3 years of CrossFit

disclaimer: i really do love crossfit.  I think it is great because it can be given to ANYONE in any form or dosage and with the right implementation, it can make a hell of a lot of people a hell of a lot healthier.  However, this brief (i dont want to rant) post will look at some of the issues when CrossFit for all becomes CrossFit Fucking Elite. 

Part 1

CrossFit Works.  Look at the amount of people that we have gotten off the couch and into squats and deadlifts and pull-ups.  Thousands if not millions more will be introduced to it now because of Reebok as long as HQ doesnt brain wash Reebok into this whole "I am an elite douchebag, watch me be awesome at everything" moniker that has, unfortunately, been a part of CrossFit from the beginning.   (already a nice little off shoot there)

 These people, the ones that Reebok and CrossFit can influence will receive lots of help and become better functioning human beings because of crossfit.  They will not become crippled off shoots of crossfit because their coach doesnt have a PhD in Perfect.  They will not be training for performance, they will be training for health and longevity. 

Part 2

What about when you train to be amazing at nothing - aka training for the CrossFit Games aka World Series of Exercise.  Well, it depends on your background.  Off the top of my head, most of the top guys in crossfit had some sort of D1 sporting background or beyond.  What does that mean? They have had a coach who hopefully knows what the hell they are doing look at them and correct imbalances.

What about those who dont?

Me.

I started CrossFit 3 years ago in my University gym and then in my backyard.  I was 19 and learned from the videos on crossfit.com.  Those videos are amazing and i encourage everyone to watch every single one since you will learn so much stuff.  Those videos are the true wealth of crossfit.  LOTS of INFORMATION.  But those videos couldnt yell at me.  Or they couldnt see that i was doing shit with my skeleton instead of my skeletal muscles.  Maybe if they did go into that depth, i would have learned, but overall they didnt.  They covered the basics to middle ground of everything.  Which is awesome.  But there is a lot more to strength training than that. 

This is where the exercise science and strength and conditioning coaches come in.  They know these things.  yes, they might disagree with crossfit but that doesnt matter.  What matters is that they can get you better.  Unfortunately, they have been expelled, excommunicated if you will, from the whole HQ sphere of knowledge so you have to go seek one out.  There are lots of experts.  Find one, read everything on their website, and move on to the next.  Go to seminars etc etc.  Just keep learning for yourself while having them look at your body. 

So, little tangent aside, but what Im saying is that, last night, while i was hanging from a pull-up bar with a 32kg kettlebell hanging between my legs and Shelby was laughing at me telling me to stabilize, well... i couldnt.

Why not? Specifically, i was able to compensate shoulder stabilization with other muscles and skeletal positioning over my 3 years of crossfit.  Yes, my OHS looked like it was supposed to, but it wasnt right.  And it took someone who knew what they were doing to figure that out.

In the grand scheme of training, how many little things like this do not get exposed because crossfit focuses on the big picture.  Point A to Point B.  Squat down, Squat up.  Butt back, knees out, blah blah i know.  Thats really all you need to be averagly ok at crossfit. 

Only focusing on the big picture leaves out these little things.  If i worked on my shoulder stabilization on some assistance exercises (frowned apon in CF since its a small load short distances) maybe i would not have had the bum shoulder since DWF.  Or the platella tendonitis for 18 months.

3 years of crossfit and its done what it claims to - exploit your weaknesses.  The only issue is that CF has no method of fixing my weaknesses, just making them worse.

Wednesday Training

1 RM Squat test

170gk - strength in the tank, not technique

Sumo DL

180kg x 5, x3

150kg 3x5

Hanging from Pullup bar shizznit

Duckwalks with KBs

KB swings

KB thrusters of suckyness

Grip of a 4 year old

Comments

[Diego Lopez]

Spot on!

This will be you in 6 months - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0srLYWVnRs

[Jorge I. Sanchez]

dead on balls right HB