Crossfit

[Irulan]

Hi Susan. I am quite familiar with Crossfit. Like all types of exercise it will work well for some people and not for others. Keep in mind that the Crossfit gyms here in the States might have a different vibe/attitudes and/or training of the affiliates. So what I'm saying here is from my experience with Crossfit gyms here in the US.

I think Crossfit is great for people who are already quite active, have a strong core and good body awareness. I love the concept of changing the workouts continuously, using the whole body to do exercises (not just one muscle group), using high intesity activity for a short duration to stimulate growth and change. Especially in a body that is already fit and needs something a little extreme to push it hard enough to create change.

What I don't like about Crossfit are the injuries that I see in my clinic. It seems like people get thrown into heavy and intense exercise before they are ready to do it or before they've learned the form. For example, I knew a lady go to Crossfit and after only doing 5 form practices she was asked to do box jumps to a height of 20 inches as many times as she could in a given time. She was being strongly "motivated", tried to do it and ended up straining a deep muscle in her hip. I've seen people at our Crossfit gym trying to pump out fast push-ups with terrible form, back sagging and no form correction given or adjustments made for their current strength level. I could give you pages worth of examples like this.

If you go to Crossfit, be prepared to be pushed very hard. Be prepared to have a "drill sargeant"-type standing over you and using quite strong verbal encouragement. It is definitely not for everyone. But there is a population that it works well for and who seem to love it.

I hope that helps.

Interesting about the injuries. I do a high intensity functional fitness program that's run by real trainers** at our PT facility. They see a lot of crossfit injuries. It really makes me value the highly trained professionals that lead our classes. They are great at modifying for existing issues, building agility and strength and conditioning and definitely NOT one size fits all. WE ( DH and i) have been working out there for over three years and they are super in helping to build strength and agility, working around things we do to ourselves, working around on going issues and so on.

**CSCS, MS, NSCA, etc none of this weekend certification stuff.

[GLC1968]

I've been considering trying crossfit for awhile and I've been reading up on gyms (locally and not) and there appears to be multiple types. What you want to do is make sure your gym is run by people with more than just a crossfit background/certification. The most success I've seen long term (long term being the key idea) comes from trainers who not only follow the crossfit method, but also know how to use it progressively to promote long term change. Random workouts might be fun for awhile but unless you are progressing in your exercises, you won't progress in your fitness. Crossfit trainers with backgrounds in other areas (endurance coaching, PT, strength and conditioning, yoga, etc) appear to be more successful. They offer better form instruction, they offer MORE than just a canned WOD, they offer training plans and progression and they recognize that not everyone is exactly the same.

And yes, as a group, crossfit used to preach the Zone diet and now they have embraced Paleo. This varies by group though and I would seriously question any gym that made a diet a requirement (unless you've signed up for such advice as part of a challenge or a package or something).

[Susan]

Just to keep you updated, I still haven't gotten around to do the free trial.
We had such nice biking weather and I will probably wait until fall until I give it a shot.
The Paleo-part could be a problem if they are pushy about it - even if a lot of the priciples of the diet make total sense, it's just not for me.

[murielalex]

I loved Crossfit, and miss both it and the great community of the Crossfit Delray Beach box. Sadly, due to "end stage" arthritis in my ankle from a car accident in the 80s, even though they modified a lot of the moves for me (no running, jumping, etc.), I decided to take a break. I'm still thinking of going back.

[RedDesert]

Hi ladies! I'm new here, and was skimming some of the topics when this thread caught my eye. I just wanted to give my two cents, because of my experience with CrossFit!

I started "CrossFitting" about 2 1/2- 3 years ago, to help lose some stubborn pregnancy weight, and to help strengthen my core for backpacking. I was planning a mid-summer backpack, on a great elevated trail for two weeks, and felt like I needed some help with that, since my core was shot from the pregnancy. I wasn't that overweight, and fairly active, eating a balanced, mostly sugar-free diet. I was just a hair shy of turning 26 when I started.

For the first year, I loved it, and totally bought into the Paleo diet and other CrossFit lifestyle changes. I felt stronger, healthier, and my muscle tone was incredible. Oddly, most of the remaining baby weight was still there (I only had about 10-15 pounds to lose), but I looked good, and felt good.

After the first year, and part way into the second, the extreme diet that I was on starting doing weird things to my body. (I was eating the Paleo way; minimal fruit, lots of veggies and lean meats, what I thought was a balanced portion of healthy fats, and minimal dairy). Looking back, I really do think that I was undercarbed, and later blood tests would show that my healthy fat level had bottomed out. I felt lethargic, and my stomach started hurting almost every day. My hair started falling out, and I was so into the lifestyle that I pushed and pushed and pushed myself, often times injuring myself and feeling bad that I couldn't keep up with my fellow crossfitters. The trainers would often tell me that I was cheating on the diet, or that I was allowing myself to be weakened, or that I wasn't trying hard enough. In reality, I was over-training my body. I continued like that until I tore my left meniscus, doing a standard jumping lunge.

And I've been out since, and couldn't be happier for it. I know that my experience is my own, and CrossFit can do a lot of great things for the right people. Looking back, there were a ton of red flags about the "qualified" trainers at the gym I went to. I'm pretty sure that there are awesome CF gyms, with great, qualified and knowledgeable trainers. Definitely go in with your eyes open, and take everything with a grain of salt. Take a look at the people working out there. Are they happy? Ask lots of questions, and don't be bullied into doing something that you aren't comfortable with!

[Irulan]

The trainers would often tell me that I was cheating on the diet, or that I was allowing myself to be weakened, or that I wasn't trying hard enough.

Wow. This underscores what I've heard about CF. I'm glad you got smart about it. Training is good, over doing it, or being told not to trust yourself, is not. This makes me love my trainers ever more.

[chatnoire]

My experience with CrossFit was through law enforcement training, and the pseudo-military like approach they use seems to really resonate with some people. I have have friends who ran Xfit box for a couple years, but they just sold it to focus on a sepaarate business of health and nutrition. The coach part of the couple was really into paleo, but his wife was a doctor and nutrition adviser, and through her I got work outs that were more tailored to my lifestyle and goals (ie, I'm a vegetarian ballerina cyclist - extreme is fine, but I don't need to do box jumps and tire flips to build my core.)

I agree with the other people that it's a good tool, when used in moderation.

[kiwi rider]

thank you

[kiwi rider]

Oh...I so will be looking up "functional fitness" in this area........I am all for training safely!