You've heard about it, you might even be doing it.
And I've been asked questions about it myself.
Today I'm going to cover them all for you with the Pros and Cons of Crossfit.
What's up guys, Jeff Cavaliere, ATHLEANX.COM
Today, as I mentioned in the open, we're going to talk about Crossfit.
Now it's no doubt an extremely popular way to train.
And I've been asked countless questions over the last two years of where I stand on Crossfit.
So, my mother always told me, before you say something not so nice about somebody, you
should start with a compliment.
So what we're going to do is we're going to start with the Pros of Crossfit.
And that starts right now with number one, I feel the Challenge Based Training of Crossfit.
What I mean by that is the incentivized training, right .
We're familiar with the challenges, the workouts of the day that Crossfit puts up.
And it basically is there with time or reps or some sort of metric for measuring.
I like it, ok.
Anybody that's done our ATHLEANX program is very familiar with our ATHLEAN challenges.
Why those are good?
As a guy who works with athletes, I know that the way to get the most out of them is to
give them a target, to give them a specific goal.
And to give them some metric to compare themselves against others, peers or other guys on their
team or even their competitors.
To drive them to reach those goals.
And know where they stand with good objective feedback.
So right there, right off the bat, love the challenge based training of Crossfit.
And of course other things too.
So we're going to get to those now.
Up next on the list of Pros, the Metabolic Conditioning versus Steady State Cardio.
Anybody that has followed ATHLEANX for any length of time or tried our programs, can
certainly attest to the effectiveness of our Burst Training Conditioning, right.
We do not need Steady State Cardio or have to rely on Steady State Cardio as our only
form of generating a raised heart rate,
an elevated heart rate for the purposes of improving our conditioning and fat loss efforts.
Here we can certainly do that by using anaerobic type straight training activities and put
them into a structure where you're getting a metabolic conditioning effect,
simply by the fact of how you're layering and structuring these exercises, one after
the next.
We understand guys, that this is not only a more exciting way to train but it also can
be more effective than steady state cardio
that will burn possibly a higher percentage of calories from fat but in an overall effect
much fewer calories so the effect is minimized, right.
We want to make sure that we're burning more total calories from fat than we are percentage.
Because at the end of the day it's the total that matters.
And I think again here, Crossfit gets that right.
Number three, there is no denying the benefit of teamwork and that's one thing that you
can not argue when it comes to Crossfit.
They have built and developed a community and a comradery amongst their followers that's
second to none.
That is something that I can tell you first hand, having worked with pro athletes, when
you have a tight knit team,
accomplishing things you didn't think that were possible, become that much easier.
That's something, again, that we strive to do here at ATHLEANX.
Again, theres a lot of things guys, that we've been doing for a long period of time, that
will be similar to some of the things and benefits I think, of Crossfit.
Because I do think that there are some things that are being done right.
Building a tight knit team of people is something that we work here on, even on youTube,
as you guys who are my followers and subscribers can attest to.
Being part of Team Athlean means something.
And it's where I'm able to deliver and bring to you guys the best that I've got, because
I know I've got your support.
And I know there's good reason for me to work as hard as I do every day.
The same thing happens back in return, when you follow my programs, you give your best
effort, you get the best results.
I think a lot of that is happening here because of the teamwork and community built right
into the framework of Crossfit.
Ok, so now I know that a lot of guys that watch these types of videos, the Pro versus
Cons, they always like to see the Con, ok.
And my goal here in creating this video, was not to sit here and bash Crossfit.
I think it's my responsibility as a professional and strength coach to give you guys what I
feel, are the real down the middle reasons for why I don't particularly care for this
type of training.
And in sticking with that, again as a professional, the number one con for me is the Low Barrier
of Entry for Coaches to become Crossfit professionals.
And to open up their own boxes and to institute training protocols for people that follow
them.
See what even the most ardent Crossfit followers will tell you is that what they know today
and what they see today being performed in Crossfit facilities
is far different than what was originally intentioned back in 2006 or so when Crossfit
first hit the scene.
And the fact of the matter is that the commercialization and the monetization of Crossfit, meaning
that anybody can go and open up a box after a weekend certification.
Paying a small sum of money when you consider what it is these people are making after they
open up their boxes, Is just breeding bad coaches.
Now does that mean that there are no good coaches, absolutely, 100% not.
There are some fantastic coaches out there that are running Crossfit boxes.
And for those people that are attending those facilities, I would say that they are in good
hands.
The problem is, that is a very small minority, ok.
Again, as a professional, this is what I do for a living.
I've gone through all of my college education preparing me as a physical therapist and as
a strength coach to hopefully provide you guys with that next level content.
That you can depend on and rely on.
That is far different than what you might get on your regular youTube channel or even
in your regular fitness facility or gym.
And I take that as a responsibility.
And I again, this is sort of a sore spot for me.
Because I recognize that when you have coaches that provide an opportunity with a very low
barrier to just enter into this as a profession,
that can then give out and dole out information that is just completely poorly designed and
really irresponsible, we get a lot of injuries happening.
And I think a lot of the blame that Crossfit gets for creating injuries is based upon the
fact that the programing being done,
straying from maybe some of the original intent of the Crossfit programing, creates a lot
of potential problems.
So, first and foremost, that is my number one complaint.
Number two, technical exercises should remain technical.
What I mean by this guys is there are some exercises that I like to say are technically
demanding in the gym.
And those are primarily your olympic lifts, right.
These are the exercises like overhead snatch, clean and jerk,
things that require lots of work and practice on the technique, in order for you to get
better at them, to perform them properly and safely.
Now my issue with Crossfit is, and again this is something that is not picking on them,
it's just a fact of their programing, that they like to include a lot of these olympic
style lifts and do them for high reps.
Now it doesn't matter that the load is significantly reduced from what you might associate with
an olympic lift, right.
High rep max, you know 90% rep max, things like that, getting into the higher and heavier
weights.
But that doesn't make it any more proper to program them in that way.
Because as I've always said guys, A Great Exercise Can Become A Bad Exercise when the
sequencing is bad.
And there is a particular workout from Crossfit that is actually dedicated to one of their
fallen Soldiers, which is something, again, of a con, (Sorry, meant to have said PRO),
I would say, I do like that they pay tribute to, in certain ways with their workouts.
But this is one that actually, I don't believe in, is sequenced properly.
There's a deadlift that's then followed by a clean and press.
And for those guys that are familiar with the deadlift, again going high reps on a deadlift
when you're trying to perform the exercise properly is not the best idea, right.
There's so many areas we can break down along the kinetic chain, mostly in the low back,
alright.
To stabilize you're going to need to work overtime, especially as those rep counts continue
to get higher and higher.
You then follow that with an exercise that demands explosivity but will also obviously
demand that core be just as stable and tight and protective as it was on the very first
rep of the original exercise.
Unfortunately guys, that's where the breakdown occurs.
Fatigue is going to set in.
Anybody that does Crossfit can tell you that they feel fatigued when they're done with
their workouts.
But that fatigue doesn't necessarily lend itself to stability through the progression.
So you're taking these technical exercises that require,
again a good amount of practice and work to perfect the technique to do them safely and
you're throwing them into these randomized
protocols and sequencing that only winds up fatiguing you further.
And that's going to lower, again the likelihood that you can continue to do those safely.
So again, injury risk goes up because sequencing and programing is poor.
The sequencing and programing could be poor again,
going back to that first reason which could be the coaching and the guys that are laying
out those workouts.
So yet again, it sort of goes into, who you're following and who you're listening to and
could that be causing your workouts to become sacrificed in a big, big way.
Lastly, number three, my biggest issue when it comes to Crossfit is the concept of training
versus exercising.
Now the difference between the two lies in one thing and that's purpose.
I've said before guys, if you're going to exercise or workout but you lack purpose in
doing it then you're not really training.
Remember athletes train.
But guys who just like to workout, exercise.
And I think that's sort of where the big disparity has occurred with Crossfit.
That the type of training because of the randomization of it has become very much just a form of
exercise.
Not a bad thing.
And certainly capable of getting guys in decent shape.
Right, because they're getting a workout in.
They're feeling like they're exercising.
They're feeling like they're getting the heart rate up, right, they're sweating.
But when I talk about training, I'm talk about working out with a defined purpose.
And when we talk about working with pro athletes, there's a defined purpose.
There's a specific goal.
So you start with an assessment of where you're at.
You define a specific goal of where you want to be.
You set up a period of time of how long it takes to get there.
You set up milestones along the way so that you can see how close you are to achieving
that specific goal.
And then everything in between, every workout, right every rest it, everything is geared
toward the purpose of progressively moving you towards that goal in a safe productive
manner that is specific to that goal.
That is the key, that is what training is and that is unfortunately guys, where I think
that Crossfit misses the mark.
And again, it's not to pick on and a lot of it can be blamed again, on the coach, whoever
it is that's setting up the programming.
Because there are some guys who are great coaches who have decided to follow Crossfit,
who have said, you know what, I can make it better.
I can build in plan, training and progression in a really logical systematic safe way.
And by doing so they've actually improved the quality of the entire discipline.
I can tell you though unfortunately like I said in step one, those guys are few and far
between.
Alright, you know who you are if you are one of those guys but those guys are few and far
between.
So what I like to do here again, as a coach, as a physical therapist, as a guy that trains
pro athletes,
as a guy who feels a responsibility as a channel owner on youTube to get you guys the most
effective, safe, productive, progressive training.
I feel like we need to start getting away from the idea of just exercising and start
elevating our focus to become more focused on training.
That's what it's all about guys.
Having a specific purpose in mind and getting you there in a logical progression, safely
and specific to that goal that you've established.
So if you guys haven't already, if you're not familiar with our ATHLEANX training program,
that's exactly what it is.
That's why I call it a training program.
We help you access where you're at, we try to meet you at where you're at, right now
physically.
I understand, not everybody is going to be capable of doing the exact same things right
off the bat.
So we build in ways in our programing to accommodate people at all levels of fitness and help them
get to that next level.
Even if it means going back and repeating a certain period of time.
As some guys that have followed our program understand, right.
That's through our challenges, and scoring you based on our challenges.
But only progressing you as we know you're able to.
And then also having ways to understand when it's time to push the pedal and get more out
of yourself.
And understanding and appreciating the benefit of a rest day.
And how some days feeling a little bit easier are meant to be that way because it's known
that the next day we're going to push you further than you've been pushed you before,
right.
So it's all done with this progression, setting up the starting and end points.
And laying out the foundation to get you there, safely, progressively, and always specific
to that goal.
And that again, is what we do and that's what the whole ATHLEANX training system is.
So if you haven't already guys and you're looking for that type of program, then head
to ATHLEANX.COM right now and see what it's like.
Join Team Athlean and start training like an athlete.
Ok, so there you have it, again the intent of this video was not to sit and bash Crossfit.
Because as I said, there are some things that are being done well.
And unfortunately a lot of things that aren't being done well, are being done by guys who
probably shouldn't be doing it in the first place, right.
The responsibility is on the coach, always, to provide the right type of training.
And hopefully this video laid out what I felt was a good down the middle assessment of what
Crossfit's about.
Enough to at least spark a discussion amongst you guys to start leaving your comments down
below and let me know what you think.
Hopefully you found it helpful, leave me a thumbs up.
And in the meantime, I'll be back here in just a few days with some more videos