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Monday, April 23, 2012

Crossfit the good the bad and the just plain stupid

Crossfit the Good the Bad and the just plain stupid

There is nothing new or really ingenious about crossfit with the exception of the marketing behind it.
People have been doing circuit training for decades and Im pretty sure I bought a pair of crosstrainer shoes when I was in 3rd grade, at about the same time we climbed the ropes in gym class, the idea has always been there.
Apparently if you come up with a few different exercises chain them together and give it a cute girls name you can create a whole new genre of exercise.  There are some things that I really do like about crossfit like the idea of hardcore training, actually having everyone lifting weights and the organized encouraging atmosphere.
Unfortunately there are some really really really bad things as well:

Expecting a 45 year old out of shape pregnant soccer mom to a clean a jerk
Olympic style lifts for reps!?!?!  They are power movements using fast twitch muscle fiber designed to develop power not endurance, putting the two together becomes dangerous fast.
Kipping everything, kipping is just stupid
It takes years for olympic athletes to perfect their form on a clean and jerk or a snatch yet crossfit thinks that it can be taught to just about anyone and performed safely.  IT CANT and it SHOULDNT.
Some of the best strength training coaches specifically train their athletes without these exercises to avoid the potential for catastrophic injury because it is so prevalent.
DO NOT WATCH IF YOU ARE SQUEAMISH

The truth is that most of the best crossfit athletes come from a strong weightlifting or athletic gymnastic background.  Crossfit does have its place and is in fact a great workout when done safely and under good supervision but it is not the only thing you should be doing.  In fact if the only thing you do is crossfit you will limit the amount of muscle you can put on and the potential your body can achieve.  Dont fool yourself and think that a crossfit athlete doing a 500# deadlift just learned the deadlift a few months ago.  Admittedly I dont deadlift nearly as often as I should but I have been training for more then 15 years and I consider it a great lift when I hit 500.
I think the idea of crossfit is really good and they have done a great job marketing it, but they need to find a better way to keep it safe and still be effective.  They let too many inexperienced poorly trained individuals open up gyms and charge $150 a month.  Most of these places have trainers that simply dont know the fundamentals of weightlifting technique.  The truth is most of the original founding members that were involved in crossfit that knew how to teach effectively have left the organization.  They left because the organization has allowed  so many poor trainers to be allowed to own and run gyms.
Crossfit can be great for fitness but right now it has the potential to be very dangerous and bad for weight training.  How long will it take before all the injuries occurring while doing crossfit give all weightlifting a bad name?  I hope they get their stuff together and drop some of the stupid crap they do and keep the good stuff.



1 comment:

  1. Want to know two of the most important elements to finding success with CrossFit training? Here's a clue: They're at opposite ends of your body. my review here

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