Over the past 25 years, the fitness concept known as CrossFit has taken exercise to a new level. Belonging to a CrossFit community offers unique advantages; however, many detractors warn of the potential harm involved in such an intense exercise protocol. This article delves into what CrossFit can offer as well as its drawbacks, allowing personal trainers and their clients to make the most informed decision possible.
The Rise of CrossFit
Founded in 2000 by Greg Glassman, the concept of CrossFit aims to transcend mere physical fitness, emphasizing the importance of nutrition, rest, and recovery in addition to arduous exercise. His holistic perspective on nurturing health and balance, both inside and outside the gym, promotes a superb level of well-being for participants.
Glassman claims to have created elite fitness; in fact, Reebok sponsors CrossFit competitions all over the world, deeming the winners “the fittest athletes on earth”. CrossFit exercises increase VO2max, strength, and endurance to improve one’s body composition (lean body mass).
CrossFit versus Cross-Training
The general concept of cross-training involves engaging in functional movements that differ from an athlete’s regular sport while still supporting their level of fitness. Cross-training offers a way to vary one’s fitness program by combining different types of exercise activities. An ideal cross-training routine typically incorporates cardiovascular exercise, strength training, and flexibility exercises.
While most athletes have a favorite activity, they also grasp the importance of including exercises that address these three different areas. Changing things up, instead of repeating the same routine week after week, keeps the body guessing and therefore adapting, which will ultimately improve one’s fitness level.
Cross-training also allows athletes to target muscle groups not normally used in their sport of choice. A serious runner, for example, may choose to cross-train with cycling as well as lifting weights, in an effort to cultivate leg strength.
CrossFit, a brand name for a specified exercise program, focuses on high-intensity interval training and a blend of aerobic movement, body weight exercises /calisthenics, and Olympic lifting. According to Paul Schroeder, physical therapist and spokesperson for the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), “Such an approach builds metabolic or cardio/endurance through functional movements. The variety of exercise modes within a session and between exercise session days makes CrossFit an example of cross-training.”
A Typical Day in a CrossFit Gym
While classes may differ slightly depending on the coach, the majority of CrossFit workouts last anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes, during which time participants can expect to work at an intense level approaching maximal physical exertion. After the coach demonstrates each move, they set a timer. Each participant then performs the exercise. After the time interval has elapsed, each individual publicly records, usually on a large whiteboard, how many reps they accomplished or how much weight they lifted, depending upon the exercise. This helps everyone keep track of their progress/fitness levels over time.
Most CrossFit classes consist of four main parts:
- Warm-up: 5-10 minutes in length, this prepares the body for the workout ahead.
- Strength component: During this time, participants focus on proper technique as well as specific skill sets that will comprise the Workout of the Day, or WOD.
- Workout of the Day: this main event can include a wide range of high-intensity strength and conditioning exercises designed to challenge the entire body.
- Cool down: these 5 minutes allow for a gradual recovery, regulating blood flow, heart rate, and breathing.
Below are some of the most popular exercises that define a CrossFit class:
- Squats
- Rowing
- Kettlebell swings
- Push-ups
- Deadlifts
- Squat cleans
- Pull-ups
- Box jumps
Building a Disciplined Mind
Now that we have painted a picture of what one endures physically during a CrossFit session, we must likewise address the component of simultaneously cultivating an equally strong mind. Many CrossFitters report a heightened awareness of their mental toughness and confidence levels. Tackling tough workouts regularly builds grit, boosts confidence, and helps athletes realize that their capabilities can, in fact, exceed prior expectations.
Resilience, another key component of CrossFit, begins to develop as a result of learning to push through discomfort. This skill can move past the gym and into so very many other aspects of daily life.
As hard as CrossFitters work, they derive the benefit of an endorphin rush that helps clear the mind and lower levels of anxiety. CrossFit workouts score high in providing stress relief and elevating one’s mood.
Rethinking Restriction
As personal trainers, we know that good fitness practices do not start with a client’s workout; rather, they begin with a solid nutritional foundation. Nutrition forms the cornerstone of the CrossFit ideology as it boosts performance, recovery, and long-term health.
The platform of CrossFit preaches a clear, simple, and effective approach to meal planning: athletes should strive to consume lean protein sources, fresh vegetables, nuts/seeds, a small to moderate amount of fresh fruit, as little starch as possible, and no sugar. While many people may see this as significantly restrictive, CrossFit coaches view this plan as simply fueling the body to train, recover, and thrive. Building a clean and solid nutritional format will, over time, amplify the results of an athlete’s training. Many CrossFit gyms go so far as to offer tools and/or support for participants new to meal planning, effectively linking the powerful combination of nutrition and exercise for lasting change.
Exploring the Positive Side of CrossFit
As mentioned above, each CrossFit gym designs programs slightly differently. However, some common elements resonate across the board. The strengths that most athletes come to associate with CrossFit workouts include:
Difficulty: Many believe that CrossFit’s greatest contribution to the fitness industry lies in its emphasis on high-intensity interval training (HIIT), a highly effective and efficient way to improve muscle strength, body composition, and cardiovascular endurance.
Nutrition: CrossFit emphasizes the importance of healthy nutrition as part of its overall strategy. Whether or not this lifestyle choice proves sustainable largely depends on the individual.
Community: As a group exercise discipline, CrossFit classes help form a tight-knit community. Many participants find this an asset in terms of accountability and encouraging each other. Peer support encourages consistency in participation. CrossFit programs excel at building community and creating a space where everyone feels welcome. The programs, open to participants of all ages and fitness/experience levels, invite everyone to participate to the best of their abilities, judgment-free.
Affordability: CrossFit gyms, as a result of utilizing very little high-technology equipment, do not cost a fortune to set up. Therefore, owners/coaches can offer programs relatively inexpensively, making the workouts affordable to individuals at any income level.
Portability: CrossFitters learn how to use their own body weight to create challenging exercise routines anywhere, anytime. This eliminates any excuse for not making time for exercise while traveling or on vacation.
Challenging
The workouts of the day (WODs) strive to push the participant out of his comfort zone; however, they can adapt to any fitness level. As one achieves greater success each week, they can push themselves more and more. This rewarding aspect helps individuals see progress happening quickly and consistently, even at the beginning of the training. Going through hard training makes other aspects of life easier due to the toughness cultivated while mentally and physically pushing hard. In a nutshell, adversity builds resilience.
Variability
CrossFit classes use a variety of exercises on an ever-changing basis. A mix of bodyweight, barbell, and kettlebell movements coupled with plyometrics helps beginners adhere to the classes, since each one will present something new, fun, and challenging. As personal trainers, we understand that consistency ranks high as one of the most significant factors of success in any new endeavor; CrossFit provides this novel avenue to help each participant adhere to a new stimulus and training structure.
The Potential Downside of the CrossFit Experience
While each of the aforementioned qualities seems beneficial and packed with positive energy, a good number of athletically-minded individuals perceive CrossFit as a landmine, both physically and psychologically. Here we present the less savory but still honest aspects of the sport.
Frequent Injury: CrossFit injury rates, such as herniated disks, muscle and tendon ruptures, rhabdomyolysis, and spine injuries, occur at substantially higher rates than most other fitness regimens. Some avid CrossFitters view bloody/blistered hands as a “badge of honor”; however, these more serious types of injuries tend to get exacerbated due to working beyond fatigue and pushing an individual to extreme limits.
Challenging Technique: While challenging oneself in the gym feels appropriate, the precise exercise form required to succeed in CrossFit WODs proves very hard to master. Many CrossFit moves originate from gymnastics and Olympic weight lifting, both sports that often require years to perfect. To avoid injury, one must perform movements according to correct mechanical form. Although CrossFit coaches stress the importance of good form, participants often fail to follow directions. Many athletes engage in poor form because of inexperience or simply due to utter exhaustion and waning attention spans. Functional movement boasts the benefit of activating more muscles at one time, but also invites the danger of injury, especially for new members or older athletes.
Peer Pressure: The flip side of having a “strong community” that encourages participation lies in the fact that the same community may push participants to engage in unsafe exercise practices. A very fine line exists between healthy encouragement to challenge oneself and dangerously heavy weight lifting. Everyone in class naturally wants to keep up with the top performers during a WOD, but each individual’s size, body composition, and fitness level dictate that matching each other weight for weight can often backfire.
Glorification of the Mesomorph: CrossFitters develop enviably lean, muscular bodies. However, the premise that their way ranks as “THE best way” to be fit, and the bravado surrounding their competitions for “fittest on earth,” can seem exclusionary and unfair. A participant born with a different body type, one perhaps ill-suited to Olympic weight lifting, does not mean they cannot attain peak fitness levels. Given the fact that most top performers in a CrossFit class, anywhere around the world, have body types with large muscle mass, not too short nor too tall, points to the fact that CrossFit may not suit every successful athlete.
Lack of Personalization: As much as CrossFit inspires and motivates people, it fails to customize a training program for an individual in the way of one-on-one personal training. While CrossFit gyms do gear their training for a group setting, we must acknowledge that exercise will not succeed as a “one size fits all” program. Assigning the same workout for both advanced trainees and beginners often spells trouble in terms of mistakes and injury. Personalization zeros in on weaknesses, corrects them while enhancing strength, and holds the key to true fitness.
Injury Rate Details
The injury risk in CrossFit approximates that of other comparable intense sports such as Olympic weightlifting, powerlifting, and gymnastics, while lower than that of competitive contact sports such as rugby. Shoulder joint, shoulder girdle, and spine injuries dominate in CrossFit, generally necessitating special attention from physicians and coaches. The recruitment and involvement of well-educated coaches correlate with a decreased injury rate. For this reason, many CrossFit gyms recommend that beginners complete a special introductory program with slow load increases and in-depth instructions of the fundamental CrossFit techniques. In CrossFit, previous injuries also increase the risk of re-injury, consistent with the findings of other sport-related injury studies.
In 2000, researchers in Professor Larsen’s lab conducted a study involving novice members of a CrossFit Center. The assessment period lasted for 8 weeks. Among the 168 participants, a total of 28 injuries occurred, which represents 14.9%. The fact that the risk of injuries seems higher among novice participants than among experienced CrossFit athletes, and tracks consistently with other later studies showing a higher injury incidence in beginners during the first six months of CrossFit training, suggests that coaches should prioritize care of CrossFit beginners, including the suggestion to undergo an orthopedic initial examination before embarking upon CrossFit training.
Community or Cult?
The intensity and competitiveness of this type of exercise program often create a somewhat intimidating atmosphere for newcomers. The strong bonds formed in CrossFit gyms can give outsiders the impression of a devotion similar to that often observed in religious or cult-like circles. The shared struggles as well as the triumphs, and a mutual understanding of the challenges faced in CrossFit, do tend to foster a sense of loyalty and commitment, reflecting the power of a supportive community.
The “cult-like” environment may not always feel welcoming to those unfamiliar with the program, coming across as something more than mere fitness. CrossFit’s unique cultural elements, including such aspects as the language used during workouts, the naming of movements, and the topics of conversation among its dedicated participants, help to create a bond, with excellence and personal achievements dominating motivation and inspiration. However, once again, CrossFit’s daily WODs seem akin to exclusive rituals for its members, giving the impression to a novice participant of a unique and closed-off group.
The Debate Between CrossFitters and Bodybuilders
Over the last decade, CrossFit consistently served not only as an outstanding example of exponential growth in the fitness world, but also ranked as one of the top growers out of any corporation in North America. Concurrently, bodybuilding has lost considerable momentum, having hit a pinnacle in the 1970s and 1980s with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s meteoric rise in popularity.
To many dedicated competitive bodybuilders, it seemed as if this new “fad” stole its thunder. As CrossFit entered the mainstream of fitness programs, many bodybuilders felt that it placed too great an emphasis on the “sport” of fitness, as opposed to the precision-like discipline weightlifters undergo.
As personal trainers, we fully recognize that bodybuilding serves as more of an individual sports with no team aspect; competitors find themselves driven purely on the intrinsic value of pushing themselves. This flies in the face of CrossFit, which favors mix of internal and external motivation.
As unique individuals, we must decide what methodology of exercise fits our needs, personalities and lifestyles. The fitness world can certainly accommodate a multitude of disciplines and class formats; participating in one does not negate the value of any others.
Why Do Athletes Quit CrossFit?
While CrossFit bills itself as a dedicated and passionate community, not every athlete who begins this journey will continue with it over time. Various factors can lead individuals to quit CrossFit, elucidating both the challenges and limitations of this intense program.
Here are several of the more commonly reported reasons why individuals may choose to step away from a CrossFit community.
Burnout: The high-intensity nature of CrossFit workouts can lead to a state of total physical and mental exhaustion. Some individuals may find it challenging to sustain the relentless pace, leading to an overall lack of both motivation and interest.
Changing of Goals: Fitness goals evolve. What once aligned with CrossFit’s focus on all-around physical preparedness may change as individuals discover new interests or choose to address specific fitness /health needs.
Injury Concerns: Despite CrossFit’s emphasis on proper form and technique, injuries often occur. Athletes who experience injuries, whether due to overexertion or accidents, may reconsider their involvement in CrossFit, especially if they perceive the sport as riskier than initially thought.
Financial Considerations: Participating in CrossFit often requires a financial commitment, as club memberships and equipment costs can add up. Financial constraints often serve as a primary factor in whether athletes continue their CrossFit journey.
Overcoming Plateaus: CrossFit programs challenge athletes to continually push their limits. However, what happens when a participant reaches a plateau? The group nature of CrossFit often makes it difficult to break through. The frustration of not achieving desired results can lead to disillusionment and departure.
The Role of Liability in CrossFit
Most CrossFit clubs and programs require members to sign waivers disclaiming liability for routine risks. These documents hold weight for inherent dangers, such as muscle pulls, but fail to protect against gross negligence and/or reckless disregard for safety. This downfall often results from inexperienced coaches, and most standard waivers do not include coverage for such coaching errors as forcing participants to use unsafe loads during workouts.
In case of a lawsuit, who bears the direct responsibility? This typically falls on several parties:
- Gym owners, who must ensure compliance with local safety codes and leave themselves liable for defects on their premises or negligence on the part of their staff.
- Individual trainers and coaches, who may demonstrate flawed technique, ignore a member’s pain, or perhaps do not hold appropriate certification.
- CrossFit Inc. and its affiliated equipment makers, in the case of any defective gear in the gym.
- Often, multiple parties end up sharing fault under comparative negligence rules; in these cases, courts tend to apportion awards based on contribution percentages.
In an effort to avoid legal battles, CrossFit gyms must abide by strict protocols:
- Level 1 certifications for all coaches
- Regular equipment audits
- Scaled workouts with progressions.
- Clear risk disclosures and emergency plans
Participants, too, hold a certain amount of responsibility for their own welfare. They can protect themselves by disclosing limitations, mastering basics, and heeding body signals.
Final Thoughts
Each CrossFit gym offers unique attributes. Below, are some ideas to keep in mind when searching for a workout that suits your needs:
- Visit the Gym: Request an introductory tour of the gym to ensure that you can feel good working out in that environment, with easy access to keep motivation/attendance high.
- Talk to the Coaches: Meet the CrossFit coaches; try to get a feel for whether or not you might like to work with them.
- Embrace the Culture: Look for a supportive environment that suits your style, level of competitiveness, and personal fitness goals.
- Check Class Availability: Review the gym’s weekly class schedule to verify that the times fit your busy lifestyle.
- Request a Trial Session: Inquire about taking a free introductory class to get a feel for the coaching style and environment.
After selecting a CrossFit program, individuals may wish to schedule a routine exam with their personal physician or a sports medicine specialist to determine physical readiness for such an intense undertaking. Following that, participate in the gym’s “on-ramp program”, during which new participants get introduced and accustomed to specific techniques/movements and intensity. Prepare to proceed slowly, and gradually build up to your own personal level of comfortable competition.
References
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waytolegal.com/legal-help-guides/crossfit-injuries-legal-options/?sem_campaign=PMAXWLWEBSITE_USA&gad_source=5&gad_campaignid=23368708031&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkPrkqZm5kgMV0DQIBR3rDQ0_EAAYAiAAEgI_6fD_BwE
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