CrossFit: The Cure or The Problem?
CrossFit: The Cure or The Problem?
Not a hate article against CROSSFIT…OK, thats out of the way now Read ON!
As Athletes we are seeking to improve our overall health and wellness. There are many ways to do so in the world of fitness, all having their ups and downs. It is important to know that there is no perfect system.
Trying and utilizing CROSSFIT is all well and good but…
What I do not agree with is the advertising that using one tool in health/wellness/fitness/strength is the only thing you need to reach all your goals or a healthier body. I am not being biased here and attacking CROSSFIT either. This rule applies to everything. Goes along with the sayings “Everything in Moderation” and “Too much of anything can be bad for you.” too much milk can be bad, too much water can kill you.
The Good CROSSFIT Brings to the table
Amazing Community/Camaraderie Among Participants
The environment inside a “box” is almost like a team sport when you were a kid. Where people hold you accountable for showing up and help motivate you to give the best you have that day. A nice support network because everyone is there for the same purpose and following the same instruction you are. To even further support the “team” feeling the ones shouting out instructions to the group are referred to as coaches. While it is not a condition of owning a Crossfit affiliated facility These gyms even hold charity and community driven events at different affiliates for different causes. Most if not all have military servicemen/women discounts as well as discounts for public service workers in their respective communities like Police and firemen.
“The Box” is A Brand New Gym Atmosphere
I don’t like the big box gyms because they try to have everything focused on their non-gym features instead of a quality facility, with quality useful equipment. To much space wasted on apparel, tanning, smoothie bars, lounge areas, restaurants As seen on TV equipment and cardio tools.
When you walk into a “Box” it will not look like a typical big box gym. The only similarity will be people moving around with the purpose of fitness goals. As the picture shows below, the gyms are more or less wide open spaces and padded floors with interconnected racks, pull up bars, barbells, dumbbells and many different variations of weights. Outside of small office, desk spaces, bathrooms and maybe a small apparel storefront the space inside the building is used only for members fitness.
Some Boxes are big and would be the literal definition of a “Big Box Gym”; while others can be as small as a garage down the street in your neighborhood.
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A photo posted by CFPrototype (@crossfitprototype) Owned By a Friend of Mine Named Mike.
It is Small Group Training at its core
Those getting a regular gym membership are just purchasing access to the facility and are usually on their own every time when working out. It is often the fact that they are alone that eventually leads to looking for other training options like classes and personal training. In a Crossfit Box the primary membership option includes training and is not simply access to use the facility.
All The Members Do Pre-Planned Workouts
Since crossfit is generally only Small group training, the exercises for the day will be planned for you to do. In their community this is called a WOD or Workout Of the Day. The fact that the workouts are planned for the members can really be a big stress relief for people who struggle with job stresses and then boredom in their workouts. They literally do not have to think about what they want to do for the day because it’s on the whiteboard and ready for them to just warm up and start.
Crossfit Popularized Compound Exercises/bodyweight training to the Masses
Variations of the Squat, Deadlift and Olympic Lifts. They are the quote un-quote BIG movements that involve and “work” a lot of different parts of the body at once. Most people won’t do these because they either do not know how too or don’t understand their benefits. The same disregard for Bodyweight Exercises was prevalent in our exercise communities because they are often overlooked seeming old school and for the most part boring. Crossfit was able to re-establish the importance of basic movements without the aide or use of selectorized machines.
Self -Competition
Their system allows for you to push yourself out of your comfort zone as you get more comfortable. You do not have to worry about what to do for the day because they tell you, instead you get to focus your effort to doing the best you can that day. This often gets lost in big box gyms because the exerciser picks the exercises and often times do not know how much to push themselves to progress or when to switch exercises.
Increased Work Capacity
A simple definition would be “You can do more and more in less time and not be as tired”. Just like when you were a kid involved in sports, preseason conditioning was a bitch to get through the first couple weeks but, after enough repetitive work the activities that used to be very difficult are now easy. The increase in cardiovascular capacity is great for health and wellness and you are not wasting time on the treadmill being bored and losing motivation for the gym. The WOD’s are meant to increase your work capacity and often times are set up with constraints like time or as many reps as possible. You will also develop some muscular strength and endurance as well so, being winded and fatigued in other activities will be harder to come by.
Nutrition Lifestyle Changes
There has been a big shift in the nutritional philosophy of Crossfit in adopting the Zone and eventually the Paleo method. The best part of this method of nutrition is Quality foods over “diet foods”. No more looking for those “100 calorie packs” and “reduced” this and “low” that. Without going into the details of it Paleo is Natural, unprocessed, wholesome foods.
There is no specific style of eating that each affiliate is required to push on its members The Crossfit HQ is constantly bringing to light some of the misconceptions associated with general nutrition recommendations and the research behind it.
It is a Brand New Sport
They have the Crossfit Games which is literally a multi day event of fitness challenges. Outside of the directly affiliate Crossfit Games and events there are different associations that host their own games. Moxie Madness and The Crush Games are some larger ones I can think of off the top of my head. Deeply set within the community of Boxes they also hold smaller events either within one box or the local community of boxes and they compete against each other.
There is no level of sport that is similar to high school or college level for everyday adults. Crossfit does provide a new sport to play for anyone looking to fill their competition void. Yes, there are rec leagues and weekend leagues but that is 1 maybe 2 days a week at best. If you get good enough at Crossfit then you have the opportunity to compete at Crossfit at a variety of levels.
Women Lifters Are Changing the Culture around Women’s Fitness and Image of Beauty
Finally something that is popular and promoting women to be absolute bad asses instead of frail dainty creatures wearing makeup. A recent quote from the most badass Ronda Rousey explains the shift from the “Do nothing Bitch” type of woman, to a woman and a body that has a purpose. No more Pink weight only workout routines and dance classes promising the six packs and zero cellulite paired with ZERO muscle-building activities. (looking at you Zumba.)
The Women who workout at a Crossfit Box are doing the same things the males are doing and sometimes outperforming every single one of them.
Instead of the focus on Women being skinny like high fashion models, the focus has shifted to a woman who is capable, strong, independant, athletic and best of all….HEALTHY!
Different Methodologies and Continuing Education
Gymnastics, Strongman, Powerlifting, Olympic Lifting, Mobility, KettleBell, yoga, pilates, Endurance and MMA. Each discipline or methodology has a seminar for learning associated with it for the coaches and instructors. This mix of methods and styles of exercise will give a good enough variety for the everyday exerciser to stay entertained with exercise.
Crossfit HQ has been on their own developing a more robust and detailed certification and continuing education system. They not only have their own multi level certifications but, are the principal group outspokenly against the proposed licensure regulations and the field in charge of regulations for the fitness industry.
Practice is done daily.
Practice makes perfect. For the most part you will be doing the same kinds of exercises day in and day out, giving you a better opportunity to get better at each of them.
THE BAD CROSSFIT BRINGS TO THE TABLE
Quality Control
Crossfit Affiliates are like Fingerprints and snowflakes…no two are alike (for better or for worse). Crossfit is not your typical brand of gym when it comes to regulating their affiliates. As a consumer we see Crossfit in the same field as an Olive Garden; a company with different locations that all follow the same rules, regulations, procedures and standards. If quality of service/product goes down in the Olive Garden, the company looks bad and they can pull association or franchising rights. This franchise relationship does not hold true for Crossfit. Crossfit works with an Affiliate system; where you pay for the rights to associate yourself with the company and they let you do what you want. While the system might be great for the affiliate owners and trainers to run the facility how they see fit; it leaves such a vast gap in saying what crossfit is and if it is safe. A “Box” can be run/owned by anyone from a beginner to exercise who just likes crossfit, or it could be run by highly qualified/trained/educated/ experienced strength coaches, personal trainers, physical therapists and athletic trainers.
$3,000 dollars a year, Level one CrossFit certified and a heartfelt essay to affiliate your facility with crossfit. is all it takes.
Certification/Coaching
What Used to be a more glaring issue is finally starting to show some more promise when you look at how they are building their Multi-level Certification system. It rivals some of the other industry certifications but is obviously still in its infancy in terms of gaining popularity and respect from around the industry.
They Still provide their Level 1 training certificate and training guide in their new system. After I looked over the training guide it seemed quite basic. They laid out an “anatomy for Jocks” line drawn picture displaying the Hips(red Oval), knees(blue and black lines) ,and spine(green squiggle). What happen to the Shoulder, Elbow, Ankle, Wrist, Hand, Feet,neck joints ? or What kind of Joints are they? What Muscles attach or cross at and over the joints? They did not even give any muscle anatomy other than a simple explanation of energy systems. Nothing about muscles, Nervous or endocrine systems. It is just an over simplified understanding of the lever system in the body.
They give a basic “teach this/see this and correct that cueing and instruction diagram which I am assuming is gone over in the seminar since it is two days long.
Being able to coach these movements after passing 50 questions and two days of trial and error yourself is hard for me to get over. They teach 9 “basic” movements with no guidelines for alternate exercises because they do not believe in it. Everyone should and will do the same exercises just “scaled to fit”. If I go in there and say I have AC joint impingement in ABduction above parallel are they going to know that my shoulder will hurt me if I try doing even a PVC pipe Overhead Squat and will they give me an alternate exercise?
There maybe some bad personal trainers out there outside of crossfit that are certified through different organizations and I agree that is a vastly growing issue. BUT, Crossfit itself is the organization overseeing the certification requirements and qualifications for their trainers; no other certifying organization does that. So, unlike the bad trainers outside of crossfit, Crossfit is responsible for their bad trainers simply because they certified them and said they were qualified to teach/ instruct/correct/coach their system of exercises.
Lack Of Assessments “scalable exercises”
Not every facility has an on ramp or assessment period. I myself have been to a “Free public workout” and allowed to participate like a normal member. The movements done in typical WODs are complex.
Like I said before, If someone comes in with preexisting conditions and does not go to one on one training is there a place for them to exercise without risk of further injury? Are they doing movement assessments, medical history paperwork, Par-Q or a physical if necessary? I do not see the benefit in just scaling the weight of an exercise to accommodate to pain, lack of range of motion, mobility, flexibility when there are plenty of alternative exercise options available.
Training to Exhaustion and Failure
It simply takes a toll on the body over time. Just like training to 1RM max takes its toll , so does training for timed failure, It is a huge stress response on the body. High reps have a higher chance of leading to overuse injuries…even without weight. Add speed, declining technique in complex exercises due to nervous and muscular system fatigue, mobility, flexibility, ego,limited coaching (in larger group setting) and a beginner to exercise and you have yourself a disaster waiting to happen.
Failure and technical failure are vastly different. Technical failure is when you can no longer adhere to the guidelines set forth in order to keep an exercise safer to perform. You may still be able to do a few more reps but their focus will shift to areas that were not meant to receive so much training stress. Failure training literally means to train until you can no longer start and finish the movement anyway possible.
Lack of Programming
The WOD, A general grouping of exercises done for time. They can either be well written or just random depending on the quality of coach that is putting these together. Some facilities dont even do their own programming and follow the Workouts made for the masses out of HQ.
Rest is essential to rebuilding the muscle tissue, re-regulate endocrine response from exercise and nervous system recovery. programming gives you the chance to create higher intensity days lower intensity days, recovery mobility days, rest days and gives a structure to your training
Not managing Training Stress person to person is an essential flaw. If person A does three crossfit workouts (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday), and Person B(equally as conditioned as Person A) does a crossfit workout 1 day (Monday); If they show up to workout on Friday will they be doing the same workout? One person has rested for far longer than the other has during that week, shouldn’t their own training reflect this or is it all about going balls to the wall as musch and as often as possible.
Declining Technique in advanced lifts
Outside of crossfit or exercise; What happens to you when you get very tired/drained and stressed beyond your limits? I would say that you are not performing at 100% ability. How does this not carry over to exercise? When exercise itself is physical stress to the body and fatigue is literally draining you. The ability to maintain quality movement, adjustment and re-adjustments will decline with time under stress. If your boss asked you to work 24 hours without breaking for meals I am pretty sure the quality of your work will slowly start to decline and then stop all together? Why does rest seem to be portrayed as a negative during the workouts but a huge positive outside of them.
Increased Injury Potential
Competition itself is riddled with injury. Ego can overshadow logically decisions making. Advanced movements, Speed, and fatigue= injury. I am not saying Crossfit itself is Dangerous but the positive aspects of the environment they created is also what makes the environment potentially bad for you.
Non Self Competition
Competition can be great for motivation but it takes a turn when not associated with an event of some sort. If you are competing against yourself then you can only compare you to your results. When you try to compare your results to others in a general setting and are exercising more to flex your ego than injury will happen. It is one reason why competitors who train for sports have training cycles that slowly get associated/mimic with their sport as competition nears.
“Cult” Status
Belonging to a group or community is one thing. But disregarding and criticizing the beliefs of others is simply ignorant. Think for yourself and draw your own conclusions instead of reciting the ideals of those you follow. I mean let’s be serious, how educated to you sound if your information to back up a point is “just because” or “ its the crossfit way”.
Most people have NEVER FOLLOWED ANY LEGITIMATE SYSTEM OF TRAINING FOR A LONG DURATION. They have often worked out on their own or followed something they saw or read in a magazine. So, they have never been exposed to actual training before and when they start a consistent routine within a Crossfit Box they start to see results and ultimately change their lives. I think this is great but, the emotional attachment can blind their ability to think independently and simply believe Crossfit good everything else bad. It becomes more than a problem when the enthusiasm about fitness turns to the unfortunate end of Fanatic. The same rule applies for someone who is against Crossfit for no good reason.
Paleo Only Dieting
It may be great to follow but that doesn’t mean it is realistic for everyone to follow. If I can not follow Paleo to the “T” get off my back about it. I will not go into debt to buy free range organic ground beef at $12.00 a pound if I can not afford it. If I do not like fish I will not eat it. If I do not like broccoli well then you can bet your ass it’s not going in my mouth. Settle down, paleo may be good but if I can not eat well on it then it is not for me. It is hard to keep weight on with a Paleo diet and the high intensity exercise of Crossfit. If you need to put on pounds and keep building muscle then paleo might actually hurt your progress instead of help it. Dieting is and needs to fit the constraints of the person. If it doesn’t then it is only a matter of time before they get fed up and fall of the wagon.
Sport Specific vs. General Physical Preparedness
If you train using the WODS and “the girls” or “the Heros” in order to prepare for a crossfit competition then you are doing sport specific training. So while you preach being well-rounded and great at everything, in this case you are simply getting better at doing crossfit.
For someone not doing crossfit competitions then it is essentially GPP.
Is it Best for Athletes
If you are professional athlete or aspiring professional then you have to understand that your body is part of your job. If you treat it poorly then you will have a poor career. There is a high potential of injury in Crossfit at all levels. You have to do a pro vs. con list in exercise selection in order to stay healthy in any training routine regardless of it’s affiliation or not with Crossfit.
For example:
If I am a baseball pitcher, should I be doing Barbell front squats with wrist pain or should I choose an alternative exercise?
If I am a basketball player with Pain in my knees should I be doing high rep box jumps or choose a different exercise?
So there you have it, Crossfit is not the Best thing in the world! Crossfit has it’s place but it is hard for me to endorse when the quality of instruction is literally all over the place and there are still many hard-headed people doing crossfit that do not have the ability or desire to even hear the opinion of others.
**Good example Is I have a friend who loves training because of her involvement in Crossfit but, does not take any advice from fitness professionals unless they are involved in Crossfit. This is simply because she believes that Crossfit created instead of re-popularized a lot of the movements, training concepts and training progressions used. **
The overall bottom line is that just like everything else…Don’t over do it! It’s that simple, the best program or exercise routine for health benefits, fat loss benefits, athletic benefits, strength and power benefits is BALANCE! And just like there are shitty personal trainers out there in the world taking shit courses and getting “certified”, there are also the same people like that for Crossfit. Not every crossfit enthusiast is an expert in training. They might look nice and do crazy things with weight but you are not them and things might be different for you in terms of the best way to train. Without an education they will just be giving you a version of their own routines from the past.
Originally published at fitletes.com
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