It's What I do

So, once upon a time it was my job to ask questions and get answers.

I'd like to think that I was good at it. Certainly I was better at it during my last seven years as a newspaper reporter than my first five years as a TV reporter.

Because let's face it, I was too busy partying in the beginning. No other way to put it.

Anyway, I'm bringing this up because I realize, with all my journalism experience I have never taken a critical look at Crossfit. This blog has been all about how great it is and how it's helped me, how much I love it, etc etc etc.

Hey, what can I say? I've had mostly nothing but good experiences and it has changed myself and my body for the better. I'm happier because of Crossfit.

Actually, strike that, I'm happier because of Raw Fitness Maui. It's not just a gym, it's friends and family. It's a good place to be.

But I'd be remiss if I didn't at least TRY to look for some negative commentary about Crossfit. I mean, geez, it's been two years. I can have ONE post where I attempt to be critical.

Plus I love setting Beezlebump off. Who knows, Kehau may even chime in too. So here goes.

Here is one of the earliest critical articles about Crossfit, written back in 2005 in the New York Times of all places. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/22/fashion/thursdaystyles/22Fitness.html?_r=1

In my eyes this reporter had an agenda. Find something insidious about this new workout craze. There's a paragraph in that story that reads like this:

---The emphasis is on speed and weight hoisted, not technique. And the importance placed on quantifiable results has attracted hard-charging people like hedge fund managers, former Olympians and scientists. But some exercise experts are troubled by the lack of guidance for beginners, who may dive into stressful workouts as Mr. Anderson did. (He had not worked out regularly for two years.) "There's no way inexperienced people doing this are not going to hurt themselves," said Wayne Winnick, a sports medicine specialist in private practice in Manhattan, who also works for the New York City Marathon.---

Did you read that first sentence? "The emphasis is on speed and weight hoisted, not technique." According to who? The reporter? How about some attribution buddy? Like, "Sports therapists say . . " or "My mom says . . ." Guess he's too smart to quote anyone. Genius. This is what passes for journalism at the NYT? I should have sent in a resume.

Read it though, it's a good, bad article. Kind of like looking back in time and shaking your head and thinking, "How much they did not understand back then. Tsk, tsk."

Now this guy wrote this last year, and I have to say I don't know if he has a point or not but he seems to make more sense than the first guy.

http://freakstrength.com/2011/12/16/why-is-crossfit-bad/

He starts off his blog like this:

--- I like CrossFit. I hate it too.

I like that it gets you doing some worthwhile things. You’ll squat, pull, press, and all of that good stuff. You’ll do body weight stuff, which I’m a huge fan of. In that regard, it’s better than a lot of “fitness” regimens out there.

But there are two huge downsides. The first is that form doesn’t matter. Really, it doesn’t. The rules state that you have to get from point A to point B, but how you get there is arbitrary. This is why people are doing power cleans that look horrible. I remember tuning into ESPN to watch the games (out of curiosity), and there were guys falling to their knees on cleans due to fatigue. ---

Okay, so, this guy also says form doesn't matter in Crossfit and attributes this to what he's seen at the Crossfit Games.

Wellll . . . yeah, I fall down on my knees with fatigue all the time. Is that bad? I'm pushing myself. I know this, I'm stronger today for doing what I did yesterday at RFM.

As far as form, well, shoot. My fellow WODmates and I start off with decent form but once you get to round six . . . well yeah, we get fatigued.

Again, is this bad? I'm going to defer to Beezlebump and the Camacho Man if he would like to chime in from CrossfitOneWorld. That is if my blog allows him to comment. Damn the blogger gods if they don't. Sorry in advance Freddy but try to post if you can.

Okay, so the next guy says he actually attended a Crossfit certification and thinks it's great. But he had some critiques about it as he came from a non-Crossfit fitness background of some sort. It's definitely worth a read: http://www.stupidgymshit.com/2011/01/18/good-or-bad-crossfit/

His main concerns are quality of instructors, physical capabilities, program variability and complexity of movements. This guy actually makes a lot of sense, and not because he likes Crossfit. I just like the way he already wasn't a Crossfitter but went through the certification. I think his different background helps him look at everything more objectively.

Now this last one is from some fitness forum. If you click on the link it goes to some video about Lulu Lemon day at Crossfit LA. It just looks wrong and makes me want to never workout at this gym ever.

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=120204311&page=1

Anyway, that's it. If you know how to Google you can find much more but the gist of it is, Crossfit can really mess you up if you don't have the right instructors who teach you the right technique and have the right attitude. Which is why when a friend of mine said he wanted to check out Crossfit in his hometown I said check out every gym until you find the right one.

I just got lucky because Beezle is my classmate. (SABERS!!!)

Oh yeah, the workout. Three snatches, six box jumps and a 200 meter run, AMRAP for 12 minutes.

I did six rounds and my back was fatigued. But guess what, it's fine now.

And tomorrow I'll be stronger. Suck it NYT.

Later,

Rod