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Crossfit + Olympic Lifts + Sprints + Body weight Exercises

 

End thread

Do you actually do crossfit?

 

Yes...and Olympic lifts, and sprints, and bodyweight exercises...amongst other things

Does it actually work? I've read articles about Crossfit, and alot of trainers seem to think it does more harm than good. Not flaming, just asking your opinion.

Ok, this is what I normally tell people:

 

A lot of the Crossfit marketing shows these old people, fat "video game" kids, or out of shape people hitting the Crossfit box and getting in better shape very quickly. I agree that any movement/activity is going to be better for people in these categories, but I definitely see the potential for danger in these situations. You're doing complicated movements, complicated lifts, and are oftentimes working at a pace that your body is nowhere near accustomed to.

 

On the other hand, I've been lifting, running, competing in fitness events, competing in sports, etc. for over 15 years. I've received coaching on the lifts (prior to starting CF on Olympic and Power movements) and I know my limits (both when I can do more and when something is hurting me). To someone with this background, I think CF is appropriate and there isn't much to be worried about.

 

Why I do it? The workouts are a lot more intense than what I had previously done (save for some 2-a-day conditioning) and I have decreased my body fat to the lowest level that it has ever been (got below 10 this past summer, bulked up over the past few months and am now cutting back). As I get older, I have less opportunities to be "competitive" and CG definitely fosters a competitive fitness spirit. Guys who are fit, but aren't competing anymore generally agree with this sentiment. Also, Crossfit girls (like, the ones who are good at it) may have the sexiest bodies of all.

 

I wouldn't JUST do CF workouts, though. Sometimes the WOD takes, like, 5 minutes, so you really need to supplement it with other exercises/movements as well.

Sounds like it's something some poeple may love, and some people may hate. I workout 3-4 times a week, by just doing lfting and running through my neighborhood and that seems to do the trick for me. I'm not trying to be some muscly freak, I'm 5'10 and a solid 180 as of right now.

 

Watching some of the sh#t they do on TV, made me wonder if it does actually work. Watching the deadlifts, and hang cleans and how herky jerky they do them made me question it. Thanks for your input.

[Creighton Duke]

Yeah, the movements do get a bit dicey after awhile. This is another reason why it is so important to supplement the CF workouts with movement specific training, especially in the movements that are most likely to cause injury if performed incorrectly (Olympic lifts, squat, deadlift).

[HuskerShark]

Professional crossfit trainers are probably pound for pound the best athletes on the planet. Major respect for anyone who is good at it.

 

It's just not really my cup of tea. I enjoy basketball pick-up games, throwing the football around or 7-on-7, and lifting.

[ZRod]

I have been doing crossfit (at home when i have the right equipment) for awhile now......pullups are honestly the biggest pain in the ass for me.....dont know why....deadlifts are fine, clean and jerks are fine, burpees are fine, but pullups make me feel like a beyotch

Pullups are a beyotch! I think it's so hard because you're "isolating" a muscle group (obviously you can't completely isolate the lats) that almost never does work on it's own, so it's not use to being used in that way. Pullups are one exercise that was not meant for out of shape fat people.

[BigRedBuster]

I have never in my life been able to do pull ups. At this point....I really don't care.

[ZRod]

I have never in my life been able to do pull ups. At this point....I really don't care.

You know I never could either until I forced myself to do one, it wasn't pretty but I got it done and crossed something off my bucket list. It's always good to have a strong back though. I just started off by pulling myself up as far as I could or jumping all the way up then holding myself there and slowing releasing back down, then I would do as many chin ups as I could.

[teachercd]

You know, if you had to pick only 3 exercises that you could do, what would they be?

 

1. Pull ups

2. Push ups

3. Dead lifts (even though I hate them and never do that)

 

I think with those 3, you could probably hit most everything.

[krc1995]

You definately don't have to be good at crossfit to do it or get benefit from your time "in the box." The shortest workout I have done, was like seven minutes, but with a fairly intense warmup and a slightly less intense cooldown, it definately is enough of a workout. The true time for most of my gym's CF workouts is around 45 minutes.

 

I do think it is dangerous. You have the innate competition factor paired with olympic moves, much of which is for time. These are olympic moves that weightlifters spend their entire careers perfecting and then you have novice Cfers just ripping them off on their first day(yes, under the guidance of a trainer but still)

 

Last week, I witnessed our CF trainer break his glendoid(sp) doing an overhead move. Then yesterday, the ambulance was called and carted out another. I am still unsure what happend to her, but I am not surprised. My heart rate gets insanely and scarily high, and IMO the short workouts are the by far the worst. I met Mr. Pukie on a WOD that was see how fast you can do 100 burpees. I think it was like 7 minutes of hell

 

If you are not quite that extreme and worry about the long term impact on your joints, check into TRX suspension training. It's pretty awesome, but I would think would get pretty boring if that is your only routine.

[Creighton Duke]

You definately don't have to be good at crossfit to do it or get benefit from your time "in the box." The shortest workout I have done, was like seven minutes, but with a fairly intense warmup and a slightly less intense cooldown, it definately is enough of a workout. The true time for most of my gym's CF workouts is around 45 minutes.

 

I do think it is dangerous. You have the innate competition factor paired with olympic moves, much of which is for time. These are olympic moves that weightlifters spend their entire careers perfecting and then you have novice Cfers just ripping them off on their first day(yes, under the guidance of a trainer but still)

 

Last week, I witnessed our CF trainer break his glendoid(sp) doing an overhead move. Then yesterday, the ambulance was called and carted out another. I am still unsure what happend to her, but I am not surprised. My heart rate gets insanely and scarily high, and IMO the short workouts are the by far the worst. I met Mr. Pukie on a WOD that was see how fast you can do 100 burpees. I think it was like 7 minutes of hell

 

If you are not quite that extreme and worry about the long term impact on your joints, check into TRX suspension training. It's pretty awesome, but I would think would get pretty boring if that is your only routine.

Agree with just about everything here. I don't know if I've just been lucky or if you're working out in some cursed area, but I've never witnessed someone being carted off in an ambulance and very rarely have seen someone break anything, although I definitely see the potential for these things happening. Also, I have yet to puke, but that may be saying more about my (lack of) effort...

 

The burpees never really bothered me; I was always good at grass drills in high school, but you're right, that AMRAP in 7 minutes starts to get really shi**y really quick.

[Creighton Duke]

You know, if you had to pick only 3 exercises that you could do, what would they be?

 

1. Pull ups

2. Push ups

3. Dead lifts (even though I hate them and never do that)

 

I think with those 3, you could probably hit most everything.

 

I might switch out squat for deadlift although those two are in close competition. As far as the first two go, the variety of movements that you can perform with these exercises makes them exponentially valuable.

[VA Husker Fan]

I have never in my life been able to do pull ups. At this point....I really don't care.

I tore my ACL last January. Between doctor visits and the MRI and scheduling the surgeon, I had two months before surgery, and along with the knee pre-hab, I did some upper body strengthening. Good thing, because it was so hard to get up and down post-surgery that I can't imagine what it would've been like had I been older and weaker. It's got nothing to do with looking good on the beach or sizing up how you'd do in a bar fight. It's more like being able to get up to use the can.

[krc1995]

You definately don't have to be good at crossfit to do it or get benefit from your time "in the box." The shortest workout I have done, was like seven minutes, but with a fairly intense warmup and a slightly less intense cooldown, it definately is enough of a workout. The true time for most of my gym's CF workouts is around 45 minutes.

 

I do think it is dangerous. You have the innate competition factor paired with olympic moves, much of which is for time. These are olympic moves that weightlifters spend their entire careers perfecting and then you have novice Cfers just ripping them off on their first day(yes, under the guidance of a trainer but still)

 

Last week, I witnessed our CF trainer break his glendoid(sp) doing an overhead move. Then yesterday, the ambulance was called and carted out another. I am still unsure what happend to her, but I am not surprised. My heart rate gets insanely and scarily high, and IMO the short workouts are the by far the worst. I met Mr. Pukie on a WOD that was see how fast you can do 100 burpees. I think it was like 7 minutes of hell

 

If you are not quite that extreme and worry about the long term impact on your joints, check into TRX suspension training. It's pretty awesome, but I would think would get pretty boring if that is your only routine.

Agree with just about everything here. I don't know if I've just been lucky or if you're working out in some cursed area, but I've never witnessed someone being carted off in an ambulance and very rarely have seen someone break anything, although I definitely see the potential for these things happening. Also, I have yet to puke, but that may be saying more about my (lack of) effort...

 

The burpees never really bothered me; I was always good at grass drills in high school, but you're right, that AMRAP in 7 minutes starts to get really shi**y really quick.

no joke, I don't know if all the CF gym are like this. Watching the shoulder break was more disturbing then the lady passing out. Turns out it was a grand mal seizure, which I guess could happen anywhere. Thank God she wasn't doing like a clean and jerk or something with a lot of weight. I also noticed that the owner doesn't always follow the CF WOD posted online. I guess because he doesn't always have the equipment or because he is getting a lot of people per class and he doesn't have the room, but his always seem to be a hero or at least a named workout. We've done Murph a few times this last month, and Barbara a few. There is a rumor of Clovis coming up this Saturday.

 

I know that people don't think the kipping pull ups are pull up, and that's good because I can't kip anyway. My body just doesn't bend that way. I can now, after four months of CFing, do 8 dead hang pullups no band. I'm proud of that. Im also proud of my double-unders. and push ups. The one exercise I refuse to do is massive amounts of box jumps. It just kills my knees.

 

My gym is located on xxx Easy Street , seriously that is the address. Talk about irony

[HuskerShark]

You know, if you had to pick only 3 exercises that you could do, what would they be?

 

1. Pull ups

2. Push ups

3. Dead lifts (even though I hate them and never do that)

 

I think with those 3, you could probably hit most everything.

 

If you're only doing 3?

 

1. Push ups

2. Sit ups

3. Cardio of some type

 

Core strength is probably the most important aspect to being in shape. Your core helps you bend, twist, breathe, sit up, stand up straight, and on and on and on.

[Creighton Duke]

You know, if you had to pick only 3 exercises that you could do, what would they be?

 

1. Pull ups

2. Push ups

3. Dead lifts (even though I hate them and never do that)

 

I think with those 3, you could probably hit most everything.

 

If you're only doing 3?

 

1. Push ups

2. Sit ups

3. Cardio of some type

 

Core strength is probably the most important aspect to being in shape. Your core helps you bend, twist, breathe, sit up, stand up straight, and on and on and on.

Not to hijak the thread more than I have, but situps would actually rank pretty far down on the list; there are so many better/more efficient exercises to work your core that will also benefit multiple other areas of your body (deadlifts, overhead squats,etc.).

 

Also, have to be a tad more specific than just cardio. To be honest, when I train for running races, I may only run two days a week, including race day. Getting a good kettlebell regime going not only greatly benefits cardio but will tone the hell out of a lot of your body, especially in areas that are oftentimes neglected.

[Stumpy1]

I have never done CF and I don't think I will. I have a routine that was given to me from a trainer and pro bodybuilder that I met through a friend and it has worked great. He told me that a person should only do about 20 mins of cardio, 3x a week and no more as it will start doing more harm then good. He said that going more then 20 mins will start having a reverse affect on your heart, kinda like lifting for a long period of time and your muscles can't take anymore cause of the acid build-up.

 

As far as lifting, he said that a person should always do the 4 core lifts, bench, squat, deadlift and military press and work in auxillary lift around the core lifts,ex...flys, leg ext., incline DB press. He also said a person should always do body lifts as it will work the smaller muscles along with your bigger muscles more then just regular weights. He also pointed out that a person should make a routine that lasts at least 60 mins and not more then 90 if you are woking out hard.

 

When it came to eating, he pointed out that a person who wants to get lean should try and eat every 2-3 hrs to keep their body fed continually and to keep their metabolism up and going. He said that is what he does during his cutting period before competitions and then quits and eats as much as he can during bulk up times. He gave me a print out of the eating diagram that he uses and it is broke down into macros and that is what he goes off of. I tried it for about 3 monthes and lost 25 lbs.