• Keep up to date with Ausbb via Twitter and Facebook. Please add us!
  • Join the Ausbb - Australian BodyBuilding forum

    If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact contact us.

    The Ausbb - Australian BodyBuilding forum is dedicated to no nonsense muscle and strength building. If you need advice that works, you have come to the right place. This forum focuses on building strength and muscle using the basics. You will also find that the Ausbb- Australian Bodybuilding Forum stresses encouragement and respect. Trolls and name calling are not allowed here. No matter what your personal goals are, you will be given effective advice that produces results.

    Please consider registering. It takes 30 seconds, and will allow you to get the most out of the forum.

In Defense of CrossFit

Admin

Administrator. Graeme
Staff member
[h=2]Here's what you need to know...[/h] •  Even with its questionable programming, often under-trained coaches and loudmouthed leader, CrossFit has greatly improved the field of fitness.
•  CrossFit has helped grow every aspect of the fitness industry, from training equipment and gym ownership to workout apparel and book sales. That's good for all of us who love training.
•  Women, once turned off by images of steroidal female bodybuilders, are now embracing free-weight training in droves, largely thanks to CrossFit.
•  The CrossFit Games is fun to watch, and because of that, CrossFit, despite its flaws, is here to stay

T Nation | In Defense of CrossFit
 
Totally agree it has helped with exposing fitness to many who are looking to get fit with legitimate exercises

However the below points really hinder it from being a truly revolutionary form of working out - i find it combines both the best (achieving fitness and strength utilising circuit training and free-weights/oly lifting) and worst (impressionable marketing highlighting key behaviours/attitudes that almost always lead to injury) of the fitness industry

1. lack of training required to become a crossfit coach
2. the enthusiasm of many new comers with little exposure to free weights and correct form (many crossing over from boot camps, zumba etc.), combined with the gung-ho mentality to smashing your hi-intensity/hi-rep/hi-weight workouts
3. the lack of stop-gaps (ways to mitigate risks) in the programming/WODs compared to other sports

there just needs to more done to fine-tune this new genre of working out to change stubborn minds about it, it doesn't matter how many lives it changes for the better, if it continues to needlessly injure so many of its participants i don't think it deserves all the credit for changing the game just yet
 
Totally agree it has helped with exposing fitness to many who are looking to get fit with legitimate exercises

However the below points really hinder it from being a truly revolutionary form of working out - i find it combines both the best (achieving fitness and strength utilising circuit training and free-weights/oly lifting) and worst (impressionable marketing highlighting key behaviours/attitudes that almost always lead to injury) of the fitness industry

1. lack of training required to become a crossfit coach
2. the enthusiasm of many new comers with little exposure to free weights and correct form (many crossing over from boot camps, zumba etc.), combined with the gung-ho mentality to smashing your hi-intensity/hi-rep/hi-weight workouts
3. the lack of stop-gaps (ways to mitigate risks) in the programming/WODs compared to other sports

there just needs to more done to fine-tune this new genre of working out to change stubborn minds about it, it doesn't matter how many lives it changes for the better, if it continues to needlessly injure so many of its participants i don't think it deserves all the credit for changing the game just yet

Injure so many of its participants? Any proof of this?



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Ugh, T-Nation is terrible, im suprised they didnt mention that glute bridges would make rich froning a better athlete.
 
Totally agree it has helped with exposing fitness to many who are looking to get fit with legitimate exercises

However the below points really hinder it from being a truly revolutionary form of working out - i find it combines both the best (achieving fitness and strength utilising circuit training and free-weights/oly lifting) and worst (impressionable marketing highlighting key behaviours/attitudes that almost always lead to injury) of the fitness industry

1. lack of training required to become a crossfit coach
2. the enthusiasm of many new comers with little exposure to free weights and correct form (many crossing over from boot camps, zumba etc.), combined with the gung-ho mentality to smashing your hi-intensity/hi-rep/hi-weight workouts
3. the lack of stop-gaps (ways to mitigate risks) in the programming/WODs compared to other sports

there just needs to more done to fine-tune this new genre of working out to change stubborn minds about it, it doesn't matter how many lives it changes for the better, if it continues to needlessly injure so many of its participants i don't think it deserves all the credit for changing the game just yet

Lack of training to become a coach? You mean the two day course?

I can do a two day Olympic lifting course and become an Olympic lifting coach

i can do a two day power lifting course and become a powerlifting coach

I can do a two day Strength and Conditioning course and become a strength and conditioning coach

I can do a two day kettlebell course and become a kettlebell coach

Whats the difference? No one is jumping up and down about any other two day course, why is one different? Oh, because it's Crossfit, you need to be a master coach to coach Crossfit...

Injury rates again.... This has been done many times before, injury rates are the same as power lifters and Olympic weightlifters according to a study, must have something to do with the two day course...
 
Lack of training to become a coach? You mean the two day course?

I can do a two day Olympic lifting course and become an Olympic lifting coach

i can do a two day power lifting course and become a powerlifting coach

I can do a two day Strength and Conditioning course and become a strength and conditioning coach

I can do a two day kettlebell course and become a kettlebell coach

Whats the difference? No one is jumping up and down about any other two day course, why is one different? Oh, because it's Crossfit, you need to be a master coach to coach Crossfit...

Injury rates again.... This has been done many times before, injury rates are the same as power lifters and Olympic weightlifters according to a study, must have something to do with the two day course...

Don't you have to do a minimum supervised hours for the weightlifting / S&C.

Although this is probably easy to falsify if you wanted to
 
Don't you have to do a minimum supervised hours for the weightlifting / S&C.

Although this is probably easy to falsify if you wanted to

Strength and Conditioning I had to do 10 observation hours, just watch someone that's qualified take a strength and conditioning session.
Olympic weightlifting I had x amount of session unsupervised and take notes on those sessions and submit them.

Not many, if any, Crossfit gyms will let you do a level 1 cert and walk in and start taking classes, you usually have to do an internship. So now it comes back to the gym itself, and like everything there are good and bad.
 
But is the reason that Crossfit's injury statistics (posted on this forum) aren't as high as people would expect, due to Crossfit being relatively young so the degenerative injuries aren't yet showing?
 
The crossfit hating isn't really justified. It is just another sport now and cops flack from BBs and PLs probably partly because in a short space of time is more popular that both of them.
 
The article was a bit redundant given that they already published one from Rippetoe titled Crossfit: The Good the Bad and the Ugly which tackled the same subject.

T Nation is very patchy with the quality of their authors and supplement crap though.

I think the injury incidence is more anecdotal - while I don't really know of anyone who's hurt themselves doing strength training or PL, it seems like almost everyone who does MMA variations and Crossfit ends up with some kind of chronic joint or back injury at some stage.
 
The article was a bit redundant given that they already published one from Rippetoe titled Crossfit: The Good the Bad and the Ugly which tackled the same subject.

T Nation is very patchy with the quality of their authors and supplement crap though.

I think the injury incidence is more anecdotal - while I don't really know of anyone who's hurt themselves doing strength training or PL, it seems like almost everyone who does MMA variations and Crossfit ends up with some kind of chronic joint or back injury at some stage.

The people you know in your circle doesn't constitute a study.
 
The article was a bit redundant given that they already published one from Rippetoe titled Crossfit: The Good the Bad and the Ugly which tackled the same subject.

T Nation is very patchy with the quality of their authors and supplement crap though.

I think the injury incidence is more anecdotal - while I don't really know of anyone who's hurt themselves doing strength training or PL, it seems like almost everyone who does MMA variations and Crossfit ends up with some kind of chronic joint or back injury at some stage.

Don't know anyone who has injured themselves strength training? Seriously?
 
hence why I said anecdotal which most people who talk about injuries in Crossfit are referring to. I don't think the injury reporting is all that accurate, especially with the 'gung ho, tough guy' attitude of many Crossfitters.

Don't let that get in the way of you two attacking someone though, because its your typical posting styles.
 
hence why I said anecdotal which most people who talk about injuries in Crossfit are referring to. I don't think the injury reporting is all that accurate, especially with the 'gung ho, tough guy' attitude of many Crossfitters.

What about the tough guy attitude of PLs and BBs. I doubt it's any different.
 
I think the injury incidence is more anecdotal - while I don't really know of anyone who's hurt themselves doing strength training or PL, it seems like almost everyone who does MMA variations and Crossfit ends up with some kind of chronic joint or back injury at some stage.

Me and my mate both started crossfit a year ago after 5 years of mma each and the only injury I've had is a ac strain from bench pressing, which range of motion from that injury has increased since starting croaafit


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I can't say that it applies to everyone, just what I've seen myself. I don't like Crossfit much based on its training principles, nor MMA training for those who don't intend to fight, the MMA types always seem to have bad bruises, muscle strains or elbow issues from all of the grappling etc.

I know of two bodybuilders who both blame deadlifts for their back issues FWIW.

T Nation | CrossFit: The Good, Bad, and the Ugly good read IMO.
 
I am the furthest thing from a crossfit hater, i've been taking part in its programming for the better part of a year, as well as separate olympic lifting classes - rather i thoroughly enjoy it, im not looking to pick a fight by any means, i just think there needs to be a lot of work done to make it a safer and overall better form of working out


Injure so many of its participants? Any proof of this?

Regarding injury;

First off, i don't have figures or hard facts regarding crossfit injury so take with a grain of salt - however i do believe that the argument that all sports (powerlifting, olympic lifting, body building etc.) have injuries and that crossfit is no different is somewhat fallible.

Most other sports have stop-gaps to help mitigate risk of injury, in BB and powerlifting, there is plenty of rest taken in between sets and during training there are no time-limits to complete lifts and other exercises. In a WOD that i did recently at my gym was;

500m row

3 rounds of;
9 deadlifts 102/85kg (mens/women)
15 box jumps 24/16′ (mens/women)
21 kettlebell swings 24/16kg (mens/women)


While not everyone is pushing the prescribed weight, the gateway to poor form leading to injury i would say is much higher than say a traditional boot-camp workout utilising body weight and some weight (usually kettlebells).

3 rounds of 102kg deadlifts and 24kg kettlebell swings or close to that after blasting out a 500m row is a tough feat to maintain good lower-back form in a fatigued state at any weight, no other form of exercise induces this sort of fatigue and weight combined with the speed to beat the clock - regardless of strength/experience levels

Also due to the nature of the classes where there are different people every class, it is up to the participant to scale the exercise/weight according to their strength/fitness level - this sort of responsibility in the wrong hands, combined with a group of others can induce an unsafe level of motivation and gung-ho attitude rather than the traditional lesson of 'lift light till you lift right'

Combine this sort of training with a group where you constantly being egged on to push harder and faster, this is extreme in many crossfit gyms, especially at local/regional competitions where many gyms come together to compete. A large contributor to this also lies largely in the hands of the coaches which I'll address next.

Lack of training to become a coach? You mean the two day course?

I can do a two day Olympic lifting course and become an Olympic lifting coach

i can do a two day power lifting course and become a powerlifting coach

I can do a two day Strength and Conditioning course and become a strength and conditioning coach

I can do a two day kettlebell course and become a kettlebell coach

Whats the difference? No one is jumping up and down about any other two day course, why is one different? Oh, because it's Crossfit, you need to be a master coach to coach Crossfit...

Injury rates again.... This has been done many times before, injury rates are the same as power lifters and Olympic weightlifters according to a study, must have something to do with the two day course...

Regarding the Lack of Training

To say that all other courses require only 2 days to become certified doesn't make the fact that it only takes 2 days to become a crossfit coach any more acceptable. Sure there are terrible coaches in all forms of sport, however i think it is especially risky for crossfit coaches to be inadequately trained for 3 reasons;

1. The new and unaware nature of its participants

2. The short timeframe to fit in a WOD (1hr) - this is an incredibly short time to;

- coach the necessary skills for that days WOD

- at times there isn't enough time to get in enough warm up sets to get up to the prescribed weight

3. The large amount of participants in each session makes it hard to monitor those with less experience - also the weight you choose to go into a work out is usually at your own discretion, which can be perilous when you are filled with enthusiasm and are lacking the mobility/technique to push the weight

The crossfit hating isn't really justified. It is just another sport now and cops flack from BBs and PLs probably partly because in a short space of time is more popular that both of them.

The increasing popularity of crossfit

I give crossfit credit to exposing me a form of working out that i would have never been exposed to otherwise, i enjoy the programming, the sense of community as well as thoroughly enjoying the weightlifting aspect

I just think that if half as much time was spent on fine-tuning the programming and investing more time into the aspects of coaching as there is on the marketing and business aspect of it, it would truly be a fantastic way to workout
 
Last edited:
This is how I feel about crossfit
6evepupe.jpg

I did a workout 2 days ago
40 c2b pull-ups
40 30" box jumps
30 120kg deadlifts
40 box jumps
40 pull-ups

I paced accordingly up until the deadlifts and each rep I made sure I regripped and reset my back, it's the people who get obsessed about having the best times on the board and over do what they are capable off that are the injury proned ones


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Regarding injuries with crossfit from poor form. You don't think the guys playing footy who have been running around for two hours getting tackled and knocked still trying to get the ball are at much more risk of injury than Crossfitter.

The injury thing with crossfit is bullshit. Doing anything is a injury risk. Some sports are a more injury risk than others. Crossfit is not near the top of the list for injuries. Netball would be higher.
 
Top