[Emil]

any crossfitters here?

I'm 56 and would say I'm in decent shape. I do either cardio or weight training 3 days a week.
I need someone to push me. In fact , I think we all need someone. We all give up way before our full potential.
Crossfit looks interesting. Small, semi private classes with different exercises each day.
Any active members here? Ex-members? Cost per month? Contracts?

[FullRangeMan]

These gym shops are tiring, I dont like work for free.

[Syrah]

Hi,

I'm 48.  I did something called Tribe Fit, which is similar to Crossfit.  Now I'm doing something else, which is also similar to Crossfit.

I think Crossfit is OK if you are either young or already in really good shape.

If not, the stories of injuries are pretty legendary.

It often involves lifting heavy weights for time.  Since it attracts competitive people, there's a real temptation to let good form slide.  Heavy weights + rushed for time + bad form = a trip to the orthopedic surgeon.

The concept of HIIT (high intensity interval training) is great though.  I like it because I'm busy and it achieves both my goals of toning and aerobic conditioning all at the same time.  You get great results, fast!

You should try a gym that offers HIIT, but be very careful in the one you pick.  If you can get a class of under 10 people, with a good experienced trainer who is careful about good form, good warming up, etc. you're gold.

I read some study that found that we work much harder in groups (something about evolution encouraging us to hunt in packs due to its greater success).  I believe it.  I push myself way beyond what I would ever do alone. 

If you can get some cute women in your class, that doesn't exactly hurt motivation either!  One class I was on a two person team with a 30 something marathon running stunner.  I developed super human strength, like the stories of mothers lifting cars off of their babies...

[Folsom]

These gym shops are tiring, I dont like work for free.

I felt similarly about schooling at different levels.


Crossfit is great if your body is into it. I can promise it is not good for everyone, too stressful for some people with naturally high stress.

[Photon46]

We've got a number of Crossfit gyms around our area. The Crossfitters I've known tend to regard their discipline with near cultish advocacy and are very competitive. There are quite a number of good ideas in the Crossfit exercise program but there are also a number of poorly and inadequately educated trainers and gym owners. If  you are interested, I'd check out the gym with a free intro class and see what you think about the trainer's qualifications and how they pay attention to their participant's fitness level. My wife had the misfortune of being in a Crossfit class with a numbskull trainer possessing a "work through the pain" mentality that resulted in my very athletically competitive wife ending up with an ankle injury from too much rope jumping. A trip to the orthopedist and months of downtime finally corrected the injury.

The most potentially dangerous thing about Crossfit IMO is that the discipline places a lot of emphasis on Olympic type lifts and many Crossfit trainers are not adequately trained and experienced in those type of lifts. Too much zeal and competitiveness coupled with sloppy form in Olympic lifting leads to bad endings. Syrah's summed it up well in his post.

[FullRangeMan]

Anyone would prefer Pilates instead?
I have see good shape results even in elder people and back pain.

[Folsom]

Pilates are good for men and women. It is not easy if you have a good instructor who knows how to make you work!

Crossfit people where ever I to are always in their workout clothes, eating huge salads at health food places and buying bone broth and such. They eat a certain way, too. Again, not good for everyone, but a lot of them are in amazing health.

[Odal3]

As a sport, I think cross-fit looks like a fun and challenging thing to do. I have a few friends who does it, and they like it, but as a general thing to do to just keep fit, I'm personally  hesitant due to the reasons Photon46 and Syrah mentions. On the other hand, other common sports such as running are pretty injury prone too...
If you can find a good coach that takes a conservative progression type of approach, I'm sure it will be fine as long as you are careful and not stress it in the beginning.

BTW: Here's an older documentary on Netflix about the 2008 cross-fit games: Every second counts. https://www.netflix.com/search/every%20second

If you are looking for working out in a competitive group/team, an alternative is to look into joining a masters team in whatever sport you like to try: Cycling, running, swimming, frisbee, track-and-field or whatever you like to do. Many of these training groups can be quite (friendly) competitive and some may take it more serious than they did when they were 20  - especially the ones going for state and national championships.

[RDavidson]

The problem I have with CrossFit is the rate of injury. It is very high, relative to other types of general fitness training. What I believe is the cause of this is people getting pushed too hard by the trainer, combined with people not understanding how to "listen" to their bodies (and listen only to the trainer). As others have said, if you're in pretty good shape and are also already athletic, then CrossFit may be good. Also, keep in mind that not all trainers are good. I think a really good CrossFit trainer can probably safely train just about anyone. But with how quickly CrossFit has swept through the country, you can't tell me that all the trainers out there really know what they're doing. I once saw a girl trying to teach her mom Olympic lifts (cleans). Problem is, her mom didn't even know how to properly squat. It was maybe the biggest train wreck in a gym that I've ever seen.

[bummrush]

Nice points. All i know is if i can get on exercise bike, im pretty happy.

[Emil]

ouch

http://www.epicfail.com/2017/08/14/every-day-spine-day-crossfit/

 

[goskers]

The craze that is CrossFit has me shaking my head a bit.  It has gotten so big, so quickly because they allowed it to.  Getting a certification which would allow you to be a trainer is easy.  I went through it as I was wanting to learn more about what I would consider the basic lifts.  I left being shocked that this is all anyone needs to be qualified to coach another lifter. 

The risks of weightlifting are very small compared to other sports when properly done.  The explosion that happened with CrossFit was a growth model which was chosen.  In doing so they couldn't make the ability to open up a 'box' or get liscensed that difficult or they couldn't capitalize.  Because of this, some people are going to suffer. 

I have never done CrossFit.  I was a D1 athlete in college and have thought that the workout atmosphere could be beneficial.  I am a proponent of everyone being strong.  CrossFit is not the most efficient way to get there.