I have a lot of respect for Crossfit athletes.
They work harder in many ways than almost anyone I know.
However I do have beef with Crossfit as a general conditioning program.
Crossfit should not be looked at as a way to stay in shape, but as a competitive sport.
When you are a baseball pitcher, you practice your long toss to increase your throwing.
In Crossfit they practice their movements with reps and sets, to decrease their workout time.
Crossfit is a sport, not a way of life, and not a way to strengthen and condition your body for long term.
No athlete will have improved explosive power, core strength, and stability through these workouts, that could be not achieved elsewhere with even greater results.
I've heard people say it's a great workout.
And guess what? That's all it is.
Just a good workout.
It doesn't focus on explosive power.
It doesn't focus on increased growth hormone release in your body - it actually does the opposite.
It doesn't focus on safety and it doesn't focus on core strength and stability.
I will probably piss a lot of people off with this article, so I will provide as much scientific data as possible.
The first Crossfit myth I'm going to tackle is that you can optimally work all three energy systems at the same time.
Each energy system is activated by the progressive shut down of the previous energy system.
Athletes who wish to develop explosive strength need to train primarily in the phospho-creatine system.
While in the phospho-creatine system the body's Type 2 A & B muscle fibers can contract maximally.
As the rep counts increases the body moves from the phospho-creatine system to primarily the glycolitic system and the athlete's ability to produce power degenerates.
I recently did a Crossfit workout in which I was told to jump on a box 40 times in a row.
Unless I am a professional Double Dutch player or a professional Crossfitter, there is absolutely no reason for this exercise.
By the 40threp, not only have I blasted though my phosphor-creatine system and glycolitic system, I have entered my oxidative system.
While using the oxidative system, my body converts my contractible components from Type 2 to Type 1.
Type 1 muscle fibers are used primarily for endurance activities.
In taking a workout that should be viewed as explosive and working my Type 1 muscle fibers, I am retarding my body's ability to create power and movement speed.
If you are performing these explosive movements in a system other than in the phospho-creatine system YOU ARE TRAINING YOUR BODY TO BECOME WEAK! I will repeat! If you are training your Type 1 muscle fiber to do Type 2 muscle movement, you are training to be weak.
Your body remembers the last rep of each set, so please make them explosive.
Let's go back to the box jump or the snatch, or any explosive movement.
Most explosive movements involve a lot of muscle and put tremendous amount of strain on the bones and joints.
Bones are very similar to muscles in that they strengthen through progressive overload - the more weight you apply over a long period of time, the stronger and denser they become.
Everyone knows a runner who has bad knees, bad hips, or bad ankles.
Constant compression on a runner's bones and joins without weight increase progressive overloading) will cause a runner's skeleton to degenerate.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, most properly trained Olympic lifters have very strong bones because they have been forced to adapt to heavier weight over time.
For some reason Crossfitters have a habit of doing high rep Olympic lifts for long periods.
The fact that the small muscles you use in these full body movements become exhausted within only the first few reps is only one of the concerns I have with this practice.
If Crossfitters continue to do high rep Olympic lifts and explosive exercises, their bones and joints will become weak.
Weak joints and bones cause pain and destabilization.
Pain is not healthy.
If you constantly have to see a chiropractor to readjust your body, chances are there is a flaw in your fitness prescription.
If you have ever been in a fight, you know the feeling of you temples pounding, neck tingling, skin flushing, heart beating out of your chest, body temperature seeming to rise.
This is your body's stress response telling you that you are in danger.
Something is wrong.
Your body is now shutting off certain functions in order to up-regulate its ability to run or fight.
This is a sure-fire way for your body to release glucocordicoids and other stress hormones which retard protein synthesis and the ability of your body to produce growth hormones such as IGF-1 and HGH.
For those of you who are thinking that is too much scientific mumbo jumbo..
..
it means your body can't grow and will become catabolic if you continue these workouts.
If you go to the top of the paragraph and read the description of how your body feels in a fight, you'll know how your body feels after a Crossfit workout.
Do yourself a favor and give your body sufficient time to rest and complete each set with maximum power production.
Otherwise, you will once again retard your fitness level by downgrading your endocrine system.
Another beef I have with Crossfit workouts is they don't focus enough on core and stability.
The first time I argued this point, I was assaulted with the argument that doing 30 toe to bar raises in a row was a very hard abdominal workout.
I don't disagree, but they are performed incorrectly by 99% of the world.
We are soon going to see a lot of Crossfitters in physical therapy for hypertrophied illiopsoas muscles.
99% of athletes I have worked with do not know how to use their transverse abdominus and properly separate the contractions of each muscle in the abdominal musculature.
I have never been to Crossfit workout where the instructor talked about the importance of activating the transverse abdominus or charging the diaphragm.
If you cannot isolate each one of abdominal muscle properly and effectively I guarantee you cannot integrate them properly.
The abdominal musculature has far more nerve innervations than the other muscles of the body.
Nerves are basically an extension of the brain and responsible for giving commands to the muscles.
Maybe now you see just how much activity your core is responsible for.
The last point I will make is that every single person is different.
You have a different body with different responses to different stimuli than the person next to you.
The body that each of us walks around in every day is like a canvas.
We paint that canvas every day of our lives through our actions and the paths that we walk.
If you sit in a car everyday for two hours, your pelvis will be set at a different angle than a yoga instructor, who is constantly doing backwards bends.
You will have different tight muscles, different weak muscles and different trigger points than the mechanic who lies on his back underneath cars all day.
The point is that no two untrained people should exercise the same way.
Especially in the explosive/endurance manner for which Crossfit is so well known.
If you are a part of this program and you are following the same workouts and protocols as everyone else in the group without any individual attention or workout prescription for your unique muscle and skeletal differences and imbalances, you might as well be asking for your instructor to hurt you.
They work harder in many ways than almost anyone I know.
However I do have beef with Crossfit as a general conditioning program.
Crossfit should not be looked at as a way to stay in shape, but as a competitive sport.
When you are a baseball pitcher, you practice your long toss to increase your throwing.
In Crossfit they practice their movements with reps and sets, to decrease their workout time.
Crossfit is a sport, not a way of life, and not a way to strengthen and condition your body for long term.
No athlete will have improved explosive power, core strength, and stability through these workouts, that could be not achieved elsewhere with even greater results.
I've heard people say it's a great workout.
And guess what? That's all it is.
Just a good workout.
It doesn't focus on explosive power.
It doesn't focus on increased growth hormone release in your body - it actually does the opposite.
It doesn't focus on safety and it doesn't focus on core strength and stability.
I will probably piss a lot of people off with this article, so I will provide as much scientific data as possible.
The first Crossfit myth I'm going to tackle is that you can optimally work all three energy systems at the same time.
Each energy system is activated by the progressive shut down of the previous energy system.
Athletes who wish to develop explosive strength need to train primarily in the phospho-creatine system.
While in the phospho-creatine system the body's Type 2 A & B muscle fibers can contract maximally.
As the rep counts increases the body moves from the phospho-creatine system to primarily the glycolitic system and the athlete's ability to produce power degenerates.
I recently did a Crossfit workout in which I was told to jump on a box 40 times in a row.
Unless I am a professional Double Dutch player or a professional Crossfitter, there is absolutely no reason for this exercise.
By the 40threp, not only have I blasted though my phosphor-creatine system and glycolitic system, I have entered my oxidative system.
While using the oxidative system, my body converts my contractible components from Type 2 to Type 1.
Type 1 muscle fibers are used primarily for endurance activities.
In taking a workout that should be viewed as explosive and working my Type 1 muscle fibers, I am retarding my body's ability to create power and movement speed.
If you are performing these explosive movements in a system other than in the phospho-creatine system YOU ARE TRAINING YOUR BODY TO BECOME WEAK! I will repeat! If you are training your Type 1 muscle fiber to do Type 2 muscle movement, you are training to be weak.
Your body remembers the last rep of each set, so please make them explosive.
Let's go back to the box jump or the snatch, or any explosive movement.
Most explosive movements involve a lot of muscle and put tremendous amount of strain on the bones and joints.
Bones are very similar to muscles in that they strengthen through progressive overload - the more weight you apply over a long period of time, the stronger and denser they become.
Everyone knows a runner who has bad knees, bad hips, or bad ankles.
Constant compression on a runner's bones and joins without weight increase progressive overloading) will cause a runner's skeleton to degenerate.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, most properly trained Olympic lifters have very strong bones because they have been forced to adapt to heavier weight over time.
For some reason Crossfitters have a habit of doing high rep Olympic lifts for long periods.
The fact that the small muscles you use in these full body movements become exhausted within only the first few reps is only one of the concerns I have with this practice.
If Crossfitters continue to do high rep Olympic lifts and explosive exercises, their bones and joints will become weak.
Weak joints and bones cause pain and destabilization.
Pain is not healthy.
If you constantly have to see a chiropractor to readjust your body, chances are there is a flaw in your fitness prescription.
If you have ever been in a fight, you know the feeling of you temples pounding, neck tingling, skin flushing, heart beating out of your chest, body temperature seeming to rise.
This is your body's stress response telling you that you are in danger.
Something is wrong.
Your body is now shutting off certain functions in order to up-regulate its ability to run or fight.
This is a sure-fire way for your body to release glucocordicoids and other stress hormones which retard protein synthesis and the ability of your body to produce growth hormones such as IGF-1 and HGH.
For those of you who are thinking that is too much scientific mumbo jumbo..
..
it means your body can't grow and will become catabolic if you continue these workouts.
If you go to the top of the paragraph and read the description of how your body feels in a fight, you'll know how your body feels after a Crossfit workout.
Do yourself a favor and give your body sufficient time to rest and complete each set with maximum power production.
Otherwise, you will once again retard your fitness level by downgrading your endocrine system.
Another beef I have with Crossfit workouts is they don't focus enough on core and stability.
The first time I argued this point, I was assaulted with the argument that doing 30 toe to bar raises in a row was a very hard abdominal workout.
I don't disagree, but they are performed incorrectly by 99% of the world.
We are soon going to see a lot of Crossfitters in physical therapy for hypertrophied illiopsoas muscles.
99% of athletes I have worked with do not know how to use their transverse abdominus and properly separate the contractions of each muscle in the abdominal musculature.
I have never been to Crossfit workout where the instructor talked about the importance of activating the transverse abdominus or charging the diaphragm.
If you cannot isolate each one of abdominal muscle properly and effectively I guarantee you cannot integrate them properly.
The abdominal musculature has far more nerve innervations than the other muscles of the body.
Nerves are basically an extension of the brain and responsible for giving commands to the muscles.
Maybe now you see just how much activity your core is responsible for.
The last point I will make is that every single person is different.
You have a different body with different responses to different stimuli than the person next to you.
The body that each of us walks around in every day is like a canvas.
We paint that canvas every day of our lives through our actions and the paths that we walk.
If you sit in a car everyday for two hours, your pelvis will be set at a different angle than a yoga instructor, who is constantly doing backwards bends.
You will have different tight muscles, different weak muscles and different trigger points than the mechanic who lies on his back underneath cars all day.
The point is that no two untrained people should exercise the same way.
Especially in the explosive/endurance manner for which Crossfit is so well known.
If you are a part of this program and you are following the same workouts and protocols as everyone else in the group without any individual attention or workout prescription for your unique muscle and skeletal differences and imbalances, you might as well be asking for your instructor to hurt you.
Source...