If you are at all a part of the fitness community, then you have probably not only heard of Crossfit, you probably have some opinions about them. As a personal trainer I am not sure that a day goes buy when it doesn't come up. Quite often it appears on my Facebook newsfeed, sometimes portrayed in a very positive light, sometimes it is perceived by people to be the embodiment of all that can go wrong in the fitness world.
The whole Crossfit world does seem a bit cultish, those who Crossfit, LIVE Crossfit, they talk Crossfit, they walk Crossfit, they dress Crossfit. You can hear story after story about how it has changed peoples lives, helped them lose weight, given them a feeling of empowerment, for women made them realize it was OK to be strong....they pay their fairly high fees every month and do their WOD/s and nothing and no one is going to deter them. Throwing up, scars, blood, all appear to be badges of honor in this world.
The other side detests all of that, say it's dangerous, that it's more about show than substance (I have to admit I think kipping pull-ups is cheating...but I digress) but sometimes it comes off as people who don't like that they are not part of this club.
In full disclosure I've never tried it. I've thought about it. Toyed with the idea, looked up the clubs in my area, I follow them on facebook and get their WOD's although I have never done one. A friend in the fitness industry asked me about it just a couple of weeks ago. I tend to lean extreme in my work out style. I like to push the limits of what my body can do, go big with little fear of failure, and am extremely competitive. Crossfit seems a good fit. I'll tell you the truth I shared with her. Part of it for me is that workouts are not a group thing. I prefer to do my own workout, on my own time. But the second half of the truth is that Crossfit scares me. Competition can be a very good thing when it comes to working out, fitness, weight lifting, running...etc. It can also be a bad thing if you stop listening to your body, drowned out the warning signs in order to post a better time or a better weight.
Crossfit was in the news in a big way this weekend when someone was seriously injured at a Crossfit competition.
[ABC] Kevin Ogar was performing a routine “snatch” at a fitness competition this weekend in southern California, a move thousands of amateur athletes do in their local CrossFit gyms each week, when something went wrong.
Ogar, a top-tier CrossFit athlete, hoped his training would one day take him to the equivalent of the World Series of the burgeoning sport, the CrossFit Games, where $300,000 and professional sponsorship could be top prizes. The sport combines weightlifting, gymnastics and sprinting.
But on Sunday, as Ogar lifted hundreds of pounds of weights first to his waist, and then up over his head, he bailed on the lift, letting the bar bounce to the floor behind him. There, it bounced against another set of weights, came up, and hit Ogar in the back, critically injuring his spine.
“When impact was made, he jumped almost like someone shot him,” Ogar’s friend, boss and training-partner Matt Hathcock told ABC News.
In true Crossfit loyalty Kevin does not blame the sport....but.....? I mean really? The WOD that they were asked to perform was all spine heavy, they are in a highly competitive setting where time comes in to play. For a lot of them they know that this is their one chance to win. TO have that moment of achievement. And now one 28 year old who was in the prime of his life is paralyzed from the waist down and maybe permanently. Had he been taking a RIPPED class at his local YMCA, that probably wouldn't be the case.
I finish this post without still being able to say that Crossfit is either evil or good. I like that it has gotten a lot of people really really into working out. You won't stick with a workout routine if you don't enjoy it. The sense of camaraderie that Crossfit brings, the constant change, keeps a lot of people coming back for more. Which in my line of work is a good thing. I do like that the emphasis is on being strong, and on loving your body and discovering what it is capable of not looking better in smaller clothing or comparing yourself to the person on the treadmill next to you.
But you can't deny the risks, people are injured more often doing Crossfit than following most other workout regimens, in the case of Kevin Ogar he knew what he was doing, he was in great shape, he was in ideal conditions being spotted and watched by the best, and this injury happened.
Is there a middle ground? A safer Crossfit? Or does it lose it's appeal when the risk and extreme are taken away?
The whole Crossfit world does seem a bit cultish, those who Crossfit, LIVE Crossfit, they talk Crossfit, they walk Crossfit, they dress Crossfit. You can hear story after story about how it has changed peoples lives, helped them lose weight, given them a feeling of empowerment, for women made them realize it was OK to be strong....they pay their fairly high fees every month and do their WOD/s and nothing and no one is going to deter them. Throwing up, scars, blood, all appear to be badges of honor in this world.
The other side detests all of that, say it's dangerous, that it's more about show than substance (I have to admit I think kipping pull-ups is cheating...but I digress) but sometimes it comes off as people who don't like that they are not part of this club.
In full disclosure I've never tried it. I've thought about it. Toyed with the idea, looked up the clubs in my area, I follow them on facebook and get their WOD's although I have never done one. A friend in the fitness industry asked me about it just a couple of weeks ago. I tend to lean extreme in my work out style. I like to push the limits of what my body can do, go big with little fear of failure, and am extremely competitive. Crossfit seems a good fit. I'll tell you the truth I shared with her. Part of it for me is that workouts are not a group thing. I prefer to do my own workout, on my own time. But the second half of the truth is that Crossfit scares me. Competition can be a very good thing when it comes to working out, fitness, weight lifting, running...etc. It can also be a bad thing if you stop listening to your body, drowned out the warning signs in order to post a better time or a better weight.
Crossfit was in the news in a big way this weekend when someone was seriously injured at a Crossfit competition.
[ABC] Kevin Ogar was performing a routine “snatch” at a fitness competition this weekend in southern California, a move thousands of amateur athletes do in their local CrossFit gyms each week, when something went wrong.
Ogar, a top-tier CrossFit athlete, hoped his training would one day take him to the equivalent of the World Series of the burgeoning sport, the CrossFit Games, where $300,000 and professional sponsorship could be top prizes. The sport combines weightlifting, gymnastics and sprinting.
But on Sunday, as Ogar lifted hundreds of pounds of weights first to his waist, and then up over his head, he bailed on the lift, letting the bar bounce to the floor behind him. There, it bounced against another set of weights, came up, and hit Ogar in the back, critically injuring his spine.
“When impact was made, he jumped almost like someone shot him,” Ogar’s friend, boss and training-partner Matt Hathcock told ABC News.
In true Crossfit loyalty Kevin does not blame the sport....but.....? I mean really? The WOD that they were asked to perform was all spine heavy, they are in a highly competitive setting where time comes in to play. For a lot of them they know that this is their one chance to win. TO have that moment of achievement. And now one 28 year old who was in the prime of his life is paralyzed from the waist down and maybe permanently. Had he been taking a RIPPED class at his local YMCA, that probably wouldn't be the case.
I finish this post without still being able to say that Crossfit is either evil or good. I like that it has gotten a lot of people really really into working out. You won't stick with a workout routine if you don't enjoy it. The sense of camaraderie that Crossfit brings, the constant change, keeps a lot of people coming back for more. Which in my line of work is a good thing. I do like that the emphasis is on being strong, and on loving your body and discovering what it is capable of not looking better in smaller clothing or comparing yourself to the person on the treadmill next to you.
But you can't deny the risks, people are injured more often doing Crossfit than following most other workout regimens, in the case of Kevin Ogar he knew what he was doing, he was in great shape, he was in ideal conditions being spotted and watched by the best, and this injury happened.
Is there a middle ground? A safer Crossfit? Or does it lose it's appeal when the risk and extreme are taken away?
RSS Feed