Sadly this is going to turn more into an angry,pissed off rant than anything really informative. Some of you might get a little out of this,but more or less,this is going to be a way for me to release some pent-up steam. This has been brewing for a while watching the atrocities take place in gyms across the country,and it has a name… Crossfit. Now,some of you might feel the same way,and some of you not,but I can’t stand Crossfit! This may surprise some of you that share my hatred,but I actually like the concept of Crossfit. Cross disciplinary fitness regimens for a universal training experience. Jack-of-all trades so to speak,but master of none. For the average Joe or Jane,police,firemen,or military this is “conceptually” a good way to train,but we’ll discuss its drawbacks later. My number one problem with Crossfit is,… and listen closely,…. IT SHOULDN’T BE USED WITH ATHLETES! For some reason,Crossfit seems to think that it is perfect for everyone. I’ve seen subtitles:Forging Elite Fitness,under Crossfit signs,and this couldn’t be further from the truth with regards to performance. Now we have high school,college,and club sports programs using Crossfit styles of training with athletes,and for whatever misguided reason people have bought into this.
I don’t want this to turn into a complete negative rant,so I’m going to take a step back and explain what I do like about Crossfit. For the lay person,who wants to get into general shape and break up the sedentary lifestyle,Crossfit’s universal fitness quality regimen would be advantages to keep people well rounded and experience a lot of different training styles and types of fitness. In “idea,” I like exposing people to complex multi-joint movements and movement patterns like the clean &jerk or squat. Developing coordination and control with gymnastics tumbling and rolling movements would be extremely beneficial. Cardio vascular enhancements through endurance training and GPP “strongman” type circuits. A mental toughness,built through workouts,to push thru and come out on top. But,now comes the harsh reality of what is taking place at Crossfit facilities and Crossfit workouts all over the country. Crossfit is a sub-maximal,poorly performed,sloppy attempt at complex and highly skilled (at times) movements with un-attainable volume schemes performed as fast as possible with no regard for fatigue or potential injury. Crossfit sessions become a puke session with no real training goal other then to try and finish.
When training for performance,as all athletes should,there has to be a purpose and desired performance goal (other then puking) for the workout session. Structured performance systems typically take athletes through blocks of time with specific fitness traits as desired qualities for goals. Each workout therefore is highly specific to that outcome and built off of previous sessions/fitness qualities. The accumulation of several general fitness qualities can develop into more specific fitness qualities,which are all highly specific to the sport and role you play in your sport. Anyone worth their salt in a training setting,knows that the CNS is EVERYTHING in regards to training. You are training to increase inter and intra-muscular coordination that will enhance performance. So why,is this style of training detrimental to performance you ask? They’re doing explosive movements and working hard!
I happen to know that speed,power,and strength are skills and like any skill they require extremely detailed focus and practice to attain. Teaching yourself to generate as much tension as possible in the shortest amount of time possible and then relax as fast as possible doesn’t happen by just doing any workout. The old saying goes,“Practice doesn’t make perfect,it makes permanent!” Engraining faulty movement patterns only leads to less than optimal performance and injury,particularly in fatigued states. Regardless of the load intensity,multiple repetitions performed poorly in say a squat,squat to press,clean and press,or deadlift will cause injure. A man squatting a mere 27k imposes a compressive load on his spine of 7000N or 1,560lbs (McGill,2006). Now that is just 27k,lets imagine what 60k of “thrusters” (squat to press) would do to a spine for say 50 total repetitions,intermixed with box jumps,400 meter run,and pull ups? All of this would be done against the clock as fast as possible. Let say also,like most weekend warriors our hero doesn’t have much of a training background and after a layoff of two weeks or so decided to jump back into this WOD (workout of the day). I’m very curious about the amount of damage his back took from this session? With the multitude of exercises and training styles undertaken by the Crossfit community just guess how many of the certified “Crossfit Trainers” know everything regarding gymnastics,powerlifting,Olympic lifting,strongman training,kettlebell training? In Crossfit sessions I’ve seen and heard stories of people getting thrown into these workouts day one with nothing more then a quick explanation and the demonstration of another misguided sole next to him or her. Good luck with that. Something as simple as a handstand push up has enough technique and conceptual information regarding tension and rooting for the shoulder health that is harmful to a person who doesn’t know and performs high volumes in a highly fatigued state. When training for performance there is nothing called slop,as Crossfit has,technique is skill,and skill is strength. Safety and performance are the same thing not opposite ends of the spectrum.
A little anecdotal story;I routinely see a chiropractor like I see the dentist. On my last visit,I was talking with one of the new doctors there,who was setting me up on a traction table. Knowing I work as a performance coach at a local university we started to talk about training. She asked if I’d heard of Crossfit,and I reluctantly told her I did. She told me how she went to go through a work out and how they just threw her in a WOD without any real formal instruction on how to do anything. Learn as you go style of training. She couldn’t believe the approach and how many people she saw loading there backs and moving incorrectly. Laughingly,I asked why she had gone,and she replied,“Because we are seeing so many new clients because of it,I wanted to see what the deal was.” That was all I needed to hear. Crossfit was sending people to the chiropractor because of poor technique due to instruction,unrealistic loads and volumes,and lack of fatigue management.
I understand how the lay person wants to get in and work hard and,who doesn’t want to keep up with your peer while you’re working out. Well,if she’s doing 95lbs,I want to do 95lbs type of mentality. Here in the West,we always have that mentality that we need to work harder and more is better. We don’t need to train harder,just smarter! Random exercise selection,load intensities,and work volumes that look as if they were pulled out of a hat and selected based on likely hood of puking doesn’t mean working smarter. It’s plain stupid;nothing else can describe it. And now they have Crossfit Football,were football players can do more “football related style of Crossfit,” to enhance your performance! I don’t know how many other styles or branches of Crossfit there are,but I’m almost certain there is a style for every sport out there.
Ok,time for me to calm down,take a pill,and discuss how this could be fixed. I don’t want to be the person that complains the whole time with not bringing anything to the table to actually resolve the matter,so here we go. My attempt to save Crossfit from itself.
Set up a system of training based on concentrated blocks of one to two related fitness qualities at a time.
Blocks of time should be roughly 4 to 8 weeks in duration.
Set up an exercise teaching progression with testing and assessment to progress to the next level.
Knowledgeable practitioners in a particular training style should be teaching the exercises and be in charge of establishing the exercise progression.
Mobility and stability should be the first block of training any introductory trainee goes through as that is what is most lacking for the general population.
Record keeping for trainees on amount of time spent in particular blocks of training to track training age and performance.
First several blocks should be organized as follows:
Mobility and Stability education and assessment
Body weight training
Gymnastics training
Power lift training (squat,bench,deadlift)
Olympic lift training (clean &jerk,snatch)
- Track and field/ Endurance
Each block should start out extremely elementary and slowly progress toward more challenging and complex lifts and loads. With assessments and testing to progress to the next level in a particular lift or style,trainees would be forced into training at lower level and focus and achieving better technical mastery,as well as,physical enhancement before moving onward and upward to greater challenges. Trainees could build off the lower level skills they have and progress at a level on par with them selves. The puke sessions could be held once or twice a month for a push and challenge,but only utilizing the current level of skill sets and movements the trainee currently possess. If think this set up would fix a lot the problems I’ve seen and heard out there. I don’t think there is much left to say other then ATHLETES SHOULD NEVER DO CROSSFIT!
Thanks for listening,
Jeremy