What are the pros and cons of crossfit?
August 2, 2018 1:44 PM Subscribe
I was thinking about getting into crossfit, but I'm not sure about it. I've been told many times that it isn't exactly safe, however I am also not convinced that what I've been told isn't one sided. My friend seems to do crossfit just fine and he's never had much issue. I like many of its fitness aspects and the whole challenge thing, but frankly I don't really care for lifting an insane amount of weight, that looks and sounds particularly dangerous.
Does anyone have any opinions on crossfit?
A friend may have permanently ruined her arms from crossfit (according to a specialist). They are numb and hurt all the time, and she has trouble sleeping because of the pain and she may need surgery. But she loves crossfit so much she is still doing it, despite the risks. YMMV.
posted by nanook at 2:11 PM on August 2, 2018
posted by nanook at 2:11 PM on August 2, 2018
Individual instructors may vary, but I don't see it teaching safe lifting. There is also a culture in some cf gyms that make pushing yourself beyond ability riskier.
There is a study analysis (Claudino et al 2018) that shows there has been little high quality study. The better quality studies are about body image and psychosocial aspects. There is an overview for exercise physiologists (Mullins 2015) which seems to analyse things relatively fairly imo.
There have been several case reports of extremely serious spontaneous injuries; my area of interest includes stroke and brain injury and I am aware of a handful of cases personally.
posted by cobaltnine at 2:11 PM on August 2, 2018 [2 favorites]
There is a study analysis (Claudino et al 2018) that shows there has been little high quality study. The better quality studies are about body image and psychosocial aspects. There is an overview for exercise physiologists (Mullins 2015) which seems to analyse things relatively fairly imo.
There have been several case reports of extremely serious spontaneous injuries; my area of interest includes stroke and brain injury and I am aware of a handful of cases personally.
posted by cobaltnine at 2:11 PM on August 2, 2018 [2 favorites]
It depends heavily on the gym, because they will all have different cultures. I have a friend who does crossfit, and he hasn't been injured and from what I've heard it all seems very sensible. And then there are the gyms that promote overloading yourself and dangerous practices and tend towards "macho" for lack of a better word.
If you do go, make sure they emphasis proper form and safety. If you're lifting and they're not correcting form or not stopping people when they are lifting incorrectly, I would nope out super fast and never go back. Safety over reps, every time, or No Thanks. BUT I do believe there are crossfit gyms that have this attitude, the tricky part seems to be finding them.
posted by stillnocturnal at 2:11 PM on August 2, 2018 [6 favorites]
If you do go, make sure they emphasis proper form and safety. If you're lifting and they're not correcting form or not stopping people when they are lifting incorrectly, I would nope out super fast and never go back. Safety over reps, every time, or No Thanks. BUT I do believe there are crossfit gyms that have this attitude, the tricky part seems to be finding them.
posted by stillnocturnal at 2:11 PM on August 2, 2018 [6 favorites]
I think the good outweighs the risks as long as you have a sense of what is 'too much,' and are willing to lightly push back when it's too much. They are going to push you too far probably, and that can be fun and empowering, or you could end up injured. But at the same time, my two worst injuries happened in yoga and rucking, respectively. I'd let them know that you are specifically concerned about avoiding injury, and let them do a little tailoring for you. If they balk at that, it probably isn't a great place for you.
posted by thegreatfleecircus at 2:13 PM on August 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by thegreatfleecircus at 2:13 PM on August 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
I have really liked my experience with Crossfit, but I go to a gym that's very insistent on good fundamentals and doesn't push people to go beyond their limit with the workouts (at least, not the weight lifting part). People at my gym have found really great community and hang out a lot. I haven't seen people at my gym get permanently injured.
posted by orangesky4 at 2:19 PM on August 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by orangesky4 at 2:19 PM on August 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
I (an overweight middle-aged woman) did Crossfit for several years, and loved my gym and trainers. They were very keen on safety and training in ways that are healthy for your body. The culture as a whole can kind of suck, though, with misogyny and ridiculous pushing people to work out till they vomit.
So really, it all depends on the gym and trainers.
posted by ldthomps at 2:52 PM on August 2, 2018 [3 favorites]
So really, it all depends on the gym and trainers.
posted by ldthomps at 2:52 PM on August 2, 2018 [3 favorites]
I'm a middle aged dude, so YMMV. But I had a doctor say to me "Yeah, we see a lot of guys your age who picked up Crossfit."
posted by lumpenprole at 2:56 PM on August 2, 2018
posted by lumpenprole at 2:56 PM on August 2, 2018
There's a subculture in Crossfit of doing too much. This article in Medium explores it. The idea of all-around fitness is great, if you can avoid the competitive streak and focus on proper form and range of motion. I had a friend in grad school who did boxing conditioning for all-around fitness; she was in great shape.
posted by brianogilvie at 3:06 PM on August 2, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by brianogilvie at 3:06 PM on August 2, 2018 [3 favorites]
As far as safety, I think it's a common refrain, but it really really depends on the place you go. I went to a gym where the coaches were very focused on form and safety so I never felt unsafe or like I would hurt myself. Of course that's not the case everywhere. Most places should offer a free or heavily discounted trial class and you can really get a good idea from that about the coaches' focus. They should really be taking the time to teach you proper form and correct you, especially that first class.
In general though, all exercise is so specific to the person and place - do you like working out in a social setting without necessarily being on a team? Do you like the idea of fitness for fitness' sake? Does lifting heavy things (heavy to you) give you a rush? Do you like having your workout programmed for you? Does it motivate you to set quantitative goals and try to reach them? Does a bit of friendly competition bring out the best in you?
If the answer is yes for you to the above, I think it's very likely that you'll like it. If not, those are the cons!
I did it for a bit over a year and I felt like I liked the things that people complained about - it was one of the safest gyms I had been to and as a small girl, I didn't feel like it was too macho or focused on lifting heavy, bro. And what I didn't like so much are touted at the main benefits: there's a lot of camaraderie and social time which I thought I would like, but I ended up feeling social anxiety and not into it at the time. And second, I got bored of doing the same movements all the time. The workout themselves get mixed up, but I'll be happy to never do a wall ball again (or definitely not twice a week).
posted by moogs at 3:09 PM on August 2, 2018 [2 favorites]
In general though, all exercise is so specific to the person and place - do you like working out in a social setting without necessarily being on a team? Do you like the idea of fitness for fitness' sake? Does lifting heavy things (heavy to you) give you a rush? Do you like having your workout programmed for you? Does it motivate you to set quantitative goals and try to reach them? Does a bit of friendly competition bring out the best in you?
If the answer is yes for you to the above, I think it's very likely that you'll like it. If not, those are the cons!
I did it for a bit over a year and I felt like I liked the things that people complained about - it was one of the safest gyms I had been to and as a small girl, I didn't feel like it was too macho or focused on lifting heavy, bro. And what I didn't like so much are touted at the main benefits: there's a lot of camaraderie and social time which I thought I would like, but I ended up feeling social anxiety and not into it at the time. And second, I got bored of doing the same movements all the time. The workout themselves get mixed up, but I'll be happy to never do a wall ball again (or definitely not twice a week).
posted by moogs at 3:09 PM on August 2, 2018 [2 favorites]
Completely depends on the gym. That said, usually the gyms have a core group of the fitter people who are SUPER into it, and even if they are all rah-rah macho one-upping each other, they're still super friendly and welcoming of all folks, whatever their comfort or fitness level. You're not going to get bullied into doing stuff beyond your serious comfort (you will get urged into "keep rowing, don't quit, you can do it" etc past your nominal physical "but I'm tired!" comfort... but that's kind of the point).
"Going to crossfit" isn't dangerous. "Going to crossfit and getting extremely into it and getting really strong and fit and then pushing yourself way too hard" is more so.
Not that fitness is extremely well regulated, but look for gyms that have USAW or USAPL trained or affiliated coaches. Those gyms will tend to be a lot more adherent to traditional lifting standards, and less just wingin' it.
posted by so fucking future at 3:11 PM on August 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
"Going to crossfit" isn't dangerous. "Going to crossfit and getting extremely into it and getting really strong and fit and then pushing yourself way too hard" is more so.
Not that fitness is extremely well regulated, but look for gyms that have USAW or USAPL trained or affiliated coaches. Those gyms will tend to be a lot more adherent to traditional lifting standards, and less just wingin' it.
posted by so fucking future at 3:11 PM on August 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks a bunch for the answers everyone. I definitely like the social thing a lot, in fact I hate that my gym is the other way and is one of "those gyms" where no one talks to anyone.
I am at a point in which I'd say I'm fit, but not exactly buff or whatever. I don't think I'll be able to do the exercise on the best terms, at least not at first, but I imagine that's how it is for everyone who's new to this. My friends say their gym is pretty good, so I guess I will give it a try and we'll see how it goes. As for limits, I like to push myself but not to a level where I can't walk anymore or that I'll hurt myself or anything. If they get pushy with that then, no deal.
posted by Braxis at 3:51 PM on August 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
I am at a point in which I'd say I'm fit, but not exactly buff or whatever. I don't think I'll be able to do the exercise on the best terms, at least not at first, but I imagine that's how it is for everyone who's new to this. My friends say their gym is pretty good, so I guess I will give it a try and we'll see how it goes. As for limits, I like to push myself but not to a level where I can't walk anymore or that I'll hurt myself or anything. If they get pushy with that then, no deal.
posted by Braxis at 3:51 PM on August 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
Nthing everyone else’s opinion that it is incredibly dependent on where you go. I never felt better, stronger, or more self-confident than I did during the 15 or so months I was doing CrossFit and I still miss it all the time. But the place I went to was owned by a woman, most of the trainers were women, and most of the members were women. I felt safe, and like I was part of a community. I thought the training I received was solid and they were very good about challenging you without pushing you too far, and making accommodations for all kinds of needs/issues.
posted by skycrashesdown at 4:47 PM on August 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by skycrashesdown at 4:47 PM on August 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
There's a subculture in Crossfit of doing too much.
Yeah, this. Even the good places can be a bit cultish and their competitiveness can create opportunities for injury, especially if you're older. They can be decentish places to get into a routine if the trainers are good, and create a strength platform for you to go somewhere else and craft your own routines.
posted by holgate at 5:14 PM on August 2, 2018
Yeah, this. Even the good places can be a bit cultish and their competitiveness can create opportunities for injury, especially if you're older. They can be decentish places to get into a routine if the trainers are good, and create a strength platform for you to go somewhere else and craft your own routines.
posted by holgate at 5:14 PM on August 2, 2018
Adding another tally in the "safe as long as you find the right gym" column. My coaches NEVER pushed anyone too hard and even had me cut down on the weights a few times. They always gave a "modification" (easier version) if possible.
I'm fit but not buff, and I loved Crossfit. I'd never felt so fit in my life. I'd go back to it if my schedule permitted. It consists of a lot of bodyweight exercises that made my day-to-day tasks easier. There was no whiff of cultishness at the place I used to go to, only positive attitudes and encouragement and safety.
You can probably achieve a similar level of fitness with a personal trainer, but I liked how similar their exercises were to common daily tasks, and I liked the social, high-energy atmosphere.
posted by aquamvidam at 5:53 PM on August 2, 2018 [2 favorites]
I'm fit but not buff, and I loved Crossfit. I'd never felt so fit in my life. I'd go back to it if my schedule permitted. It consists of a lot of bodyweight exercises that made my day-to-day tasks easier. There was no whiff of cultishness at the place I used to go to, only positive attitudes and encouragement and safety.
You can probably achieve a similar level of fitness with a personal trainer, but I liked how similar their exercises were to common daily tasks, and I liked the social, high-energy atmosphere.
posted by aquamvidam at 5:53 PM on August 2, 2018 [2 favorites]
I've been doing Oly and powerlifting and CrossFit on and off since 2009; a member at two different gyms and trained at several others when out of town, during major events, etc.
My first gym: I looked gooooood. We also got injured A Lot. The programming was overkill and a lot of people soured on the experience.
My second gym is owned by a guy I used to train with at the first gym. He runs tons of programming: for kids, for older people, for competitors, for everyday folks, and for people in between all of those groups. The gym locations offer programming for powerlifting, Olympic lifting, Strongman, Endurance, yoga, massage, mobility, and sports-specific training along with personal training. He believes in having a variety of coaches and believes strongly in scaling: every day he posts workouts for Level 1, RX, and RX+ with the option of subbing (like, I can’t do muscle-ups without the ring trainer, so I don’t do them during workouts) and there is a huge variety of different levels of fitness and fitness goals that they cater to. I am much happier with my second gym experience.
All that being said, just like any gym culture, there can be Drama and people can be explainers, but most people enjoy the social aspect and it’s an excellent way to be held accountable (I work 24 your shifts, and if I can’t make it to the gym I’ll get an email saying “hey we haven’t seen you in a few days!” although I am working out at the station).
Good luck.
posted by sara is disenchanted at 6:27 PM on August 2, 2018
My first gym: I looked gooooood. We also got injured A Lot. The programming was overkill and a lot of people soured on the experience.
My second gym is owned by a guy I used to train with at the first gym. He runs tons of programming: for kids, for older people, for competitors, for everyday folks, and for people in between all of those groups. The gym locations offer programming for powerlifting, Olympic lifting, Strongman, Endurance, yoga, massage, mobility, and sports-specific training along with personal training. He believes in having a variety of coaches and believes strongly in scaling: every day he posts workouts for Level 1, RX, and RX+ with the option of subbing (like, I can’t do muscle-ups without the ring trainer, so I don’t do them during workouts) and there is a huge variety of different levels of fitness and fitness goals that they cater to. I am much happier with my second gym experience.
All that being said, just like any gym culture, there can be Drama and people can be explainers, but most people enjoy the social aspect and it’s an excellent way to be held accountable (I work 24 your shifts, and if I can’t make it to the gym I’ll get an email saying “hey we haven’t seen you in a few days!” although I am working out at the station).
Good luck.
posted by sara is disenchanted at 6:27 PM on August 2, 2018
As my health teacher in middle school said, and repeated by my mother (former nurseand nnutritionist) and father (doctor):
Avoid food and fitness fads like the plague. The benefits(sic) haven't been studied (a proper health study can take 30 years)
posted by sexyrobot at 7:11 PM on August 2, 2018
Avoid food and fitness fads like the plague. The benefits(sic) haven't been studied (a proper health study can take 30 years)
posted by sexyrobot at 7:11 PM on August 2, 2018
Best answer: I've been crossfitting four or five days a week for over ten years now. I've been in a lot of gyms in that time and taken a few of the CrossFit specialty certs, so have also spent some time around people who coach. The biggest thing to understand about CrossFit is that it is an affiliate model where CrossFit headquarters doesn't come around and check up on how a particular gym is teaching/executing CrossFit. Think about a CrossFit gym as being like a bar and CrossFit HQ as the government agency that sells the liquor licenses. The liquor license just gives the bar (gym) the right to sell alcoholic beverages (CrossFit). That puts a lot of onus on the customer to decide if they like what they are getting and the individual gyms can vary widely in their interpretation of CrossFit.
I've also seen people get injured. I would put the injuries into three buckets: injuries caused by bad or insufficient instruction, injuries caused by ego/poor judgement, and injuries that are related to objective danger of some of the exercises (e.g. if you are climbing a 15' rope, you've got some objective danger there that just doesn't exist in a spin class). I would suggest you view CrossFit like any other sport that has some dangers, like BJJ or white water kayaking: there is a lot you can do to mitigate risk (good instruction and good judgment/check your ego at the door), but there is still going to be some risk left over.
OK, getting off my philosophy-of-CrossFit soapbox, here would be some objective things you can check for to evaluate a gym. My belief is the same way that every driver believes they are above average, every gym member thinks their box (CrossFit gym) is above average. Here would be some of the questions I would ask or behaviors I would look for to identify a good gym where you'll get quality instruction and coaches who would help you check your ego. Except maybe the on-ramp program, none of these are deal breakers, but they would give you an overall picture of the maturity of a gym and how they viewed their clients.
Does the gym have an on-ramp program for new members? This would be one-on-one or small group intensive coaching on the movements that could last up to ten sessions before they would turn you loose in a regular class.
How many trainers does the gym have and how long have they been at that gym? How long have they been in CrossFit? You are looking for stability and consistency. Do any of them have advanced or specialty certifications? The basic cert is the L1, so anything beyond an L1 indicates that the trainer is investing time and money in furthering their skills. Do any of them have coaching experience outside of CrossFit?
Does the gym offer any special programs for different demographics? Like CrossFit for kids, or classes geared towards an older clientele, or a yoga/mobility class, or anything like that? Those are indicators that the gym owner is thinking holistically about their members and trying to meet everyone where they are instead of programming classes for the highest denominator.
How long has the gym been in business? How did the gym owner(s) get into the business? Were they an avid crossfitter that quit their day job to open a gym, or were they already in the fitness industry and moved over to CrossFit?
If you can observe a class, how much coaching are you seeing happening? By coaching I mean identifying problems with someone's movement patterns and attempting to fix it? Did they spend time at the beginning of the class doing a warm-up specific to the workout? Did they cover all of the movements in the workout to make sure everyone could do them? Did they spend real time talking about scaling options to decrease weight, or repetitions, or substituting easier movements?
Good luck!
posted by kovacs at 7:31 PM on August 2, 2018 [13 favorites]
I've also seen people get injured. I would put the injuries into three buckets: injuries caused by bad or insufficient instruction, injuries caused by ego/poor judgement, and injuries that are related to objective danger of some of the exercises (e.g. if you are climbing a 15' rope, you've got some objective danger there that just doesn't exist in a spin class). I would suggest you view CrossFit like any other sport that has some dangers, like BJJ or white water kayaking: there is a lot you can do to mitigate risk (good instruction and good judgment/check your ego at the door), but there is still going to be some risk left over.
OK, getting off my philosophy-of-CrossFit soapbox, here would be some objective things you can check for to evaluate a gym. My belief is the same way that every driver believes they are above average, every gym member thinks their box (CrossFit gym) is above average. Here would be some of the questions I would ask or behaviors I would look for to identify a good gym where you'll get quality instruction and coaches who would help you check your ego. Except maybe the on-ramp program, none of these are deal breakers, but they would give you an overall picture of the maturity of a gym and how they viewed their clients.
Does the gym have an on-ramp program for new members? This would be one-on-one or small group intensive coaching on the movements that could last up to ten sessions before they would turn you loose in a regular class.
How many trainers does the gym have and how long have they been at that gym? How long have they been in CrossFit? You are looking for stability and consistency. Do any of them have advanced or specialty certifications? The basic cert is the L1, so anything beyond an L1 indicates that the trainer is investing time and money in furthering their skills. Do any of them have coaching experience outside of CrossFit?
Does the gym offer any special programs for different demographics? Like CrossFit for kids, or classes geared towards an older clientele, or a yoga/mobility class, or anything like that? Those are indicators that the gym owner is thinking holistically about their members and trying to meet everyone where they are instead of programming classes for the highest denominator.
How long has the gym been in business? How did the gym owner(s) get into the business? Were they an avid crossfitter that quit their day job to open a gym, or were they already in the fitness industry and moved over to CrossFit?
If you can observe a class, how much coaching are you seeing happening? By coaching I mean identifying problems with someone's movement patterns and attempting to fix it? Did they spend time at the beginning of the class doing a warm-up specific to the workout? Did they cover all of the movements in the workout to make sure everyone could do them? Did they spend real time talking about scaling options to decrease weight, or repetitions, or substituting easier movements?
Good luck!
posted by kovacs at 7:31 PM on August 2, 2018 [13 favorites]
I like many of its fitness aspects and the whole challenge thing, but frankly I don't really care for lifting an insane amount of weight, that looks and sounds particularly dangerous.
Certainly any decent trainer will not push you to do anything you find insane. I think the risk stems from the same source as the benefit: Group activity tends to encourage you to work harder. That can help, or if you're kinda a macho asshole who wants to show off, it could lead to injury.
The above is totally unrelated to the fact that at my one CrossFit trial class (with a nice trainer who guided me in improving my form) I selected a weight that was too heavy and pulled my back and was out of commission for weeks. Must have been a freak thing, I'm sure.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 8:42 PM on August 2, 2018
Certainly any decent trainer will not push you to do anything you find insane. I think the risk stems from the same source as the benefit: Group activity tends to encourage you to work harder. That can help, or if you're kinda a macho asshole who wants to show off, it could lead to injury.
The above is totally unrelated to the fact that at my one CrossFit trial class (with a nice trainer who guided me in improving my form) I selected a weight that was too heavy and pulled my back and was out of commission for weeks. Must have been a freak thing, I'm sure.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 8:42 PM on August 2, 2018
I loved my CrossFit class, because it was for women who had small children, meaning it both had free childcare and also focused on bodies that had undergone a lot in the past year(s). It was incredibly supportive and encouraging and fun, and our coach - who had a shoulder injury sustained before his CrossFit life so he was very sensitive to proper form and not pushing people beyond safety - was a wonderful person to work with. That said, I have yet to find another gym that offers the experience I had at that one, and I’m really sad about that.
He was very good at pushing you to keep going past your wall of fatigue, which is part of the point. He never, I felt, pushed me to do too much weight or a movement I hadn’t been taught to do right. That’s the balance that’s important to find.
And generally, I love CrossFit because I can always see progress week to week on some axis. Maybe it’s more weight, maybe it’s more reps at the same weight, maybe it’s not having to stop for a breather during the conditioning portion but you did last week, whatever. But for me it was so encouraging and incentivizing to see my own progress measured in ways other than weight or inches and I felt stronger and healthier for it - especially when I was postpartum and still breastfeeding when my body didn’t really want to lose any weight.
posted by olinerd at 4:57 AM on August 3, 2018 [3 favorites]
He was very good at pushing you to keep going past your wall of fatigue, which is part of the point. He never, I felt, pushed me to do too much weight or a movement I hadn’t been taught to do right. That’s the balance that’s important to find.
And generally, I love CrossFit because I can always see progress week to week on some axis. Maybe it’s more weight, maybe it’s more reps at the same weight, maybe it’s not having to stop for a breather during the conditioning portion but you did last week, whatever. But for me it was so encouraging and incentivizing to see my own progress measured in ways other than weight or inches and I felt stronger and healthier for it - especially when I was postpartum and still breastfeeding when my body didn’t really want to lose any weight.
posted by olinerd at 4:57 AM on August 3, 2018 [3 favorites]
Lots of people have already spoken on safety, and only going with an instructor who seems knowledgable about form and stresses doing any exercises correctly rather than enthusiastically.
One point that I'll make that's pretty general for mid to high impact exercise is one can expect to see neural-muscular improvements in 1-3 days. One can expect to see cardio improvements in 3-6 weeks. One can expect to have skeletal muscular improvements in 5-10 weeks. One can expect to have ligament/bone improvements in 12-18 weeks.
Which is to say that parts of your body will improve faster than others in a way that can allow you to injury the slower to strengthen parts. High impact is rough on the joints/tendons and they take forever to get stronger and forever to heal if and when they do get hurt.
If you're a professional sitter (like me), many parts have likely atrophied from where they "should" be unless you've regularly been quite active. It can take years of thinking you feel strong, and then have a tendon/ligament issue pull you back. And if you aren't paying attention and catch it soon it can get really bad (see nanook's comment re: their friend's arms).
One of the most important (IMO) parts of running, and I think this may be as, or more, important with crossfit, is to distinguish the difference between soreness/tiredness and pain. It's possible to feel high levels of sore more than low levels of pain - they're slightly, but definitely different.
It's more than OK to work through sore. Don't work through pain.
posted by nobeagle at 6:44 AM on August 3, 2018 [5 favorites]
One point that I'll make that's pretty general for mid to high impact exercise is one can expect to see neural-muscular improvements in 1-3 days. One can expect to see cardio improvements in 3-6 weeks. One can expect to have skeletal muscular improvements in 5-10 weeks. One can expect to have ligament/bone improvements in 12-18 weeks.
Which is to say that parts of your body will improve faster than others in a way that can allow you to injury the slower to strengthen parts. High impact is rough on the joints/tendons and they take forever to get stronger and forever to heal if and when they do get hurt.
If you're a professional sitter (like me), many parts have likely atrophied from where they "should" be unless you've regularly been quite active. It can take years of thinking you feel strong, and then have a tendon/ligament issue pull you back. And if you aren't paying attention and catch it soon it can get really bad (see nanook's comment re: their friend's arms).
One of the most important (IMO) parts of running, and I think this may be as, or more, important with crossfit, is to distinguish the difference between soreness/tiredness and pain. It's possible to feel high levels of sore more than low levels of pain - they're slightly, but definitely different.
It's more than OK to work through sore. Don't work through pain.
posted by nobeagle at 6:44 AM on August 3, 2018 [5 favorites]
Look at what else the gym offers. I loved my Crossfit gym, which had been doing strength training classes for 10+ years before they started offering Crossfit, and they also place a heavy emphasis on flexibility, proper stretching, and proper mechanics. Everyone has to start with an onboarding class to learn the fundamentals, and they're good about telling you to use less weight if you're compromising form. A couple of our coaches had physical therapy backgrounds and were very proactive in telling you how the different muscles and movement patterns worked together, how you should be stretching/preparing accordingly, and alternatives if you had, say, a wonky shoulder or an old knee injury. When I was pregnant, I felt very safe there, as we had a pregnant coach who would share modifications for movements.
That said, there are bad Crossfit gyms. I've since moved, and when I looked into a couple gyms closer to my new house, they seem to have a really heavy emphasis on competitions and how their members are lifting insane amounts of weight and participating in the Crossfit Open and other challenges. I compare that to my old gym, whose social media feeds are much more about helping average people (who sit behind desks all day) get stronger and healthier and live a more active lifestyle.
posted by writermcwriterson at 9:54 AM on August 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
That said, there are bad Crossfit gyms. I've since moved, and when I looked into a couple gyms closer to my new house, they seem to have a really heavy emphasis on competitions and how their members are lifting insane amounts of weight and participating in the Crossfit Open and other challenges. I compare that to my old gym, whose social media feeds are much more about helping average people (who sit behind desks all day) get stronger and healthier and live a more active lifestyle.
posted by writermcwriterson at 9:54 AM on August 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
Seeing the other answers, I'll underscore the need for other classes like yoga and flexibility. The reason I finally stepped back from CrossFit was that I realized I didn't have an acute injury, but I couldn't walk/move very well (quickly or with a normal stride). Over time and PT I've come to see it had to do with things like not stretching my psoas, among other major muscles (and related form issues that maybe no couch would have seen). I still see the massage therapist that I found through CrossFit, and he sees a Ton of CrossFitters, many of whom would be helped my more stretching, flexibility, yoga (and maybe backing off a little now and then).
So I still recommend it with a good gym (and having friends recommend is great), but also caution against not just acute injury but also creeping chronic muscle tightness.
posted by ldthomps at 12:21 PM on August 3, 2018 [2 favorites]
So I still recommend it with a good gym (and having friends recommend is great), but also caution against not just acute injury but also creeping chronic muscle tightness.
posted by ldthomps at 12:21 PM on August 3, 2018 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
I went to a free session once. It seemed like a potentially fun time, but I could definitely see myself getting hurt really fast. Also I farted while climbing the rope.
I didn't go back.
posted by dondiego87 at 2:05 PM on August 2, 2018 [43 favorites]