BE YOUR OWN COACH (is Crossfit for you?)

With more than 7,000 affiliates worldwide, CrossFit is a big deal! No REALLY. Loud music, weight bars, and primal screams abound in CrossFit gyms, or “boxes.” The CrossFit mission is to “fuel a revolution in fitness based on the pursuit of function, not form — on measurements of performance, not anatomy.” When you show up for your WOD – or Workout of the Day – expect Olympic lifting, rope climbing, box jumps, burpees, overhead squatting, pull-ups – as many reps as possible (AMRAP) and as fast as you can. You’ll never do the same thing two days in a row. The workouts are specially designed not to specialize.

And as you know, I’m on board. I love me a good hard workout. Yeah sure, the AMRAP thing can be dangerous if you let your form go to hell, but so can crossing the road if you don’t first check for cars. At the end of the day, you need to be your own advocate for your own body. You get the expertise and guidance of those you choose to hire. You can choose to listen to them or not. You choose to push yourself when your hurt or not. You choose to tell them if your hurt or not.

To this point, CrossFit has been in the hot seat as more pictures and videos surface on the internet, showing potentially harmful lifting form and dangerous equipment set up. This begs the question, "Where are the coaches?" This also begs the question, "Where is the accountability,?" Both are valid questions to be asking and I said it before. You need to be your own advocate for your own body. Do not be afraid to speak up if something doesn't feel right. Educate yourself on the moves. Olympic lifts are a sport in themselves. Be smart.

The fact of the matter is, hype or hate, CrossFitters just freaking LOVE CrossFit. Mind you, it is definitely not for everyone. But it may be something to explore with knowledgeable trainers at a reputable box. But do your homework. Because when you do the exercises wrong you can cause yourself serious and permanent harm. When quantity is valued over quality, injury is a real concern. The majority of people that go to CrossFit are NOT athletes, have most likely never had training on when “enough is enough” and may not be able to judge when their bodies are telling them to stop. So, buyer-beware…if you’re paying the money to have someone tell you what to do with your body, you want to be able to trust them enough to know that they will keep you safe.