Let's Talk Crossfit: The Pros & Cons

Today's topic: crossfit! People have a vast array of opinions about crossfit and today I want to share my experience with it to hopefully give a balanced view of it. I was first introduced to crossfit in the fall of 2011 and attended classes for a few months. When I moved to Woodward a gym opened here and I have been attending since July of 2013. 

*disclaimer* - These are my opinions. Just clarifying that one. I'm not a professional or anything like that.

What is Crossfit? 

That's a good question. The official definition is the following: "functional movements that are constantly varied at high intensity." (source) Personally I think that definition is confusing so I'll define crossfit as how I know it. Basically, every day you are doing something completely different. One day you could be doing sit-ups and running and the next day you could be doing weights with barbells. The purpose of it is to vary it up a bunch so your body doesn't know what is coming. It isn't a class where when you know the exact routine. In fact, you never know the routine until the day of. I'd also like to make a suggestion that crossfit should rename the program to slaughterfit because seriously, After some workouts I feel like i got slaughtered (in a good way of course)! 

Toned Left Arm & Abs - Let's just get to the good stuff first. Never in my life have I had a toned left arm. It's been pretty flabby all these years but crossfit has given me some muscle. I also have a much stronger core because of it. No, I don't have abs of steel but that's ok with me. Overall I can tell that my fitness level has improved a ton!

Posture - Crossfit classes are very focused on safety. Your back always has to be straight, if you are doing a movement and not doing it correctly you have to take weights off or scale down a workout for safety. Because of that I'm much more aware of how I lift things. Even yesterday I bought 35# of cat litter and when I went to lift it I bent my legs and had a perfectly straight back. 

Coaching  - Every crossfit gym I've attended have had phenomenal coaches. Classes are generally small so they can take time to work with each person. It's nice to know that someone is watching how you perform movements so you can be safe and also build strength. 

Community - This is by far one of my favorite things about crossfit. The community is very supportive. If I am the last one to finish a workout I have the rest of the class there cheering me on (and yes, I've been last on numerous occasions). I even competed in a competition and placed second to last. I was bummed but you know what? The people at my gym were super proud of me and told me so! It made the whole situation a ton better. 

It's for Everyone - A lot of people are intimidated by crossfit but they shouldn't be. If you can't do a certain movement a coach will find something similar to that movement so you can still get a workout in. For example, if pull-ups are in a workout and you can't do them then you can either do push-ups (regular or from you knees). If you can't do pushups, no problem! They might have you do standing pushups to a wall. Basically wherever you are in your fitness journey a good crossfit gym will accommodate to you. 

Pro-Military - This is a big one for me because I love the USA and have family in the service. Crossfit is very good about honoring military serviceman - both alive and fallen. They often times have 'hero workouts' where they do a workout in honor of a fallen soldier. They will tell the name of the soldier, where he served, when he died and more facts if they have them. I know it is sad but I think it is good to remember the price of freedom. 

If I'm completely honest I will have to admit there are a few things in crossfit that in my book are cons. They aren't huge deals but I think just a few things to be aware of.

Obsession - This card here describes it perfectly. I'm not here to pick on anyone in particular but something I've seen from the crossfit community in general is the obsession with crossfit. I'll raise my hand as guilty because I used to be crossfit obsessed. It's what crossfitters talk about, post on FB about, tweet about, post more about it on FB and then talk more about it. Don't get me wrong I think it's fun to share a big achievement and I think it should be celebrated but I personally don't feel the necessity to post on FB every time I do a workout.

Also, I think life is like a pie and crossfit (fitness) should be one piece of the pie not the whole pie. However, that's probably a bad analogy because most crossfitters don't eat pie which leads me to my next point....

Paleo - the diet that many crosssfitters live by. I personally don't agree with it and I wrote a full article about that here. I do think there are some great things from the paleo diet (more vegetables & healthy fats) so I take the good and leave the rest. I say before starting any new eating habits I'd fully research both sides first.

That's my journey with crossfit! I reall am thankful for this outlet I have to excercise! What do you do to stay fit? Have you tried crossfit? Do you have any questions about crossfit?