Sorry guys, I don't frequent these Let'sRun message boards much anymore. Too much hate, too little common sense.
But I am here now so let me chime in.
It all boils down to 1 thing: jealousy.
Imagine you're on the track, super skinny, and your doing 800 repeats. Your head turns all red and you sweat like a pig. All of a sudden a super JACKED CrossFit ATHLETE comes around and does some CrossFit style sprint repeats (google letsrun.com, I posted about this workout before). Now all of a sudden all the girls on your team begin to stare at him and can't focus on anything else, even fantasizing about you know what.
Of course the SKINNY FAT/SCRAWNY runner doesn't like this. He gets jealous. He gets annoyed, frustrated. That's why CrossFit gets a bad rep.
Either way, CrossFit is not the problem, it's the solution. Embrace it.
You need to differentiate between a normal Crossfiter and Crossfit competitor.
A normal Crossfiter is just someone who likes to workout and likes the social aspect of working out and pushing each other in a group setting. That's all. It's just a workout involving strength and endurance. It is circuit training with barbells and dumbbells.
A Crossfit competitor is typically a former athlete or military person who gets involved in Crossfit because of the innate competitive nature of working against a big clock on a wall. It is also...just circuit training.
Crossfit programming is kind of a mess. They have started doing heavy stuff in cluster sets over the last number of years but the initial Crossfit was circuit based.
What they do wrong: Olympic Lifts in a fatigued state for high reps. Too much overlap in their consecutive workouts.
They're not really ridiculed, but at the same time they're not excellent at anything.
They are mediocre rowers, mediocre cyclists, bad runners, weak powerlifters, above average at calisthenics, bad at endurance (picture a group of crossfitters on a military recon mission with limited food and heavy load).
They can pull a decent wattage for 2-3 minutes on several types of ERGs, but that's about it.
You hit the nail on the head! Just like Olympic decathletes. They are not excellent at anything. They are mediocre pole vaulters, mediocre hurdlers, bad sprinters, poor long jumpers, weak javelin throwers, have poor endurance- they are just average at everything.
They can brag about being the best overall athletes too!
An answer to the OP’s question might have something to do with how an organisation that takes exercise so seriously, actually produces so many injuries AND, in many cases glorifies obtaining an injury as part of the process.
One of the main principles of exercise should be DFYU ( Don’t F*ck Yourself Up) or safety basically. CrossFit violates this often and in many cases, spectacularly.
Look at the CrossFit forum ( yes they have one, just like letsrun…but probably without all the self loathing and insecurity manifesting itself in ridicule of others)…the Injuries section is in the TOP FIVE of sections on the forum when it comes to the number of posts. This should not be. Injuries should not be an expected part of a successful exercise routine, let alone a goal.
Saying that though, the injury rates for running exceed 70% per annum…
Forging Elite Fitness. CrossFit is a core strength and conditioning program. We have designed our program to elicit as broad an adaptational response as possible. The CrossFit Program was developed to enhance an individual's...
They are mediocre rowers, mediocre cyclists, bad runners, weak powerlifters, above average at calisthenics, bad at endurance (picture a group of crossfitters on a military recon mission with limited food and heavy load).
Nice cope, bro.
The guy on the right ran a 17:17 5k and and a 79 minute half marathon. Both while carrying all that muscle.
And everyone in this picture has served in the military. The one on the right has even served in the special forces for 11+ years.
What they do wrong: Olympic Lifts in a fatigued state for high reps. Too much overlap in their consecutive workouts.
Alan
LOL (laughing out loud). You can't make this up. Just because your SKINNY frame can't handle the MASSIVE CrossFit workload, doesn't mean it doesn't have HUGE benefits.
Countless friends in my box were former runners and they have achieved incredible definition (read: they're SHREDDED now) while gaining s3xy muscle mass. It works. The proof is in the results.
Also, please consider correct capitalization. It's "CrossFit", not "Crossfit". Thanks.