Is Crossfit Just Not for Me?

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

Long story short, I’ve done starting strength with great success, I’ve done a year of 5/3/1 with great success, I’ve done bodybuilding templates with great success, i’ve done 5/3/1 with sled drags and tire flips with great success. Last week I started crossfit and have tendonitis in both elbows already.

This was brought on by what I believe was from the handstand pushups practice, muscleups, and kipping pullups. don’t get me wrong, I think hspu’s and muscleups are super impressive and you do have to be very strong to do them, BUT, I am wondering about their technicallness as they are related to just your average joe who doesn’t have a coach. I feel like I’m putting a lot of strain on my tendons and joints doing all those movements over and over and over, day after day.

Now, that said, I want to do SOMETHING that resembles crossfit, but without the technical risky aspects and the randomness. I’m looking to have a balanced mix of strength and good enough conditioning to jump into a half marathon on a week’s notice. Would conditioning tools such as sled drags, sled drag sprints, track sprints, hill sprints, burpees, box jumps, jump rope, sledgehammer hits, tractor tire flips, and the occasional distance run be sufficient enough to have a solid balance of strength and conditioning?

I’m sure this answer is so obvious, but I’m feeling clouded right now because I wanted to give xfit a try, but I’m feeling like much of it is just a bit too technical for a former powerlifter.

2

you should check out Martin Rooney’s training for warriors.

3

I personally just stopped Crossfit. I just didn’t like a lot of the workouts because there wasn’t a lot of muscle damage going on, and while my conditioning/endurance was certainly improving, I felt my physique was slightly worse believe it or not. I actually feel when I do a program like the Indigo Figure Athlete program (check that out btw), I can eat a lot more and with less discretion and actually feel and look better as opposed to Crossfit programming.

Also, a lot of the workouts have things that I’m just not a fan of for a myriad of reasons, technical or otherwise… stuff like rowing for 1000-2000m, double unders, pistols, kipping stuff, muscle-ups, and a lot of shitty ab exercises like basic sit-ups/GHD sit-ups/etc. A lot of these would just rape my elbows, I actually developed golfer’s elbow on both elbows. Got rid of it with some Voodoo flossing though.

However there are exercises that you tend to do more often w/ Crossfit that are IMO pretty awesome: KB swings, heavy barbell thrusters, wall ball w/ 20#, hand-stand push-ups if you are advanced enough for that, snatch, barbell complexes, heavy farmer’s carry, etc.

4

The problem that I generally see with people doing Crossfit is that they don’t have the requisite knowledge or experience to understand how to properly scale or perform some of the more advanced exercises that CF tends to include in its workouts (well, that and I’m not a fan of some of their exercises or set/rep/exercise schemes).

Yes, your big prime movers might be strong enough for you to gut out some Headstand push-ups against a wall, but there is a good chance that unless you have been doing gymnastic/acrobat work for quite some time, that your smaller stabilizing muscles/connective tissues are not strong enough to support good shape/mechanics while performing them. As a result you may very well wind up with joint issues, muscular imbalances (which may lead to serious injuries), or muscle strains in your smaller stabilizing muscles.

If you have access to a good coach who can properly scale things for you (tbh, most Crossfit coaches don’t stack up here, but you might be lucky enough to have one who does) or watch your form then use them. If not then I’d suggest putting Crossfit on hold and searching out some truly professional/knowledgeable information and maybe coming back to Crossfit later down the road. Or at least only performing the exercises that you are positive you are performing properly/can do with perfect form.

5

Kettlebell complexes will fit your goals quite nicely. I play indoor soccer in the winter and can play a whole game without coming out. I don’t do any long distance running at all and can do 5 or 6 miles.

The problem with the Crossfit workout of the day, is you can’t measure progress because of the randomness.

6

[quote]lifter85 wrote:
Now, that said, I want to do SOMETHING that resembles crossfit, but without the technical risky aspects and the randomness.[/quote]
By “something that resembles crossfit” do you just mean training sessions that use mixed methods (bodyweight, free weight, and cardio in each session)?

I didn’t notice it, but do you have a more concrete goal, other than wanting to train in a certain way? For example, is there an upcoming half-marathon that you had in mind to do?

Those tools, used in the right way (frequency/volume/intensity/etc.), are definitely enough to build a solid, reliable conditioning base. But they’re only part of the program.

7

[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:
something something something[/quote]

YOU ARE LEVITATING A BARBELL HOW DID YOU DO THAT ARE YOU A WIZARD

8

[quote]lifter85 wrote:
Would conditioning tools such as sled drags, sled drag sprints, track sprints, hill sprints, burpees, box jumps, jump rope, sledgehammer hits, tractor tire flips, and the occasional distance run be sufficient enough to have a solid balance of strength and conditioning?[/quote]

They’re good enough for NFL players

9

[quote]flipcollar wrote:

[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:
something something something[/quote]

YOU ARE LEVITATING A BARBELL HOW DID YOU DO THAT ARE YOU A WIZARD[/quote]
We went over this months ago. I defy your planet’s gravity.

Plus Photoshop, cable-pulley system, and Predator is my spotter.

10

Look into the 2nd edition of Wendler’s book. It has a section where he talks about crossfit and the proper way to program heavy conditioning into strength routines. I do crossfit (I’ve actually competed at the Regional level) and after following the advice given in the book, my overall performance in crossfit and in general went up. No need to do hi-skill stuff if you don’t know how to do them. Just the basics programmed in an intelligent way that actually assists your strength routine instead of hindering it, which is what crossfit will do if you just try to combine your strength training with regular (retarded) crossfit programming.

11

[quote]lifter85 wrote:
Long story short, I’ve done starting strength with great success, I’ve done a year of 5/3/1 with great success, I’ve done bodybuilding templates with great success, i’ve done 5/3/1 with sled drags and tire flips with great success. Last week I started crossfit and have tendonitis in both elbows already.

This was brought on by what I believe was from the handstand pushups practice, muscleups, and kipping pullups. don’t get me wrong, I think hspu’s and muscleups are super impressive and you do have to be very strong to do them, BUT, I am wondering about their technicallness as they are related to just your average joe who doesn’t have a coach. I feel like I’m putting a lot of strain on my tendons and joints doing all those movements over and over and over, day after day.

Now, that said, I want to do SOMETHING that resembles crossfit, but without the technical risky aspects and the randomness. I’m looking to have a balanced mix of strength and good enough conditioning to jump into a half marathon on a week’s notice. Would conditioning tools such as sled drags, sled drag sprints, track sprints, hill sprints, burpees, box jumps, jump rope, sledgehammer hits, tractor tire flips, and the occasional distance run be sufficient enough to have a solid balance of strength and conditioning?

I’m sure this answer is so obvious, but I’m feeling clouded right now because I wanted to give xfit a try, but I’m feeling like much of it is just a bit too technical for a former powerlifter.[/quote]

Everyone good athlete I know that has tried crossfit has developed chronic issues or been flat out injured. How do you injure a good athlete? Tell him/her to try some fancy exercise. See, bad athletes will be too ineffective to do much, but good athletes have the power and explosiveness to actually mangle themselves. Being able to bench a ton doesn’t mean you should be doing handclap pushups. Kipping pullups and muscleups look good unless you weigh 225 of solid muscle and tear some stuff in your shoulder because the WOD says to try 100 of them. CF has too much possibility for overuse injuries and because it is poorly programmed, you will never really be able to have gain skill or conditioning enough to mitigate this.

For me, I have found that KB circuits can totally rock. Walmart has the cheapest KBs around if you pick them up in store – up to 90 lbs. Also, consider BB complexes. Stick with variations on basic lifts you know if you are going to up the intensity. If you want to just get jacked as Hell look into German Volume Training which will really give you a better workout than CF if you following the timing and rest periods of it right (tip – don’t do it for more than 4 weeks running). And don’t forget the lowly tabata too if you are strapped for time.

So there you have it. Need to up your Vo2 max means Tabatas or KB circuits. Getting just freakishly tough means KB or BB circuits. Getting freakishly strong means heavy KB or BB circuits. Getting swole means GVT or something similar.

I cycle through all of these for my cardio. Works for me…

– jj

12

[quote]jj-dude wrote:
[ifter.[/quote]

Everyone good athlete I know that has tried crossfit has developed chronic issues or been flat out injured. How do you injure a good athlete? Tell him/her to try some fancy exercise. See, bad athletes will be too ineffective to do much, but good athletes have the power and explosiveness to actually mangle themselves.

Being able to bench a ton doesn’t mean you should be doing handclap pushups. Kipping pullups and muscleups look good unless you weigh 225 of solid muscle and tear some stuff in your shoulder because the WOD says to try 100 of them. CF has too much possibility for overuse injuries and because it is poorly programmed, you will never really be able to have gain skill or conditioning enough to mitigate this.

Excellent job of summing up what is one of the major issues with crossfit. Nicely said.

13

all crossfit is, is circut training with a different name. circut trainings been around a billion years… they just market the shit out of “crossfit”. pick a few exercises you are use to doing, do them 1 after the other and there you go. no funky new exercises you arnt use to… do a bunch of different combos of “your exercises”…

14

[quote]lifter85 wrote:
Long story short, I’ve done starting strength with great success, I’ve done a year of 5/3/1 with great success, I’ve done bodybuilding templates with great success, i’ve done 5/3/1 with sled drags and tire flips with great success. Last week I started crossfit and have tendonitis in both elbows already.

This was brought on by what I believe was from the handstand pushups practice, muscleups, and kipping pullups. don’t get me wrong, I think hspu’s and muscleups are super impressive and you do have to be very strong to do them, BUT, I am wondering about their technicallness as they are related to just your average joe who doesn’t have a coach. I feel like I’m putting a lot of strain on my tendons and joints doing all those movements over and over and over, day after day.

Now, that said, I want to do SOMETHING that resembles crossfit, but without the technical risky aspects and the randomness. I’m looking to have a balanced mix of strength and good enough conditioning to jump into a half marathon on a week’s notice. Would conditioning tools such as sled drags, sled drag sprints, track sprints, hill sprints, burpees, box jumps, jump rope, sledgehammer hits, tractor tire flips, and the occasional distance run be sufficient enough to have a solid balance of strength and conditioning?

I’m sure this answer is so obvious, but I’m feeling clouded right now because I wanted to give xfit a try, but I’m feeling like much of it is just a bit too technical for a former powerlifter.[/quote]

In coach sommers book “building the gymnastic body” I remember reading something about the time it takes to strengthen the joints. He gave a time table, but I don’t remember it. Basically, doing gymnastic movements (which crossfit uses a lot of) take a lot of preparation… and you may have the strength, balance, or coordination to do a movement… but your joints aren’t prepared. That’s the purpose of doing progressions for a movement… and to take a long time working through them. So you might be able to do crossfit things, but your joints aren’t able to take it. They will over time, but people rush into crossfit and get hurt.

so if your gonna do something your joints aren’t ready for, do it easy… take your time… crossfit is just like anything else… you have to take your time. i know a guy who is afraid to squat and deadlift… and i say “man, you just HAVE TO. if you are scared, just lift THE FUCKING BAR AT LEAST… and SLOWLY add weight. you might look stupid lifting just the bar, but you would look MORE stupid walking with fucked up knees or back” just like with any program, people want results fast and hurt themselves fast too.

i don’t do crossfit, btw. just my 2 cents.

15

To me Crossfit is like lifting at a commercial gym. You may make gains but there are things out there that will give you better results

16

The book Fit by Justin Lascek is a good reference for that type of programming.

here is a quick rundown

High intensity workouts - goal: as much works as possible in 5 min or less. You go balls out.

Tabata (8x20 sec on 10 sec off) only 1 tabata not the ghey crossfit tabata this workouts
20-15-10 pick 2-4 exercises and do 1x20 for each then 1x15, then 1x10 for every complete as fast as possible (ex: 20 burpees, 20 swings, 15 burpees, 15 swings, 10 burpees, 10 swings)
15-15-15 or whatever basically do a circuit of 2-4 exercises with a constant rep scheme. Do as many circuits as possible in 5 min

Moderate intensity workouts - complete in 5-10 minutes

20-15-10 +Cardio for 45-60 sec like the circuit above but add in 400m row to every set or 40 sumodeadlift high pills, 40 jumping jacks some lower intensity cardio drill
15-15-15 circuit plus a pre-progammed rest interval between them 1-2 minutes.

Medium intensity 10-20 minutes

Same circuit types as medium BUT you go at ~80% of top work rate

Low intensity 20 min plus

Steady state cardio

The key is keeping in mind the time frame and the goal

So a high intensity workout could also be a 800m sprint for time or the RKC 5 min snatch test.

The moderates will suck and feel hard BUT because the workrate is over a longer period of time they are by definition lower intensity (from my understanding in the book)

Then you can do a few things within the framework.

Instead of kipping pull ups (they are an elbow wrecker)do REAL pull ups
High rep olympics: do KB or DB variations

You can create your own workouts (I’d say a few of each intensity level) and then keep track of them so you can monitor your progress. Come up with exercises that support your goals. Running goals should feature an extensive hip hinge pattern. want bigger thighs then goblet squats and thrusters could work.

The key is don;t sacrifice form for your time. Don’t be lame and allow crossfit slop.

If you do a
high volume, high intensity (%1rm) strength workout do a low intensity cardio workout
high volume, low intensity strength do a medium intensity cardio workout
low intensity, high volume strength do a moderate intensity cardio workout
low intensity, low volume strength do a high intensity cardio workout.

Lasscek’s idea was to bring a logical structure to the programming

when in doubt drop the intensity a notch.