Crossfit fans who don’t crossfit… You piss me off!!!

Just a small rant. I have had enough and I can’t take it anymore. As we all know, crossfit can be a fine way to workout and even enhance your athletic ability in some cases. Most crossfitters will tell you that crossfit is the best training program ever. While I disagree with this statement on the principle of relativity, I do understand their argument : They love their training as much as I love mine. And, this, my friends, is gold.

But what happens when some kids and his cool friends first stumble on a crossfit video?

I have been working as personal trainer in a globo gym for the last few months. Every now and then, some guy will come to me and try to make me learn about crossfit as if I have been out of the loop for the past few years. My issue with it is that all these crossfit fans who don’t crossfit don’t get the real take home points. All they remember from these videos is how some dude can do 100 bodyweight squats and 100 kipping pullups. And…that’s about it.

Crossfit fans who don’t crossfit… You piss me off!!!

People don’t want to work hard (read : heavy) in the gym. When these kids see met cons – and actually think it’s strength training- it gives them an excuses to bench more ligth weight reps for more [useless] sets. It gives them an excuse to stay weak. To be mediocre. To be the kid with all the advice and little of the experience. This is all echoed by my experience as a PT  in the gym.

What these people should really fall in love with is this : Crossfitters lift HEAVY for A FEW REPS once in a while. This is why crossfit has grown so much. Oh, and, Crossfitters use REAL LIFTS such as the snatch, cleans, deadlift and squat. Kid, when is the last time you have done any of the following? You have not squatted since… Well since you started working out. This kid does not need to learn kipping pullups or does not need to bench press more light weight. He needs to get down in the hole with a freakin’ bar on his back!

Oh, and women are not different. They notice how female crossfitter have nice abs and they think it’s all because of met cons and/or the occasional crossfit run. While it’s partly true (met cons = burn fat), what these woman don’t seem to see is that female crossfitter do ”MEN” LIFTS. They ain’t toying around with 5lbs pink dumbbells. They snatch, they front squat, they press overhead and they look good because of that.

The bottom line is this : Next time you check out a crossfit video, try to pay a bit more attention to the actual strength work that crossfit involves. Met cons are fine but they are far from being what most people (in globo gyms) need. They need to start training heavy.