Do you CROSSFIT? Share your thoughts.

[ZootedGranny]

"Crossfit, the Scientology of Fitness"

[Omaha]

Originally Posted by ZootedGranny

"Crossfit, the Scientology of Fitness"

There are idiots in every gym, not just crossfit boxes.

[Omaha]

Originally Posted by The God Hypothesis

I did Combat Crossfit with my snu buddy up north of the river a few years back for about 6 months. It absolutely felt like a cult, and form was the least important component to our husband/wife trainers.

To elaborate on my cult claim, their was an air of elitism and "every other workout sucks" to the crossfit group. If you needed a breather or shot of water you were "weak". Puking was encouraged, form was ignored. It just felt terribly unhealthy and worked my joints more than my muscles on too many occasions.

I now use a personal trainer a couple times a week to compliment my own training regiment and it has worked wonders to strengthen my form, my core, and my stabilizer muscles to help me have better balance & strength overall. I was a non-believer in trainers prior, but its now something I look forward to, and definitely the healthiest supplement I've ever added to my workout regime. I am encouraged to use good form, my trainer has creative workouts that keep me interested, and I get my butt kicked by the end of my hour better than crossfit ever did in their 12 minute wod's.

So to sum up to the OP, if you join the crossfit family, get in with a good gym/trainer that cares about form and overall health more than displaying a facade of invincibility. It will make all the difference in the world.

It sounds like these are the people giving Crossfit a bad name. They will all be injured and dysfunctional soon enough. You were right to stay away.

What you & your trainer have done is what should have happened at the crossfit gym you attended. You don't have to be at a "box" to do a good high intensity, crossfit-style workout.

[Stanley Nickels]

Originally Posted by The God Hypothesis

To elaborate on my cult claim, their was an air of elitism and "every other workout sucks" to the crossfit group. If you needed a breather or shot of water you were "weak". Puking was encouraged, form was ignored. It just felt terribly unhealthy and worked my joints more than my muscles on too many occasions.

A thousand times this.

Of course it's wonderful to design and experiment with new workouts, to consider alternative approaches to traditional exercise, and to attempt to improve physical endurance and stamina. But the mere fact that there is a novel, "improved" exercise routine, is not reason to completely ignore/ eschew other exercise. Worse yet is the attitude.. were it simply "I only Crossfit", that'd be fine, do whatever you want; it's that they seem to scoff at people whose workouts consist of anything that ISNT Crossfit.

I'm in the best shape of my life right now, and I attribute that directly to staying interested in going to the gym. That means kettle bells, tabata, traditional weight lifting, basketball, swimming, etc. That's not too far from the Crossfit mentality, but because I don't do the WODs, I'm sure there isn't a single Crossfitter who would say I'm in better shape than they are.

[suzzer99]

I work out at this place by my house: http://www.bodyonefitness.com/. It's a lot like CrossFit in terms of the mix of strength training and cardio. But without the competition, any of the crazy Olympic lifts or tire throwing, and any of the cult-like stuff. I can see how some people might get into that, but it's not for me.

This gym is the only place I know of, even in LA that's doing something like this. I think it may end up catching on. The number and size of classes seem to be growing all the time. I used to do a boot camp down on the beach, but these group training sessions are probably two – three times harder.

We typically do a tough warm-up then three rotations where you're going back and forth between two exercises. But the format can vary all over the place. Some days will be a lot of upper body, others all legs, etc. It's extremely tough, but the instructor varies the classes so you can do it every day of the six days they're open if you want. All of the people of those six days are an incredible shape, and that's all they do. I'm working my way up to that.

I feel like I get a lot of the endorphin rush from something like cross fit, but without worrying about injuring myself or getting a visit from "Uncle Rhabdo": http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/22/fa...ted=print&_r=0

[Frosty]

If you want an entertaining read about Crossfit, plus get a lot of pics of Crossfit girls, google "couch thread" igx.