I am rapidly approaching the three year anniversary of my relationship with CrossFit. Admittedly, CrossFit has been one of my best girlfriends, except for the part where I don’t get laid and it makes me pass out occasionally. Like with any girlfriend, it has its up and downs. Here are some insights and observations from three years.
* I approach CrossFit as a sport rather than a fitness tool. That’s another way of saying I want to dominate WODs.
* I don’t usually dominate WODs. That’s not an insight, just an observation.
* For the first two years I used CrossFit as a training tool to supplement rowing, my primary sport at the time. CrossFit is superior to all other cross training I’ve done in rowing, including some sophisticated programs at Division I colleges. If I was coaching a crew team right now, I’d replace our land training with CrossFit and a strength training plan wholesale.
* Extending that, I’d program rowing sparingly for 6 months out of the year. The rest of the time would be strength training and getting my athletes superhuman strong. I want the guys deadlifting at least 450 and back squatting 350.
* Endurance sports (rowing, running, etc) make you really weak. Being weak sucks.
* On the flipside, regular CrossFit is haphazard in how it addresses aerobic capacity. When someone says their metcon sucks, that’s a dumb CrossFit way of saying they have shitty aerobic fitness. Admittedly, I talk about my metcon in this way.
* I did my first CrossFit competition in January of 2011. I was hooked. This basically caused me to quit rowing and take on CrossFit full time.
* CrossFit can get you injured. I’ve had more injuries in three years doing CF than in 12 years rowing.
* CrossFit is about as dangerous as any serious sport. I think it’s as dangerous as playing full court basketball.
* High rep box jumps and recycling are risky. It’s a great way to injure your achilles. We need to stop programming high rep box jumps.
* If you’re going to do box jumps, do just a handful of reps and jump high. The point should be the explosiveness, not the volume. Why not a WOD that features 5 reps box jump per round on a 30+” box?
* I’ve met more people with torn labrums and blown rotators in the last year than is sane and holy. Something has got to be done about that.
* It’s a young sport…in it’s infancy, really. In another 10 years a lot of the kinks will be worked out.
* Community is the most important aspect of the sport. I’ve adopted my gym community as my new tribe and primary social circle.
* I’ve found this social circle to be an evolution on my previous social circles, with better networking, more opportunities outside of the gym, and better friendships. That to me has been a powerful blessing.
* My gym community has inspired me to surround myself with men and women of high character.
* I love the clean & jerk and snatch. Doing those lifts just makes me feel right.
* I like that there are competitions all the time and everywhere…there really is something for everyone if you want to compete.
* Participating in CrossFit for the last three years has convinced me that getting old doesn’t have to suck. It’s a myth that as we age, we’re supposed to lose strength, slip into decrepitude, and lose vitality. The solutions are out there.
* We are all born athletes. Some of us spend a lifetime getting back to that. Or never get to it.
* Embrace your inner warrior and kick ass.
* Get in the fucking gym already.
Nice observations. Are you familiar with OPT and his direction of training independently for longevity versus the sport of crossfit?
Good stuff.
http://optexperience.com/blog
Starting my 3rd year of CrossFit just recently, I’m starting to see it as a sport now too. Yes, I still have a long way to go with my strength, speed, and overall fitness, but what makes it fun is going into it with that sport mindset.
Hi GK, I’ve surfed into the OPT website but I’m not overly familiar. His methodology is something I’d like to learn more about, though, as I’ve head good things.