The CrossFit haterade has been flowing hard these days from all directions. Criticism can be good and differences in opinion are always welcome but it seems like the negativity being directed at crossfitters are based on misinformation, the conduct of a few, and in some cases just plain stupidity. CrossFit is not perfect and none of us can say we are perfect crossfitters (even Rich Froning i.e. swimming?), but I'm sure we can all say that CrossFit as a strength and conditioning program and community has made our lives better in one way or another.
Check out this response by Kettlebeard to 3 of the most criticized aspects of CrossFit:
Anyone else ever deal with CrossFit haters? At first it was funny to have my first hater, but I seem to be picking up more, and more lately. I never really noticed them before I got my own, but they have started to pop up all over the place, and not just on my social media circles, but everyone’s.
Look I’ll be the first to admit that when I first heard about CrossFit, I was a hater. I would think peoples posts about it where annoying and cultish. Posting pictures of themselves dying in pools of sweat looked stupid. But I bit my tongue. It actually peaked my interest. I had to figure out what this CrossFit was all about, and why all these morons where doing it. Well, now I’m one of those morons, and I co-own a gym. Here are 3 Myths that CrossFit haters will have you believe.
Myth 1 – It’s too expensive
The first thing that turned me off about CrossFit was the price. Like I was going to pay nearly a car payment to work out. I had a $19 a month Snap Fitness membership that was doing me just fine, I told my fat self. All 265 lbs of me. The problem with GloBo memberships is that 95% of the people there have no idea what they are supposed to do while they are there. Then when you do go there, you do the same stuff over, and over again. Then you get bored, you plateau, you get unmotivated, then you quit. Then you still pay your membership, every month, and you never go. That is exactly what they want you to do. If everyone that was a gym membership showed up every day, there wouldn’t be enough room for them all. With CrossFit, we program everything for you. We tell you exactly what you will be doing, and how much of it you need to do. We are there coaching you, and making sure that you are doing it right. We are there to motivate you, and so are the people that you are working out with. Sure, its pricey. But these days so is going to dinner. Stay home 3–4 nights a week instead of going out to dinner, and not only have you payed for your gym membership, you probably avoided eating a bunch of shitty food thats going to go right through you anyway.
Myth 2 – Everyone's Form Sucks
Look, I will admit that there are people that do CrossFit with shitty form. I had shitty form for a while. I had no idea what I was doing when I started, and neither do 90% of the people that walk through the door of my gym. But they get better, because they want to get better. Granted there are a lot of people that post videos of themselves on YouTube that shouldn’t be, but I'm not their dad so who am I to tell them what to do. The problem is it takes one video of some guy with crap form that gives detractors the ammo they need to say we all look like shit. Guess what! If I took video of people in 24 hour fitness I’d get a lot of footage of people doing shitty reps there too! But they’d be doing stupid crap like curls, and leg extensions. You know how many douchers do curls by whipping there hips back and forth, then they talk shit about us doing kipping pullups. Look bro, keep humping your bar and sculpting those sweet ass biceps. We’ll keep doing lifts that are functional.
Myth 3 – It’s a Cult
I wrote about this before, but I cant reiterate this point enough. CrossFit is not a cult, it’s a community, and it’s an awesome one. Instead of writing about this again, Im just going to share an awesome story that my ol’ Air Force buddy Joe shared with me:
“So I saw something really cool the other day that reminded me how awesome the CrossFit community is. Backstory: My coach (Tommy Pease) was at regionals last year and he was 3rd place going into the last WOD. He did what he had to do to hold 3rd and they announced him as a games competitor. A few minutes later they said he actually tied for 3rd and lost the tie break. Wes Piatt goes to the games. Tommy was crushed.
This year Tommy finishes the open 13th in SoCal. Our box posts on Facebook that we are getting shirts and hats designed and they’ll be available for pre-order. I scroll down the comments section and see Wes Piatt requested a hat. I thought that was really supportive. The competitive dynamic that CrossFit has is unique and the reason why it’s growing so fast. It’s something that’s lost in all the major sports. That’s why they don’t appeal to as broad of a demographic as CrossFit does.”
That right there is what CrossFit is all about. So for all those people that hate on CrossFit, go ahead and put your Beats back on, look in your mirrors, and go work out by yourselves.
About the Author:
Kettlebeard, aka Jeff Prescott is a CrossFit Gym owner and CrossFit certified Coach who's love for CrossFit has led him to create his own blog Kettlebeard. Also be sure to follow him on Twitter.