The CrossFit debate

If you’re reading this your probably a CrossFit enthusiast ready to bat away another swipe taken at the ‘sport of fitness’. Or you may be one of the many who fight against the CrossFit revolution and stake your anti CrossFit claims at every opportunity. Whoever you are, and wherever your allegiances lie, I’m going to give my opinion on CrossFit, some of which may upset or please you.


There is no denying that CrossFit has blown up since 2000 and shows no intention of stopping the phenomenal yearly growth it has so far witnessed. Along with the considerable progression and global occupation CrossFit has developed, critics from far and wide have also grown in numbers in an attempt to halt any possibility of fitness domination.

You may question my experience with CrossFit, and you would be right to. However, I have tried out a few CrossFit boxes here and there and taken part in one or two WOD’s as well as implementing similar exercise programs into my own training. I’m also a fully qualified personal trainer, and work closely with physiotherapists who treat many sports people as well as CrossFit athletes.






What do I like about CrossFit?

The workouts
The way CrossFit workouts are devised are inventive, creative and above all, FUN! It’s a recipe to get the most unenthusiastic fitness person into their gym kit and under a barbell. There’s always an endpoint, whether it be a time cap, or set number of reps you must complete. The movements are always varied, which is what CrossFit prides themselves on – constantly varied functional movements. The workouts are not the only fun part, the fact that the Open workouts are kept secret and could be literally any movement, any timescale or any number of reps, it forces you try anything and everything in order to prepare for the unknown.

The Community
CrossFit affiliates have built up such a huge following of admirers, and not just regular gym-goers. CrossFit has managed to pluck sedentary, unhealthy people who, in the past, have done all they can to repel any form of exercise, and placed them right in the middle of a WOD. How? By simply creating a community. Avid CrossFitters live by their community and have the attitude of ‘being in it together’. Is this a bad thing? Of course not. If this is the reason for people actually beginning to exercise then great. This CrossFit community offers motivation, accountability, inspiration, incentive, stimulus, confidence; encouragement...the list is endless.  A community of like minded people can offer so much for one another, all leading to personal progression and RESUTS!



End product

By this I’m talking about the results, the fitness improvement, the strength progression and the general increase in athletic ability. Just take a look at some, or all of the CrossFit athletes, women included. Strength is phenomenal, body fat and musculature are perfect, and what’s more, their fitness is unbelievable. CrossFit also does well to incorporate many different fitness disciplines, from Olympic weight lifting, to gymnastics and cardiovascular machines such as the rower or skier. This makes CrossFit very attractive to not only newbies to the fitness world, but also to experienced gym goers who complete the typical bodybuilding programmes. Or even the cardio bunnies that spend their whole gym time on a CV machine.







What I’m not a fan of in CrossFit

SOME coaching
Please notice that I emphasised ‘SOME’ meaning I am referring to a minority of CrossFit coaches. Yes I’m a big fan of getting people into a fitness environment, no matter who they are. However, when Mrs Jones wanders in on her way to slimming world and she is immediately thrown into a WOD involving 30 snatches then I become one with the anti-CrossFit camp. I’m sure most of you reading this are screaming at your laptop saying ‘But we have inductions’, ‘but we have lifting competencies prior to workouts’. And yes I’m fully aware of the fact that most CrossFit coaches insist that a new member is taught the basics of lifting, but you cannot deny that there are still many places who are happy for a 47 year old lady who has never picked up a dumbbell to snatch half of her body weight on a first visit, as long as the membership is paid. This leads to many injuries without doubt.

Being Inclusive?
CrossFit claims to be for everyone. CrossFit claims that anyone can take part in CrossFit, because of the community and the ‘in-it-together’ attitude. However, many people are priced out of the sport of CrossFit. CrossFit boxes are all affiliates of the CrossFit brand, and pay a fee to name their gym a ‘CrossFit gym’. The equipment is expensive and there is lots of it to cater for everyone, as well as coaches being present for each session, so of course some sort of cost filters down to the members, however my personal feeling is that some of the CrossFit gyms are exploiting this, charging ridiculous prices which in many cases shows that CrossFit isn’t as ‘inclusive’ as it makes out. Please note this is not a swipe at the affiliate fees, in fact the business model is brilliant in my opionion.

Heavy weights & high reps

This ‘dislike’ may be leaning towards the undecided section, or maybe even the ‘things I like section’ as I build more and more of the programming into my own workouts to experiment with CrossFit. But for now, it can stay here. Heavy weights and high reps do cause problems for people, it’s a fact. I work closely with physiotherapists who insist that CrossFitters simply cannot handle the stress they place on their joints and develop problems all over their body. However, my take on this is that as the intensity of CrossFit far outweighs anything else in the fitness industry, and the fact that most people are novices to higher intensity exercise, it is inevitable that injuries will occur when someone goes from doing relatively little in their regular gym sessions, to all of a sudden completing FRAN or cleaning and jerking every minute on the minute. To overcome this, newbies should simply try a CrossFit session once a month, for a few months, and slowly build it up so their body will become conditioned to dealing with heavier loads over longer periods of time.
I think the overall problem in relation to this point is the pride of not wanting to put the weight down, enhanced by the encouragement of the 'community'. This sometimes leads to people drastically losing their form during the workout, but not stopping and eventually picking up injuries.


What I’m undecided about

The term ‘Sport’
In the CrossFit world, it is regarded as a sport. It is claimed that as there is competition, an actual CrossFit games event, and there are winners and losers, then CrossFit is a sport. This is true, CrossFit does meet the criteria of a sport in the dictionary; however the main argument brought up about CrossFit being a sport refers to fairness. It is argued that sport is about fairness, and when you have a big guy versus a smaller guy, the bigger,  heavier guy will be able to lift more weights (completely general I know, but that is the argument.) The CrossFit games organisers seem like they try to program events to suit all types of athletes, ranging from bodyweight, to weight lifting, even to swimming and longer distance running. So it balances out along the line. I think the best way to demolish that fairness argument is to draw your attention to the 2013 CrossFit games in the Cinco 1 and 2 events. Josh Bridges (5 ft 5inch/165lbs) really struggled with the 3 rounds of 5 deadlifts at 400lbs, and finished last (or close to), yet immediately after, in the cinco 2 event, was able to finish second as 2 out of the 3 exercises included bodyweight (muscle ups and hand stand push ups), suited to his lighter frame.
A CrossFit athlete summed it up and said something along the lines of – “Someone doesn’t watch the baseball world series, and gets to play in it the next year, in CrossFit you can watch the games one year, and be competing in there the next”.
This is what I’m still undecided about – you can make your own decision.

So many more things could have been added in this article, but in conclusion, I’m neither against, nor with CrossFit. Maybe I was against it at the beginning, but having tried a few workouts, I enjoy the creative style and high intensity. However I’m not a fan of getting anyone to try out Olympic lifts during a WOD having never even picked up a barbell before. I consider my technique and experience to be decent, and I still struggle with a snatch lift, so I cannot imagine what a complete beginner is thinking when they are told to pump iron over their head, multiple times. All in all, anything to get the population active is a good thing, and if they are praised for one thing, that should be it.

One more thing, unless your name is Rich Froning, Jason Kalipa, Dan Bailey or anyone in the CrossFit games who are shredded and stacked, put your shirt back on, I can’t see how it hinders you during your WOD’s.




I think I have given a fair opinion to CrossFit in this article, but would love to hear your thoughts. Visit our facebook page below and comment your views

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