Crossfit training is all the craze now a days. But a lot of guys have been asking does Crossfit training work? Can you build more muscle with it? Personally I haven’t tried it and I have seen some guys get some results. Long term? Not sure yet…the jury is still out. As usual I found a good article that makes some great points from Daniel McPherson at macssistance.com.
If you don’t know what Crossfit is…here’s a video.
Alwyn Cosgrove: “A recent CrossFit workout was 30 reps of snatches with 135 pounds. A snatch is an explosive exercise designed to train power development. Thirty reps is endurance. You don’t use an explosive exercise to train endurance; there are more effective and safer choices. Another one was 30 muscle-ups. And if you can’t do muscle-ups, do 120 pull-ups and 120 dips. It’s just random; it makes no sense. Two days later the program was five sets of five in the push jerk with max loads. That’s not looking too healthy for the shoulder joint if you just did 120 dips 48 hours ago.”
Mike Boyle: “I think high-rep Olympic lifting is dangerous. Be careful with CrossFit.”
Charles Poliquin: “If you try to do everything in your workout, you get nothing. CrossFit is different, and maybe even fun for some people, but it’s not very effective. No athlete has ever gotten good training like that.”
Hmm…interesting…Here’s his article. Let’s see what you think about CrossFit after.
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By now, everyone who follows the fitness industry has heard of CrossFit. Its popular, it has exciting workouts, and its very competitive. So competitive, in fact, that there are even CrossFit competitions held across the country where gurus subscribing to these workouts can lay out all their testosterone and go head-to-head in a ridiculous 3-day long battle. Whether you love it or hate it, CrossFit has reached a critical mass, and it won’t be going away anytime soon. The problem is I’m in the Hate It camp.
Let me get the 1 thing I like about CrossFit out of the way: it has inspired many to take working out more seriously. And I know first hand how monotonous an exercise routine can get, and CrossFit has found a way to keep people excited about their workouts. Now that that’s out of the way, allow me to give my problems with this exercise…uh…company? Organization? Group? Whatever they call themselves, I have found 5 major problems with CrossFit that the general public has not seemed to recognize. Without further ado, here we go (in no particular order).
1. CrossFit is not for athletes. All a CrossFit workout will do is make you better at a CrossFit workout. Take for example the power clean. This is a power movement, meaning it must be performed at high speeds, which is why (for the most part) no well-educated strength coach will have his athletes perform more than 6 reps per set on this lift. In CrossFit workouts, you may do as many as 25 reps per set on power clean. Yes, this will get you tired, and yes, this will get you in better aerobic shape–but is that the purpose of power clean? Absolutely not! Cleans build explosive power from the ground up which directly correlates to jumping ability and sprinting speed. In no way should cleans be used for aerobic improvement because the lower back will tire out, thus causing an injury. Additionally, to do 25 reps on a power clean means you will have virtually no weight on the bar. This is my first reason why CrossFit is crap.
2. CrossFit teaches pull-ups wrong. Are you kidding me? The easiest lift known to man (in technique at least). All you have to do is pull yourself up. If you can’t, you have a spotter help you until you are strong enough to do them on your own. How could someone possibly screw that up? Well, CrossFit found a way by including the “kip” in many of their pull-up workouts. The kip has lifters swing forward and then use their momentum to pull themselves over the bar. Then they will quickly drop themselves, swing forward again, and repeat. Notice a pattern here? Momentum doesn’t build muscle, controlled movements do. In addition to using momentum, this quick-drop-from-the-top practice takes out the eccentric aspect of a muscle contraction (which is actually a stronger contraction than a concentric). This is actually the first thing I noticed about CrossFit and the second reason why I claim that CrossFit is indeed crap.
3. CrossFit is not based on science, but randomly put together. I understand muscle confusion. I understand cross training. But I don’t understand what CrossFit is based on. I have read one workout that puts together 6 exercises. The participant chooses 2 of them to perform back to back. Then rests 4 HOURS, comes back and does another 2, rests 4 more hours, and completes the last 2. What in the world? I’m no genius, but I have been around many great strength coaches, college professors, physical therapists, and exercise physiologists. I’m quite certain you’ll never find support for this type of training in any published research. And yet, another reason why CrossFit is crap.
4. CrossFit uses visually appealing lifts with physically sub par results. This statement is based off of only one picture on the CrossFit website, which shows a man
deadlifting a telephone pole. While this looks cool, he picks the telephone pole up on one end rather than in the middle. This means that he is actually lifting about 1/3 of the telephone pole’s weight. Looks awesome. But its pointless. This also, is why Crossfit is crap.
5. CrossFit sells a brand name rather than a genuine workout. On this statement, I am open to other opinions because I realize that its pretty hard to develop new lifts. With some exception, there is a lift for virtually every movement the body can do. If I were to take lifts such as power clean, deadlift, and pull-ups, randomly through sets and reps together and call it a Macssistance workout, what have I really done that someone else has not done before? This is precisely what CrossFit does. Rather than expand on the fitness industry, they take what has been done for years, slap a CrossFit label on it, and convince the public its the most intense way to train. Not all of this is their fault, as thousands of people have chosen to make CrossFit popular. However, when you are a leader in the field, it is your responsibility to pave the way for new ideas that are scientifcally founded and anatomically sound. CrossFit has failed to do so. So thanks for showing the world lifts we already knew. Once again, a reason why CrossFit is crap.
I’ll admit that I’m a harsh critic. Most people in this field are. But I have a genuine problem with organizations and people who convince their public how great their product is by way of emotion, visual appeal, and celebrity endorsement, but without the support of research-based backing. Again, if you are no longer playing sports and you genuinely enjoy CrossFit, by all means keep doing it. It will burn calories and build some muscle, but it will not make you a better athlete.
Overall, its crap.
Source: macssistance.com
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I know Daniel’s orginial post created a ton of debate. A lot to take in. I would love to hear your opinions over on my Facebook page.
Stan
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