The Truth About CrossFit’s Training Goals

Excerpt taken from the article: “The Truth About CrossFit”, written by Christ Shugart. For the full article, click here

“CrossFit is not a specialized fitness program, but a deliberate attempt to optimize physical competence in each of 10 recognized fitness domains,” says founder Greg Glassman. Those domains are: cardiovascular and respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy.

CrossFit coaches like to point out that even champions in certain sports have huge gaps in their fitness, as defined by the above 10 domains. Ironman competitors score high in some areas, low in others. The marathoner dominates cardio endurance but he isn’t strong. The power lifter is strong, but often has very low endurance and can’t do a single pull-up.

If your goal is to specialize and compete in one sport, then CrossFit isn’t for you. Instead, the goal of the CrossFitter is to become “competent” in all 10 domains. He may never be a top gymnast but he will develop great body control. He may never win a marathon, but he can enter a 5K without training for it and finish near the top.

Troy Dodson, owner of CrossFit Plano, says that for the CrossFitter, fitness itself is the sport. Indeed, CrossFit draws a lot of ex-athletes, and the CrossFit Games are growing in popularity and pulling big-time sponsors. If it sticks, CrossFit competition will join a distinguished list of training methods that eventually became competitive sports, including Olympic lifting, powerlifting, and strongman. The CF goal of overall fitness, “functional” strength, and all-around preparedness has attracted many law-enforcement agencies, military and firefighting units, and martial artists who like the “train for the unknown and unknowable” philosophy.

According to the CrossFit website, “Our specialty is not specializing. Combat, survival, many sports, and life reward this kind of fitness and, on average, punish the specialist.” Experienced CrossFitters aren’t the strongest athletes out there, but they’re stronger than most. They’re not the fastest either, but they’re fast. Their claim to fame is their completeness.

And it’s easy to see the appeal: Why be big if you’re not functional? Why have great endurance if you have no strength and power? Why not be competent in all of those things?

Critics point out that being “competent” at everything makes you great at nothing. It’s a valid criticism, but it doesn’t bother the CrossFit community. They revel in their versatility and believe strongly that being skilled in every aspect of fitness makes them, as their T-shirts proclaim, “unf***withable.”

The truth? If you’re not competing in a specific sport that measures only a few athletic qualities, then why not become fully rounded? Why be the guy with the big bench who can’t run up a flight of stairs? Why be the guy who can run 10 miles on the treadmill but who can’t help someone move a couch?

Perhaps CrossFitter Richard Doughty summed it up best when he wrote on a CF forum, “Does CrossFit make sense for an NFL linebacker? No. Does an NFL linebacker’s program make sense for regular people who want to be able to do everything well? No.”
If you have a specific goal in your training – top-level competitive mountain biking, bodybuilding, a 600-pound deadlift – then CrossFit isn’t for you. You need to specialize. If you want to be good, but not great, at a variety of athletic qualities, then CrossFit is a good option. And that’s the truth.”

CrossFit Zone Christmas Party

When: Saturday, December 12th, 2009
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Address: The Bard & Banker Pub, 1022 Government St.
Notes: Dress code is semi-formal!

Please R.S.V.P to Shannon

Today’s Workout:

Buy In – practice pullup progressions.

• Assisted with a rubber band – challenge yourself with a lower resistance and try kipping with the band.
• Kipping pullups
• Butterfly kip

WOD – 3 Rounds not for time:

• Turkish getups x 3 per side
• One arm dumbbell snatch x 10 per side
• Kettlebell swings x 10
• Snatch balance x 5

* Increasing weight on the exercises each round *

Cash Out – 50 Burpees for time 🙂