CrossFit Round Up

It’s the end of my month with CrossFit! I didn’t end up going nearly as much as I would have wanted to, even so, I still feel like I got a taste of what CrossFit is all about and now have a handful of WODs under my belt. It got me thinking a lot about the hype around CrossFit (both the good and bad) and why people are drawn to certain types of workouts. In the future I’d be interested in checking out other boxes and incorporating different WODS into my own workouts. For me personally I will not be ditching my love of boutique fitness / cardio dance / HIIT / cycling / running / yoga / barre in favor of all CrossFit all the time.

All in all I don’t think it’s necessarily my cup of tea. Keep in mind that this might have been based on my own previous injures plus the particular box I was at.

Things I liked about CrossFit

— The Community!! It’s pretty typical in Manhattan to keep to yourself when working out whether it’s at the gym or at a fitness studio. At CF you’re most likely going to chat with your fellow sweat-ers during a class and will also cheer them on. There was one day when we were finding out max-height box jump (I ended up with almost half my height!) and everyone gathered around cheering the others on. I really loved that about CrossFit since it doesn’t always happen in other forms of fitness.

— Useful for trapeze. I’m always looking for ways to be a stronger flyer, and I think CrossFit could be a huge help for flyers since there’s a lot of moves done on monkey bars and many WODs incorporate pull-ups and toes-to-bars which are standard conditioning moves for flying. With that said, like trapeze it does offer a risk for people with previous shoulder injuries (aka most flyers, myself included).

— Different every day. For the most part every day is a little bit different. If you hate rowing, you most likely won’t have to row the next day. While there’s certain moves that frequently “pop up” in the workouts, every day is going to be a little bit different which keeps the workout from getting stale and predictable.

— Scaleable. There’s a lot of options for most moves depending on your own limitations and ability. Don’t freak out because you can’t do a pull-up– there’s other options! You can also scale back on the amount of weight recommended for a specific move.

— Self competition. I’m not a remotely competitive person in general which is probably why I never played a sport in my life, however I’m okay with a little self competition and like that in CrossFit you can compare how to did from day to day with certain benchmark moves and see your own growth. After every workout your supposed to log your score and what weight you used. You can easily track how far you’ve come since you first started since it’s all recorded on the computer.

— You look badass. It has to be said.

Things I wasn’t too crazy about:

— lack of personal attention. Big classes = less personal attention. As a newbie I wanted and needed lots of attention and coaching since many of the moves were new to me. Coming in I had a handle on some of the basics like a squat and burpee, but some of the other moves I was completely clueless and could have used more help. There were also a handful of other newbies in many of the classes, and a lot of them were even more clueless than me. As a personal trainer… and paranoid human being all of this was cringe worthy to me.

— no bueno for people with shoulder injuries. I injured my shoulder almost 2 years ago while flying. Since then I’ve been super cautious about overhead movements for fear of pissing off my rotator cuff again and I usually drop down in weights during overhead movements. CrossFit isn’t exactly forgiving for people in my situation seeing as a lot of the movements are overhead.

— tough love approach. Everyone responds to different coaching styles, some need a drill sergeant, others prefer a cheerleader. I personally prefer cheerleader with a touch of hardass and connect well with instructs who identify when I’m giving it my all and acknowledge it… but then call me out on halfassing a move. There was very little positive reinforcement during classes from the coach. Some people might not care about this though. This is also something very specific to the box where I was and my coach.

— possibility for injury. With all sports, there’s a possibility of injury, but not with ones performed under the guidance of an experienced athletic personal trainer. Most of my trapeze friends have had shoulder pain of some sort and we all kind of accept it as part of our chosen sport (along with the ugly calluses). To me, I think the risk of injury is greater in CrossFit than in your average conditioning class at the gym thanks to Olympic lifting and this mentality to “max out” on moves.

A lot of beginners doing olympic lifts is a recipe for disaster, and I know I was guilty of iffy form at times because I was learning. When we were doing box jumps to find our max I jumped a bit funky on the box at one point and felt it in my knee. Granted, this could also happen landing during a squat jump at the gym on my own. CrossFit is undeniably intense, and therefore more things can go wrong.

— repetitious at times. While there is variety to each and every WOD, there is definitely a lot of repetition in the glossary of moves used and in how many times we did said moves. I’m not a fan of doing 30 burpees in a row 5 times and don’t think it’s something your average joe should be striving for.

— I’m not very good at being bad. This is my own ego struggle, but it was so hard for me to not be good at a workout. Even when I find a workout class difficult, I usually feel like I had a good grasp of the movements (I’m looking at YOU Fhitting Room). Often times at CrossFit I had no clue what I should be doing and felt frustated. I don’t like being a beginner at things and felt like a very confused beginner during all my CrossFit classes.

In actuality a lot of my “dislikes” could have easily been fixed by working out at a different box and taking a foundations course, which is something I might do in the future. My friend Sarah was my go-to girl for all questions about CrossFit and she doesn’t have a lot of these issues at her box in Westchester. She’s a huge fan because of the relationship she’s built with the coaches and how it’s really helped her running. Hey, what works for some may not work for others and I’m a believer that everyone has to find whatever keeps them motivated to workout!

Are you a CrossFit lover or hater?

I’d love to hear your experience with CrossFit whether you love it it hate it