What is CrossFit, and Why Would I do it?
by Lyssa Myska Allen, happy CrossFit Level-1 trainer
CrossFit is “Constantly varied functional movement performed at a high intensity.”
This means nothing until you do Fran. All CrossFitters talk about Fran and how brutal she is. It’s a sub-ten-minute workout that will make you feel the fatigue of running a marathon.
What does high intensity, functional movement really mean?
CrossFit, like P90X or aerobics or boot camp or running, is a method of increasing your fitness. It’s a lot like hiring a personal trainer, but for you and seven of your friends. Because CrossFit workouts are always timed—thus performed at “high intensity“—it scorches calories. Because each workout is different (“constantly varied”), CrossFit trains athletes to be good at a lot of things rather than great at one thing (like running).
The Argument for CrossFit
Supporters boast that workouts as short as three minutes will boost your overall health and wellness because of those two factors. CrossFit trains you to be “good at life.” By constantly varying your workouts, your body never adapts to what you throw at it. Mixing gymnastics, weightlifting, cardio, bodyweight exercises, plyometrics, functional movements, and more, both challenge the body and teach the athlete new skills every day. The brutal workouts build mental toughness and determination.
And then there’s the community. CrossFit gyms become social hubs for their members, a place to meet likeminded people and forge lifelong friendships, much like the ones made on sports teams in high school and college. Traveling CrossFitters are treated warmly at other gyms, and they feel like a part of a bigger movement. CrossFit’s roots in and spread through the internet help this community feel connected across land and timezone.
The Argument Against CrossFit
Detractors say that in an effort to move through workouts quickly, you’ll use bad form and ultimately hurt yourself. “CrossFit gets results, but it wrecks your body,” is a common sentiment. Overuse injuries due to the high rep schemes are common. Pure powerlifting or strength and conditioning coaches argue that there’s such an emphasis on speed and intensity, form often falls by the wayside, which leads to injury.
And then there’s the community. “Yeah, but it’s a good cult” is a common phrase reiterating the notion that CrossFit has built a cult-like following. CrossFit has its own language—like “What’s your Fran time?” or “Rx”—and its own subculture—from fashion trends to diets.
But Does it Improve My Health?
CrossFit will, without question, help with weight loss, muscle tone, strength gain, and conditioning. The CrossFit community also relies heavily on nutrition to help see those results, with most affiliates aligning with Barry Sears’ Zone Diet or a Paleo Diet. Whether you subscribe to either school of thought or not, the emphasis on healthy eating to see results is an absolutely critical and important part of CrossFit’s success.
You will work on your weaknesses. You will get better at life. CrossFit doesn’t make you the best at every movement performed across the CrossFit spectrum, but it does make you capable at all of them. I thruster larger boxes to the top of my closet, carry my snow tires to my car to be changed, and occasionally muscle-up into my attic. The skills translate.
What’s the Bottom Line?
Eating healthy and exercising will always get results. If CrossFit provides the exercise and the community helps you be held accountable for healthy eating, then it’s a great plan for you.
For many people, starting to train at a CrossFit box is like the early ’90s kool-aid commercials where the big red kool-aid dude pours kool-aid into the swimming pool and then jumps off the diving board into the red waters. Once you jump in, your life is sweeter: you emerge with a big, red kool-aid smile, awash in a CrossFit glow of enthusiasm, passion, and life-changing fitness.
After all, they don’t call it drinking the CrossFit kool-aid for nothing.
Image: Some rights reserved by CrossFit Fever