[Aliblahba]

Due to the forums heavy interest in health, and the growing popularity in crossfit, I figured it rated it's own thread.

I have the rare opportunity to train crossfit with Americas elite, and didn't want to pass the chance up. My regiment just started, and wanted to find out who else is doing the crossfit challenge.

I'm also looking for advice on supplements to enhance recovery, footwear, WOD's, and generally any other information from experience of other members.

I'll report in on occasion to add knowledge to the thread. All I have right now is extreme soreness and fatigue.

[kbell]

I have vibrams fivefinger which are great. Take a while to get use to them since they have no cushioning and the toes are split. Very easy to injure yourself if you run shod style. I think your supposed to wait to eat 2 hours after the workout to get the most gains from the exercise. I could be wrong on that though.

[Stitch]

I wouldn't worry too much about when to eat, etc. If you show up and do the workouts, you'll do great. It's punishing. I do a heavily scaled version, not nearly as often as I should, and still enjoy some good benefits. It's a good program--and almost more importantly, it has fun and variety while being punishing. Worth the effort.

[vinman]

Before I went to Afghanistan I got into CrossFit, and every day I felt like I got hit by a bus, or dropped down a elevator shaft. I use a affiliate site now. And I picked up the Vibram Five Fingers. I plan on running in them more.

[Laser]

70sbig.com, a humorous site about powerlifting had a great write up crossfit yesterday

http://www.70sbig.com/blog/2011/12/whats...-crossfit/

My main beef with crossfit, having done it for about a year, is its not an optimal program for developing strength. Not hating, just depends what your goals are though. I'm trying to get huge.

[Aliblahba]

(12-10-2011 11:23 AM)kbell Wrote:  

I have vibrams fivefinger which are great. Take a while to get use to them since they have no cushioning and the toes are split. Very easy to injure yourself if you run shod style. I think your supposed to wait to eat 2 hours after the workout to get the most gains from the exercise. I could be wrong on that though.

I have the Vibrams and love them.

(12-10-2011 12:46 PM)vinman Wrote:  

Before I went to Afghanistan I got into CrossFit, and every day I felt like I got hit by a bus, or dropped down a elevator shaft. I use a affiliate site now. And I picked up the Vibram Five Fingers. I plan on running in them more.

Affiliate site?

(12-10-2011 01:26 PM)Laser Wrote:  

70sbig.com, a humorous site about powerlifting had a great write up crossfit yesterday

http://www.70sbig.com/blog/2011/12/whats...-crossfit/

My main beef with crossfit, having done it for about a year, is its not an optimal program for developing strength. Not hating, just depends what your goals are though. I'm trying to get huge.

I like bulking up too but for me it's about real world strength. I need the cardio and endurance added to the workout. Combat strength is important to me. I don't want to go down in a bar fight in EE for lacking all the elements of fitness. Eventually I'll breed this regiment with Never Gymless and resistance bands to develop an optimum workout that can be used while traveling abroad to chase pussy and laugh at people that actually climb all the way up to Maccu Picchu.

I can see how the cult mentality turns folks off to CF. They act like the Hash House Harriers. I'm just in it to get in shape. They can keep the wierdness.

[Basil Ransom]

(12-11-2011 12:45 PM)Aliblahba Wrote:  

(12-10-2011 01:26 PM)Laser Wrote:  

70sbig.com, a humorous site about powerlifting had a great write up crossfit yesterday

http://www.70sbig.com/blog/2011/12/whats...-crossfit/

My main beef with crossfit, having done it for about a year, is its not an optimal program for developing strength. Not hating, just depends what your goals are though. I'm trying to get huge.

I like bulking up too but for me it's about real world strength. I need the cardio and endurance added to the workout. Combat strength is important to me. I don't want to go down in a bar fight in EE for lacking all the elements of fitness.

A conventional barbell program will be more effective in your quest to attain "real world strength" than Crossfit will, for reasons enumerated by 70's Big. You should reread the 70's Big linked material (and not just superficially judge the site's premise, if that's what you did).

And not that I have much fight experience, but cardio and endurance are probably irrelevant in street fights, which last a matter of seconds.

[Btbob]

Ok,
From a military specific standpoint, I can see the appeal. However, the level of cult like buy-in that has propagated (Specifically in the Army Infantry/ Special Ops world) is fucking absurd.

A little background:
I've been training in various capacities since the late 90's. I was a D-1 Wrestler for a little while and competed in MMA after my wrestling experience ended. This is when I got heavily into the metabolic conditioning and specifically in cross fit. I helped start an affiliate at a post I was at in 2007.

That said, I no longer follow with cross fit for a few reasons. I didn't feel like I was progressing enough and after a while I was just getting really good at the workouts; not more fit. It's like, yeah, my fran time is down. So what?

I digress:

For military specific stuff you should get WOD's from whomever you're working with. If not:
militaryathlete.c o m/
crossfitleatherneck.o r g/
kandaharcrossfit.c o m

These should give you some ideas.

For shoes:
amazon.c o m/New-Balance-MT20-Trail-Minimus/dp/B004KZQCKS/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1323659971&sr=8-7

Im a fan of these. When running off road you don't end up with mud and rocks stuck between your toes like with the vibrams.

Do the foam rolling shit. It's a life saver. Same with stretching.

In the end, training for specific functions is going to get you better at those functions. Rucking gets you better at rucking, running gets you better at running, etc. Crossfit will only help get your baseline fitness levels up.

Happy Hunting.

[Stitch]

> Crossfit will only help get your baseline fitness levels up.

...but then, that's it's point: general physical preparedness. If you want strength and bulk, squat heavy and drink a gallon of milk a day; if you want to run a marathon, put in the miles. Nothing wrong with either of those if that's what you want.

I agree on the "cult-like buy-in" problem, but that doesn't mean it's a bad program. It's fun and it's got me feeling better and looking better than running or lifting did (though I'm glad I did Starting Strength for a baseline level of strength).

[dk902]

(12-11-2011 12:45 PM)Aliblahba Wrote:  

(12-10-2011 11:23 AM)kbell Wrote:  

I have vibrams fivefinger which are great. Take a while to get use to them since they have no cushioning and the toes are split. Very easy to injure yourself if you run shod style. I think your supposed to wait to eat 2 hours after the workout to get the most gains from the exercise. I could be wrong on that though.

I have the Vibrams and love them.

(12-10-2011 12:46 PM)vinman Wrote:  

Before I went to Afghanistan I got into CrossFit, and every day I felt like I got hit by a bus, or dropped down a elevator shaft. I use a affiliate site now. And I picked up the Vibram Five Fingers. I plan on running in them more.

Affiliate site?

(12-10-2011 01:26 PM)Laser Wrote:  

70sbig.com, a humorous site about powerlifting had a great write up crossfit yesterday

http://www.70sbig.com/blog/2011/12/whats...-crossfit/

My main beef with crossfit, having done it for about a year, is its not an optimal program for developing strength. Not hating, just depends what your goals are though. I'm trying to get huge.

I like bulking up too but for me it's about real world strength. I need the cardio and endurance added to the workout. Combat strength is important to me. I don't want to go down in a bar fight in EE for lacking all the elements of fitness. Eventually I'll breed this regiment with Never Gymless and resistance bands to develop an optimum workout that can be used while traveling abroad to chase pussy and laugh at people that actually climb all the way up to Maccu Picchu.

I can see how the cult mentality turns folks off to CF. They act like the Hash House Harriers. I'm just in it to get in shape. They can keep the wierdness.

This is something I've been thinking about Ali. My friend's in the military and he bangs on about it. I find it difficult to stomach, because I'm a traditional heavy weights lifter - I want to be strong, jacked but also like to be fit.

So with crossfit I feel like I would have to compromise on my size and strength for a trade off with conditioning/fitness, is this the case?

I like to be big and strong but also fit, so my routine is lift weights 4 times a week and box twice a week. Would I still benefit from crossfit?

Like you say - the skinny, long-distance running, five finger wearing, nike dri-fit, kettle bell swinging, swiss-ball crunching, TRX strap hanging, unilateral squatting, non-deadlifting, indoor rock-climbing, never drink beer, jumping on boxes, bosu ball pushuping weirdos put me off a bit?

[Stitch]

Given that I've never seen long-distance running (10k at the most), swiss ball crunches, TRX straps, or bosu ball pushups on a CF WOD, and have seen deadlifting very often indeed, I'd say you've got a slightly slanted view. But yeah, anyone who's manic about just about any subject turns me off; occasionally you'll have someone who says that eating just one crouton with a salad compromises your nutritional profile, but for each of those you've got ten more who love barbeque and beer.

I'd say for you if you like being big, the straight CF program isn't a great fit, but things like "Crossfit Strength Bias" (a program which mixed more heavy lifting in) or its ilk are probably decent fits--lots of power lifting and also Olympic lifting but the occasional run, gymnastic exercise, or other thing for variety. I'm probably going to slant that way for a bit to rebuild a strength base (finally got a power cage so I can squat without fear).

[Laser]

2 more things

Article by an elite athlete about her Crossfit experience:

http://startingstrength.com/articles/tra...illian.pdf

Also, timeline of the controversies that have popped around the crossfit movement. Regardless of the relative efficacy of crossfit style programming, Glassman, the founder of the movement, is crazy:

http://joshsgarage.typepad.com/Crossfit_...eline.html

[Stitch]

Quote:

Glassman, the founder of the movement, is crazy

He's a wacky guy, that's for sure. Although to be fair, most people who push ideas really hard are a little crazy. Unfortunate, but true.

[kbell]

They deadlift at crossfit. And tend to be more into sprinting than running very longer.

[Aliblahba]

I didn't want to post where I was at the time of starting the thread, but I was at Camp Leatherneck.

http://www.crossfitleatherneck.org/

In short, they KICKED MY ASS. I couldn't back down from the WOD's, and after a month or so, my body started breaking down. It was just too much to start off after not working out for months. I went to a solid weighlifting regime, and saw good progress. I'll restart soon with more basic program, or just stay in the weight room.

The Marines weren't "religious" about the crossfit, but they did take it seriously, and are highly competitive. Also to their credit, safety was paramount. Had I had a couple months of weights/cardio, I could have hung, but damn, the warm ups were a full workout for me, let alone the actual WOD.

It also didn't help that I was almost 2x the age of most of the participants.

[ElJefe]

Ali, are you reading MikeCF's stuff? From what I understand he's really got all that health past 30 stuff down to an artform, if not science.

Crossfit is the shit. I did it for 3 months after putting on a lot of mass (and fat) and combined with paleo, it was terrific. My peeves were:

1. I didn't get in shape as fast as I wanted. This was probably due to poor planning (nutrition, recovery, prioritizing, etc.)

2. A big part of crossfit assumes a) good mobility and b) a core of solid granite, especially for the more exciting exercises. I had admit that even if I could squat 400lbs my core strength was pathetic, and my mobility atrocious.

Now after sitting on my ass for another three months, I'm trying to get back into a rythm that will address the challenges listed above.

[Aliblahba]

^^^ The biggest thing that stopped my crossfit regiment was my knees. They just couldn't take incessant squatting routines. I need to hit the gym first for a couple of months and utilize the knee machines, and do some easier cardio with a jump rope/sprints. Afterwards I should be ready to take on a crossfit routine. Plus I want to add at least 5 lbs. of muscle back, and use crossfit to get cut up.

We all love pure strength, but to me mobility and endurance are just as important. I can attest, at 36, it's getting harder to maintain, and my body is telling me if I don't stay on a routine, it will all be downhill from here.

[TheCaptainPower]

I hate crossfit with a passion. Why do crossfit when you can bodybuild? I'm 32 and I have been going to the gym since I was 16, I have no idea what planking and upside down pushups do....

If you want to look good, bodybuild. And NO professional bodybuilders do crossfit.....

If you are just doing it for fun, and you don't care about looks or performance, then who cares....But don't expect to get cut.

[TheCaptainPower]

I hate crossfit with a passion. Why do crossfit when you can bodybuild? I'm 32 and I have been going to the gym since I was 16, I have no idea what planking and upside down pushups do....

If you want to look good, bodybuild. And NO professional bodybuilders do crossfit.....

If you are just doing it for fun, and you don't care about looks or performance, then who cares....But don't expect to get cut.

[Duke Castile]

(12-09-2012 08:41 PM)TheCaptainPower Wrote:  

I hate crossfit with a passion. Why do crossfit when you can bodybuild? I'm 32 and I have been going to the gym since I was 16, I have no idea what planking and upside down pushups do....

If you want to look good, bodybuild. And NO professional bodybuilders do crossfit.....

If you are just doing it for fun, and you don't care about looks or performance, then who cares....But don't expect to get cut.

Because bodybuilding is a homoerotic culture where none of it is functional and you aren't even strong.

Maybe you should go start a thread talking about doing chest and tri's on Mondays and how best to get a "pump" before going out.

Bro, I love it when chumps like you come into a crossfit gym talking shit and then fail in the workout.

[Duke Castile]

Yeah fellas, don't expect to get cut doing crossfit.

[lavidaloca]

All of my friends with exceptional physiques are cross fitters. Yea, I know the odd bodybuilder with a good physique. The problem is they usually have huge over exagerated features. I'm going to start cross fitting once my free gym membership runs out.

All the guys with the best bodies in the world that aren't steroid junkies are almost all not bodybuilders. Who would you rather look like George St. Pierre or the guy with 22 inch guns. I'll take GSP any day.

Bodybuilding also leads to a massive obsession with weight. I know this, I've bulked to silly proportions a couple times. I remember all I used to care about when I was 17 was boy I'd love to be 185 then it was boy I'd love to be 205. Now all I can think is boy I'd love to be 165 or 170 and have a pain in the ass cut ahead of me. Its better to weigh less in the long run and just be lean. Boybuilding also leads to a silly appearance often. I have a massively oversized chest an ass now. Great, even when I'm leaning out it shows. Some guys may like that but I prefer some discreteness with a balanced build.

[lavidaloca]

I'll personally admit that I use to be a crossfit naysayer but after seeing so many of my buddies get great bodies from it aesthesically as well as great endurance. Its hard to disagree with it. It works. Walk into your local crossfit gym and then walk into your local gym. I'd bet the average guy at the crossfit gym has a substantially better physique.

[TheCaptainPower]

I competed in about 20 powerlifting competitions in my life so I know about lifting heavy....

Like I said, if you want to do it for fun I have not problem with that. But if you want to get cut, then body building is your answer....

Don't crossfit to get cut, body build to get cut. I'm not doubting that the workouts are hard. I have a couple friends that are Marines, and they told me about some of their workouts that sounded insane. But they still aren't as cut as bodybuilders....

[TheCaptainPower]

@Fisto Chump? I think my picture is a lot better than whoever's pic you just posted. At least my abs are better....