A reply to those who say "nay"

If you've heard of crossfit, you've probably heard of all the reasons why you shouldn't do it. As Crossfit grows so does the number of "crossfit bashing" articles on the Internet. The majority of these articles are written by pissed off "C" grade personal trainers who are seeing their clients become increasingly more interested in crossfit and its ways. I recently read (yet another) article attempting to bash crossfit. There was absolutely nothing special about this specific post, he tries to touch on the exact same topics that other, misinformed Internet troll would. In this post, I'm going to touch on every single point that this individual thought he made.

First let's talk about what crossfit is.. According to Crossfit HQ..CrossFit is a fitness regimen developed by Coach Greg Glassman over several decades. He was the first person in history to define fitness in a meaningful, measurable way (increased work capacity across broad time and modal domains). CrossFit itself is defined as that which optimizes fitness (constantly varied functional movements performed at relatively high intensity). CrossFit is also the community that spontaneously arises when people do these workouts together. In fact, the communal aspect of CrossFit is a key component of why it’s so effective (http://community.crossfit.com/what-is-crossfit). Crossfit allows for everyone, no matter what line of work or athletic back round they may come from, to push themselves physically and mentally. Crossfit has gathered various skill and strength related movements to give gym go-ers something to strive for. In what other community do you see 60 year old patrons concerned with the amount of weight they can lift, how fast they can run a 400m sprint and what gymnastic movement they can perform? Furthermore, these same people have bettered their diets as well as lifestyle and "out of gym" habits to attempt to achieve these athletic related goals. Bravo crossfit, way to do you're part in making our country (and world) a little more healthy.

　

"CrossFit is NOT Gymnastics."
Ok, thanks for that, asshole, I don't think anyone ever said it was. Crossfit has however added a few gymnastic related movements (i.e. Pullups, Handstands, Muscle Ups) to the program. These movement are great for building strength as well as motor skills. Just as the sport of gymnastics has individuals whom are more efficient in movements then others, so does crossfit. So to bash crossfit based on a percentage of the population whom are still developing the required strength and motor patterns once again shows your lack of knowledge and validity. Teaching individuals to properly recruit the muscles and body parts in order to complete these high skill movements can have a tremendous benefits not only in the gym, but also out of the gym in every day life.

　

"CrossFit is NOT for the elite"

Dumb ass says "There is a reason why the "elite" athletes of the world don’t do Crossfit… And the ones that have tried it, quickly looked at themselves in the mirror and bitch slapped themselves back to reality." And for what reason? When the best athletes in the world are in-season, general fitness is not a priority for them.. They are worried about sport specific movements and skills. What a tennis player does for conditioning is different then what a football player would do. This is "Sports Periodization 101." (it's OK, I wouldn't except a below average personal trainer to know anything about periodization anyway.) There are however, quite a few big name athletes that do crossfit in their off-season to stay in shape, as well as a few that have picked up on it after they've retired. (Kobe Bryant, Knowshon Mareno, and Gabby Douglas just to name a few.. The list goes on)

　

"CrossFit is NOT true Olympic lifting"

One of the best weightlifting coaches in the country, Coach Glenn Pendlay, has said on multiple occasions that individuals who started Olympic weightlifting through crossfit are now some of the best lifters in the country. Crossfitters as competitive weightlifters can no longer be shrugged off as irrelivant. So Fit Jerk, once again, you're a fucking idiot.

　

"The Blind Leading The Blind"

Our super intelligent Internet Friend's next argument is basically, why is the "head coach" (Greg Glassman) not in the best shape?.. I'd say good point, but it's not.. No matter what sport you mention, some of the best coaches in the sport were not the greatest competitors. Going back to Coach Pendlay, I've heard him refer to himself as a mediocre lifter, but no one will argue the fact that he's a great coach. Once again, point invalid. He then continues on to talk about injury in crossfit. The injury rate in crossfit is no higher then that of any other sport.T he majority of crossfitters who suffer severe injuries are those treating it like a sport, and adding volume to their daily routine, not those who are using it as means to get more fit. Furthermore, crossfit is not step aerobics. An individual following a crossfit program will see a better improvement in overall fitness and body composition that that of an individual attending aerobics class (I don't think anyone will argue that). With any higher intensity activity, comes the added need for precautionary measures.

　

Like we've already touched on, no matter what sport or fitness regiment you are following, there are good leaders, and there are bad. There is no doubt that there are bad crossfit coaches out there who program recklessly as well as throw caution in the wind when it comes to technique. However, The majority of coaches I've had the pleasure of being around take safety serious, and take the art of programming serious. Crossfit coaches all over the world are now learning from the best of the best in their respectable fields.

Fit Jerk, You're a fucking moron

"Jumping" Vs. "Extending"

Right now, we can say there are two different pulling methods in Olympic Weightlifting: The Jump and Shrug & The Catapult Method. Americans in general, and more specifically crossfitters, have adopted an old school, outdated method known as the Jump and Shrug, that should be looked at and adjusted to better peformance. Here's a look into the two pulling styles.

The "Jump and Shrug"

In the early days of weightlifting, the bar was not allowed to come into contact with the lifters body on the pull and with those rule restraints, this was basically the only method of lifting. In a nut shell, this method puts an emphasis on "jumping the bar" as high as possible. The Jump and Shrug, in my opinion definitely has its place within the sport of weightlifting. A green athlete or lifter who may be having a hard time with the concept can truly benefit from the cue.  A common fault among beginner lifters is the "muscling" of the weight to the rack or overhead position.  For the most part, everyone knows what it's like to jump and for that reason using the word "jump" as a cue (and only a cue) may benefit an athlete. The shrug, however, is thought of by many as an unnecessary cue. When you get an athlete moving correctly, the shrug should come naturally.  Putting an emphasis on and forcing the athlete to think about a movement that comes involuntarily will make the movement unnatural.

Where we begin to see a problem with the jump is in intermediate to advanced lifters. When we begin to get near maximal loads, the use of biomechanics (the mechanical laws relating to the movement or structure of living organisms) becomes pivotal to success. The "Jump and Shrug" method puts an over emphasis on triple extension (extension of the hip, knees and ankles). Some believe this is the reason why the United States is sub par to the rest of the world in Olympic weightlifting. Research has shown that the bar reaches its max velocity in the pull at roughly two thirds of extension (hip and knee). So with that knowledge, any extra extension is basically beating a dead horse and in turn putting us further away from receiving the bar. A lifter who favors this method will generally miss in front.


The "Catapult Method"

This method allows us to take advantage of angles and the make up of our anatomy to apply the most force possible to the barbell.  Unlike the jump and shrug, The Catapult Method (named by Don McCauley) utilizes an extend and drop. Once an extension of the hip and knees occurs, the lifter is moving underneath the bar.  Advocates of this lifting method preach limited to no pulling with the upper body. Extension of the ankles in this method is not necessary in the pull. The lifters ankles only get loaded in The Catapult Method, with rearrangement of the feet.  Lifters utilizing this tend to get underneath the bar in a more efficient and timely manner. No matter what kind of weight is loaded, the bar's height doesn't change.

There is no doubt that in terms of biomechemnics, the catapult method is much more effective in lifting heavy loads. However, among beginners the thought of jumping can help grow their understanding of the movements. An intermidiate to advanced lifter that is still practicing the Jump and Shrug method will be serverley hindering their max in the Snatch and Clean. This is obviously a very outside, broad look into different lifting styles. There is still much conversation to be had about technique and form when performing the olympic lifts. (knee position, hip position, receiving position etc.)

 

Notice Lu's position in frame 5.  He's reached full extension without any over exagerated flexion of the ankle

 

"I've felt like sh*t latley, and I'm not getting any better." Stick to your game plan!

The phrase..."I've felt like sh*t lately, and I'm not getting any better." is one that coaches all over the world have the pleasure of addressing quite often. Given the athlete is a healthy individual (not battling any types of sickness, viruses or bacterias) we can generally identify the problem by addressing the training regiment as well as the recovery of the athlete. Today we'll look at the importance of sticking to your program...

The old school CrossFit mentality was "if you have anything left at the end of your workout, you didn't go hard enough". Unfortunately this mentality is still ingrained in some competitive "Exercisers". When CrossFit (and the CrossFit games) first began; volume, intensity, programming, and the relationship between the 3, was not taken seriously. Athletes believed that if they showed up in the gym and destroyed themselves physically and mentally on a daily basis they would become stronger. Like Lee Corso would say. "Not So Fast My Friend!" Beating the body and central nervous system down to a pulp on a daily basis will do nothing but hurt the recovery of the athlete. The relationship between Volume and Intensity in an athletes programming can be a beautiful piece of the puzzle that brings them to the next level. However, if not taken seriously it can seriously hinder or even stunt and athletes growth in his or her sport.

Training volume and intensity is a subject that many coaches in various sports have been studying, testing and retesting on. It really wasn’t until the past few years that competitive exercising has been blessed with great programming coaches such as Ben Bergeron, Rudy Nielsen and James Fitzgerald (just to name a few). These individuals have studied the sacred texts of great coaches in the past and applied these principles to there programming. They fluctuate between high volume: low intensity to low volume: high intensity. A good coach monitors reps, percentages, and energy systems being called upon; to be sure that not only the athlete(s) are growing, but that they're not overloading the body, and CNS.

With that being said.... Just because you did some stupid, 20 minute, heavy ass metcon that left you feeling like your internal organs were just surgically removed and sold on the black market, doesn't mean you got any better. The phrase "no pain, no gain" isn’t always true, and I hope whoever came up with it lived a very painful, non-rewarding life. Pick a program and stick to it. If you're going to follow outlaw then fucking follow outlaw. If you have a coach programming for you at your home gym, do what your coach says! Don't pick and choose what you will and will not do and fuck up a beautiful piece of artwork. Understand that every good program has its goal. Yesterday was programmed for a reason; today has a purpose, and so does tomorrow. If you're done with your days work and you feel like you have more in the tank, GOOD! It's meant to be like that. If you have a problem leaving the gym in under and hour and a half, then spend your extra time making love to a foam roller.

 

So, next time you're feeling stale, beat up, run down, and just mentally sick.. Look at your last 2 weeks of training. Are you following your program the way it's intended? Or are you adding, removing and changing a bunch of shit? Don't get me wrong, there is definatley certain times were you will feel like shit in a good program. But your coach generally will know when these times will be, so let your coach know how your feeling.