As it continues to popularise, the word on many people’s lips at the
moment is “CrossFit”.
From celebrities to professional sports teams to Olympic lifters to
average Joe’s – it seems everyone has an interest in CrossFit.
In many circles and among many of the highly regarded strength coaches
that I read, the word “CrossFit” is almost a swear word; many feel that it
contradicts a number of their pre-determined philosophies and scientific
approaches to training and periodisation.
While I don’t regularly visit a CrossFit facility (I’m not using the “B”
word!), call myself a “CrossFitter” nor condone some of the workouts that I’ve
seen posted, such as high repetition Olympic lifts, there are some great
principles in CrossFit that I DO like and some of the positive impacts it’s had
on the general exercise community are admirable.
You can find endless blogs available online moaning about CrossFit from
an external point of view; if you want that you’ll need to look elsewhere. I’m
going to flip it around and offer “9 ½ Things
I Like About crossFit” as a non-CrossFitter.
It has helped people to
diversify workouts
CrossFit has helped people to move away from the traditional
bodybuilder style of isolation work focusing on single muscle groups each
session. It has also added other elements along with resistance work. CrossFit
describe their elements as: Cardiovascular, Stamina, Strength, Flexibility,
Power, Speed, Coordination, Agility, Balance and Accuracy. Placing equal focus
on these areas is a great way to improve both body composition, athletic
performance and robustness/injury avoidance. Crossfit.com itself describes
their principle as: “Our specialty is not specializing.” It’s now common place
for people to include elements such as “sprints” or gymnastic work to compliment
their main training.
On The Minute “OTM”, Ascending
Ladders, Chippers etc..
While these protocols may not be 100% accredited as a CrossFit
invention; the popularisation of different interval protocols have been great
for helping people to add intensity to their workouts and also increase their
work volume while adding variety to workouts.
For example, “On The Minute” / “OTM” involves setting a timer which
sounds each minute, then running through exercise “A” at the start of the first
minute, resting with whatever time remains for that minute and then starting
exercise “B” at the start of the next minute and resting the remainder of that
minute. This sequence continues for the allotted time (usually 16-20 mins). Eg:
A) 30 sec incline run B) 10 x Kettlebell Swings and 5 x Kettlebell Goblet
Squats – 20 mins --- Or A) 30 secs Rowing B) 8 x deadlifts
Alternatively ,“Ascending Ladders”
workouts involves picking two or three exercises and performing 1
repetition of each, then 2 of each, then 3 of each and so on until form begins
to fail at which point you stop. Sets are performed continuously without breaks
for drinks, sweat towels etc. I like to include these in clients workouts and
my own workouts with “Push-Pull” ladders such as pull ups and plyometric push
ups or incline dumbbell chest press and lat pulldown. It’s important to not use
advanced exercises that require a lot of co-ordination such as squats or cleans
unless you are an experienced gym-goer. For most, dumbbell, bodyweight or cable
based exercises suit best. Though, if you’re experienced enough, bigger lifts
aren’t out of the question. Aim to reach at least 8 reps of each exercise so
pick wisely – nothing too easy or too light. Sounds easier than it is and will
seem that way until you reach 4-5 of each. Remember if you finish on 8 pull ups
you’ve just done 36 pull ups without much rest at all. Both are great examples
of achieving much more volume than normal and adding intensity to workouts.
It has popularised Olympic Lifting
to the general public
OK, so not single-handedly, but, whichever side of the CrossFit fence
you sit on, there’s no denying that CrossFit has bought Olympic lifting and
barbell work in general to the masses. A large proportion of the CrossFit work
is based around Olympic lifts or components of the lifts such as clean, jerks
and snatches – all great exercises that, if performed correctly and safely can
really help improve both body composition and athletic performance. Exercises
that would have previously been over-looked by many. We could talk about the
negative implications of this for many but for now, we’ll keep it positive.
It has helped women to overcome
their fear of resistance work and “lifting heavy”
The majority of women have an issue with weights in general,
particularly heavy ones. CrossFit has encouraged a new breed of athletic women
who take great pride in competing with the guys and targeting new “PR’s” (an
“Americanism” for Personal Records aka: Personal Bests). Given the positive
impact that resistance work has on physique this can only be a positive thing.
Strength Circuits
The traditional high repetitions, low weight, lengthy sets style of
circuits such as BodyPump have been re-vamped with much more focused and
beneficial circuits that can be performed in a short time as part of a workout.
Examples of this might be 5 x thrusters, 5 x hanging leg raises and a 400m run,
4 times through for time. Tough, short and varied circuit that helps to not
only improve cardiovascular performance but also strength as the low
repetitions allow for heavier weights to be used. A much better format for a
circuit than 2-3 minutes of squats for instance, where technique/form is lost
quickly and little is achieved in terms of creating a stimulus to promote
adaptation.
It has helped people to
understand the importance of mobility and personal maintenance
More often than not we take and take from our bodies, expecting it to
keep giving and we never give back. “Pre-hab” is a term widely used in the
CrossFit community referring to body preparation and maintenance work such as
foam rolling and SMR to help avoid injury and improve performance and general
wellbeing. This kind of work is essential in taking care of your body,
maintaining and improving mobility and general robustness. One of the biggest
promoters of mobility work has been San Francisco Cross Fit’s Kelly Starrett, aka:
Mobility Wod (@MobilityWOD) whose book: “Becoming a Supple Leopard” is widely regarded
as the go-to-guide for mobility and improving movement.
WOD’s:
One of the CrossFit click words is “WOD” – Workout Of the Day. These
are posted by various CrossFit establishments on a daily basis. It’s a
pre-designed, high ntensity workout that people can perform on their own or in
a group and often submit their scores or results to gauge their abilities
against others. While I don’t like all of the WODs that I’ve seen nor the fact
that they sometimes offer relevant scalability and regressions, the idea of
offering free content and alternative workouts is a great way to encourage
people to think a little more about their own workouts. Especially as the
workouts are often very taxing but time efficient, this will inevitably encourage
people to be more active given that it will take minutes to complete rather
than hours.
It has added much needed
intensity to peoples workouts
Many times, a key element that lacks in the average gym program is
intensity. Too much talking, fetching a drink, looking at themselves in mirrors
and generally avoiding hard work tends to lead to a lack of results. CrossFit’s
various timing parameters mean that there is much less room for socialising and
wasting time during a session. Instead, participants are encouraged to push the
intensity of their sessions which often reaps much greater rewards.
The CrossFit Games
For anyone that hasn’t seen it, go onto YouTube and search “CrossFit
Games”. Basically it’s the Olympics for CrossFitters. Participants qualify for
the games via open qualifiers; in February and March 2012 over 70,000 people
from 73 countries competed in these open qualifiers. The next stage, the
regional qualifiers take place in 17 regions where the top 1,500 men and women
competed in live events to win one of 100 or so places in the finals. The
finals stage is The CrossFit Games which result in competitors from around the
world competing side-by-side in an array of events spanning roughly a week with
multiple workouts/competitions on each active day (there are rest days
scheduled during the week). These events now fill sports stadiums and show on
ESPN – now that’s no small event!
What’s really interesting about the format is that competitors don’t
find out the exact event format and structure until the day of the event. That
way they can only train specific movement patterns but can’t train for specific
events. The aim? To find “The Fittest
Man and woman on Earth”.
The half... Introducing
Competition to Workouts
This is good AND bad.
Good: Again the intensity of the workout will inevitably
increase and it can be a good way to put yourself against others and gauge
progress.
BAD: Technique and form can often suffer once competition enters
focusing on quantity over quality. This is where injuries increase and the
benefit of the workout decreases.
This is where any people blur the line between CrossFit and a “sport”
and CrossFit as a “Workout” – but that’s a discussion for another day!
Conclusion:
While there are a number of principles of CrossFit that I feel are
questionable and, in some ways, unwise to promote to the general public such as
complex workouts for the average gym user, there’s no doubt that the CrossFit
community have had a positive impact on the exercise industry as a whole. A
relatively new concept (established officially in only 2000) in comparison to
traditional resistance training, I’m sure CrossFit is going to be around for
years to come as they continue to grow and tweak their product. With over 6,000
affiliated establishments currently practicing CrossFit, it’s not going
anywhere anytime soon!
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