Finally My Opinion On Crossfit

           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. 

My Journey Into The Underground

        

       When my friend, Ben Bergman, asked me to write about my journey into the world of Underground Strength training, I didn't have to think twice about it. I was blessed to find several coaches back around 2004-2005 whose methods were unorthodox, but highly effective. Some of the strength & conditioning renegades I found then were Mike Mahler, Diesel Crew, Bud Jeffries, Greg Glasman, and Zach Even-Esh.

All of them were training in warehouses, garages, parks, back yards, or playgrounds; any where except in gyms.

     

        I still learn from all of them to this very day. However, Zach Even-Esh is in the spotlight today.

I had trained in martial arts for quite a few years and had always looked for something to that would fill the void in the training we'd been doing. I knew strength and power had to be improved to improve what I call "stopping power".

      When I learned of Zach's wrestling background and got his first training manuals, which I still have and study), something just clicked for me.

Though I opened one of the earliest CrossFit gyms in the USA, number 35 to be exact, I continued to follow Zach's methods. I was kind of the "black sheep" in CrossFit, and still am, because I believed in learning from all valid sources whether they are CrossFit or not.

     Let me clarify one thing right now, I refuse to become a CrossFit hater or basher even though it is now the "cool" thing to do. If someone who doesn't do CrossFit can whip Rich Froning, Jr., then maybe their opinion is worth listening to. We are one of a very small number of gyms that offer CrossFit and Underground Strength training, in fact our gym has become known as the Cave, not by its' legal name of CrossFit Gulf Coast.

   We are a strength-based training center. Our training regularly includes bench press, squats, deadlifts, and shoulder presses. All our athletes do strict pull-ups on a variety of apparatus like Zach's original Underground Strength Gym in NJ. Odd object lifts often replace barbell lifts, though we do a lot of heavy barbell work still.

   I could go on about this for hours, but let me narrow it down to the subject Ben asked me to talk about, that is why I go the Underground route and how it has affected my business. Underground Strength workouts are harder and longer than what most people are accustomed to, but they produce great results.  We usually train from 1 1/2 to 2 hours, not 15 minutes.

 Another plus for Underground training is the shorter learning curve with odd object lifts than with barbells. This is especially true for the Olympic lifts, though they are tremendous. Underground Strength has let us rise above the herd. I have refused to run a "cookie cutter" gym.  You could say, "I took the road less traveled, and that has made all the difference."