Now, hear me out…

Is CrossFit a broad, general and inclusive training program that aims to increase our overall capacity to do work? Yes.

Does it produce phenomenal athletes that crush your average gym rats at most tasks? Yes.

Do these athletes, who train functional movements and olympic lifts,succeed when given a completely random task that they have never trained or practiced?…?

My point is this, if CrossFit claims to produce athletes, nay, warriors that should be ready for any challenge thrown at them, then I am of the opinion that the Games should be a test of this theory. If the row/steak-drive/row workout was any indication of the effect of throwing a foreign task into the mix, throwing random, untrained tasks into the mix can cripple even the most elite of athletes.

My greatest psychological benefit from CrossFit is the mental clarity that comes with knowing that I am suitably prepared for any task that gets thrown my way. It is the randomness of life that makes it interesting. What goes on in the world is beyond most people’s control. What goes on inside your mind, and your physical world is what CrossFit trains us for.

Are the CrossFit Games a true measure of a person adaptation and capacity to perform in the 10 general physical skills? Yes, but we are still testing people on trained activities. Until we see a test of true randomness, I argue that we haven’t seen the fittest man/woman on the planet yet.

My suggestion for an upcoming games: Air drop the athletes into a foreign environment with some basic supplies and a map. Throw some random tasks in along the way… first one to cross the line wins.

Just my .02 cents.

Related Topics

• P90X vs. CrossFit
• Why we shouldn’t use mirrors when working-out

No, CrossFit it is not P90X, and though there are a few similarities, the end goals of the two programs are very different. Let’s take a look at why:

P90X

Functional Movements…check
Muscle Confusion (a.k.a. constant variance)…check

And here is where the similarities generally end. Yes P90X gives you a great full body workout, and yes you will probably lose some weight following this program, but for the average person (who this program is aimed at) ANY program that gets you to move your body vigorously will work. Their “muscle confusion” brand of what CrossFitters call constant variance is just based on your bodies natural stress adaptation process. P90X is enough of a change to people’s daily lives that they will shed some pounds, but a program like this will only take you so far in terms of getting “fit”.

A new player to the game is a program called HustleFit, which is less hyped up than P90X, but offers workouts that are delivered to your email inbox daily that you can do right in your office. No gimmicks or equipment required.

CrossFit

Functional Movement…check
Constant Variance…check
Intensity…check

And here is the main difference: CrossFit’s end goal is to get you as fit as possible. Somewhere along the path to getting superfit, looking good and feeling good just happens. But because CrossFit’s programming includes heavy lifting, and HIGH INTENSITY, you will continue adapting and changing your body well beyond the limits of P90X.
Intensity is really the key. Intensity, and stimulating a Neuro-Endocrine Response (NER), is what actually cause your body to CHANGE. By trying to produce as much power from your body as possible using functional movements, you are by definition increasing the intensity. By increasing your workout intensity, you are also increasing the level of NER.

What does this mean to us?

NER is a high-brow way of saying your hormones. Testosterone, Human Growth Hormone, estrogen, progesterone, and a handful of other chemical compounds in your body that facilitate CHANGE in your body. These tiny molecules are responsible for growing, hearing and repairing the human machine. Firing these processes up means your body is functioning in overdrive. You hair starts growing faster, your nails get longer, and most importantly, your recovery time started dropping.

The key is intensity, and is where programs like P90X fail. Intensity is directly related to the amount of power you’re producing, and thus if your methodology doesn’t include moving heavy loads, you can only improve your power output up to a certain limit.

Bottom line: Ditch the cute outfits and DVD’s and start moving heavy stuff!. Dont be afraid to sweat.

Related Topics

• What are the CrossFit Games?
• No time for the gym? No equipment? Try HustleFit
• Why we shouldn’t use mirrors when working-out

Shiny reflective surfaces a.k.a mirrors, will only be present in the washrooms.

At CrossFit we teach you how to move your body with proper bio-mechanical form. Becoming proficient at this requires you to FEEL the movements, not SEE them in the mirror. Mirrors have caused the frontal domination that goes on in most gyms. People want to improve what they see in the mirror, so they tend to focus on exercises that target the chest, arms and abs. This focus on the front of the body contributes to many injuries due to the over-development of chest muscles**, with a general neglect of the back muscles, or the posterior-chain. As with many things in life, proper body composition and posture is all about balance. At CrossFit we teach functional movements, in other words, movements that allow you to move large loads, long distances, and quickly. Because functional movements tend to recruit many large muscle groups at once, the tendency for over domination of one group is drastically reduced.

Another reason we don’t like mirrors in our gym is that CrossFit is practiced for application in real life. We prepare for the unknown, and the unknowable. The majority of the average person’s daily life is lived without mirrors. If you needed to look in a mirror every time something needed to be lifted off the floor, your productivity would be greatly reduced. Thus we emphasize FEELING the movements, getting to know how your body moves through balance development, and coordination. We want to teach you to know where your body is in space, not where it is in a mirror.

Furthermore, our end goal in CrossFit is ultimate fitness. We train to generate power from the human body by developing our proficiency in 10 General Physical Skills: Cardio/Respiratory Response, Stamina, Flexibility, Strength, Speed, Power, Balance, Agility, Accuracy, and Coordination. We care most about our performance, and conditioning a “general state of readiness” that will allow us to effectively face any physical challenge that life may throw our way. That being said, looking good in the mirror tends to be a nice side-effect of CrossFit training. In this case, form follows function.

Related Topics

• The Law of Attraction
• What are the CrossFit Games?
• P90X vs. CrossFit