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I've been hesitant to do this, but I think the time is right. I received some responses from my previous post, telling me to just go to CrossFit. It's time for me to address why I do not.
Let's first preface this with a few things. #1 is some of my very best friends, inspirations, and confidantes do CF. I will never judge them for doing so, though I will lightheartedly joke with them. It's never been about disrespect. #2 is frankly I don't care what you do—CF, bodybuilding, or even sweating to the oldies. All I want is you to do something. This is about why I have chosen not to do CF—not why you should or shouldn't do anything other than just get active.
I get asked all the time if I’ve tried CF, my friends text me without fail when the games or when they get a great workout. I've been asked by a few why I do not do CF. So I’m going to share that opinion with you. I know that a lot of people won’t like it, and CFers may react quite negatively; but that's okay. Not everyone is going to agree with me—and I don't want them to. If you unfollow me because I don't agree with you, then we might be both better off. I started this page to share my experiences and to share what I've learned about fitness and health and to warn against things that are either unhealthy, dangerous, or just don't work.
I love that CF gets people excited about fitness. I love that it fosters a community of people working out together and motivating each other. The problem for me lies in routine itself.
My number one reason for not doing CF is simply that subjecting your muscles to extremely high stress repetitively is not good. The thought process of going balls out is fine--sometimes, but not when you walk in the door, every day, and not timed—and definitely not at max weight. The Olympic and power lifts that CF does are extremely technique-oriented and are meant to be explosive and powerful over very short periods of time with plenty of rest. I promise you that I can pick out the off-season Cfers in the gym—they're the ones with the crap form, lifting far too heavy. Subjecting your muscles to those movements continuously for time or for reps sets you up for injury. Every trainer I’ve had has done one of two things: given a workout with heavy weight for low reps, or given a workout with lighter weight for higher reps. When I say higher reps, I’m only talking 10-12. Anything higher than that were ancillary exercises, such as abs, push ups, pull ups, and the like. But rarely were even these ancillary exercises performed for sets of more than 15 or 20. CrossFit seems to think that the more pain you are in, whether on that day or the days following the workout, the better. The more you disregard the pain and keep pushing through it, the “tougher” you are. But this is not true, and more importantly, it’s not healthy.
Let's first preface this with a few things. #1 is some of my very best friends, inspirations, and confidantes do CF. I will never judge them for doing so, though I will lightheartedly joke with them. It's never been about disrespect. #2 is frankly I don't care what you do—CF, bodybuilding, or even sweating to the oldies. All I want is you to do something. This is about why I have chosen not to do CF—not why you should or shouldn't do anything other than just get active.
I get asked all the time if I’ve tried CF, my friends text me without fail when the games or when they get a great workout. I've been asked by a few why I do not do CF. So I’m going to share that opinion with you. I know that a lot of people won’t like it, and CFers may react quite negatively; but that's okay. Not everyone is going to agree with me—and I don't want them to. If you unfollow me because I don't agree with you, then we might be both better off. I started this page to share my experiences and to share what I've learned about fitness and health and to warn against things that are either unhealthy, dangerous, or just don't work.
I love that CF gets people excited about fitness. I love that it fosters a community of people working out together and motivating each other. The problem for me lies in routine itself.
My number one reason for not doing CF is simply that subjecting your muscles to extremely high stress repetitively is not good. The thought process of going balls out is fine--sometimes, but not when you walk in the door, every day, and not timed—and definitely not at max weight. The Olympic and power lifts that CF does are extremely technique-oriented and are meant to be explosive and powerful over very short periods of time with plenty of rest. I promise you that I can pick out the off-season Cfers in the gym—they're the ones with the crap form, lifting far too heavy. Subjecting your muscles to those movements continuously for time or for reps sets you up for injury. Every trainer I’ve had has done one of two things: given a workout with heavy weight for low reps, or given a workout with lighter weight for higher reps. When I say higher reps, I’m only talking 10-12. Anything higher than that were ancillary exercises, such as abs, push ups, pull ups, and the like. But rarely were even these ancillary exercises performed for sets of more than 15 or 20. CrossFit seems to think that the more pain you are in, whether on that day or the days following the workout, the better. The more you disregard the pain and keep pushing through it, the “tougher” you are. But this is not true, and more importantly, it’s not healthy.
On a related side-note, I watched a very dear friend of mine go through a bout of Rhabdo recently and nothing was scarier. Why do I want to do an exercise where a potentially deadly disease is made into a mascot and treated as a joke? Seriously. If you do CF, please read about rhabdo. She was unaware of the dangers and it sent her to the hospital. The body isn't meant to go walls to the walls like that, at least not a new comer.
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Back to the fear of injury. I think part of those problem stems from the simple fact that CF coaches are able to get certified in a weekend. The only real barrier to opening up your own CF gym is how much money you have. Very few of them have any real knowledge of proper form, which is especially critical for Olympic and Power lifts. So on top of having an already overly-strenuous, very high intensity program that sets you up for injury to start with, most people are doing the lifts and other exercises all wrong and there is no one there to correct them.
Before you start biting my head off, let me point out that even WebMD recognizes these risks and problems of CrossFit: “be aware that the CrossFit coach may not have an appropriate educational background in sports conditioning. Strength and conditioning specialists spend years learning proper technique of explosive exercises and some have degrees in exercise science, biomechanics, or kinesiology.” Also, Livestrong.com has a good article on the subject as well, addressing rhabdo and injury risk. Perhaps the best quote of the article is the last one: “while CrossFit motivates its followers to exercise, the growing fear is that the current model and lack of monitoring is more likely to build broken bodies than create a healthier nation.”
Again, I love that CF gets people excited about fitness. I love that it fosters a community of people working out together and motivating each other. I love that women are learning to love lifting weights in CF, but frankly I just can't being myself to risk health for it. All it takes is that hivemind to set in, for me to push just one more rep under time, and injury. Nothing can derail a transformation like an injury—take that advice from someone who tried to go through a tree on her bike. It's not worth the risk for me.
To be fair, I want you to remember that I started fitness as someone severely overweight and with a ton of injuries. CF might be a little safer for people who have been athletes forever. I am also after a very certain physique—one that is only found with the hard, long, boring lifting I do. I love that CF has made fitness trendy and I applaud those of you who can do it, but I just want you to be careful and mindful of the risks.
I choose to lift the weights, do the cardio. It may be boring to you guys. It's not the cool WODs. It's also slow progress and often really lonely. It's not as flashy and doesn't have these cool titles or catchy WOD names. CF is not for me, but then again neither was Zumba or a bagillion other workouts. Find what is right for you, just make an informed decision.
Before you start biting my head off, let me point out that even WebMD recognizes these risks and problems of CrossFit: “be aware that the CrossFit coach may not have an appropriate educational background in sports conditioning. Strength and conditioning specialists spend years learning proper technique of explosive exercises and some have degrees in exercise science, biomechanics, or kinesiology.” Also, Livestrong.com has a good article on the subject as well, addressing rhabdo and injury risk. Perhaps the best quote of the article is the last one: “while CrossFit motivates its followers to exercise, the growing fear is that the current model and lack of monitoring is more likely to build broken bodies than create a healthier nation.”
Again, I love that CF gets people excited about fitness. I love that it fosters a community of people working out together and motivating each other. I love that women are learning to love lifting weights in CF, but frankly I just can't being myself to risk health for it. All it takes is that hivemind to set in, for me to push just one more rep under time, and injury. Nothing can derail a transformation like an injury—take that advice from someone who tried to go through a tree on her bike. It's not worth the risk for me.
To be fair, I want you to remember that I started fitness as someone severely overweight and with a ton of injuries. CF might be a little safer for people who have been athletes forever. I am also after a very certain physique—one that is only found with the hard, long, boring lifting I do. I love that CF has made fitness trendy and I applaud those of you who can do it, but I just want you to be careful and mindful of the risks.
I choose to lift the weights, do the cardio. It may be boring to you guys. It's not the cool WODs. It's also slow progress and often really lonely. It's not as flashy and doesn't have these cool titles or catchy WOD names. CF is not for me, but then again neither was Zumba or a bagillion other workouts. Find what is right for you, just make an informed decision.
Let's sum it up. I don't do CrossFit because I'm afraid of injury and I'm a big ol' weenie.
CF has some risks. You decide.
It's not my place to tell you what to do or what not to do, but just to provide information and always remind you that I support your decision and I'm proud of you!
CF has some risks. You decide.
It's not my place to tell you what to do or what not to do, but just to provide information and always remind you that I support your decision and I'm proud of you!