I tend to be opinionated about certain things every once in
a while or I may make mention on certain things. This little trend of Crossfit
seems to be the talk of fitness these days and I do have something to say about
it. I have family who does Crossfit and they’re 2 of my cousins by marriage,
they’re serious about it and when I don’t have any issue with that I do care
about them, one of them is a cop. Well you’re about to get my uncut, uncensored
and thoughts going to my mouth about this thing people want to do these days.
You ready, because here it comes baby.
Crossfit is
not all that new; this type of thing has been around for ages and believe it or
not it was a staple for wrestlers in ancient India & Middle Eastern tradition
for the sport of Wrestling. These guys would move fast during exercises and go
from one to another, they’d swing clubs, maces, do crazy push-ups and squats
plus they’d have to dig the pit which was their wrestling mat and prepare it
for the day. Imagine what their workout of the day was, nothing like crossfit
makes up I guarantee you that.
Being in
great shape is great and I’m all for people who want to do that but what I
can’t stand is people getting hurt and bruising themselves up because their
stupid enough to not make the effort to learn the actual lift or exercise.
Calluses is one thing which we can’t control, you’re bound to get scrapped
every now and then and I know, I have had my fair share of getting my hand
blistered from pull-ups and kettlebells. To train with efficiency, learn the
actual lift and/or exercise and do a weight you can handle because if you can’t
you’re going to get problems that will last long periods of time.
I’ve heard
about those Workouts Of The Day and although I love the idea of changing things
up to avoid doing the same shit over and over, it gets to me that those
workouts don’t have any real structure on pace and having a specific level to
start out with, if you’re advanced that’s one thing but at the same time if you’re
new to the damn thing, you don’t need to be Speedy Gonzales to catch up to
somebody. There are days where you can challenge yourself and try to beat your
best record but not 3-4 times a week, that’s just plain retarded and it leads
to getting injured. A specific WOD should give you a way to make your own pace,
have more technique involved and work on things that doesn't lead to injury;
you can do things that won’t put you on a back burner.
I've seen
the videos on youtube of these Crossfit gyms that have people doing some
outlandish and dumb shit that I've ever seen in my life. I realize that YouTube
isn't the best resource but I've literally seen one of my cousins have plenty
of bruises on her that looked like she got her ass kicked by somebody and acts
like it’s not a big deal. Fuck that dude lol. I love how someone can push
themselves but not to the point to where they’re looking like they got their
ass kicked literally. Training is about having fun and giving your body tools
that will give you long lasting health, strength and vigor. If you like getting
bruised, that’s your business but don’t expect your life to be one happy picnic
when down the road your joints will be crackling and you’re not going to move
because it hurts so bad, trust me I did that when I was as young as 19 and 20
years old, literally 10 years ago that was happening to me because I thought I
was this big shot weight lifter and throwing stuff around like it was a blast
but I paid the price for it.
Technique
is one of the most important factors of training, you have bad technique you’re
going to suffer the consequences. In my opinion, I can’t stand kipping
pull-ups, unless you’re climbing or something it shouldn't be a pull-up, you’re
looking at your joints feeling like shit and tendinitis like a motherfucker.
Regular pull-ups are far better for your health and way better on your joints
and muscles because when you control your body through keeping it tense or by
muscle control and use the muscles at work, you have a better chance of
building a great powerful back and strong ass arms and abs. The lifting in most
of these gyms are ridiculous and you have some shmuck that doesn't know a clean
or deadlift for the life of him you’re better off learning from an old timer
and reading about that old school style that leads to great strength, power and
efficient muscle building. Actually learn the lift and you’ll be surprised what
comes up when you become stronger, fitter and have greater tempo.
Not all
crossfit gyms are like this and there are some guys that want to give you ways
to be strong, fit and healthy as best as possible, one in particular ran by a
friend of mine named Frank Dimeo and one of his guys who help him Dru Patrick
have a gym that’s dedicated to bringing the best out of someone and keep them
strong and fit with as little injuries as possible if any. You want to be
creative and they have plenty of that.
Creativity
is essential for success and when you create a workout that gets you fired up
I’m all for that. I don’t believe in doing someone else’s creative workout
unless it has a challenge that’s fair enough for you to take on, like Bud Jeffries’ Outlaw Challenge Series, it has challenges that may look messed up
but they’re challenges that have great value to them. Most Crossfit gyms have
these random workouts that are named after women and I’ll never understand
that. I’ve seen some of those things have exercises and timing that is just
plain dumb and beating the clock is not going to get you anywhere in the long
run. Create your own thing, use your own tempo and speed and work on your
technique, use a progressive system that’s suitable to your goals and never be
afraid to start at the very beginning because you don’t have to be great to
start but progress to become great.
You’re
probably thinking, “If you’re giving that much shit about Crossfit, why do you
promote a company like Rogue?” Good question, the answer is because as much as
I don’t like some of Crossfit’s ideals I still feel it’s needed in one way or
another. I like the idea of doing things that are crazy and challenging, not to
the point of hurting yourself but to do lifts, use hammers, have racks that you
can do some crazy lifting doing partials. I like that it’s become a sporting
like event where you have men and women pushing themselves through different
obstacles that have that Rocky type feeling. I firmly believe the Crossfit
Games should be in the Olympics, it gives people a chance to see the very best
tackling exercises that have been around for ages. Do the technique right, have
efficient control and balance yourself right with speed and power, I don’t see
why not do them.
