the high school i played for and what you are saying is totally true, by what ive seen on these media outlets( ie youtube, crossfit games,…), maybe it would help if the cf workouts were based on a belt system like in martial arts? would that work i know your getting a lot of opinions from the people that probably saw themselves on the douche bagery video but also maybe the people that are doing crossfit are just the morons that cant handle something with more discipline. thank you and joe rogan for the link to this awesome review on a terrible decision i was about to make
thanks again
mat
“This also the reason why it’s a bad idea to do deadlifts before squats”
Wouldn’t this be bad as well since you use your legs in deadlifts too, and your legs would be fatigued having already done squats before deadlifts?
Not really, training deadlifts with fatigued less is hardly a safety issue. It’s more of a performance issue. In fact, it’s common to train your deads with fatigued legs after some high rep leg pressing because every powerlifting competition goes in the same order:
Squat > Bench > Deadlift.
And if you put up impressive squat numbers in the morning along with a decent warm up, you’ll already be deadlifting on legs that aren’t at 100%.
So MMA conditioning can’t make you elite? I guess GSP, Vitor Belfort, JDS, Anderson Silva, and the list goes on and on and on that are great athletes who never competed in wrestling, nfl or other sports.
I used to do Crossfit, until I frayed the miniscus in my right knee and bulged a disc in my lower back (doing a workout involving 100 dead lifts). Too bad it took me such horrible injuries to realize that Crossfit is garbage.
My sympathies.
Can only assume this was in competition?
Otherwise I’m sure you would have had the good sense to lower your weights so you could keep your form.
Injuries happen, we can’t all be on the money every lift. It could have been Deadlift number 3 or number 93. Granted, the more you do, the more likely you are to get injured under fatigue … but like I said, you lowered the load right? so your form was still good.
Stop blaming workouts people and start taking responsibility for your own shizzle.
Im currently injured due to getting lazy on the second lift of a weight that was less than my warm up. MY FAULT and my fault only. Blaming the workout just doesn’t cut it.
thanx for YOUR opinion…….FACT is Crossfit works WELL for me and my wife. We R in our 40’s and in the best shape of our life. Been working out for years doind EVERYTHING, nothing worked, until WE found Crossfit!!!! What is good for U is not good for all, but again thanx for your opinion…
Great. Keep doing CF for years… if you CAN.
Nowhere in that article does it say “Pumping” is an effective workout. It says lower weighted reps to failure. That not pumping. You do make some valid points but i can understand how most people would be turned off by your approach. All in all you will attract the people you truly want to work with and weed out the rest. Best of luck to you.
Are you implying MMA condition = CrossFit?
Because if you are, you’re fucking retarded.
FYI, GSP works with Pierre Roy – one of the best OLYMPIC lifting coaches in the world. There is nothing CrossFit about it. He knows what the fuck he’s doing. Just because you see them do snatches is again, NOT crossfit.^^ Just for clarification purposes.
People still use the word ‘retarted’ to describe things as lesser? Hurtful and thoughtless.
It’s “retarded” with a ‘D’
I Crossfit and I completely understand your points but I do think Crossfit is a little misunderstood especially now with it’s exploding popularity.
Is Crossfit teaching gymnastics? No, absolutely not, not by any real stretch of the term. My only experience with gymnastics is watching it on TV every 4 years and even I know that what we do in Crossfit is NOT gymnastics. Crossfit uses the term “gymnastics” to reference any body weight exercise or movement. So a hand stand push-up is just as much “gymnastics” as a sit-up in Crossfit. So you’re right, anyone that takes on Crossfit thinking they we be taught gymnastics will be sadly mistaken. In my opinion, more of a misunderstanding of the way the term is used than anything.
Is Crossfit true Olympic lifting? It absolutely can be with proper programming and instruction. Mike Burgener is the subject matter expert for Olympic lifting for Crossfit HQ and he is a senior international weightlifting coach for the US and runs a training center for USA Weightlifting. So the qualification and instruction is there for anyone to become proficient at the Olympic lifts doing crossfit and many have done just that. Now, have they done it on an elite level? No, not by any means but I’ve seen a long list of people join our box who had no idea what a snatch was but can now perform the movement with decent load, properly and safely for improved general fitness, nothing more.
Is Crossfit for the elite? Depends on your goals. You’re absolutely right, most of the competitors at the Crossfit Games were already elite athletes who competed at a high level in some sport and are using Crossfit as a new sport for them to compete in but there are several stories of average joes receiving proper instruction, programming and nutrition and developing into darn near elite athletes. Will you become a world class deadlifter if you do Crossfit? No. A world class sprinter? No. Crossfit’s goal is to develop a well rounded, generally fit athlete which can be done with proper instruction and programming. I’ve been practicing crossfit for 4 years now and haven’t sustained any injuries or had any negative side effects and that’s thanks to proper instruction and programming and my willingness to learn the movements and practice them, no question, I’ve put in the extra work. While not elite, at 40 years old I can still compete with the guys in their 20s and I’m honestly in the best shape of my life.
I hope you noticed that I couldn’t use the terms “proper instruction and programming” enough. I too think this is where Crossfit is flawed and progressively declining. There are too many people opening Crossfit boxes to jump on the new, money making band wagon and have no business instructing others on the complex movements. THIS is where injuries occur, people quit, etc. Personally, after looking through your website, I think you would actually like our box and how the programming is strength based with short explosive WODs for metabolic conditioning. But I agree with you, there are a lot of Crossfit boxes where I see the programming and think, “WTF?” this guy is going to kill someone. Someone thinks they are doing Crossfit because they are doing a WOD of 100 Deadlifts and 100 Muscle Ups for time. That’s Insane! But I’ve seen it, believe me.
In the end, I’m not one of those crossfitters that screams “don’t bash my sport!” I like you’re post and saw your points and understand them but I do think there is a place for Crossfit and with proper instruction and programming it can be used to achieve a high level of fitness. Unfortunately, right now it’s also becoming a victim of it’s own success.
Cheers.
This is pretty spot on. I used to crossfit, but left b/c a) I suffered a fairly serious back injury that kept me from lifting for 4 months — doing a 4-round WOD that included 25 DLs @ 225# — b) programming is just horrible, and c) the cult-ish phenomenon was not my thing.
I do agree that it varies from gym to gym. I trained at a great gym where the coach readily acknowledged that the crossfit template was idiotic, and thus he moved his programming for toward a traditional strength & conditioning cycle. (He indicated he only kept the “name brand” b/c it drew random people in off the street more so than just calling it Bob’s Strength and Conditions). If we did Oly lifts, it was never more than broken 2s or 3s; if we did a heavy deadlift workout, the rest of the day was pretty light. Other gyms are just horrible. Even while “stressing” form over weight/time, you’d constantly see idiotic lifts in a workout. 50 box jumps in a row is dumb, as is 30 snatches for time, sumo deadlift high pulls, etc.
I will give crossfit some props because it got me interested in learning more about s&c type training. I played soccer in high school and am in the military, but I was by no means a good athlete. The only workouts I’d do is your traditional meat-head routine mixed in with jogging. While crossfit certainly didn’t invent circuit training, that was the first real exposure I had with cross training with weights. (Of course, I realized, after doing my own research, that I could make a better programming template). Too, I had no idea what Olympic weightlifting was until crossfit. Since I’ve left crossfit, I’ve started working with a fantastic coach (who’s on the USA coaching squad) and it has helped immensely.
So basically, in summary, crossfit is great to do for like 6 months to a year, then you realize how utterly terrible it is, but in the meantime, soak up as much info (what’s good, what’s asinine) as you can and train on your own.
Thanks for confirming my suspicions. I knew Crossfit had the stench of idiocracy. You just confirmed it. Active Crossfitters are a bunch of elitist flaunters who aren’t injured (yet).
We always did think alike lady ;)
Agree to disagree. Did you ever stop
To think that maybe Crossfit people like to do it because they just enjoy it? I mean it’s that simple.
I like it because it’s fun I go there see my
Friends and EVERYONE is helping each other out. You don’t see that at a gym. Everyone is usually too cool for school.
You know what else people enjoy? Heroin. Or cocaine. So if a friend is helping me get high as fuck, should we NOT write about how dangerous the stuff is?
The point is, enjoyment does NOT = results. There are plenty of workouts you can do which tingle your enjoyment senses without crippling you in the process.
I was looking into CrossFit and I’m glad I read this article. I did gymnastics for many years and competed in JOs. I tried weight lifting for a few years and made some great gains in size and strength. However, I miss gymnastics. I felt so much more fit and used my muscles very differently than weight lifting. We did a lot of circuit training on conditioning days at practice but we weren’t allowed to use poor form or there’d be punishment.
I heard CrossFit incorporated some of gymnastics’s conditioning so I was interested. I’d really like to add some kind of conditioning similar to my old gymnastics to weight lifting. I also want to compete in something other than how heavy I can lift or how many reps I can perform. I agree the whole idea of sacrificing form for reps is idiotic. I also agree some of the WOD things you described were stupid.
With that said, is there any kind of training I can do that I can add to weight lifting that I can do for conditioning? Also is there anything else I can compete in other than weight lifting or CrossFit that will test my overall athletic abilities?
I LOVE this post! I could not agree more that CrossFit is nothing more then a shiny new ball that people are attracted too. I currently intern at an Olympic Weight Training center and we get lots of CrossFitters coming in to get extra practice with their snatch or C&J and when we show them the proper technique they can barely do more then 60 kilos.
We even have CrossFit coaches (if that’s what you want to call them) coming in to learn how to do the Olympic lifts properly and with all their years of bad habits they are having a really hard time grasping the concepts.
I can’t stand walking into gyms and seeing people doing pull ups or muscle ups where 80% of the movement is a kip.
Just a quick little rant, but I feel better now.
so what does this tell you? it tells you that CF isn’t too ashamed to come in and get extra training to ensure that their technique is at the best it can be so here’s a thought, instead of bagging out that they came and you had to “teach” them the proper technique, how bout you just commend them for coming in and help them be the best they can be? Why would you diss that? I can be pretty certain that if you went into a CF box as a Oly lifter that they would be more than happy to take some pointers from you and wouldn’t hesitate to show you how to do something that perhaps you couldn’t do?! I don’t think it’s stupid they come into you, I think that’s damn smart and you know what? your shiny new ball has been around for years, it’s not something that just appeared. pps who cares if they kip??? like honestly, who cares??? not all of CF movements are kips, some are strict so what are you trying to get at here? A lot of the coaches are coached by Mike Bergener so what? he isn’t a creditable weightlifting coach??
Do your research Scott before commenting, better yet, get along to a box and try it!
Very cool post! I’ve always been a little wary of Crossfit and you have confirmed my suspicions. I hate all the gimmicky fitness crap! And you described it eloquently.
Yes, he was so eloquent that he sounded like he was roid raging. Very cool post! Fucking idiot.
So you decided to take the high road by calling this person a “Fucking idiot”?? Doesn’t make you look any better…
Crossfit has been around for 13 years, hardly qualifies as gimmicky, don’t knock if your too scared to try it
I kinda agree with you FitJerk but then i don’t.
I’ve been doing crossfit at a box for a coouple of months. Before that I just did sports as kickboxing and floorball/soccer. I took 6 month just practicing the movements like olympic lifting and “gymnastic-type”-movements so that I knew the proper form before I started.
At my box I see alot of people ( who does lift really heavy) with bad form and I sometimes go up to them and tell them that they should work on their technique.
But I really like the idea of crossfit, the high intensity and the volume.
I love doing crossfit and I think that if you attend the olympic technique days (like my box have) and gymnastic days where professional coaches come and show us proper technique, you can get alot out of it.
I wholeheartedly disagree with this. I’ve been doing cross fit for a year and I think you’ve been misinformed, maybe because nowhere in this post does it say you’ve actually tried it.
To me, the most important part of any exercise program is the intensity you put into it, if you’re not gonna work hard you’re not gonna get much out of it. Crossfit gives you tangible ways to measure your progress while the constantly varied nature of the program ensures breaking through plateaus which i can attest to firsthand.
To the point on injury you raised some good points. There are surely some dumb trainers who don’t know how to program, but i don’t think you could tell me a good portion of all trainers aren’t meatheads who don’t know how to program. But, working out on my own i kept getting injured, partially because of a lack of technique, partially because of a lack of flexibility, and cross fit addresses both these points. Doing a wod you can go as a fast as you want, with good form or not. Working out on your own you can do the same. Just because you’re going slowly in predetermined sets doesn’t mean you have good form, and from the first day I’ve been there crossfit has emphasized good form to me.
I think you’re wrong. Crossfit, like any other fitness program, you get out of it what you put in to it. The price is a drag, but its worth it to me to get the level of intensity I couldn’t get on my own.
Let me start off by saying that I have tried Crossfit, in case you were about to disregard this post. It was my entry into weightlifting actually, and I started in September of 2011, and stopped around the same time this year.
The first deterrent: the ridiculous amount of money you pay. I was paying $100/month and that was CHEAP. Other guys were being $160; I got a discount because I got referred by a friend.
Noah, I’m going to break down your argument bit-by-bit. Stay with me.
1. Intensity is a key part of any workout, but you make it seem like Crossfit is the only choice one can have to get an intense workout. That is the impression I’m drawing from how you’re phrasing the first sentence of your second paragraph.
2. “Crossfit gives you tangible ways to measure your progress while the constantly varied nature of the program ensures breaking through plateaus which i can attest to firsthand.”
So…are you saying that Crossfit allows for a BETTER measure of my strength/hypertrophy/whatever progress or is Crossfit the ONLY way? Because you’re attesting to one of two arguments, and both are wrong. I can measure my lifts just fine, thank you, by noticing that my DL has gone up from Week 13 to Week 14 by keeping track of the amount of weight that’s on the bar for the same number of reps. Hey, look at that, it went up 5 pounds! I must making process!
And Nick, I made gains in Crossfit too! But I would probably have made gains doing a spinning class and working with 5lb dumbbells. It’s called “noob gains.” Google it. There comes to a point where it’s difficult making gains when your lower back is hurting like a bitch from doing 100 deadlifts.
3. “To the point on injury you raised some good points. There are surely some dumb trainers who don’t know how to program, but i don’t think you could tell me a good portion of all trainers aren’t meatheads who don’t know how to program.”
Injuries are just waiting to happen with Crossfit. The exercises that are coupled together, the ridiculously high volume….what got me questioning Crossfit was when I started thinking about my goals. Did I want to build strength? Hypertrophy? Endurance? I wasn’t really building any of that – I was just getting better at Crossfit. Maybe you should consider the same question.
4. “But, working out on my own i kept getting injured, partially because of a lack of technique, partially because of a lack of flexibility, and cross fit addresses both these points.”
You got injured because you were trying to perform exercises without proper technique. Plain and simple. That, or you were being stupid with how much weight you thought you could do. I don’t blame you for that. I’ve been guilty of the same stupidity – a lot of guys are. We all want to feel good about how much weight we can throw down. Crossfit may or may not address these two points, just like how a trainer for any other program may or may not address these points. Crossfit provides no guarantee for what you’ve just described.
5. “Doing a wod you can go as a fast as you want, with good form or not. Working out on your own you can do the same. Just because you’re going slowly in predetermined sets doesn’t mean you have good form, and from the first day I’ve been there crossfit has emphasized good form to me.”
What are you trying to say here? Are you emphasizing on form or time? Because a lot of the time, they’re inversely correlated. First of all, your first sentence is inherently against the philosophy of Crossfit. Maybe some other program would be better for you instead! “As many sets you can do in 12 minutes” is a workout geared towards going as fast as possible. Where did I get that sentence from? Check the Crossfit page.
Have a great day, Noah!
I agree with a lot of what you said, clearly you know what you’re talking about and I’m not out to dispute the validity of your blog. I just think you’re rephrasing my words in an attempt to win the argument. So let me give a counter right back.
Btw the price totally is a drag, but I get that as a startup thats really only been a company for 4-5 years they have to have the price high to keep membership low maintain a high level of individual attention. As a business model it makes sense, and hopefully over time that price will go down. But i’d like to draw attention to the fact that cost of supplements of many bodybuilders/ weightlifters heavily outweighs the cost of a crossfit box subscription. Looking at videos of trainers and top athletes who do crossfit they don’t take much in the way of costly supplements, while most if not all bodybuilders spend hundreds on the different stuffs.
1. There’s no arguing that you don’t have to do crossfit to work out intensely, but personally I can honestly say I used to love to lift. I genuinely enjoyed working out, doing the same exercises over and over again, switching in new ones after a couple months, and I continually saw results. But, over time I got bored. What I like about crossfit is that I haven’t done the same workout more than once, and every night i look forward to what the main site posts as its workout of the day. Its interesting, constantly varied, and fun. I think for everybody out there who doesn’t like to work out because they feel like they’re doing the same thing over and over again, crossfit is something to at least try out.
Plus, the group atmosphere is something you don’t mention in your rebuttal. Having people around me go through the same hell every day not only pushes me that much harder because frankly I don’t want to lose.
2. The validity of noob gains can certainly be debated, but its not worth it to me to go into a lengthy discussion about the science behind it, because honestly I can’t say I’m an expert. Instead, I look at myself and the people around me as a rebuttal to that one.
3/5. I just disagree with your point on injury. The fitness world is so ripe with competing theories about weightlifting I can’t believe you when you say for sure that you know which program is the best, or for that matter, that crossfit is the worst. I’m not trying to insult your knowledge of the human body, of which I have no doubt you possess more than me, but there are no conclusive studies to prove your claim that crossfit is ripe for injury. I still contest your point about the philosophy of crossfit. Are the trainers there making you use bad form? You say its the philosophy of crossfit, so what. That doesn’t mean you have to bad form. The only time is this applicable is in longer wods, the pure strength sessions are where you’re most susceptible to injury, and there’s no one telling you to use bad form there.
4. You’re right “crossfit” is not a guarantee for anything, but that doesn’t mean anything. Its up to your individual trainer and the relationship you form with that trainer that ensures that you don’t hurt yourself, and id bed there are a higher percentage of good crossfit trainers than good weightlifting trainers. Of course, theres no way to prove that, its just my opinion due to my own experiences which might very well in no way be representative of the population as a whole.
Overall, crossfit has worked for me to break up the monotony of working out with weights six days a week that I had been accustomed to. On the larger scale, its cool. I don’t know why people are trying to fight this so much. Its a sport for weightlifting that is more accessible to the public than ever before. Speaking from personal experience I have injured myself much more on my own, and under the guidance of a personal trainer, than in a crossfit box. I can’t speak to the public as a whole but I can only say what has worked for me and my reasoning behind why I think it has. I can tell you I’ve never been more utterly exhausted than after completing fran.
You have a great day too
a couple of thoughts regarding some posts here:
to anyone doing 100 heavy deads, you’re fucking dumb, you have a shit coach, get the fuck out.
oly lifting….so many people here talking about well i tried crossfit but now i only do oly lifting as i love putting my spandex on and watch my numbers go up week by week, crossfit is shit…..i too like oly lifting but as a sport it would be nearly dead (apart from russia and china) without crossfit introducing more people to the sport. whether the crossfit box introduces correct form as part of their coaching varies gym to gym but if you think oly lifting hasnt benefited greatly from crossfit you should take your head out of your ass.
as to the cocain / heroin comment….if your enjoy crossfit and are likely to turn up more often, train more often as a result of you enjoying it then IT IS A BENEFIT. Globo Gyms around the world make squillions out of people who sign up for gym memberships and not turning up (because they’re lazy, unmotivated, or simply dont enjoy it), therefore turning up more often through ejoyment is a major benefit.
Well, truth be told and you spelled it out. Of course you are now “the ememy” since yo dare cross (no pun intended) Crossfit and it’s regal leader, Greg Glassman.
Greg Glassman is a fat slob. If crossfit is so wonderful why is this guy so terrible looking? Probably because crossfit screwed his future workouts! I rest my case.
Crossfit is a bit of a cult. Apparently some ‘crossfitters’ get rhabdomyolysis – kidney poinsoning. At the end of the day, most crossfitters are too enthralled with the movement to step outside of the distortion field and look at what’s infront of them. The fact is, the training is unsustainable. That’s not something that can be chan
they key to rabdo is knowing the signs, it’s one of the pre reqs you have to know before signing up.. any high intensity sport would have the same risk of this…failing to see what your trying to prove with this comment?
You are more likely to get rhabdo from Lipitor than from CrossFit, seriously. The risk is real (as it is for any high intensity sport) but overblown.
Joined Crossfit recently – basically to join with a friend who wanted –
a) to look like the guys in the ESPN Xfit games
b) thought it would force him into working out regularly
c) wanted to snap out of a sedentary rut
But we’ll be leaving after our obligatory contract period expires, because :
1) Excessive $$ for limited number of available – and crowded – classes.
2) Weird programming: high rep overhead squats on Mon followed by high rep Front Squat & Push Press on Wed.
3) Endless ‘events’ and ‘challenges’ that always require more $$ and t-shirt sales. ($120 a month, but a yoga class is $10 more)
4) Crazy-eyed desk jockeys (myself included) all amped up to finish workout before the new, chubby recruits (myself included).
5) ‘Coaches’ interrupt your ‘WOD’ to give pointers, but then want you to yell out your time afterwards. WtF?
6) My friend will probably be injured by then – he can’t resist trying to get ‘respectable’ scores – even tho he’s new.
It’s gym class for adults, with the ‘in’ crowd clique, who are BFF’s with ‘coach’ , and the wannabe’s – who haven’t earned their stripes yet and ask ‘dumb’ questions like “should I be trying to do 100 pull-ups today, when I couldn’t do 21-15-9 sets of pull-up two days ago, and I can’t actually do 10 consecutive pull-ups to begin with?” and “In what way am I learning to do 100 pull-ups?”
I believe the real appeal is social — for the singles that want to mingle, it allows you to strut your stuff and leave your name and high score on the whiteboard
– and stripping off your sweaty shirt and throwing down your weights is encouraged.
Regular gyms and personal trainers missed the boat on this craze. It could easily be a specialized gym class with sensible programming.
Who knew there were so many people willing to pay big bucks to work out in run down buildings with only one shower, chipping paint and barely any HVAC, just to feel like elite bad-asses?
If you want to be a legitimate writer, you might want to first learn the difference between “heard” and “HERD”. Dear god.
I’ve been a fitness guy for a while now. I’m not the best, but I’m not the worst. I’ve stood on a few podiums in some regional level comps in a few different fitness domains.
I agree completely that CF can be a bad type of training, depending on the competency of both the client, and the coach. I’ve been to bad gyms of all types, PL, Oly, CF, endurance, BJJ, MMA, etc. I try it all. I’m not trying to be the best at one type of working out. I’m trying to be as fit as possible. I want to run faster, jump higher, and lift more, and be able to do so for longer than my potential enemy (I’m Army (USASOC/SOCOM). CF done with care, and intelligence can be very, very effective at this. It’s not the end all be all of fitness (just like nothing else out there is by itself), but it’s pretty good for the beginner, intermediate, and in not too few cases, very high level athletes. There is no yellow brick road to pinnacle fitness, it takes all kinds; and everyone is different.
Please don’t look at the crazies in any fitness domain, and think that makes the idea itself crazy. There are flaws, and shortcomings in any single domain if the end goal is what is “perfect” for the proverbial “you.” Your training system is not perfect for me, and my training system is not perfect for you. Take the good aspects of all things, and leave the bad by the wayside. Run, swim, lift, do gymnastics; short distances, long distances; work hard some days, easier others; pull, push, jump; work mind, work body; proper work, proper fuel, proper rest.
I agree for most part; CF is just the latest workout fad and you’re going to have bad and good with it. I like that CF has inspired many people into fitness but, as you said, it’s rife with bad programming.
That being said, I disagree with the “don’t put your own spin on it.” I know a trainer that get’s a lot of business simply because he has a CF cert. He also has a CSCS, but most people go “Ooo, crossfit certified…and Certified strength and cond…hey, whatever, he does crossfit!”
Also look at Kelly Starret’s mobility wod and Brian Mackenzie’s endurance wod. They can reach and help a lot of people simply because they piggyback off crossfit.
In ten years, it’ll be caveman 90x or something and people will jump on that one
I understand what you're saying and agree to a certain extent. I just feel like you have missed the point of CrossFit and are applying your theories to the wrong subject matter.
It's pretty much propoganda using CrossFit failure videos to reinforce your point. You can make a failure video of anything in the world to make it look shit. A failure compilation video of olympic standard gymnasts could quite easily make gymnastics look like a dangerous sport that is poorly executed.
CrossFit is a sport… the sport of fitness. Guess what? sports are dangerous by nature, people get injured. If people take the time to learn the techniques and go through the progressions, there's no problem. Feel free to rip individual instructors or Box's to pieces for being awful – but you gotta be pretty misinformed to slate the whole sport.
High reps at high intensity with fatigued muscle groups? Lets be honest, if the intensity was 'too high' – the high reps would never be completed. Merely by the fact that reps are completed (which should be to a technical standard) means that it is not 'too much'.
Olympic lifts are usually done in two's or three's… yes, but this has nothing to do with it being a bad idea to do more. It has to do with the parameters of building strength and explosive power, keeping the quality high to train the CNS and develop correct movement pattern. In a CrossFit facility, at times it will be a 3 rep set, no worries. When it becomes 10, 15, 20 etc, the load is obviously lightened, allowing movement patterns (form) to be kept tidy and the emphasis is now placed in muscle rather than CNS. It's different, but it isn't wrong. You talk about duration and Olympic lifters sticking to 45 minutes or less… come on dude, CrossFit workouts are sometimes less than 3 minutes – that's a bullshit argument.
Just out of whatever, you should know I'm not part of a CrossFit affiliation, I'm not a CrossFit coach. Wouldn't give a rats ass if it completely tanked and was never heard of again. I would still use it (as I do now )as part of my own training, and as a Trainer/Strength Conditioning coach I use a variation of Olympic lifts, Gymnastics, Bodybuilding techniques, high an low intensity, high and low volume.
Initially I was against CrossFit as I figured it was just circuit training wrapped up in a nice marketing package. Over the years I have found out it is a hell of a lot more than that and definitely has a place in fitness, if coached correctly.
I’ve been working out for 10 years now and have never been as shredded as I am now. I mix 3-4 crossfit sessions a week with a couple heavy lifting days at a local gym (squat/dead/bench). Crossfit can be a great way to build endurance and learn technique if you are at the right box. You will never get HUGE from crossfit alone, but on the flip you will never be in as good of overall shape by doing your standard routine at 24 hour fitness. I will admit there are some flaws but most injuries at CF are caused by stupid mistakes by the athlete – not the coach. Guess what? People get injured doing every fucking type of workout there is so that can’t be tallied as a problem with crossfit. I’ve seen worse form with chumps squatting at golds gym then I’ve ever witnessed at CF.
Bottom line if you work yourself out and eat right you will get in shape, just stay the course. I’m sick of desperate trainers posting the same fucking videos and making the same weak points about crossfit just because you are losing clients. Does Mercedes talk shit about BMW when the newest one is released? No, they start making something better. The worst type of business man is the type who has to rag on his competition to look good. Just because a new concept is taking away your profits doesn’t mean it is bad, it means you need to get back to the drawing board. Though Crossfit isn’t NEW (I’ve been doing it for YEARS), it is starting to catch fire. Next will be ToughMudder runs and who knows what’s after that. Stop talking shit and focus on your own style and demographic.
One good point from you here, FitJerk, is to find your goals. If you want to get huge, lift heavy and eat protein. If you want to get lean, lift and eat light and do cardio. If you want to gain endurance and learn a new way to workout, try crossfit.
Do research on the owner of your local crossfit before you jump in, but you can find some legit spots that will help you reach those goals.
http://jpegy.com/images/uploads/2012/04/imagesi-love-this-post.jpg
Wow, was totally going to read your thoughts, but then you used the word “retarded” and I lost total interest. It’s called respect, man. Use it.
Dude it’s herd. Sheep herd.
I freaking love Crossfit! I am lucky to be going to a great box that is expensive but that’s ok with me, because the trainers are top notch. They are ALWAYS coming around checking my form and giving pointers. Everyones always so positive and it’s so much more fun than any other form of training i’ve ever done. It’s also easier for me to go balls to the wall and push myself when there are others there doing it with me. I am building a home gym also for some heavy compound movements twice a week just to gain mass for aesthetics mostly, but I do Crossfit four times a week for functional strength. Like Chris, I find mixing Crossfit and some strength training to be a great combination. I feel healthier and more ripped than ever.
I don’t think Crossfit causes injuries a lot more than other sports, I just think that maybe if an individual is trying to show off and lift more than they should, then injuries can happen. Therefor stupid judgment causes injuries but don’t blame it on Crossfit, a lot of the movements are the same things you’d do in a gym, except with professional supervision (if you go to a good box).
I have never been instructed to do 30 rep snatches or anything like that, but I know some schools are different. When I do high reps I make sure it’s a weight that challenges me but doesn’t rip my arms off. If it seems crazy and the instructors seem inexperienced then it’s probably not good. Use good judgment and if your pushing yourself so hard that you feel like fainting, take it easy! Just like in any sport, there are shitty instructors and great ones. Use YELP to find a good box with good ratings and pay more if it means getting great instructors, it is worth it IMO.
Yes sometimes they say “do as many of these metcon workouts as you can in the next 18 minutes”, but they also say there’s no huge rush, and take your time, go at your own pace. Their not putting fire under you ass to be the fastest. They want to push you but safety is always the no1 concern, act within your own limits is the mentality.
Just wanted to leave my two cents because I really love Crossfit and I don’t think it is just a “new thing” that will be here and gone. I really don’t understand why people have an axe to grind with something that brings a sense of community and motivating intense fitness to so many individuals.
First, this article completely loses its appeal in the very beginning with unprofessional language. Second, CrossFIt is only good for 6 months to a year?? Please explain CrossFit Games athlete’s repeating appearances in the Games and crushing previous year’s lifts and quantifiable results. Oh and don’t forget the Masters division. Nobody accused CrossFit to give you the ability be a master on the rings, uneven bars, or pommel horse. It includes basic gymnastic movements mixed with olympic lifting. Any sport or exercise program can cause injuries. Keep efficient mechanics during your lifts and movments, know when to rest, and give your body proper nutrition in order to ensure accurate recovery. Fit Jerk is just having a pitty party b/c his program hasn’t mainstreamed like CrossFit. I know you cringe at hearing the name Greg Glassman but he holds the trump card over you Fit Jerk.
Crossfit has no appeal outside of itself. Crossfit is for queers and losers, loser.
As long as you enjoy what you're doing and seeing results then you should be satisfied.
http://www.bodyathleticsblog.com
I don't believe you understand what gymnastics is being used as in Crossfit. It simply means body weight exercises such as muscle ups, push ups, and etc. Which is what gymnasts use… unless there is weight vest competition we re unaware of. By practicing good form and pushing your limits is what exercising and sports are about correct? And for elite athletes…. well Jamal Charles used Crossfit to get back in shape after his ACL tear and he nearly lead the NFL in rushing this year. Knowshon Moreno lit it up in Denver's backfield this year. Guess what he does Crossfit too. I was once told in school by a fitness professional is that we are in the business to put ourselves out of business. Meaning as any professional we are simply trying to make everyone a healthier version of themselves. Try a class before you bash it.
A safe way to train is HIT (High Intensity Training). Google that, and Arthur Jones. It’s good stuff.
I totally agree. These cross-fitter’s are going to cost us a bunch of money once we go on ‘obama-care’ lol
Not to water down your short but excellent post, HIT is incredible and much more practical as a life-long workout with tremendous results and low risk of injury. Crossfit is for people who need a babysitter who will stroke their ego while setting them up for injuries. HIT is for the self-disciplined and you can do it anywhere; in your home, a hotel, it is the way to stay busy on the road, gym or home and your metabolism will scream for hours afterward.
Exactly :) I’ve seen the prices they’re charing locally to “get fit”..no wonder it’s a place for Power Yuppies hahaha. If one doesn’t have discipline for own training, there’s a big problem right there…
CrossFit forges elite failure huh? Well I’m going to have to disagree with ya Jerk. I am 31 years old and have been doing CrossFit for 3 years (that’s over 6 months byt the way). I am more flexible and stronger than I was when I was 21 and I have been active in sports and excercise since I was little. I am 69 inches tall, 170lbs, Deadlift 510lbs., Back Squat 430lbs., Front Squat 360lbs., Power Clean 275lbs, Snatch 225lbs, 1 mile run 5:37, 400 meter run 56 seconds….I’m not trying to brag or say I am the best b/c I’m not by any means. I’d put a CrossFitter up against any of your so called athletes any day….they will fare poorly against the hopper model.
Crossfit is just another fad workout that will one day go away. I’m generally not impressed with the training or the competition as this type of training has and will continue to lead to injuries. The younger people will bitch the most because their egos are not in check and they lack the wisdom and intelligence to understand that this type of unorthodox and often ridiculous order of training is going to jeopardize their future workouts. It’s only when these tards are sitting in a hospital bed with a blown knee, back or whatever will they see the error of their ways. Kyle’s numbers might be impressive for a time but he will not be able to keep this pace up for very long especially as approaches his prime. But hey, live an learn egomaniac, don’t say I didn’t tell you so…
CF has been around for 13 years, there are hundreds of boxes opening worldwide each year as well as the affilate competitions and CF games, pretty sure that doesn’t constitute as “just a fad”. Yes people get injuries, it’s a high intensity sport, you don’t go to the box to take a leisurely walk, give me one example of a sport that is practiced at the intensity that doesn’t have injuries attached to it? For the most part it’s just like anything else, it’s only as good as the coaches that teach it and the athletes that are learning it. It’s like you rockclimberscott, it you don’t learn how to rock climb properly, you fall off you die..so I’m failing to see the point you are trying to make here?? have you even tried CF?? I would never pass judgement on something I hadn’t even tried..
When I was in high school in the early 90’s, I took classes in a martial art run by a man who wanted to make Tae Kwon Do but with more circles, spurred on by his chiropractor. Most of the techniques are ineffective, back injuries were common, and it had a reputation as a black belt mill by the time I quit. They’re still going, and there are still schools worldwide.
One of their prime competitors in the area was an American Karate school that taught form over function, including weapons drills that were primarily flashy crap that Wuxia film producers would dismiss as unbelievable in combat. They still exist, are doing booming business, and run a semi-major tournament (where their students win, of course).
Similarly, another art started spreading that’s built almost entirely on the founder’s lies about Triad involvement, incorporates techniques from multiple branches of Kung Fu and related disciplines, but often in poor reproductions, and readily hands out assistant instructor positions to teenagers who think that the proper way to discipline a ten-year-old who won’t work on their punching drill is to sweep them and put a foot on the child’s neck. Again, going strong, still spreading.
Moral of the story: Business success does not equal effectiveness or safety, and you don’t have to eat the dog-turd cake to know that the person who made it is not a master chef.
Alright, first of all I call bullshit on your numbers. Anyone that has a 3x BW deadlift, better have it on video and post a link. So until you do, it just seems like you pulled that digit out of your ass.
Second, if you’re boasting about numbers that high, you are not doing CrossFit. You are in the realm of Power/Olympic lifting. So you might as well legitimately join one of those sports and stop giving credit to the dumbshit trend that is CF.
And I can pretty much guarantee most of your workouts are borrowed versions of effective powerlifting programs anyway.
Either way you slice it, it’s not CF that made you elite… if you are even “elite” in the first place.
Just because you see gains doesn’t mean that you’re doing the work in the safest, most effective way. That’s incredibly faulty reasoning. Certain elements of CrossFit directly contradict the science of exercise backed by mountains of evidence.
idiot
crossfit is for people that doesn’t know how to work out by themselves. If you want to have messed up joints when you get old then by all means continue doing what you do
HAHAHA MY ASS. All of your numbers are complete bullshit. There is ZERO chance someone 170 could snatch 225, and 1mile 5:30? Dude you have the IQ of a cabbage.
False. a 77kilo (170) man snatching ~102kilos (~225) would be around the same level of the bottom three finishers in the USAW American Open (i.e. lower end of national caliber). There are a number of Cf athletes who are national caliber olympic weightlifters.
Check Catalyst Athletics Weightlifting Levels:
http://www.catalystathletics.com/articles/downloads/CatalystAthleticsWeightliftingLevels.pdf
and the 2014 USAW National Totals: https://pdf.yt/d/Ob5VWqk8ylrej5jK
You stated National Caliber. Not world class. The USA stinks at Olympic Weightlifting because the USA does not recruit young talent and develop them. Having people joining CF after puberty and expecting them to achieve a Elite Level in Olympic Lifting is irrational. CF is not allowed in weightlifting gyms in Europe. USA Weightlifting needs to distance itself from CF since the science behind CF doesn’t exist and Weightlifting is all about method and programming.
Damn did you watch the US Open a couple weeks ago? CrossFitters took home 15 medals. Guess you weren’t right bout that one lol.
They were playing tennis? The US Open is a tennis tournament. Even if crossfaggers medaled at some meet is meaningless in the world of Olympic Lifting. So CF introduces lifters to Olympic Lifting? So what. Many Chinese woman can total more than the best USA men in similar weight classes. Take your crossfag and shove it your gay ass faggot.
It was the American Open but I figured since you’re so smart you could figure it out. So all US lifters suck now huh? I guess if only everyone could be as good as you. At least I hope no one is as angry as you LOL. You need to get laid man LOL
I have been involved with weightlifting for 40+ years. You are the one too stupid to know the name of the meet. Got a sex hangup, queerbait? Go kill yourself homo, nobody would miss you gay wap dago ass.
I love how angry you are on the internet lol. Man that’s a lot of time to spend on something and still be irrevalant. You must really suck at it. Maybe you should join a CrossFit box and they can teach you a few things. And I wear that Wap label proud LOL. At least I’m not the guy hiding on the internet calling people names. Actually no one would miss you.
Please, kill yourself right now. Imbecile. Why would I join a gay crossdress fag box? So I can catch AIDS like you? Italians have nigger blood in their veins. So you are a gay cross fagger with nigger blood also? Nice.
LMAO!!! You must be pleasant to hang out with lol. Actually, I’m Sicilian and that’s a myth with no merit…but I wouldn’t have a problem with it if it was true. What should we be more like you?!?!? Hey but we would win a keyboard war if we were like you. The 50 something, anonymous weightlifter with no friends LOL. I wish I could say I feel sorry for you…but I don’t. Probably beat up as a kid…LOL
Actually, it’s disgust, not anger. The problem here is that you are not even a man, you are a little snowflake attempting to act cool by interjecting lol and LMAO in a conversation. As a kid I rode bulls and did weightlifting in the winter. Moved to Europe many years ago to get away from people like you. The USA is full of little boys with no idea what it takes to be a man, parading around like Justin Timberlake, embracing materialism and hedonism, and popular culture while the memory of their heritage dies. I am unique in my town here in Iceland. You are a carbon copy with no character to call your own, no original thoughts, no original ideas. Go look in the mirror. What you see is nothing anyone else won’t see if they go to a shopping mall, or a trendy health club. Your education level and intelligence is very predictable by your inept vocabulary and cliché ridden responses. That being said, I really do hope you die soon or someone kills you and all of your losers gay friends and family. Just the thought of a complete and utter piece of shit like you existing is really disgusting. What a total loser………………………..
Man if didn’t read it myself, no one would believe people like you exist. Can’t imagine what in life has made you this angry. Regardless of what you think, I’m educated and just as cultured as you are. I lived in Asia and Europe for the past 25 years…including Iceland in the early 90s. And my guess is you aren’t Icelandic, because they were some of the best people I ever met. Far from the racist, homophobe you are. My guess would be you’re the type that would never say these things to someone’s face which makes you less than a man. So hide out in Iceland and talk tuff on the internet. No one is scared of you or jealous of the life you live. You’ll die a lonely and angry man even if you think you have friends. Cause while you may be unique in your town, they have no idea who you are or what your about. That’s why you hide behind a faceless profile that probably isn’t even your real name. Just a waste of life wishing things could have been different.
Whatever…someone calls you out for the ignorant asshole you are and it’s all like, “gosh, I’m educated and I’ve lived everywhere and people in Iceland are nice”. It’s not like that idiot. I had duel citizenship with Iceland and the USA so I came home after a few years in Greenland and the Faroes. Your attempt at pop psychology is a joke. Racist, yes. Homophobe, no homo-disgusted. Degenerate races and sick, twisted perverted minds are a blight on mankind. Here’s the issue here. You can claim all the “tough internet talk” you want, but I am not the person that goes to a crossfit. It’s not even a sport. I know Annie Thorisdottir personally and she will tell you that she doesn’t consider crossfit more than a good way to exercise. I have no problem telling people what I think of them to their faces. You never lived in Iceland, liar. Icelandic people hate foreigners, especially people that have nigger blood in them. You couldn’t even communicate with them in their own tongue. I grew up speaking Old Icelandic as a boy. You are the one that did not know the name of a American Weightlifting Contest and ran your mouth off about a topic that you clearly have no knowledge of. So go away AIDS infected homosexual and die.
Okay you knowing Annie and her saying CrossFit isn’t much is the most laughable thing you’ve said so far and that’s a feat!!! I did live in Iceland at Keflavik AB with my black wife, and it was one of my best assignments. Thankfully everyone there isn’t as racist as you and they had no problem communicating with us on or off base. And yes when I personally talked to the Icelandic contingent at the games this year, they were the exact opposite of you, thank goodness. And I know you’re a fraud, because if you weren’t you wouldn’t be hiding on the internet talking shit. And you called me ignorant for mixing up US and American but you spew lines and lines of hate against everyone and anyone about something you supposedly don’t like. Obviously CrossFit makes you feel inferior or you wouldn’t spend so much time worrying about it. But just like the rest of the people you hate in the world, we aren’t going anywhere. So sit back and get used to it. The rest of your pathetic life will be full of us getting fit and having fun while you sit at home and jerk off at your computer
Black wife? Filthy oil driller. Mud shark. Race traitor. What a piece of shit. Ashamed of your people? Nothing worse than someone that is ashamed of their blood and defiles it with a inferior species. Last message. I do not talk to Unter Mensch. Du bist Hastlich 14/88
Wait but you already said I have “nigger” blood in me!!! So how am I not with my people!!! LOL…I don’t give a shit you’re funny so damn right I’m going to LOL. You’re the only thing inferior in this world!!! But if I would have known that’s all I needed to get rid of you I would have said that a long time ago!!!
A Crossfitter has insane maxes, no doubt. The writer isn’t denying this. The fact of the matter is that it is insanely dangerous “training method” with little rhyme or reason. It will destroy the ligaments and joints in your body over the course of time and all that fake spasming on pull-up bars won’t really help alleviate it.
The excuse of it “being a sport” is pretty tired because the last time I checked we are calling making left turns for a few hours and playing ping pong a sport as well nowadays. You can get insane maxes by cross training without the idiotic mantras of CF and overpriced T-shirts. You can also get the same results by spending about 5% of the money. The choice is yours. Personally I try to avoid the Kool-aid drinking crowd.
Preach on, my friend, preach on. Crossfit is proving to be a benefit to my business…we will always have the last laugh. Anyone who thinks Coach Assman is a god is obviously brain-dead. Exercise science will never fail. Trying to refute exercise science like crossfit is so proud of doing? Failure.
Even if you had a valid opinion your style of delivery is so immature and unprofessional I have completed dismissed anything you have said. Do you really think it motivates people to cuss in every sentance and diss on a different style of training and those that do it? It comes off as extremely arrogant and very juvenile.
I would like to point out that you guys should not generalize this to everyone. Not all gyms are the injury mills you see a lot of places, and not all of us are dumbasses. I believe it is evolving into a more useful training ideology. Eh i like it get butthurt if ya wanna get butthurt.
Haha. I agree with fitjerk, CF is dumb as a bag of hammers. I’m no jock, totally self taught athlete, but I taught myself to bench near 300 lb and pull near 500 (rack pull). I never did a deadlift in my life until 2.5 years ago, I’m 46 now. I’ve also leaned alpine rock climbing, ice climbing and mountaineering, all, if you don’t mind me saying so, serious sports. In my not-so-humble opinion CF is pure gong show. You wouldn’t catch me dead doing oly lifts with a bunch of 30 year olds.
Umm… So according to you, only people under 29 should be in a gym,the rest in a retirement home? you think you’re gonna stay 20 forever? Chalk one up for the genius!
I’m 49 and still can do 40 pullups and 45 chinups back to back and didn’t need crossfit to do it.
Your article is so stupid! You are probably a gym owner and had all your business taken away by a new cross fit gym that opened down the street. I completely disagree with everything your wrote and the video is ridiculous. Since i have began cross fit, I have lost 40 pounds, I have more muscle definition, and my strength and endurance overall has increased dramatically. Reading your article did not in the least get me concerned about cross fit being bad, it just pissed me off. You’re probably just like White Goodman from the movie Dodgeball. http://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi3590193177/
This is the most ridiculous page I have ever seen. How pathetic and desperate does someone need to be to bash another sport in order to get themselves clients and followers? Whether you are passionate about Crossfit, body building, running, gymnastics, whatever, to each his own! Joining a crossfit gym was the best decision I made. It has changed my life. Healthier, leaner, happier, stronger than ever. No injuries, because I do it right. Anyone can get hurt, doing ANY sport, not just Crossfit. In any sport, there’s going to be some idiot that tries to show off and gets hurt. It’s not just Crossfit where injuries occur. You lose ALL credibility when you start swearing and throwing in offensive comments on your page. This made me LAUGH!
it is not a “sport”
Definition of a sport: “an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature”. Boom, you’re wrong!
If I throw rocks at you while you try to get out of the way then that by definition is a sport
It is a sport just like kicking a ball around is a sport. I would like to throw rocks at you though because you are clearly a retard and probably wouldn’t try to avoid them, which would be fun!!
I was merely pointing out that according to the definition “sport” is a very broad term that could be misused. To be successful at a sport like soccer, which i’m assuming you are referring to, takes training and a thing called athletic ability. A muscle head with proper form and no athletic ability can perform high reps in snatch and cleans.
Stealing disciplines from real sporting activities and combining them into a mish-mash salad of physical activities doesn’t make it a sport anymore than NASCAR is a sport.
So what would you like to call it waitingroom? It has it’s own international games each year? what do you suggest we call it?
Sorry you are a moron. I’ve competed in weightlifting and track & field for 45 years and have never seen anything as STUPID and illogical as crossfit. Crossfit has no science, no programming, no rational method.
Came here hoping for a well written article that could outline some of the problems with CrossFit. Leaving disappointed. This is just an endless rant. Next time, please please please cite actual lawsuits, include links to resources that back up what you’re saying. Started with high hopes, got more and more let down as I read, and then I got to the end and realized this was all just an elaborate way of advertising Fit Jerks book.
10/10 would not read again.
Oops…I read it twice.
Wow, you are a moron. Sounds like you have a personal vendetta against a Crossfitter (more than likely several Crossfitters) because they stole your business and their members had functional results. Learn how to construct a meaningful sentence, do your homework, try something before you dedicate your life to bringing it down, and have some editorial respect.
You have completely underestimated Crossfit and put to much emphasis on your steroid regimen. Perfect name too, jerk.
Crossfit is not doing much for your anger there…
You like your one liners don’t you, but have you got anything useful to say? Have you actually tried Crossfit or are you just a lazy fat slob who surfs the web all day posting poison on any forum you can find. Put your money where your mouth is and lets organise a videoed workout between you and a Crossfitter. Surely as it is so crap you will kick his ass?
I have been CrossFitting for almost a year and i am in the best shape of my life for sure. My question is simply this: Have you ever done CrossFit or are you just talking based on your views or have you actually tried it?
I love the fact that Crossfit is a family and does not try to be any of the sports you describe. We are not gymnastics and we are not Olympic lifters we are just normal folks who want to do cool stuff to look great, feel great, and have a healthy lifestyle. By doing all these things together we create a close knit family that works hard together and supports your goals, successes, and most importantly failures.
I appreciate your views and i would love to hear your response.
Crossfitting IS exercise so I’ll give you that, and I am sure people who are doing it get in better shape. Especially if the alternative is eating cheetohs on the couch all day. But you are missing the point of this article, it is ultimately a recipe for disaster for many people. You hit the nail on the head when you said you are doing “cool stuff”. People like it because it is new and cool, but it is also a FAD. The majority of people I see doing crossfit are using piss poor form in everything they do, and even worse, no one is telling them. The bottom line is there are plenty of better things you can do to cross train to get fit, while keeping it interesting. Traditional weight lifting for one, medicine ball workouts for core. Even boxing training is incredible for core strength, endurance, stamina…
My form is good I attend to it on every lift as does my coach. How can performing standard exercise movements be a FAD? You clearly haven’t tried it and what’s more if you are embarrassed by people being enthusiastic about training at your local running track then perhaps you are too shy to go out in public and should stay home and play with yourself while watching some Aerobics videos. I already had you down as a Cheetoh eater anyway!
You are a very sensible and logical person. +1 to you!
Reading the comments here reveals that Crossfit has become a cult of sorts.
I run at a local track on the weekends and there is a pack of crossfitters who show up on Saturdays most of the year,wearing their club t-shirts and setting up all of their free weights on the track. They then begin to alternate between deadlifts and other activities such as towing a tractor tire from a rope tied around their waists. They blast music and scream at each other. I would say at face value it is truly comical, but it actually disgusts me as there always seems to be some wide-eyed, middle-aged person who heard about the crossfit fad (who hasn’t?) and ends up going over to talk to the head moron just to get suckered in…
I agree, avoid cossfit! as trainers we have a responsibility to look after our clients.
Just stating a few facts:
1. Crossfit is the lead cause of emergency room visits between 6-9pm everyday across the USA.
2. The average crossfitter lasts 2 years prior to their first surgery.
3. There were 250 Achilles tendon ruptures during the 2011 regionals.
4. Any power exercise done under 90% of your best effort does not elicit improvement in said exercise. SO, reps over 3-5 on Olympic movements is dangerous and lacks attention to details.
5. Hybrid metabolic crosstraining existed before crossfit and has been around since the dawn of man.
and there you have it ladies and worms…TRUTH! Thanks Matt
Rattling off some outlandish statements without referencing the sources does not qualify as truth. Unless you watch Fox News.
Don’t worry, @rockclimberscott:disqus is a self confessed Douche so we don’t have to pay any attention to what he says!
Hey I have a stalker! Cool! What’s a matter CrossDresser…sorry, Crossfitter, did you miss your dose of rhoids and prozac? You sure add a lot of intelligent responses ya douchey douche bag. LMAO
Super intelligent response yourself there scotty. Seems your true personality is finally showing itself. Clearly you are limited to one-liners or insults, I haven’t read much of anything else from you so far. Seriously though you do however seem to have an irrational amount of anger towards Crossfit. I cannot imagine what it is and I am sure it is probably too petty or embarrassing for you to publish here. I wonder if you would be so abusive or angry if we were face to face in a Crossfit gym. BTW you posted that you older guys, (incl yourself in that category) are all Douche Bags, so I was only repeating what you said (obviously in an inflammatory way as this is a web comment thread). Way to go rising to the trolls though. ;-)
I’d love to see the sources for these “facts”. Sounds like conjecture to me.
Just do a search of crossfit and achilles tendon injuries alone and you will be surprised.
Any sport that involves explosive movement, pushing off or jumping is at risk of tendon ruptures… so what olympic sprinting, running, jumping etc is all bad too just because they are at greater risk of tendon problems…it’s not just CF
You might like our Doouche fit Page!
Hey Matt
Check us out on facebook. Doouche Fit. http://www.facebook.com/doouchefit we are against cross fit and everything it stands for and how dangerous it truly is! Go like our page! Share us with your friends!
Who the fuck is this guy. Definitely a total sack of shit who knows nothing at all about fitness. I am 51 and I could kick his ass in any Crossfit WOD. Looks to me like he just wants to sell his shit book. People like him poison and damage the fitness community. Hey dude do us all a favour and go jump under a train!!
Old man with an attitude! god help us…Do you live in Colorado by chance? I find most guys my age are total douchebags who really think they still have it LOL
Douche you are then.
You might like our Doouche fit Page!
Hey Reflex
Check us out on facebook. Doouche Fit. http://www.facebook.com/doouchefit we are against cross fit and everything it stands for and how dangerous it truly is! Go like our page! Share us with your friends!
I’ve been hearing a lot about CrossFit lately, particularly on Facebook where everyone is posting how many whatevers they did in a certain amount of minutes (as if I ever cared). And while I do agree that not everyone should be using such an elite gym for just everyday workouts, I do not believe that it is damaging in any way (although certain people should know when to stop working out so vigorously, such as when they are pregnant).
I believe that if people are not careful and just work out full-on without taking the proper precautions, it is their own fault if they are not seeing results, or hurt themselves.
I’ve been hearing a lot about CrossFit lately, particularly on Facebook where everyone is posting how many whatevers they did in a certain amount of minutes (as if I ever cared). And while I do agree that not everyone should be using such an elite gym for just everyday workouts, I do not believe that it is damaging in any way (although certain people should know when to stop working out so vigorously, such as when they are pregnant).
I believe that if people are not careful and just work out full-on without taking the proper precautions, it is their own fault if they are not seeing results, or hurt themselves.
You might like our Doouche fit Page!
Hey Sarah Zeine
Check us out on facebook. Doouche Fit. http://www.facebook.com/doouchefit we are against cross fit and everything it stands for and how dangerous it truly is! Go like our page! Share us with your friends!
Hmmm… For supposedly being an athlete, you certainly are a whiny little douchebag bitch. Did you get your black belt out of a Cracker Jack Box?
You might like our Doouche fit Page!
Hey Tangible I share your feelings.
Check us out on facebook. Doouche Fit. http://www.facebook.com/doouchefit we are against cross fit and everything it stands for and how dangerous it truly is! Go like our page! Share us with your friends!
I run a CF gym that you’d probably like, for a few years now, and you’d probably tell me to ditch the CF brand. I’d disagree with that, and I’ll say why in a sec.
You make good points. Not everyone needs to snatch (I only teach those willing and able to learn). Haphazard programming with crappy technique is a great way to get seriously hurt, but that is not the essence of CrossFit–it’s just “constantly varied functional movement at high intensity.” It’s strength and conditioning, man–nothing more. Just because there’s some silly crap coming down from the top (back flips for time = facepalm) doesn’t mean that’s what’s happening in every or even in most boxes.
High-rep Oly lifts are very easy to screw up, this is true, but so are low-rep Oly lifts. Done right and coached carefully (and at the right loads) it can help technique. But yes, that is easy to do wrong. I never claim that we are “doing gymnastics,” but we are doing basic movements from that discipline and (hopefully) using the same technique.
The overall quality of CrossFit coaching is improving–gyms with good coaches/programming are gradually becoming more prevalent, at least in my area. I have faith that eventually the crappy boxes will fail and the good ones, the legitimate strength and conditioning centers under the CrossFit banner, will remain. Either that or we’ll change our names and keep doing our thing.
I realize that you’re trolling to an extent, and that’s cool. Someone needs to have a dissenting opinion, and I won’t defend everything about CrossFit even though I’ve been doing it for five years, am twice as strong as I’ve ever been, have never gotten badly hurt, and coach dozens of people on a daily basis on how to move better. Just realize that it’s like martial arts studios–there are good ones, there are mediocre ones, and there are terrible ones. Caveat emptor, I’m afraid.
Cheers, mate. Keep fighting the good fight of making people better.
thanks for making your points in an intelligent, civilized manner. I came to the article looking for some stats, info, personal experiences, etc, and seem to have stumbled into a flame war. Sheesh.
I know I am only replying two years later. But I just want to thank you in any case for your positive and honest feedback. CF does have its faults, if done wrong, as any sport. But it is a sport none the less. I have said before that I don’t know crossfitters who diss other sports or their participants. I would actually like to see the growth in CF box and member numbers since you posted this. I think it would be a extreme upward curve and not a dying fad as most in this string wants it to be. If you don’t like something, good for you. But let others do what they love. One more thing. CF is a combination of different activities. And it is not the first sport, trend etc to do so. Things develop. That is what humans do.
Crossfit is NOT a sport.
Boy, Americans really are dumb. Not only have I realized this by visiting there many times, but even moreso now from reading some of these idiotic comments! lol
Crossfit is a joke. People who do Crossfit are jokes. Case closed.
You might like our Doouche fit Page!
Hey Ben
Check us out on facebook. Doouche Fit. http://www.facebook.com/doouchefit we are against cross fit and everything it stands for and how dangerous it truly is! Go like our page! Share us with your friends!
I had zero interest in watching competitive gymnastics or weightlifting before starting crossfit, I know the exercises in crossfit are not even close to either of these in reality but at least it gets people interested in skills and sports they were previously unfamiliar with. I’ve recently made a point of watching both gymnastics and weightlifting on TV and watched gymnastics in the O2 arena – all because crossfit got me interested. Sorry if the writer feels that gymnastics is not meant for us mere mortals who view even a simple pull up as an achievement – he comes across as plain ‘elitist’, at least cross fit gives everyone a chance and encourages everyone to give it a try.
The swearing is also plain offensive and should have no place in an article attempting to make a serious point.
Oh grow a pair, Shirley.
You people are fucking idiots. Just because you lost weight or can achieve certain things now from using crossfit is not what he is trying to discredit. The point is, over long term use of the program, a person is much more likely to become injured from the program. It is also very expensive. So if you aren’t a little whiney bitch, then you can easily achieve the same results using a much safer and proper techniques while saving a ton of money. You guys are looking at crossfit like if it has some magic powers. All you are doing is making some guy rich. So stop being a little whiney bitch. The program sucks and as the others have said, you are following the herd.
clearly you haven’t tried it…long term INAPPROPRIATE use of the program can cause injury as is any program you do if your not doing it properly…
Who the hell cares, the whole problem is that too many people care about CF, no body is forcing you to like it, yeh it’s expensive once again who cares, it comes down to choice doesn’t it?? my box cost $40 a week, one PT session a week in $30-40 and thats just for 1/2 hr so yeh no sure of your point here..
crossfit has no magic powers it’s just a form of exercise that some people choose to follow…one again emphasis on CHOICE. and once again unless you have tried it as in really tried it, you might want to keep your uneducated comments to yourself.
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The hardest part about crossfit, telling your parents your gay.
You might like our Doouche fit Page!
Anthony
Check us out on facebook. Doouche Fit. http://www.facebook.com/doouchefit we are against cross fit and everything it stands for and how dangerous it truly is! Go like our page! Share us with your friends!
Completely irrelevant and homophobic, but made me chuckle. My bad.
I have used crossfit with my squad now for 6 months prepping for deployment ( we are infantry in the US Army). we have become faster, stronger, more agile and more mentally tough without incurring any injuries what so ever. we always practice form and technique. I do believe that what you know is nothing. you only wish to bash crossfit because you do not understand nor do you have the mental fortitude to accept the challenge that crossfit brings.
Fake comment by one of the bruised “Crossfitters”
What I have never understood about cross fit it “they” (crossfit minions) always claim it’s the best and the newest and my 300 bucks a month will be the best money I ever spent. They act as if they were the first to invent this stuff. But haven’t deadlifts been around for just oh, a little while? Same with squats? Same with lunges? Pull ups anyone? So why oh why would I pay exorbitant amounts of money to do something I can do at my local gym? Or even better the playground while my kids are playing, or working out with me? The “boxes” are cool, but they have the most basic of gear (tires? rope?) and charge outlandish prices. I just read an article on Glassmen. He sounds like the Monsanto of the fitness world, suing everyone that farts out a crossfit sounding word without becoming an “affiliate.”
Second: I have friends that love cf, have “drunk the koolaid.” But I always ask them, what do you really need to power clean all that weight for? None of them even mow their own lawns or do yard work. Where were these cf “elites” when I had a literal ton of compost to dig? They were too tired. They do nothing with all of their shiny muscles. So I don’t really see a point to it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good to be strong and in shape. But a lot (most) use cf as nothing more then a narcissistic outlet. When I see these housewives and desk jockeys translating all this strength to real world uses then I’ll eat my words.
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Hey
Check us out on facebook. Doouche Fit. http://www.facebook.com/doouchefit we are against cross fit and everything it stands for and how dangerous it truly is! Go like our page! Share us with your friends!
Because when I tried to do these movements in a high-intensity work-out circuit at home I hurt my back with bad form. Joining a crossfit gym that emphasizes form reduced my chance of injury.
In regards to housewives benefitting- since I joined crossfit holding my toddler is way easier. Carrying her car seat is easy. I made huge gains in football- faster and stronger than way younger players.
Crossfit is only as good as the gym and instructors and my gym rocks. It’s a competitive and fun outlet for this housewife :)
crossfit is for gay people
There are a ton of excellent points in this article, with my favorites touching on the absence of intelligent (or even simple common sense based) programming, and the fact that most Elite CFers were already amazing athletes to begin with.
You have made some great points. I have worked out at many crossfit boxes for 2 1/2 years. I travel for business and have tried boxes in several countries and many states. I can say from my own experience that most of them sucked! They were dangerous. The owners and coaches had very little background in fitness other than their brief crossfit experience. Having said that, they were a few that stood out and those always had coaches and/or owners that had an extensive fitness background and crossfit was just another method in their arsenal. I can’t tell you how many times a 20 something year old crossfit “coach”, with 3 months of training, tried to convince me to lift much heavier weight than I had on my bar WITHOUT ever inquiring to my fitness and injury history. In fact, the only times I got hurt at crossfit is when I went against my better judgment and listened to these kids. You must leave your ego at the door and bring your common sense.
this dude is really trollin crossfitters to try and sell his fitness book…..lol
Totally agree 100%! As you say there are some reputable gyms that have brought in top of the line coaches an instructors. As one of my colleagues said “one of the best gyms i have ever seen was a Cross Fit Gym, one of the WORST gyms I have ever seen was a Cross Fit gym!” When they are individually owed and operated and the “Trainers” take a weekend course to “learn” their protocol, if you can call it that. I would not trust my training to that. I have always said build your workout program on a solid foundation. I am adamant about telling my clients if you cannot do exercise level A why in the heck would you move to level C? It makes no sense, its unsafe and all around a bad idea. Basically if there is more negatives to positives when it comes to one particular exercise, do another exercise RIGHT from the start. Any trainer can make a program hard and make you puke, so what, BIG DEAL! It does not mean they have the sense, education, experience, practical and know how behind anything they do. http://www.bemorefitness.com
It’s just another EXPENSIVE Fad for “want to get fit” yuppie and soccer mom types..and look at their “founder” :) I guess it worked for him. Thanks for telling they shouldn’t be calling it “Gymnastics”. This ain’t gymnastics and is against the principles of gymnastics training. I advise following proper progressions and conditioning with gymnastics apparatus such as rings and avoid kipping at all costs.
OL coach, Strength coach and athletic rehab specialist for 38 years here…You could not be more correct is your assesment.
I absolutely loved this, from top to bottom. Crossfit will remain Cross-Shit until it gets itself together, and only includes cross training with compound exercises that work for strength and endurance. These don’t include any Olympic movements. What an insult to Pyrros Dimas and the others!
Crossfit will get you in shape fast, however, it’s at the expense of crushed discs, and worn tendons and ligaments.
Thank you..this is by far the best post I have read in regard to CF criticism. Thankfully, I left CF years ago and my body thanked me for it
I have been crossfitting for about 11 months now. I am a former college athlete and have stayed relatively fit my whole life. Yes, crossfit is not for forging elite athletes. But let me tell you why crossfit works for me. I am 42, working a full-time job and raising two daughters. I am well pass my athletic prime and there is no reason for me to keep trying to max my deadlift, squat or snatch lifts. Crossfit keeps my workouts interesting – i never know what will be on the board when i walk in the box. I love working light snatch lifts in with box jumps and kettle bells and double unders and whatever else. Do I bench or snatch at an elite level? Hell no. And the truth is, I don’t need to. At this point in my life it is about staying strong and getting my heart rate up. Crossfit does this for me. My box has a great owner and coaches. I scale when I need to which means I don’t RX every work out. None of the critiques you outlined in your article apply to me or 99% of the non-elite people out there. We just want to stay fit and have fun doing it. Crossfit let’s us accomplish this. If you don’t like it then shut up about it, grab some more 45s and keep pounding the iron bro. There is nothing wrong with that and there is nothing wrong with crossfit. You are comparing apples and oranges.
Great post, I recently joined Crossfit workouts to increase my strength and conditioning through excessively varied and challenging workouts. As I am Beginners started crossfit workout routines in 5×5.
So much hatred from this guy. Sounds to me like he is protecting his business niche. I started on crossfit 2 months ago, nothing has ever worked better for me, I love doing this shit I’m here just to see what people has to say, so far, nothing I could take seriously
Just because someone doesn’t like something, doesn’t mean the person is spouting “hatred”. You must lead a very sheltered life.
I owe everything to CrossFit. The way it’s improved my strength and health is fantastic, but the way it’s improved my state of mind? Amazing. I’ve never ever been taught or heard of anyone that’s been taught to compete with who people you’re training with. It’s all about doing the best you can. It’s about doing better in any aspect (not just time or weight) than you did before, that’s the reason you say your time or record your results.
Yes, it’s a competition and it’s amazing to win but the awesome thing about it is that you’ll always see one person still going with the WOD and other competitors gather around to encourage them. That’s obviously not to get them to win or place or whatever, they can’t do that. That’s to get them to be proud of themselves for making the best possible effort they could.
I’ve done team sports and individual sports and nothing has made me feel better about myself in every possible way than CrossFit has. Everyone wants you to do well for yourself.
Look at any singular elite sport, be it gymnastics, cycling or whatever, you will find extreme injuries in high numbers.
The risk with CrossFit is that you only need to do a weekend course to become a coach. That should definitely change. You really need to do your research about the people teaching you. Talk to different people, I’ve had doctors tell me to stop and physios tell me to keep going, talk people in the CrossFit community in your area etc.
A good CF box will not let you lift heavy weights for WODS. You do your max reps to get going (only like 2 or 3) then you bring the weight way way down for the WOD. I’ve done CF for just over a year, at a few different boxes and I still don’t rxd every workout. There has never been pressure to either.
CF to my knowledge hasn’t ever claimed to be gymnastics? Certainly nowhere I’ve been. What’s written here is exactly right. They take basic, core gymnastics exercises and combine it with basic lifting and basic swimming and rowing and cycling etc. We get real gymnasts and real weightlifters in (not our cf coaches) to teach us more exercises and work more with our technique. These classes are compulsory everywhere I’ve been and they aren’t extra money.
That’s what makes it awesome for everyone. You can be an impressive athlete but you don’t have to be an impressive gymnast or swimmer or cyclist or whatever. You can be shit at lifting weights but do the gymnastics movements really really well. It definitely gives an even playing field.
If you’ve had a bad experience with one CF box that does not mean the person who invented the sport ‘should be shot’ or that it’s a bad sport at all.
It’s a huge part of my life and I wouldn’t have it any other way. The only injury I’ve had is a fractured ankle and that’s not enough to make me stop. Just like I’ve had concussions and broken bones from equine sports. I’ll still always do them because it’s healthy and it’s what I love to do. That doesn’t make me an idiot, it doesn’t make me part of a cult and it doesn’t mean the sport should cease to exist. It makes me intensely passionate, it makes me incredibly fit and it is a sport many people love, live and thrive on.
There is some pretty offensive stuff written here, a lot of it seems to be very misguided in my opinion.
I’ll recommend CrossFit to anyone who wants to be better and can handle workouts after leg day.
it’s annoying that people have to criticize on something that peeks everyones own interest. It is up to you to like it or not. and if you don’t like the system of crossfit then shut up, suck it up, don’t complain and especially don’t drag others down to your pool of whining babies. You can have pros and cons about merely anything so just because crossfit isn’t your “thing.” you don’t want to bring others down when who the hell knows maybe the person you said not to do it would actually be perfect for crossfit. bottom line is that everyone should mind their own business please.
Mind your own business huh. Welcome to the internet—this must be your first day.
crossfit is a joke. It’s members are mindless, easily mislead wantabe athletes ridulled w/injuries, not to mention being scammed out of their money. Anyone can make this crap up, so why would you want to pay for it. If I were going to put all that time & energy into performing mindless repetitions of a so called skill, you can bet it would be in professional sports & be making millions of dollars. Animals wouldn’t even do such extreme activities & are better conditioned than all of us.
Can only draw the conclusion that “Fit Jerk” must have been rejected by the Crossfit Box he tried to join and is now very bitter and twisted about it.
Why do you all have leave bad remarks about cross fit? They do teach technique and proper form and the coaches make sire everyone is being safe there are over 200 people at the box I go to and no one has had an injury just because the guy who wrote this is all butt hurt about the crossfit gyms including some gymnastic techniques into it doesn’t mean people shouldn’t do it
Haters man. If its not for you, dont do it. But dont hate on the ppl it works for.
I’m a crossfitter, 18 months now, and I agree with this article. However, the gym I go to avoids the BS that this guy is talking about. High rep workouts are always light load. Olympic weightlifting is a separate class and I’ve yet to see anyone do high reps. Powerlifting is staged over 10 weeks, going from higher reps at 60% load to 1rm testing at the final week.
Crossfit is just a brand name. It all comes down to the individual gym and the quality of the trainers. So why bother with the marketing? Because people see Crossfit in the name and they instantly know that someone will always tell them exactly what to do and how to do it. It’s just unfortunate that so many gyms are run by trainers with don’t know a thing.
As someone who has been an athlete since high school, I agree with this article. Also, Crossfit ruined my relationship: http://leukemiababy.blogspot.com/2014/11/how-crossfit-ruined-my-relationship.html
Fit Jerk!!! The name sort of says it all doesn’t it. The ranting, aggressive nature of the article above reveals everything about this man and his insane jealousy and lack of understanding of Crossfit. I would recommend starting out again and reading exactly what CF is about and what it claims to be. When and where exactly does it claim to be gymnastics………or Olympic Weightlifting?? Just because it uses exercises and movements from these disciplines does not make it the great Satan!!! The man is a ranting fool, whoever he is.
I do perform cross fit exercises and i agree with all these instructions but crossfit is very dangerous. so one should always wear crossfit gloves while performing crossfit .
http://glovereview.com/2014/12/12/dangers-of-ripping-your-hands-in-crossfit-workouts/
To whom it may concern, ( opinion piece )
Disclosure: I Lloyd
Shaw have no, or ever had any financial ties or dealing with Russell
Greene and Russell Berger of CrossFit fame.. My dealings with them was purely based on
promoting ethics / consumer protection work founded on common beliefs.
My
intent was to help them fight the NSCA and Richard Beddie from
spreading scare mongering lies about CrossFit. Simply because I found it
unethical .
As a Mortician and Fitness Industry leader in my field, I take my fight
against
dishonesty in our industry very seriously. As it has very real
consequences beyond someone losing a few dollars. It can rob
opportunities from people to help themselves.
It is my belief only a
combination of full disclosure, passionate people and good safe exercise
options can help our population regain its health.
My warning……..
After having personal contact and working on a project with both
Russell Greene and Russell Berger. It is my honest opinion their lack of
discipline, personal standards and lack of accountability is the root
cause of CrossFit’s reputation of unsafe practices.
Their almost psychopathic ability
to deny any wrongdoing is a dangerous thing to have in the Fitness
Industry. I believe their current mindset would allow them to cover up
any incident of under-educated dangerous trainers, accidents or even death,
that would interfere with their profit margin / marketing and justify
it. Without remorse.
Their willingness to use academics who
claim expertise outside their actual experience or qualifications to
influence or misdirect the consumer is disturbing.
It is my
opinion it is only a matter of time before a tragedy occurs and
regulation will be forced on this industry. It is my hope that regulation
comes in before a tragedy.
Kind regards Lloyd Shaw
Specialist Mortician
Designer / Founder of Commercial VT
I tried this a few years ago but quit (luckily before an injury) because of the dangerous weightlifting stuff. The Olympic lifts are highly technical and doing a huge number of reps to failure is a sure way of getting injured. When you’re tired, you’re inevitably going to make a mistake.
Circuit training using proper exercises is legit. CrossFit™ isn’t. It’s like somebody said, “lets take the wrong way to do every exercise and make a new thing.”
Obviously Crossfit is a fad to make weaker people feel stronger period. Its a genius move if you think about making $$$ but that’s not what the customers are thinking.
1. The 45lb look-a-like plates that can be as light as 10lbs??
2. The “do as many as you can… until you cant…and then next time extend that number” (sure youll feel “worked out” after that; but there is a real reason lifters don’t do “max day” everyday)
3. The whole “crossfit injury” badge – what a wonderful thing; you must be so awesome and cool for getting hurt pushing yourself beyond your bodys limit – check back to me when your discs are compressed, your ligaments are frayed, your heart and/or brain gives out and tell me it was worth it.
The problem is that people who don’t make any kind of lifting or exercise a part of their daily lifestyle, they wont see results (i.e. “I’m gonna work out until I reach [this] weight or [that] waist size and then stop) Yes crossfit is definitely is/advertised as a lifestyle (so ironic how they make their gyms look like old powerlifting gyms of the 80’s, but you’re paying a price of a equinox with cherry wood floors and a pool) and as like any lifestyle your body will adapt to long term changes and even people who lift improperly will see results.
The problem is in the long term… which has not even arrived yet because crossfit has not even been around for 10 years. Just think of it. Look at the best athletes in the world. NFL, MLB, NBA, even PGA. The best, most taken care of athletes usually have either injuries during their career or after. The better the athlete sometimes worse of the long term injury consequence. And these guys train the right way, although thru competition they sustain unintended injuries.
When you lift you have the awesome opportunity to control as many parameters as possible to make sure you are safe, have proper form and that you can continue to lift for many years to come. Ok be a NFL lineman and play to the point of almost breaking your body; but you are getting paid millions of dollars to do so. The whole point of crosssfit is to give the ILLUSION THAT YOU ARE A LIFTING BADASS BC YOU DID 75 retarded swinging pull-ups or did pathetic sit-ups for 10 minutes straight.. Just like those though man competitions where they dump you in mud and ice and shock wires; they are DESIGNED for the average person even tho its ADVERTISED as being for only bad-asses (in its defense to complete those tracks very quickly is very difficult)
What makes it even worse is that a man who is athletic and trained and chiseled probably can take crossfit and make something of it; but these are already trained lifters. The most I see from crosfitters are larger shoulders, but no one gets very strong; but again the market of the customer$ isn’t those who want to be bodybuilders; its the average pancake who wants to “feel” better (and most of that feeling is injury pain and probably slightly better cardio output). Again I hope in about 30 years they find out that crossfit workout protocol results in many types of injuries and they sue. But this Glassman dude will already have spent and stashed so much $$ it wont even matter.
I only recently read in depth about CrossFit because of an article in local paper about it and people feeling back and joint issues from it. I only found this article recently so I admit I’m a tad late to the party so to speak.
Reading the responses to questions about CF’s methodology from its representatives is like reading blowhard Republicans who yammer non-stop about “keeping score” but when the scores aren’t favorable, then it’s a “smear job.” CF’s resident hatchet men Russell Berger and Russ Greene are constantly online threatening litigation or crying “slander.” If one has to threaten litigation or dismiss any critical analysis as a smear or slander to address feedback that does not blow sunshine up CrossFit’s collective ass, then they cannot address the merits.
The followers parroting such responses are like young people still mirroring their families’ opinions as well as students that got a C average for spelling their name correctly. Anything that challenges their notions of the world must be wrong. It is like college underclassmen who think JFK or Reagan were the greatest presidents, opinions they likely picked up from their parents and have not done enough independent study to form their own informed opinions.
Erin Simmons, a Ph.D student at Texas A&M who worked in a Pentagon physiology lab and was a Florida State athlete under actual coaches wrote a piece in April 2014 critical of CrossFit. The responses by many CrossFitters was she’s jealous, has not visited enough facilities (uh, research is not visiting every facility on Earth. These people seem to know nothing of statistics and how polling works) and how their box owner is Clark Kent or Kara Danvers and focuses on form(my sarcasm there). They derided chains like Gold’s and 24 Hour Fitness as GloboGym and in their world, those gyms represent Lex Luthor or Non. Nothing about the merits like the fact that Olympic lifts are highly technical and meant to only be done at 1-3 reps. Regardless of form or technique, once someone gets beyond PVC pipe or broomsticks, it is still only intended as a low rep, power/explosiveness move. Simmons wrote a follow-up in September 2014 explaining the science behind her original piece.Interestingly, no fan mail for that one.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/erin-simmons/why-i-dont-do-crossfit_b_5411771.html
https://derzfitlife.wordpress.com/…/response-to-erin…/
http://www.dailydot.com/…/6-reasons-crossfit-defenders…/
More in next post…
The GloboGyms many deride operate under very strict corporate rules. If a significant number of people are injured using a particular machine,the franchise files that information up the ladder and the corporation can determine if they should get rid of that machine. CF HQ does not want to offer traditional franchises because that would create an agency relationship in which the corporation may be held liable for wrongful acts of their agents, in this case franchises.
The current model is akin to having one McDonald’s on Jones Blvd and another on Smith Avenue yet they have totally different menus. The Jones location has the standard menu while the Smith Ave location serves empanadas,Indian Tacos and enchiladas. It’s not McDonald’s but rather a Mexican/Southwestern eatery using the McDonald’s name.
While FitJerk’s tone might have been caustic, it was necessary to get his point across. Unfortunately too many people cannot grasp data driven constructive feedback. Glassman doesn’t look like he sips his own Kool Aid but rather a guy auditioning to play Andrew Breitbart in a movie of the week.He also has a similar disposition as Breitbart;often abrasive and as stated above, he and his hatchet men Berger and Greene are quick to threaten or actually sue people whom are critical of their methods, given the disparity between qualifications among affiliates.
Glassman believes the free market will address quality concerns. The problem is that unless someone knows what to ask, they may be entrusting their safety to Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite. It’s the typical libertarian approach;telling people to do their due diligence.
That’s nice in theory but again, like all libertarian positions, not always realistic. It assumes all box owners and coaches will act in good faith and provide full disclosure of credentials, experience, etc and not just a Fuck Off and go to GloboGym response to honest inquiry.