What is Crossfit? Is it a sport? Is it a training philosophy? Is it a cult? Is it a lifestyle? Well it all depends on who you ask. The term is thrown around with anything the involves physically activity. Some even think Crossfit invented all things athletic when it was conceived in 2000 and that prior to 2000 none of these types of movements even existed. Crossfit is associated with powerlifting, strongman, plyometrics, Olympic lifting, six packs, and sweat angels.
People do laundry maybe twice a week. I don't know any household that would use a functional movement like picking up a laundry basket 45 times in a day.
According to crossfit.com, Crossfit is, "the principal strength and conditioning program for many police academies and tactical operations teams, military special operations units, champion martial artists, and hundreds of other elite and professional athletes worldwide. Our program delivers a fitness that is, by design, broad, general, and inclusive. Our specialty is not specializing. Combat, survival, many sports, and life reward this kind of fitness and, on average, punish the specialist.” Crossfit, as by its own definition is a very broad and generalized workout. It mainly consists of WOD’s (workout of the day) where participants perform a certain amount of reps and sets in a desired time. Some call this a training method others do not. Again it depends on who you talk to. But in general Crossfit is a sport and being a sport your training should be programmed accordingly to make you better at that sport. You shouldn’t just go into the gym and perform random WODs. Might make you mediocre but it won’t make you great. Understanding the demands and requirements of the sport and programming properly is how you will get better. At The Spot, we have athletes that play sports of all kinds, football, basketball, volleyball, and those athletes come to us for just that: to get better at their sport.
You shouldn’t just go into the gym and perform random WODs. Might make you mediocre but it won’t make you great.
Many times, people will walk into our gym as they pass by; delivery men, friends, family, and they will say "Oh, so you guys do like Crossfit and stuff?" Well, no, we don't. Crossfit didn’t invent weight lifting and throwing med balls. Thats one thing Crossfit has done though, it’s brought more light on other weight lifting sports like powerlifting and Olympic lifting. It does a good job of building community and getting people interested in physical activity. But for many, Crossfit is a very generalized program and doesn’t address what most individuals need. All of us have different underlying issues. All of us have different goals. Doing random WODs doesn’t address any of these. At The Spot you will never see a coach write a workout on a board, tell their athletes to get it done, and let us know the time. Ever. We coach each client through everything and make sure they are doing everything correctly from their pre-hab to the warm up to the actual workout.
"But you guys have tires and bumper plates and dots on the wall. Isn’t that pretty much Crossfit?” Yes, we do have those things. But again Crossfit didn't invent tire flips or bumper plates or wall balls. We do, do tire flips and sledge hits, and we have bumper plates for olympic movements. "Look at that class you're doing. It’s obviously just Crossfit. You guys are just a Crossfit gym but pretending not to be one.” Our Life Endurance class is a metabolic conditioning class, which uses high intensity circuits utilizing things like kettle bell swings, squats, throws, jumping and running. But it’s also tailored to each individual. Have trouble with your squat we properly regress you, not tell you, well suck it up with your bad form and get it done. Most boxes (Crossfit gyms) you go to, they will say any average person can start. It's all “functional” movements. In my mind, I'm thinking anyone can start, but who will finish? On crossfit.com, they state that they will never change a workout, only weight and intensity. Everyone has their own mobility and strength issues. Not everyone can get into proper positions because of certain dysfunctions, inhibitions and imbalances.
When people look at the Crossfit games, they say anyone can join so I can join for as a New Years Resolution and I can look like them. Sorry about your luck but they are genetically gifted athletes competing at a very high level. The odds of you becoming injured from improper technique or quitting because of the results you're not getting are fairly high.
Crossfit has gotten a lot of hype in the media, with the Crossfit games being on ESPN, and boxes showing up in every city. When people look at the Crossfit games, they say anyone can join so I can join for as a New Years Resolution and I can look like them. Sorry about your luck but they are genetically gifted athletes competing at a very high level. The odds of you becoming injured from improper technique or quitting because of the results you're not getting are fairly high. You may lose some weight, but if on day one you start and your too immobile to squat to parallel and three months in, you love your progress, but you still can't squat to parallel. I look at their workouts as cookie cutter. That have scalability for women and men but other than that, Rich Froning is going to be doing the same workout as a newbie on day one. Those are two opposite ends of the spectrum. An elite athlete can be doing the same workout but if my newbie day one hasn't ever deadlifted and they have to do 50 reps for time, we have a problem.
Crossfit coaches and athletes will say that all the movements are 'functional' and are preformed everyday. Well, maybe. Yes, there are certain movements that are preformed everyday. I would compare a deadlift similar to picking up a load of laundry. The rep scheme 21-15-9 is a common WOD (workout of the day) template. The exercises can be switched in and out. Now, I don't know about you, but if I had to do 21 deadlifts with 135#, then 15 reps the second round, then 9, I would be aching. People do laundry maybe twice a week. I don't know any household that would use a functional movement like picking up a laundry basket 45 times in a day.
ESPN.go.com is even concerned about the rapid growth of Crossfit for the average human. They state that since Crossfit is a set number of exercises for time or reps, they fear that the workouts are done too quickly with too much being thrown at the body that some people are getting hurt. None of these injuries were alarming because when Crossfit first started, it was intended for elite athletes and Navy Seals who know how to move their bodies and are in extreme shape.
At The Spot Athletics, we have athletes of all kinds, some even previous Crossfitters. The Spot is successful because we help our clients settheir goals, gauge their progress, re-evalute their goals and keep them healthy. If you are looking for those things, come on in and see what we have to offer.