Experiences with Crossfit? -

[pecansandies]

hi all! I used to do kickboxing and circuit training to stay fit. I've since moved and there aren't any kickboxing places around here. The closest thing (also literally because it's like 2 blocks away) is a Crossfit place. I've heard mixed things about it and I vaguely recall Joe Rogan saying it's a really bad way to workout on his podcast. I've asked people about it but responses I got were mixed. People who tried it, loved it (weirdly none of them have stuck with it). Or people made fun of it. Googling again yielded mixed results. The one thing I consistently come across is that people who do it are highly likely to get injured, mostly from doing things improperly or pushing themselves too much....

So I guess I just want people's opinions, or even better, personal experiences with it.

for more context if this helps at all: going to a regular gym just....ehh not really my thing. I like not having to think about what to do and having workouts be somewhat social. So Crossfit seems like a decent fit for me. and the place nearby doesn't have any kind of trial run, drop-in classes because spots fill up fast so they keep them for membership holders

 

[Lioness]

My only experience with crossfit is a vid of a huge troon squeezed into some form of 'Grrl Power' tank top throwing a tractor tire across the room.

 

[Dreamland]

"Yo trainer, i need to get some untreatable shoulder injuries as quickly as possible!"

"Say no more!"

 

[OB 946]

I'm not exactly the best source, but probably better than most here. I played rugby for a D-1 school and then semi-professionally for a few years afterward, so I spent plenty of time working out and doing my best to optimize my training.

Crossfit, if you stick to their crazy exercises and actually do your "workouts" regularly, will build plenty of muscle and help you get in or maintain shape. However, crossfit is extremely dangerous, builds the worst habits possible, and will not give you remotely the kind of workout you would need to be in peak shape. I've had plenty of friends who, against my advice, took up crossfit and almost immediately had catastrophic injuries. Some of their workouts go against basic workout safety and even common sense.

 

[BoingBoingBoi]

my sister is a physical therapist. she loves crossfit because it's a consistent source of income.

you're probably better off getting into a good routine at a more traditional gym.

 

[pecansandies]

my sister is a physical therapist. she loves crossfit because it's a consistent source of income.

lmao say no more

My only experience with crossfit is a vid of a huge troon squeezed into some form of 'Grrl Power' tank top throwing a tractor tire across the room.

SCUSE ME IT'S MA'AM! IT IS MA'AM!

all are mirroring a lot of criticisms I'm coming across so I think I should maybe listen to that haha. It's a bit frustrating because I do know how to work out properly; good form, make good circuits for myself, etc. But I don't really push myself when I workout on my own. When I have someone more or less telling me what to do I always end up feeling like I had a good workout. Plus there's the social aspect of crossfit which was a big plus to me.

I think maybe the money is better spent on a personal trainer. I had one in the past and had the best results I've ever seen, plus never got injured so there's that!

 

[oldTireWater]

Years ago I went through a phase of doing their workout of the day (posted on their home site). I never went to one of their gyms or exercised with anyone else. It was a mixed bag. I don't do it anymore. My assessment:

• + Exposed me to some "new" exercises
• + Got me out of the habit of focusing on certain muscle groups on certain days
• + Got me out of the habit of taking rest days
• + Made me push very hard for shorter workouts, and compete against myself
• + Got me in the habit of doing many more reps of some exercises (pullups) than I had been

+++ Made me a little more creative about my own routines​

• - Short workouts made me lazy about longer ones
• - Competitive workouts with shit form will fuck you up if you let them
• - Some genuinely sketchy exercises
• - Dogmatic as fuck, and terrible culture. Not open to new ideas unless they came from Coach
• - Adverse to long cardio (because Coach is a fat fuck)
• - WAY, WAY too expensive if you go to their gyms

o It's just circuit training, nothing new or special!!!
o After a few months I saw significant improvement in my pullups (NO KIPPING), but decrease in my pushups
o No improvement in cardio
o No new injuries

Overall, I'm glad I tried it for a bit, but have no interest in going back. There's good to it if you can avoid the risk-taking mindset, and ignore the cult. Don't join their gyms. Don't follow their form. Don't pay attention to their records. Don't give them a dime! Don't tell anyone you do crossfit.

EDIT: This new auto-bulleting is bullshit. I'm not savvy enough to un-fuck it.

 

[Bassomatic]

I think we have a thread on this anyway.

That being said, Cross fit is the meme flavor of the month, and it's run by idiots but... it's based on a solid system something that's been around for a long time, cross training.

It's also a system made to be fun, jack of all trades, for most people that's what they want plus social and competitive. Cross fit isn't as much as the problem as the fad nature of it and idiots who turn a good exercise program that fits many people into a cult.

I've done cross training for most of my exercise life because it's really a useful system, when I want or need something else I drop it and do something more planned out, I happen to focus a lot on strenght training since that's what I enjoy and need more on my sports/hobbies.

I'd do some due dillegence of the gym you are looking at at some are really not bad most yeah hey brah your first day in the box? try these dope clean and jerk lift they look SICKKKKK and get you RIPPPPED.

Someone who cross trains/fits properly will be in good shape and able to do most things well, and can have fun also the work outs aren't the shortest so it's a time suck, but it goes quickly as you change what you do vs hour in the lap pool, or people who hate their power lifting 20 mins a day.

 

[NN 401]

Crossfit is... okay if the people running it come from an Olympic lifting/power lifting background.

They would and should have an eagle eye on form.

If they don't or keep trying to push you while you are injured or think puking and Rhabdo is just the funniest shit.. run, run far away.

 

[Flying McDaniels]

I never did CrossFit because I'm not rich. I used to go to a gym that let Crossfit ruin it for non-crossfitters, though. It was built into an old tennis complex, and since the complex had more courts than they needed they converted one of the end courts to a gym. And it was awesome for years. Then Crossfit moved in...

tl;dr gym can't become a full crossfit gym so they deliberately make the non-crossfit part of the gym shitty to try and make everyone do crossfit.

First thing they did was build six of these little rooms which were full of special weights and equipment that were exclusive for crossfitters. And this formerly spacious gym was now shaped kind of like a capital T. Still not too bad though. Then they decided to turn the top of the T into a place for crossfitters to do windsprints. They built an elevated platform above the stem of the T for the cardio section and crammed all the weight machines they could beneath it, and just ditched the ones they couldn't fit in. Of course, hot air rose so the cardio section was usually 85 or hotter and smelled like BO. They put an air conditioner at either end and aimed it across the section so that it didn't actually blow cold air into it, then installed this gigantic industrial ceiling fan that blew the hot stinky air around so you couldn't read a magazine or set your workout card on your machine.

When I quit and had to give a reason, the woman who took my reason gave me a corporate spiel about increased opportunities, then looked around to make sure there were no bosses in sight and whispered that they were trying to make the non-crossfit part of the gym shitty to cause people to pay extra to use the crossfit facilities and it was backfiring membership had dropped 30% since they installed the new cardio area and nobody was upgrading.

 

[pecansandies]

yeahhh so if anyone is interested I swung by to get a taste of it because the owner offered me a free class. First thing I noticed was the group was very diverse, which was pretty cool like there was a variety of fitness levels and ages present. They did have modification options for each fitness level. But what I noticed right away (because I was looking for it) was that no one was paying attention to form. Not mine or anyone else's...just the numbers.

So yeah, I won't go back. It's a shame because it seems like such a cool idea and it is more affordable than personal training. But there's post-workout "that was a good workout" sore and there's "oh I think I actually fucked my [body part] up doing that shit"

Like yall have said, I'm sure there are places that care about form. But it seems like this wasn't one of them.

 

[Dropped Burner]

I once signed up to a crossfit gym. Run by a womens. My first time there she made me do burpees as a big ol' fatty with my belly slamming into the floor. Well, long story short, I puked. And ain't never touched a gym since.

 

[Meat Poultry Veg]

We can't have a thread about Crossfit in KiwiFarms without an Infinite Elgintensity shoutout--