Crossfit

[dd734]

I don't know anything about crossfit, except the son of a friend of mine won a crossfit competition in Indianapolis a couple weeks ago.

[stick1]

Thanks for the workout form. Interesting. I still have 3 months left at the gym I'm at but I keep hearing from people that have been doing Crossfit how much they love it.

[sportsfan41]

The programming behind crossfit is extremely flawed. My main gripe with most crossfit type workouts is the lack of actual coaching that goes on. It seems to be more of a "get the weight up, I don't care what it looks like" type of thing. At maximal levels, form is going to break down. But there is a difference between form breaking down and putting yourself at risk for injury.

I'm going to try and post a video from a Crossfit in Albany, NY that a friend who lives up there sent me. This will be my first video posting on this site, hope it works.

[video=youtube_share;BDDyxXyf6UU]http://youtu.be/BDDyxXyf6UU

 

This is an example of how not to do a clean and jerk. It is a good example of how to potentially kill yourself however.

 

Good god that was hard to watch.

 

I am confused about one thing though, why were they using what looked like an awkwardly thick barbell?

[JCVD]

Good god that was hard to watch.

 

I am confused about one thing though, why were they using what looked like an awkwardly thick barbell?

 

Barbells come in various lengths and thickness.

I believe what they we're doing was an AXEL clean and press. I think that's why it was thicker.

[00Rocket28]

Just did the WOD, 5 rounds of 400m run, 185 lb deadlift 21 reps. Took like 23 minutes. Lower back/glutes are screaming!

[mexitucky]

Good god that was hard to watch.

 

I am confused about one thing though, why were they using what looked like an awkwardly thick barbell?

 

It's part of the Strong Man workouts that Crossfit has been/was promoting. Derrick Poundstone does this, but obviously makes it look less painful.

[mexitucky]

This is what I'm talking about w/ programming.

 

The guy in this video won the Crossfit Games in 2009. His system is to lift heavy, and then do a metcon/strength conditioning centered around that lift. That makes sense.

 

[woodsrider]

I think you guys are trying to make the main site wod's into something they aren't. Most elite crossfit athletes don't follow the main site because they have more focused goals. The main site is for just all around generic fitness. Most of the WOD's on there are as hard as what the elite guys normally do. If your a beginner or even someone that has been doing it for sometime but you don't belong to a gym the main site will give you some direction and structure. You obviously need to scale the work outs to fit your abilities but you can definitely achieve a well rounded fitness level by doing the main site WOD's.

 

All of the elite guys will follow a a similar type programming to Salo. You also have to remember that guys like Salo, Spealler, Fronning, Khalipa, ect... are freaks. I could train full time would never get to the level those guys are. Some guys just get the short end of the genetics stick.

[mexitucky]

I think you guys are trying to make the main site wod's into something they aren't. Most elite crossfit athletes don't follow the main site because they have more focused goals. The main site is for just all around generic fitness. Most of the WOD's on there are as hard as what the elite guys normally do. If your a beginner or even someone that has been doing it for sometime but you don't belong to a gym the main site will give you some direction and structure. You obviously need to scale the work outs to fit your abilities but you can definitely achieve a well rounded fitness level by doing the main site WOD's.

 

All of the elite guys will follow a a similar type programming to Salo. You also have to remember that guys like Salo, Spealler, Fronning, Khalipa, ect... are freaks. I could train full time would never get to the level those guys are. Some guys just get the short end of the genetics stick.

 

Correct, however, Glassman has preached and continued to preach that Crossfit athletes get their best results by not specializing, yet all of the best specialize and periodize before the games. What I like about Crossfit is that it seems to be evolving away from HQ and going back to grass roots. I still can't believe how much each place is per month. $100/month is the cheapest...say what? That isn't very minimalist.

 

Also to the bold, that's the problem w/ the main site. It gives no structure and direction. It just gives you something to do for the day, which is great b/c each day is different. However, there is no rhyme or reason to it. That's the far extreme of structure.

[00Rocket28]

$100?!? My membership is $40 a month. A hundred bucks a month is insane!

[woodsrider]

Correct, however, Glassman has preached and continued to preach that Crossfit athletes get their best results by not specializing, yet all of the best specialize and periodize before the games. What I like about Crossfit is that it seems to be evolving away from HQ and going back to grass roots. I still can't believe how much each place is per month. $100/month is the cheapest...say what? That isn't very minimalist.

 

Also to the bold, that's the problem w/ the main site. It gives no structure and direction. It just gives you something to do for the day, which is great b/c each day is different. However, there is no rhyme or reason to it. That's the far extreme of structure.

Structure was a bad choice there. It didn't come off as I meant it. Sounded good in my head but didn't some out right in type. What I meant was a structured/base/fundamental fitness and strength. Still not coming out right but hope you know what I mean. And I agree with the rest of your post. While the main site might get the average person the best results for a well rounded fitness level, there's no chance your winning the games going by it.

[woodsrider]

$100?!? My membership is $40 a month. A hundred bucks a month is insane!

$40 is cheap. I have yet to see one that was less then $75. I called the affiliate in Evansville and the guy that I talked too said it use to be $75 but thought the owner raised it to $100. The owner and I played phone tag but I never talked to him to get confirmation. You have to remember that it costs probably $15,000 for just the equipment to outfit a decent sized gym. Not to mention most gyms pay their trainers.

[mexitucky]

Structure was a bad choice there. It didn't come off as I meant it. Sounded good in my head but didn't some out right in type. What I meant was a structured/base/fundamental fitness and strength. Still not coming out right but hope you know what I mean. And I agree with the rest of your post. While the main site might get the average person the best results for a well rounded fitness level, there's no chance your winning the games going by it.

 

What is happening, and will be more and more is that you'll see 2 types of Crossfitters.

A. Recreational, if you will, who just want to work very hard and do something different every day. They aren't particular concerned w/ getting as big or strong as they can. They like the challenge and the conditioning.

B. Competitive crossfit, where people will focus on preparing for the competitions that will pop up more and more frequently...especially w/ Reebok sponsoring it.

[sportsfan41]

Barbells come in various lengths and thickness.

I believe what they we're doing was an AXEL clean and press. I think that's why it was thicker.

 

It's part of the Strong Man workouts that Crossfit has been/was promoting. Derrick Poundstone does this, but obviously makes it look less painful.

 

It was more than obvious that for that type of a lift the thickness of the bar plays a large role and it's something that's not meant for most average joe's to be using. The majority of those folks looked average at best.

[woodsrider]

What is happening, and will be more and more is that you'll see 2 types of Crossfitters.

A. Recreational, if you will, who just want to work very hard and do something different every day. They aren't particular concerned w/ getting as big or strong as they can. They like the challenge and the conditioning.

B. Competitive crossfit, where people will focus on preparing for the competitions that will pop up more and more frequently...especially w/ Reebok sponsoring it.

We're already there and really more then just 2 types.The main site worshipers are in the A, the elite fall in to B, then you have hybirds that would follow crossfit football more, then there is crossfit endurance. I guess that's the beauty of crossfit. You can mold it to fit your needs and achieve your goals.