Crossfitters suck...here's why

"All crossfit really does is satisfy some people's need for a certain body image. Following the paleo diet and doing lots of fast reps of strength work will make people who are genetically predisposed to gaining muscle mass look "ripped". But, that is about it."

You kinda outted yourself as a skinny bird chested runner with that statement.

I am not surprised to hear about your friend. The top Xfitters aren't even training "CF" for the most part, at least not anywhere resembling stupid WODs. They are training more like PLers or Oly lifters with some "metcon" circuit work. Probably not enough track work though in most of their training. The Rooney article above pretty much sums it up, even though it is MMA focused. Get strong first and sprint. Much like the NFL combine bench press rep test, that 225 lb rep test will get much easier, the more you raise your maximum and relative strength levels first. I can almost always nail 30-33 bodyweight pull-ups even just when focusing on weighted pull-ups as my bodyweight becomes a smaller percentage of my overall relative strength.

Also possibly of interest, Charles Poliquin noted that his observation is that pole-vaulters typically are able to jump into other sports and perform the best as compared to any other athletes. A combination of the strength, explosiveness, and coordination necessary for that sport. Perhaps also part of what you're seeing there. Your friend is a very talented athlete at many disciplines already.

Precious Roy...as usual your comment rubbed me the wrong way. Lets take the very elite of both sports out of this because they are earning a living doing what they do. Everybody else is participating in a sport for a variety of silly reasons. A lot of people crossfit to get in shape and build a more attractive looking body. A lot of people run in order to get in shape and build a more attractive body. Some crossfitters also want to see how much they can deadlift. Some runners also want to see how fast they can run 5k.

Who the h*ll are you to say which pursuit is more noble? Whether you like it or not, a strong rugged body type is more appealing to a vast majority of the population. This becomes important not only in selection of a mate, but in business and almost every social situation there is. Working out to look better in clothes or naked should not be frowned upon. The only reason it is here is because most people here are ectomorphs that are incapable of acknowledging excellence in anybody but themselves. I don't dislike runners, I pity their small minds.

If you are not a runner, why are you here?

ataglance. wrote:

distance runners must be the most thin skinned, chip on their shoulder athletes in existence.

Why do you care about what other people do to work out???

The workout world according to LR:

Xfiters- dumb bro muscle heads

bodybuilders- big self obsessed and gay- also muscle heads

cyclist- lance armstrong wanna bes in silly clothing.

tri guys- gear obsessed posers not good at any event, and they love gear. (did I mention they love to buy gear?)

slow runners- fatties not "real" runners- shouldn't even try they clog up the races and ask idiotic questions

ultra runners- people too slow to run real races, old runners, joggers & hippies.

Who am I leaving out?

Hobby joggers. You forgot hobby joggers. And Tough Mudders, etc. The D-bag high schoolers and wanna be college walk ons on here hate hobby joggers and "mud Runners" even more than they hate couch potatoes.

"i love crossfit, it made me 200k last year"-ortho surgeon specializing in shoulders. I'm a pt and currently treat 3 of his patients. train smart people.

ataglance. wrote:

distance runners must be the most thin skinned, chip on their shoulder athletes in existence.

Why do you care about what other people do to work out???

The workout world according to LR:

Xfiters- dumb bro muscle heads

bodybuilders- big self obsessed and gay- also muscle heads

cyclist- lance armstrong wanna bes in silly clothing.

tri guys- gear obsessed posers not good at any event, and they love gear. (did I mention they love to buy gear?)

slow runners- fatties not "real" runners- shouldn't even try they clog up the races and ask idiotic questions

ultra runners- people too slow to run real races, old runners, joggers & hippies.

Who am I leaving out?

Females

"Joggers World"

laapt wrote:

"i love crossfit, it made me 200k last year"-ortho surgeon specializing in shoulders. I'm a pt and currently treat 3 of his patients. train smart people.

Cute quote but couldnt any ortho say that about running too? Ive spent more than my fair share of time dealing with orthos over the past few years.

Could probably say the same thing about cycling too.

Well, that about sums it up.

crossfitters work out in board shorts, enough said.

If you're buddy isn't making $250k per year being a decathlete, he should take a year off, train for crossfit, and win $250k. It sounds like it would be easy for him to do, since no one in crossfit is a real athlete, and even a mediocre decathlete could dominate the crossfit world.

If you think "kipping" and cleans for speed are stupid, you might want to look into the history of where crossfit came from. It developed out of training systems for the military, firefighters, and police. How often do they have to run a fast 5k? Probably never. How often do they have to sprint < 400m, while carrying heavy equipment, hoisting that equipment, or people, past unexpected obstacles and clearing the obstacles themselves? All the time.

In those situations, would you care about your form in getting over a wall? No, you would kip like hell and do whatever it took to get over that wall. When lifting your buddy onto your back and carrying him out of a dangerous area, do you get to have perfect lifting conditions and form, and take your time? Nope. You do whatever it takes to get him over your shoulder and carry him out of there.

Crossfit trains you for these situations. There are bad crossfit gyms that don't stress good form before speed or weight. But most of the ones I've been to have at least two trainers walking around making sure people have good form, and if they don't, they tell the athlete how to correct and to drop the weight or the speed.

Let me know when your DIII buddy is going to come dominate the crossfit world. I'll be waiting.

Some of you people are funny...in a sad way.

People who don't do your exact activity are either a$$holes or idiots. That's really the basis for racism and separatism in our world. Gotta give more respect to others, as long as they aren't hurting anyone or breaking any laws.

If you don't like Crossfit, then don't do it. Why would you rip on people who have found a thing to make themselves crazy fit? Because, if you DO Crossfit, you would become crazy fit. Not everyone can be a good distance runner. Anyone though can workout and eat right and get a fit toned body if they really want to. Those Crossfit people COULD be sitting on the couch and ballooning up to 400 pounds, but instead they choose to work at something to get the body they want.

I don't do Crossfit, but I respect those who have found it as a way to get the body they want.

Why are many women who do x-fit fat? Crossfit is just another costly gimmick (appealing to those with Navy SEAL fantasies). Ditto mud runs. Ditto HIIT. Ditto North Face gear, road races with high prices, half marathons, walking during non-ultras, corrals, the very concept of BQing (esp when you can buy your way in), barefoot running except on grass, Five Fingers, zero drop, minimal shoes that cost more than regular ones, coaches for non-elite athletes, training plans, 3 day a week less is more training plans, RW, nearly all gear, Born to Run, the word bib, running groups sponsored by shoe stores, $200 classes on how to run a 5K, any Internet discussion of the NYC marathon and hurricanes, the term 'core work,' the 16 mile long run (when their elites do 20+). I like everything else about the Hansons, but there is nothing credible in training theory that shows that a long run should be limited by the weekly mileage total, apart from risk of injury. Ultimately, the very fact that CrossFit is branded shows that it is unserious.

I doubt anyone who "does" crossfit for more than a year would be fat. This include 4-5 wod's (did I lose you at wod?)a week and eating paleo. I would bet any amount of money anyone could get fit in one year.

Could ANY of these "elites" break 21 for a flat 5K?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zJZuPN8D7g

Crotchfit wrote:

Could ANY of these "elites" break 21 for a flat 5K?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zJZuPN8D7g

Yes...a bunch can...the top two guys in that 2009 race were running in the 17's for 5K. Not too bad for guys who aren't strictly runners.

They may not be the fittest athletes on earth...blah, blah, blah...but the top Crossfitters in the world are extraordinary athletes. You have to follow Crossfit a bit to realize this...not that you'd necessarily want to...but you have to educate yourself to understand what is involved. Same is true of many other sports...including running.

I watched the event on ESPN a few ago that started with a triathlon. Most everyone they showed in the event was walking from time to time during the run. What bothers people about cross fitters is the whole claiming to find out the fittest person on earth non sense. Same could be said for the decathlon. The real best athletes in the world are playing pro futbol,football,hockey,and basketball.

B.I.G. Johnson wrote:

I watched the event on ESPN a few ago that started with a triathlon. Most everyone they showed in the event was walking from time to time during the run. What bothers people about cross fitters is the whole claiming to find out the fittest person on earth non sense. Same could be said for the decathlon. The real best athletes in the world are playing pro futbol,football,hockey,and basketball.

I agree with that, although if you go specifically for "fittest" instead of "best" I'd go with the combat athletes.

Everybody speaks in absolutes here, and almost nobody has ever done Crossfit. Many of the explanations of what crossfit is proves they know next to nothing about it.

I don't belong to a CF gym but do their workouts about 5x a week. I'm 6' tall and weigh about 205. Not ultra low body fat but pretty lean. 33" waist whatever that's worth. I can run a 5k in about exactly 20 minutes. In a 20 minute crossfit workout I'm pretty good, and I get absolutely demolished by the top crossfitters. I mean its not even close. Their aerobic capacity is so far beyond mine it's embarrassing. What I'm getting at is I have no idea what the top guys can run for 5k but there's no doubt it's a helluva lot faster than 20 minutes for a lot of them.

I think a lot of crossfitters come over here not to bash running, but for the same reason I do. There are a lot of threads about prediction workouts, interval sessions, etc. a lot of crossfitters are interested in running a faster 400, mile or 5k. This is a tremendous resource for people that don't know everything about run training. I read about the 400m repeats for mile training and went out and tried it. it was great, hard as hell but great. When you see a crossfit thread you naturally open it up, see the bashing, and choose to ignore or fire back.