CrossFit v. Distance Running

I will start off by saying that of the Crossfitters I know, they are an odd and cultish, and most of them are not in very good shape.

I was an okay collegiate runner (15:00 5k, 1:12 half, etc.) but right after college I was forced to give up running altogether due to injuries, 7 surgeries total on my back, knee, and hips. Now I am limited in what I can do, and because I don't want to get fat I lift quite a bit and do some cycling. I look much better than when I ran 80mpw, and get much more female attention, but would MUCH rather be a skinny runner.

I hate lifting and cycling and would give anything to run again. It's hard for me to even watch races. The Crossfit crowd has an entirely different motivation. They want to look good and that's about where it ends. Running is much more personal and intrinsic.

Do you realize that the "XF crowd" who are posting these threads are runners who enjoy getting the collective panties of the LRC crowd into a giant wad?

Guess what hobby jogger?? You aren't the first crossfit enthusiast with incredibly low self-esteem to come over here to this forum and do this. Face it. You can't run. That's why you go to the gym. Honestly, I don't pay attention to how others look. It rarely crosses my mind that people think about how I look.

I'm more concerned about what people think about how I treat them.

When it comes to running vs gymn though.......how often does ancient greek history talk about some guy doing pushups?? When the human race is extinct, how significant will crossfit seem to those who study the remants of our civilization??? Millions of years ago humans were running. Humans have only been going to the gym since they all got desk jobs and they all got vain.

the fact that this thread is still getting responses and x fit guy can still (even though hes a complete troll) piss off people, I give him a 10/10. This guy is a very good troll.

Crossfit is for yuppies--pure and simple.

It's for the guys who are still hittin' the upscale clubs tryin' their best to score a little poontang on the weekends. They get their haircut every 2 weeks and hit the tanning salon as needed. Oh yeah--they are startin' to get the guns and chest tatted up.

A sorry lot the bunch of them.

I hate to tell you, but 99% of girls do not want a caveman as a bf/husband...We don't want you to squash us in bed...

girlwithadvice wrote:

I hate to tell you, but 99% of girls do not want a caveman as a bf/husband...We don't want you to squash us in bed...

That's what they say. But action speaks louder than words.

Was going to stay out of this threat because we're all simply responding to a troll, but I do have to say that a few of my friends are loyal crossfitters.

Full disclosure: I think xf is great. It's exercise. It beats sitting on a couch. It motivates a lot of people to not sit on the couch. Great.

But let's not say that all xf-ers are "more fit" than runners. Sure, everyone's healthy. Why can't we just leave it at that?

Once a week I go for a run with some of my friends who are interested. It usually end up being me and the xf-ers. It's a super easy day for me, and I usually plan on an easy 5 at 8:30-9:00 pace, depending on who is coming, just a social run. I am always quite surprised how easily and quickly the xf-ers die on these runs.

Again, not a huge deal. But why can't we just say that xf-ers are better at xf-ing and runners are better at running? And that neither is going to take us to the Olympics so we're really just doing it for ourselves anyway? Do whatever makes you happy and stop putting others down about it.

(And yes, I'm mostly talking to you, xf guy; the nastiness from runners is mostly blowback from xf people talking about how they dominate every other athlete in every sport.)

Ok, I have been avoiding letsrun and most forums for a very a long time because there tends to be a lot of bickering and negativity.. with very little fact. I dont understand why people argue about xfit and running, its two completely different things. running builds cardio and the running muscles. most runners, including me, neglet everything else.

Im better than average at both running and crossfit. Example.. 5:40 mile.. not super fast,but not a casual runner.. 18:26 5k.. again not super fast, but enough to do very well at most races in my age group.. Im 37 and have only been running for about 4 years so I would say those time are very good. as for crossfit, your just judging against the rest of the people at the gym and yourself so (box), i usually do decent.

Another thing everyone misses is this. You get out of it as much as you put into. thats all things in life.

Here are some personal facts about what happened to me.

I was running 50 plus miles a week for the last two years and lifting weights a few nigths a week. i stopped making gains at both, so i ran more. I started getting injured more.

I was bored with my gym routine so 7 months ago I joined a crossfit gym. I thought I would be able to go in and excell at everything.. wrong.. completely knocked me on my ass, for weeks and weeks. It was somewhat of an advantage to be good runner in crossfit because the running parts of the workouts dont beat you down so much.

I couldnt run 6 or 7 days and do crossfit 4 days a weeks so I cut my running down to 3 quality runs per week. Speed work, tempo run and sunday long run (10+miles depending on what race i was training for)

It took a couple months to settle into that schedule and i felt horrible, mentally, for cutting my running mileage down so much, but i started to notice something. I felt much better. No more back aches, no more hurt knees, no more little running aches and pains. Plus i looked better.

Heres what surprised me most. At xfit class on a Thursday and Friday we did about 700 squats total. some weighted, some air squats.. my legs were very tired. I hadnt run a 5k in some time because my recent times (high mileage, pre-xfit) were getting worse and worse. I was struggling to run under 20 in a 5k. i thought my best days were behind me. I raced a 5k that sunday after all those squats not expecting much.. i ran under 19:00, first time in a long time.. the next week i ran an 18:40 on a course i had never broken 19 on.

My schedule is making me faster. Im running less, im injured less, and im all around stronger.

I think there is a lot of runners here that havent tried xfit that are bashing it, and crossfitters that dont like running so they bash it... why?? easy they dont understand it.

I think most runners would love crossfit if they tried it.

You compete against yourself and others daily in a positive environment.. sound like the running community? it feels like it to me when im at the xfit gym.

I think most crossfitters would benefit greatly from a long slow run once a week and a tempo run. what i see is that a lot xfitters run too fast when they try to "go for a run" so they get tired out too quick and dont like it anymore.

I was welcomed by the crossfit community as runner, but i dont always get that feeling when i tell other runners that i xfit.. i must admit i was the same way. must be the crossfit look or something.

everyone (not just runners) bash crossfit style pull-ups. again, easy, its a misundertanding. most xfit workouts are timed or scored. those flailing looking pull-ups are faster and believe me they are a workout. they are hard to learn as well. its about leverage and power in the core and hips, which most runners could use more of. there are plenty of crossfit workouts that call for "stict dead hang pull ups".. thats when you do regular pull ups.

I do have to stay that injury potential is there in crossfit. especially in the shoulders. a person needs to learn strict form before trying to speed through workouts.

I would also say that unless youre at the elite level of running crossfit is going to help your running. an elite runner would not want extra muscle or weight in the upper body, but how many truly elites are out there.

I would also say that 95 percent of crossfitters would benefit from some long distance runs and some tempo runs. Theres just seems to be a kind of endurance you build in a long distance runnning that you cant get anywhere else.

Thans just my educated two cents worth.

Bla bla bla. If you want anyone to read your post, cut through the chase a bit quicker. Thanks.

The exact reason i stay off forums. I can learn more in a hour from reading a book on either subject.. crossfit or running than i could learn in a year off a fourm.

I can learn more in a 30 minute coaching session from the top local runners or top crossfit people than i could learn in 2 years on a forum.

People come to forums to be miserable and confrontational. misery loves company, which is why your rarely see "great" runners on any running forums.

every great runner (or athlete) i know is more than willing to coach and help and they are very positive people in every aspect of their lives. so long letsrun, too much negativity here, i knew that before i posted.

Justin91 wrote:

I think you are wrong. Few sports and real life "functional" activities demand that CV endurance in the upper body. Sure, kayaking and cross country skiing and wheelchair racing do, but they are rare exceptions.

Tennis, climbing, table tennis, chopping wood, hockey, lacrosse, handball, water polo, swimming, cutting trail in wildlands...

lets see... sailing (lots of ropes to haul for hours on end), ditch-digging, boxing, and of course rowing.

Maybe those are rare exceptions too?

Xfitguy_the_real_one_1 wrote:

That's what they say. But action speaks louder than words.

Is it me or does XFIT GUY come over as the total alpha male? Probably 220 lbs or so. hmmm...

Running Chick wrote:

Xfitguy_the_real_one_1 wrote:

That's what they say. But action speaks louder than words.

Is it me or does XFIT GUY come over as the total alpha male? Probably 220 lbs or so. hmmm...

Running Chick wrote:

Xfitguy_the_real_one_1 wrote:

That's what they say. But action speaks louder than words.

Is it me or does XFIT GUY come over as the total alpha male? Probably 220 lbs or so. hmmm...

Don't get your hopes up unless you're looking for a best gay friend. He's a little too bodycon in his posts.

I have a very important question. Who the $%^* is Rich Froning?

He comes across as the total WANNABE Alpha Male. You either are an Alpha Male or you're not...and these crossfit guys are not, or they wouldn't have to keep boasting about it.

You might ask yourself why these guys keep posting this stuff on a distance running board, as opposed to, say, a sprinting board (since they want to claim they're such great sprinters or something). Because those of us on such places would ROFL with the 60+ second 400 times for the crossfit champion. Alpha Male?? Hardly.

I did a search on Elitetrack for "crossfit". Only 7 posts turned up over YEARS, including this one from a name many here should have heard of--Vern Gambetta:

The crossfit guys keep promoting themselves, but among real athletes, hardly anybody even cares.

I don't do CrossFit but have plenty of friends that do, some that coach, and 2 that own boxes.

There are the occasional boxes that don't care about form and end up with a lot of injured members but that is the exception and CrossFit shouldn't be judged by the exception.

A mix of lifting and running will make you a better all around person with more mobility and less injuries. I hit the gym, run, cycle, sail, and row (including sculling) and feel like I have good functional fitness