The article stems from a quote from my previous article on the problems with the paleo diet, “Crossfit, a popular and generally-looked-down-upon, dangerous and poorly-implemented fitness fad…”
“What did you mean by that? Hang on just a second! You can’t slam Crossfit! Crossfit is the shit! Crossfit has made me the badass I am today! Crossfit isn’t for pu$$!eS . Clearly you can’t handle it.”
…well, this is how I imagine the response. I’m sure the Crossfit community is more dignified than that, so what is the story? Why do I exaggerate such a barbaric response?
Because of the paleo-centric community.
I wish I could say that I’m sorry for being unfair, but I can’t. I devoted several weeks to researching the plant-based vs. paleo camps, and read dozens of meticulously written articles, and then spent many hours combing through each of their avalanches of comments and the links contained within.
I was absolutely appalled by what I read. While plant-based enthusiasts are not immune to being petty and insulting, the paleo community had it in spades. There is something about glorifying man as a meat-eating ,savage, athletic, shirtless, smooth-chested stud that gets the paleo people up in arms whenever you suggest that man really wasn’t that impressive–and that he didn’t gorge himself on delicious meat.
By comparison, man is a skinny, hairless, weak-looking dweeb who was smart enough to use tools to scavenge leftovers, steal eggs from nests, and eat his own parasites. He was lean, wiry, and as strong as his environment functionally permitted him to be.
Rest assured, nothing in the paleolithic environment resembled a gym.
The fact that the paleo movement and Crossfit are married makes me shudder at the thought of receiving paleo community backlash. Seriously.
I admit this might be my way of criticizing those same hyper-defensive paleo people (not all paleo people are assholes). This time I’m striking at the paleo cult from a different angle: Crossfit–the holy grail of paleo fitness.
For the record, I don’t hate Crossfit. I like it a lot. Really. A lot. I still do it.
THE PROS:
- Crossfit is the most efficient training protocol I have ever encountered (up there with RKC) when measuring gains spread broadly over power, speed, and medium muscular endurance.
- The dietary guidelines are perfectly sensible for its aim and scope.
- Crossfit teaches mental toughness in a way unlike most training regimes.
- It offers a wide variety of workout styles, and keeps things interesting, both on a metabolic level, and for entertainment purposes.
- Crossfit focuses predominantly on functional training exercises, dismissing isolated lifting and long bouts of cardio.
- When executed smartly, Crossfit makes fitness animals who are prepared for just about anything life can throw at them.
- The Crossfit Website is an amazing free resource and exercise library, full of tutorials for anyone seeking a better understanding of its core movements.
THE CONS, or at least THINGS TO CONSIDER:
- The Crossfit I certification is too easy to obtain – and serves as a money-making scheme, as well as a stepping stone for it’s Level II certification, required for its franchise. Crossfit may very well be the most rapidly expanding fitness franchise out there.
- Lack of depth and understanding in its certification - a Crossfit certification demonstrates that you have sufficient understanding of Crossfit methodology, in order to pass a short test at the end of a two-day seminar. Understanding Crossfit methodology is not the same as understanding exercise physiology. Most training certifications, for those with no B.S. in anatomy, kinesiology, of physiology, takes at least several months to study for, and the tests are proctored. Furthermore, most reputable certifications require regular continuing education courses, to ensure that fitness professionals are staying current with the trends and findings in exercise physiology. The fitness industry is plagued with bad certifications, and only a handful of nationally recognized certifications carry any weight in the fitness industry. Having a Crossfit certification means little more than having a certification in TRX Suspension training, and should only be considered supplemental to any trainer’s list of qualifications.
- Inattentive and/or unqualified trainers - I could be wrong. I haven’t looked up the resume skirt. But the proof is in the pudding. I have witnessed it with my own eyes, and there is a plethora of video on youtube demonstrating this fact: that Crossfit’s attention to safety and form is lacking. This leads me to believe that many Crossfit instructors have no idea how to correctly teach Olympic and Power lifts; or if they do, they certainly do not care if the trainee is performing these lifts properly. Olympic and Power lifts are not things to play around with. It is extremely easy to hurt yourself, and it happens all the time, which leads me to the next point…
- Insanely high rate of injury - This is a multi-faceted problem. First, Crossfit seeks intensity and speed in favor of safety. The lifts are so physically demanding, the metabolic pathways so punishing when mixed and matched, that the trainee fatigues rapidly, leaving room for error. Second, Crossfit relies heavily on medium muscular endurance activities which, at a high enough and sloppy intensity, can easily cause overuse injury. Third, quantity is favored over quality. ”Come on, push! You got this! One more!” as someone struggles under the weight of their hang clean caught at their stomach, rather than in an appropriate rack position.
- Business model - Aside from being a rapidly expanding franchise, Crossfit has capitalized on the next biggest thing in fitness: group training. Group training is both cost-effective and motivating for the trainee, and the intensity of group training usually helps provide a better workout. Group fitness has known this for years; group training is supposed to be a compromise between group fitness and private training. Crossfit workouts are usually drop-in, as trainees purchase entry on a month-to-month basis, or class packages. The affordability of Crossfit (along with its cultish ambiance) makes for an easy revenue stream. The groups, in my opinion, are usually too large and cannot be appropriately monitored. If someone gets hurt, its easy to fill his spot. People are always coming through the door, transfixed by the heavy metal music, grunting, and slamming of weights by sweat-soaked, shirtless animals.
- Lack of training infrasctructure – Huh? This will depend on the location, for sure, as well as the quality of training and instructor staff. In large part, Crossfit lacks scaled training options for beginners, people with contraindications, and people with significant muscle-skeletal imbalances. Crossfit is only appropriate for healthy, well-moving people, and lacks programming for everyone else.
- Vomiting – I have no idea why this is considered a badge of honor. Vomiting from a workout says only one thing to me: you’re out of shape. I’ve trained with dozens of truly elite athletes. They don’t vomit after their races. Ever. Furthermore, the people most likely to experience vomiting and dizziness during or after a workout are those who are just getting started in a training program. If anything, the high rates of vomiting speak only to the volume of amateurs embarking on the very technical aspects of Crossfit, and thus putting themselves in danger.
- Lack of logic in program design/ no program design – In other words, there is only one goal for anyone in Crossfit: to be a badass. That’s it. For anyone with specific fitness goals, I recommend going somewhere else. Exercises are neither good nor bad; they are simply appropriate or inappropriate with respect to the trainee’s goals.
- “Oh my god, I’m soo sore!” - Giving someone 150 of anything will make him sore. Any trainer, if he’s any good, can make you ungodly sore in 20 minutes. That’s not an accomplishment. Over-training large muscle groups isn’t a skill. Fine-tuning smaller, more stabilizing muscle groups with patience and precision is more difficult.
- Crossfit is not “elite” athletics - Crossfit enthusiasts are typically only good at one thing: Crossfit. Crossfit has no specialization outside of the scope of itself. It doesn’t seem to have any progressive training protocol to prepare its athletes for upper-level competition in anything, even its own Crossfit games.
- Introductory exercises are anything but introductory – If a seasoned athlete or skilled gym rat enters a Crossfit gym, he’s got a pretty decent chance of doing well in his first week, especially if he’s coordinated. But the complexity of compound movements, for most people, cannot be taught or understood in a day, or even a week. It must be taught in a dedicated and progressive manner. One under-appreciated compound movement used by Crossfit is the rowing stroke on a Concept II ergometer. I have yet to see one Crossfit member or instructor perform a single stroke properly.
Obviously, I’m generalizing. Rest assured, there are some great, disciplined, serious Crossfit affiliate gyms out there. Crossfit is like personal training: there are good trainers and bad trainers.
I liked Crossfit when I first got involved. It put a whole new spin on fitness; but I was a young, impressionable, and inexperienced trainer at the time.
I got insanely fit from doing the workouts on their website, and by daily conferring with a hot meat-heat named Brad (of all names!). I did well with Crossfit, possibly because I’d already had training in the technical lifts from my collegiate rowing years, but mostly because I had an insanely large aerobic base to work with, and did not fatigue easily. Busting my butt for 15 minutes was nothing, so I started designing my own Crossfit-style workouts to last 45 minutes to an hour.
Years later, I ended up doing WODs with a group of guys who were just about to open their own Crossfit gym across the street from mine. I liked working out with these guys; and I beat them–every time (Crossfit will never give you the stamina of years of aerobic base training, to be fair). They then offered me a job. I declined, preferring to travel to Europe.
As I got older, the awe of Crossfit waned. I met too many people who got hurt; I spoke with too many Crossfit certified trainers who identified its short-comings. My style of training shifted into the direction of smart training, not insane training.
Oh Crossfit, I don’t hate you. I just think you have a lot of design flaws. If the masses of under-qualified trainers and over-zealous trainees would pause to consider these design flaws, you might not have such a controversial reputation.
buffycurtin
/ November 2, 2012Thanks Maria! I was wondering why these people drove me nuts. I don’t like places where people become ass monkeys just because of where they workout. Don’t get me wrong- I have posted how far I’ve run on FB before, but I certainly don’t do it to be “badass”. The running community for the most part is made up of fun, encouraging people who do it because it feels good. The people I do know who do CrossFit don’t just brag about their workouts but like to comment on how everyone else is a slacker. Seriously, I don’t give a shit if you can bench press 3 tires and a car engine. Go home and eat your almond stick and shut up.
David Rusho
/ November 28, 2012I just finished my 1st and last class of crossfit. The whole workout scared me with overly loud music, weight slamming the floor, and people yelling the entire time. It was impossible to focus on the workout. I kept expecting someone to fall over screaming of a broken bone at any minute. It was an introductory class and yet guys were encouraged to pile on the weight for over-head press exercises! The most functional and beneficial exercise of all time was never used (The Squat). Instead the basics of power clean and overhead press were used, lol.
Thanks for writing this great article. I thought something was up with the trainers who had the habit of screaming “one more, whoa!” I think the lack of proper training/education is a HUGE issue.
A couple of years ago I got certified as a personal trainer through FISAF personal. That took over 2 weeks of on hands training. Even then our instructor told us there was very little we could learn in a 2 week course. We were told it might take take years and maybe a lifetime of continued education to fully understand this stuff.
Anyways I’m going back to the safer and more beneficial barbell training programs like “Starting Strength.”
demogirl06
/ November 28, 2012Thank you for you comment, David!
Mike D
/ February 6, 2013No disrespect but youre an idiot!! Do you know how few trainers period have a college degree?? Pretty much ALL fitness trainers of any type need but do an online course or go to 1-3 classes to get a certificate of training. 90% of the trainers ive met dont know what the fuck they are talking about, but fitness is easy money when the people you are dealing with will believe anything you tell them if you look better than they do. Yea just like any other workout there are sheep that just follow whats cool, P90x, TRX, Turbofire, Insanity, the list goes on, and they are ALL SHIT. I am 40 years old and have never been “out of shape” so to speak. I was on a Hotshots Team before I joined the Navy, where I have been for 16.5 years. I have always lifted weights and done cardio, swim, bike, all of it. Never really had a shit diet. I thought I knew everything about nutrition and fitness. Well 3 years ago I was deployed with Seal Team 5, side note almost all SPECOPS, do CrossFit or some varient of. Needless to say I didnt have a trainer, I just did the posted workouts along side the Seals. But im still lifting the way i was taught to lift, no standards, just like everu other clueless idiot in the gym. As soon as I got back I started at an actual CrossFit gym. Now as I said I think I already know it all, so why would I listen to some punk kid who is half my age? For a year I went trough the motions of CrossFit, did the workouts didnt pay attention to CrossFit form….just doin it!! I finally caved and said ok ill try to do what the coach says. I am fitter, bigger, faster and stronger. I now have the blood pressure of a 16 year old and my heart rate recovery is 1 minute, no matter how high it was while training, also my resting heart rate stays between 48-55. CrossFit is all about results and proving it works not about looking like it works. Reason people get hurt is beCause they push themselves too hard and try to lift too much weight and dont use proper form. Cant blame CrossFit for that. Hell I HATE PEOPLE, and even I love CrossFit, no matter how bad a mood im in when I get to the gym i always feel better after. That never happened when I worked out at a normal gym. And if you actually read anything and did you reaearch PALEO makes total sense. Its not supose to be an all meat diet or even a high protien diet, its supposed to be a non processed natural diet. You think nomadic herding tribes were planting farms and rows of grains??? HUNTER GATHERER is how most rolled. That didnt mean fruits and veggies, they didnt have fridges or coolers back then, veggies and fruit both rot quickly making it inpossible to maintain. But you can dry meat and fat and fish and keep it all winter. You want to find out how humans are supoosed to eat, go live in the woods for a few months, and see if you can survive on a “Vegan” or “Vegitarian” diet. If you live in the wild, you need nutrient rich and dense food that can be easily kept for when you need it and doesnt easily go bad…..know what, doesnt matter……..there are always gonna be “Haters” who dont do their homework or actually spend any real time in the community then talk shit. Globo gyms are all lame, their group classes full of lazy ass people just going through the motions of working out but dont put forth any effort. Ive seen the sMe people for 6 years at my former gym never improve at anything. CrossFit ive seen girls that have never done a push up in their lives climb a 30 foot rope and its fucking awesome!!!
demogirl06
/ February 6, 2013SEE MY COMMENTS TO YOUR COMMENTS IN BOLD CAPS:
No disrespect but youre an idiot!! HOW CAN THIS POSSIBLY BE CONSTRUED AS “NO DISRESPECT,” SIR? Do you know how few trainers period have a college degree?? I DO, ACTUALLY, BEING IN THE INDUSTRY. AND AS THE NEW WAVE OF TRAINERS REPLACES THE OLD WAVE, MORE AND MORE OF THEM WILL/DO HAVE COLLEGE DEGREES. Pretty much ALL fitness trainers of any type need but do an online course or go to 1-3 classes to get a certificate of training. I KNOW THE REQUIREMENTS. I AM A TRAINER, AFTER ALL. 90% of the trainers ive met dont know what the fuck they are talking about TO DEGREES., but fitness is easy money YES, IT IS. when the people you are dealing with will believe anything you tell them if you look better than they do. FOR A SPECIFIC CLIENTELE, MIKE. OLDER PEOPLE DON’T C ARE VERY MUCH HOW THEY LOOK. THEY’RE MORE INTERESTED IN HAVING A PAIN-FREE, INJUSRY FREE FUTURE. AND ANY YOUNG PERSON WHO HAS BEEN SEVERELY INJURED BY A BAD COACH, A BAD TRAINER, OR A BAD TRAINING PROGRAM PROBABLY FEELS THE SAME WAY. Yea just like any other workout there are sheep that just follow whats cool, P90x, TRX, Turbofire, Insanity, the list goes on, and they are ALL SHIT. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE CONTRADICTING ME OR SOMETHING? I am 40 years old and have never been “out of shape” so to speak. GOOD FOR YOU! I was on a Hotshots Team before I joined the Navy, where I have been for 16.5 years. I have always lifted weights and done cardio, swim, bike, all of it. Never really had a shit diet. I thought I knew everything about nutrition and fitness. Well 3 years ago I was deployed with Seal Team 5, side note almost all SPECOPS, do CrossFit or some varient of GREAT. I DON’T HATE CROSSFIT. LET ME QUOTE MYSELF: “For the record, I don’t hate Crossfit. I like it a lot. Really. A lot. I still do it.”. Needless to say I didnt have a trainer, I just did the posted workouts along side the Seals. But im still lifting the way i was taught to lift, no standards DO YOU MEAN SAFETY STANDARDS?, just like everu other clueless idiot in the gym MAYBE YOU SHOULD CONSIDER YOURSELF LUCKY.. As soon as I got back I started at an actual CrossFit gym. Now as I said I think I already know it all, so why would I listen to some punk kid who is half my age? OR GET SO ANGRY, FOR THAT MATTER? OR BOTHER TO INSULT SOME PUNK KID HALF YOUR AGE. IT SAYS A LOT ABOUT YOU. For a year I went trough the motions of CrossFit, did the workouts didnt pay attention to CrossFit form….just doin it!! I finally caved and said ok ill try to do what the coach says. I am fitter, bigger, faster and stronger. I now have the blood pressure of a 16 year old and my heart rate recovery is 1 minute, no matter how high it was while training, also my resting heart rate stays between 48-55. CrossFit is all about results and proving it works not about looking like it works. Reason people get hurt is beCause they push themselves too hard and try to lift too much weight and dont use proper form. YES, THIS HAD ALREADY BE STATED. Cant blame CrossFit for that. IT’S POORLY IMPLEMENTED, MIKE. IT’S A COOL IDEA. I LIKE CROSSFIT. BUT THERE ARE PROS AND CONS TO EVERYTHING. Hell I HATE PEOPLE RAGE ISSUES, MAYBE?, and even I love CrossFit, no matter how bad a mood im in when I get to the gym i always feel better after. That never happened when I worked out at a normal gym. And if you actually read anything and did you reaearch PALEO makes total sense IT MAKES SENSE ON SOME LEVELS. TAKE THE TIME TO READ MY RECENT ARTICLES ON THE PALEO DIET, AND THEN DEDICATE A MINIMUM OF 10 HOURS (LINKS FOUND IN ARTICLES) TO READING THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY BEFORE YOU IMPLY THAT I HAVEN’T DONE RESEARCH.. Its not supose to be an all meat diet or even a high protien diet, its supposed to be a non processed natural diet I KNOW PERFECTLY WELL THAT PALEO CAN BE INTERPRETED REASONABLY. IT IS THE UNREASONABLE MEAT-CENTRIC INTERPRETATION I CONTEND WITH. PLEASE REMAIN CALM.. You think nomadic herding tribes were planting farms and rows of grains??? HUNTER GATHERER is how most rolled AND YET, MANY MODERN HUNTER GATHERER TRIBES USED AS EVIDENCE FOR THE PALEO ARGUMENT ARE SPECIALIZED GATHERERS IN ORDER TO TRADE WITH AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITIES(SEE REFERENCE: “EVERYBODY EASTS: UNDERSTANDING FOOD AND CULTURE” BY E.N. ANDERSON FOR AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL LOOK INTO FOOD AND NUTRITION). That didnt mean fruits and veggies I CAN’T BELIEVE I’M ABOUT TO ENGAGE WITH YOU ON EVERYTHING THAT FOLLOWS FROM HERE ON, BUUUT… YOU MUST BE MISTAKEN, they didnt have fridges or coolers back then, veggies and fruit both rot quickly making it inpossible to maintain YOU MUST NOT BE AQUAINTED WITH SIMPLE FOOD STORAGE TECHNIQUES. But you can dry meat and fat and fish and keep it all winter YOU CAN’T DO THIS WITH ROOT VEGETABLES, OR DRIED FRUIT? DO YOU THINK HUNTER GATHERERS HAD THE SAME DIET YEAR ROUND, MAYBE?. You want to find out how humans are suposed to eat, go live in the woods for a few months FALLACY, ON SO MANY LEVELS. FIRST OF ALL, THE “WOODS” YOU SPEAK OF, AND THE TERRITORIES HUNTER GATHERERS PREVAILED UPON ARE NOT THE SAME. THEY ARE SO INCREDIBLY VARIED IN TERMS OF WHAT THEY DO AND DO NOT PROVIDE, IT ISN’T WORTH DISCUSSING. HUMANS ARE SPECIALIZED OMNIVORES (NOT VEGANS, NOT VEGETARIANS, EATING WHATEVER THEY COULD PRETTY MUCH BITE INTO, SO LONG AS IT IS CHEMICALLY SIMPLE ENOUGH, and see i you can survive on a “Vegan” or “Vegitarian” diet WHILE I PREFER A PLANT-BASED DIET, I AM NEITHER A VEGAN NOR A VEGETARIAN. YOU ASSUME INCORRECTLY. If you live in the wild, you need nutrient rich and dense food that can be easily kept WHY WOULD I NEED TO DO THIS, IF I’M SUPPOSED TO BE A NOMADIC HUNTER GATHERER LIVING IN THE “WOODS”? for when you need it and doesnt easily go bad…..know what, doesnt matter……..there are always gonna be “Haters” who dont do their homework or actually spend any real time in the community then talk shit LIKE YOU?. Globo gyms are all lame, their group classes full of lazy ass people just going through the motions of working out but dont put forth any effort. Ive seen the sMe people for 6 years at my former gym never improve at anything. CrossFit ive seen girls that have never done a push up in their lives climb a 30 foot rope and its fucking awesome!!! WE AGREEE THAT STRONG WOMEN ARE AWESOME. THIS STRONG WOMAN WILL COURTEOUSLY PUBLISH YOUR COMMENT, DESPITE YOUR “IDIOT” ACCUSATION. ALL THE BEST, MIKE!
Laura Trent
/ March 13, 2013I know this is an old article, but as a reader I; a.) love your statements of crossfit and your generally unbiased “just the facts” assessment of the poorly designed fitness program. b.) applaud your responses to rage filled Mike, who unwillingly perpetuates the stereotype of Crossfitters. I know many like him unfortunately!
demogirl06
/ March 14, 2013Cheers, Laura Trent. Someone posted this article on another site, and it’s been getting more traffic.