My Love Hate Relationship with Crossfit – Part 3
6 Dec
Here is the next edition in what seems like will be a never ending series of posts on my Love/Hate relationship with Crossfit. In part 1 I talked about the things I loved most about Crossfit and in part 2 I listed the things I hated most about it. This series will probably end up being 13 total posts because I want to do a post for each of the 10 items I listed in part 2 and then wrap-up with a summary post.
Make no mistake that I have benefited tremendously from the Crossfit concept and it has forever changed the way I view fitness, but I also have some bones to pick with the overall system and its common implementation. This post is general by nature and is not calling out any specific coaches. I know that the good coaches out there aren’t beholden to one system. They pick and choose from their toolbox based on the specific needs of their clients. Crossfit is a heck of tool and can be a powerful asset in any well-designed S&C system, but it is not magic and is not the answer for every situation no matter what they teach you at your Level 1 Certification.
The 1st thing I Hate About Crossfit – Confusing Competition with Training
“It is our observation that men will die for points. Using whiteboards as scoreboards, keeping accurate scores and records, running a clock, and precisely defining the rules and standards for performance, we not only motivate unprecedented output but derive both relative and absolute metrics at every workout; this data has important value well beyond motivation.” – Greg Glassman
The first time I read the sentence above I was awed by the genius of that statement. If we measure every workout we can have an incredible data set by which to measure progress and also to push folks to new levels of work output. Genius idea in theory, but I don’t believe its that good of an idea in practice. Yes the whiteboard can push even marginally competitive clients to the brink of exhaustion which at times can increase “fitness”, but what I often see is folks chase seconds off of workouts in exchange for nothing other than a few seconds off their workout time. I guess in theory this drive to go faster should encourage athletes and coaches to spend more time drilling technique, training weak links, and generally setting them up for long-term success. Instead I see even really sophisticated athletes and coaches getting blinded by this competition and missing the long-term big picture.
Most good strength coaches use some type of competitive environment from time to time to increase intensity and push their athletes, but is not the only technique they employ. Competition is definitely a good thing and can be used to increase motivation and output, but I tend to see an overemphasis on competition (either with peers or with athletes themselves) above all other aspects of training in way too many Crossfit environments. I believe that many Crossfitters have become so focused on the competitive aspect that they have become blinded to the fact that some of things they are doing don’t really make that much sense from a good training perspective.
Just a few of the random things I frequently see in Crossfit gyms that make sense in competition, but don’t make any sense in training:
Randomly choosing exercises from a hat is a great competitive idea if you are trying to test various physical qualities that haven’t been announced beforehand, but this is a pretty dumb idea from a training standpoint. Your training should be designed to improve the physical qualities you care the most about or are most in need of based on your sport / job / life. Most trainees have limited training time and need to get the most out of their training. Each component of that time should be carefully considered and not left to chance. If you are having some type of competition or periodically want to create a workout from a hopper as a change of pace or group challenge then have at, but if you are frequently creating workouts like this or putting together WODs in a manner that indicates that what movements, time domains, or loads don’t matter then you are doing your athletes an enormous disservice.
Good training should fix orthopedic and movement issues. Many facilities and athletes are still spending way too much time just worrying about the “WOD”. Not enough training time is being spent helping athletes fix their issues. If an athlete has a horrible time getting into a good rack position on the front squat it would seem to make sense that a portion of their training should be spent actually working on improving the rack (technique work, range of motion work, tempo work etc.) instead of just practicing front squats. Obviously practicing front squats in going to help, but I think that is only piece of the big picture and long-term progress will be improved if we focus some of their training on other components of the rack position.
Crossfit workouts often involve range of motion movement standards (Kettlebell swings finish overhead, Pulling the hand off the deck at the bottom of a push-up) that make sense in competition, but not so much in training. When I’m working with clients I am focused on movement quality and ensuring that the right muscles are doing their jobs before I really worry about things like kettlebell height or pulling the hands off the deck on push-ups. Initially many clients will have a hard time meeting these standards so focusing on something like kettlebell height first is putting the cart before the horse which often leads to substitution of low back extension instead of hip extension. Focusing on high quality movement first will improve exercise execution and groove proper movement patterns which will be far more useful to your clients long-term than a bit more work capacity or a few more seconds off their Helen time.
To some it is crazy to think that there are components of fitness that can’t actually be measured by a stopwatch, but when you watch someone like Ido Portal move you realize that despite his high work capacity and unbelievable strength he doesn’t spend much time chasing those as goals. He is exploring movement and seeking to control and express his body. This is the opposite of many Crossfitters I work with who are chasing the stopwatch and then wake up one day and ask is this really all there is? They often have stunning work capacity, but a high volume of wall balls, thrusters, and kipping pull-ups didn’t necessarily improve their movement capability outside of the gym and isn’t really a enjoyable way to train long-term. I’m not suggesting that everyone should aspire to train like Ido, but everyone should have some outside interests they are training for and then align their training with those goals.
In summary, a competitive dimension to folk’s training is a good thing, but is only one piece of the training puzzle. Don’t pretend your training is for money or points – you are training to improve your life.
