Quote:
Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall
I agree with you completely. Form is the foundation for absolutely everything. And poor form is very dangerous.
Like anything else, there are good gyms and bad gyms. Part of the problem with Crossfit is that the franchise fees are basically nothing. As a result, anyone can open a gym after getting certification. My gym forces you to go through a "fundamentals" set of classes in which they spend considerable time teaching you proper form on every lift before you are ever allowed to touch a bar. And then there are beginner classes and experienced classes (and endurance and heavy lifting specialties, if you want it). The beginner and endurance classes are plenty difficult enough for me (and if any one class is too easy, the coach whose classes I attend scales me up). And our classes spend the warm-up period going over the movements before the actual workout.
The experienced classes are full of cult members. I have plenty of muscle. I have no desire to take my shirt off if I'm within a half mile of a push up (which seems to be what you do when you're an experienced crossfitter).
True. And burpees aren't push ups. So what? Sometimes we do strict pull-ups, sometimes we do kipping pull-ups (those crazy fuckers in the experienced classes do the windmills--that shit is crazy). I think when there are big numbers of reps involved, they allow kipping so you can get the workout done. And for the record, I've had plenty of workouts where I was doing a lot of kipping pull ups and the same muscles are sore the next day as if I had done strict pull ups.
This article is fair. It is also quite outdated. A lot of his criticisms no longer apply. A good gym designs their classes to mix in high intensity training, endurance, strength, etc. So classes are no longer just a race to get in as many reps as possible anymore. That happens, but it's not the norm (at least at my gym). Today we did an all body weight workout. Yesterday was endurance. There is a good mix.
I'm not sure what this means. What gym exercises make one good at anything besides getting in better shape? I will say that it has helped my basketball immensely. I don't get tired. And I am generally way stronger than when I started. Does running make you better at football? Kinda. Does squatting make you better at tennis? Maybe.
The injury comment is fair. People who are stupid injure themselves at crossfit. My doctor said the craze has lead to tons of patients coming in because they overdid it. That said, I think in the last two years, I've seen maybe two people hurt themselves in my class. I've hurt my back a bit on heavy lifting days. But it's never been anything serious. If you use common sense and scale your workout to your ability levels, it's like any other form of exercise. If you run 5 Ks and tomorrow went out and ran a marathon, you'd probably hurt yourself.
Excellent. I have terrible knees (4 surgeries, including a reconstruction). I was down to only being able to play ball once every two weeks and then struggling to walk for 3-5 days after. Since I've been going, the muscles in my legs are much stronger because of crossfit and that takes a lot of pressure off of my knees. It's amazing. I still only play ball once a week, but recovery is way faster and I'm trying to be smart about it.
TM
eta: And the women who do crossfit (not the ones who take the tons of extra protein) are fucking hot.
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You've sold me...for someone like you (and probably everyone on this board except Hank), crossfit is probably a great way to get fit, whatever that means. A smart guy like you knows the importance of perfecting form before going balls out (because you (we) are old and wise). For the average American (basically a moron), I'm not so sure.
Lifting heavy gives you practical strength: picking up your kids, carrying logs from a tree your just cut down (I just did this - SO MANLY), moving furniture, carrying...anything, etc. Crossfit actually probably provides you with similar practical strength. And for you it's obviously helped your knees, which is awesome.
Re: your comment on the women - it's true of the ones lifting heavy too. Have you seen Daisy Ridley deadlifting? Pound for pound she's stronger than me (although I'm not that strong).
