A year of Crossfit, and what it's done for me!

[WS6]

I began CF about this time last year. I went pretty regularly, usually 5x a week, although I did take about a total of 2 months off, during the year, due to trips, injuring myself (not related to a CF movement, but more about that later), etc.


What I got out of it:

I learned bar exercises/Olympic lifts, and how to properly execute them.
I learned better form for ALL of my lifts except things that don't happen at CF, like curls, etc.
I learned that not all CF gyms are nutty about calling themselves "boxes" and brow-beating people into using their special terms, etc. etc. etc.
I got better conditioning.
I built flexibility and a "feel" for how Olympic lifts SHOULD feel when done right.
I learned how to generate momentum more efficiently

What I did not get out of it that surprised me:

My lifts are VERY similar to what they were when I started CF. Below this post's text is how my squats have gone. These are sets of 3, 1 RM, etc. all thrown onto one graph, but it tells the tale, regardless. I chose squats as they are something I've done before, and something my technique did not change regarding. I did get more powerful doing overhead lifts, though, mainly regarding endurance. Over-all, I can honestly say that I do not feel I am stronger. I feel very similar to when I started a year ago.

I did not get leaner. In fact, CF had nearly zero impact on my body composition. I look the same, and my measurements are nearly the same (weight went up a touch, all body measurements are similar), as when I started. My diet has not changed appreciably in 10 years, and I have worked nights/weekends for the last 6 years. NOTHING was altered except subbing CF 5-6x a week for my routine work-out. I did gain about 5# since starting CF, and I feel that it was probably fat, given my lifts and measurements as well as how clothing fits, etc.

Regarding injuries:

The two injuries I sustained were completely preventable, and my fault. I was injured doing squats (not timed) during a warm-up with 185 or 225 on the bar, I forget which. I tried to go too deep, too fast, without properly stretching, and rounded my lower back. My next injury was a timed work-out doing dead-lifts. My quads were fatigued, and I got sloppy because the weight was only 185#, and I was lifting with my back improperly instead of slowing down/doing it right. I have hurt myself in near identical ways doing conventional lifts at Anytime Fitness.


Going forward, how do I feel about it, what will I change, what will I keep the same?

Well, I love olympic lifts, but I am so want to get stronger, and look better. I am going to train myself as I had been 4x a week, and do CF 2x a week, cutting drastically down on my CF, but NOT eliminating it, because I value the flexibility and V02 max improvements from it. When I do what I should do in the gym on my own, I get leaner, and get stronger. I tend to stick with 3-4 sets of 6-10, depending on weight, for 3-5 exercises, depending on the body part, working one part per day. This method brought me from 150# in my senior year of highschool, to 195#, and squatting nearly 200% more, and benching nearly 200% more. It works for me, and that's all that matters to me. (I am 30, btw, 194#, 5'10.75'' barefoot). Also, cardio. I have found that low impact cardio (stairmaster,etc.) for 45 minutes a day, after lifting, is the best way for ME to get cut and change body composition. This is how I got to a hydrostatically measured 10% body-fat while in college.

Do I feel ripped off? Absolutely not. I learned how to properly do Olympic lifts, and had a great time, and improved my endurance.

I do feel that the thing I remember hearing from someone ("doing crossfit only makes you better at doing crossfit") is 100% spot-on, though.

Crossfit has been, and continues to be a useful tool in my tool-box...but it is NOT the entire tool-box like I initially thought, and what others believe. TO this end, a lot of the best athletes in at the gym typically do a LOT of things OTHER than the programmed work-outs, in addition to them.

[Mr. Goodtimes]

Full disclosure, I am a Crossfit trainer.

To me it sounds like you discovered what discovered a long time ago. Top level Crossfit Athletes don't just do Crossfit as we know it today. There are a lot of shitty Crossfit gyms out there now says, and some good ones. Even when you program good stuff, you can only cram so much into a one hour session, and with the huge influx of people interested in Crossfit gyms, you have to create workouts that cater to the lowest common denominator, which is why many gyms offer customized programming for more advanced athletes.

Crossfit has changed over the years because of this influx. The workouts that would be appropriate for an advanced level athlete are dangerous for a beginner, and workouts that are safe for a beginner won't stimulate an advanced level athlete.

Most Crossfit gyms lack a strength component to they're programming, which is a critical flaw as everything is strength based.

I use Wendler 5/3/1 for my strength training and I program all of my workouts with a strength component and a conditioning component. I also work in some body building stuff at the end. This makes for a well rounded program, which is what Crossfit is based on and where it really came from.






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[WS6]

Full disclosure, I am a Crossfit trainer.

To me it sounds like you discovered what discovered a long time ago. Top level Crossfit Athletes don't just do Crossfit as we know it today. There are a lot of shitty Crossfit gyms out there now says, and some good ones. Even when you program good stuff, you can only cram so much into a one hour session, and with the huge influx of people interested in Crossfit gyms, you have to create workouts that cater to the lowest common denominator, which is why many gyms offer customized programming for more advanced athletes.

Crossfit has changed over the years because of this influx. The workouts that would be appropriate for an advanced level athlete are dangerous for a beginner, and workouts that are safe for a beginner won't stimulate an advanced level athlete.

Most Crossfit gyms lack a strength component to they're programming, which is a critical flaw as everything is strength based.

I use Wendler 5/3/1 for my strength training and I program all of my workouts with a strength component and a conditioning component. I also work in some body building stuff at the end. This makes for a well rounded program, which is what Crossfit is based on and where it really came from.






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My gym has a weightlifting/strength component, as you see from my graphs. However, as you also can see from my graphs, even though I do the RX work-outs, and show up pretty darn faithfully, it has not impacted me in a notably positive way except on lifts that I previously had little training in.

I heard the ruckus, I went and did a year of it. I feel like I could have done better, sure, but I tackled it with the same intensity (more, probably) than I have my other fitness endevours, and I feel that unless you are a total noob to lifting, you NEED TO SUPPLEMENT IT!

I came. I saw. I learned.

It's easy to talk something up, or to talk crap, but it's not as easy to go and do it yourself before opening your suck. That is what I did. I went and did it myself, and became my own expert on it. I am not the expert on it. I am not YOUR expert on it. But I am MY expert on it, and that's what counts to ME.

I still plan to incorporate it as I said, and learned a lot of good stuff! but it is not a bread and butter for me anymore. More like the butter on the bread. A little something different and fun to make the meal better.

[WillBrink]

Crossfit has been, and continues to be a useful tool in my tool-box...but it is NOT the entire tool-box like I initially thought, and what others believe. TO this end, a lot of the best athletes in at the gym typically do a LOT of things OTHER than the programmed work-outs, in addition to them.

Full disclosure, I am a Crossfit trainer.

To me it sounds like you discovered what discovered a long time ago. Top level Crossfit Athletes don't just do Crossfit as we know it today. There are a lot of shitty Crossfit gyms out there now says, and some good ones. Even when you program good stuff, you can only cram so much into a one hour session, and with the huge influx of people interested in Crossfit gyms, you have to create workouts that cater to the lowest common denominator, which is why many gyms offer customized programming for more advanced athletes.

Crossfit has changed over the years because of this influx. The workouts that would be appropriate for an advanced level athlete are dangerous for a beginner, and workouts that are safe for a beginner won't stimulate an advanced level athlete.

Most Crossfit gyms lack a strength component to they're programming, which is a critical flaw as everything is strength based.

I use Wendler 5/3/1 for my strength training and I program all of my workouts with a strength component and a conditioning component. I also work in some body building stuff at the end. This makes for a well rounded program, which is what Crossfit is based on and where it really came from.

All good intel. The best article out there on the pros/cons of CF I have seen is via Mark Rippetoe. If you don't know about Mark, he was on the ground floor of CF and was their go to strength coach early on and an early proponent. He distanced himself from CF after seeing the nonsense associated with it and his good name and rep tarnished a bit...He's writing from the insiders POV, and doing so as a generally well regarded S&C coach so he know's the differences and the issues of which he speaks.

CrossFit: The Good, Bad, and the Ugly

[WS6]

All good intel. The best article out there on the pros/cons of CF I have seen is via Mark Rippetoe. If you don't know about Mark, he was on the ground floor of CF and was their go to strength coach early on and an early proponent. He distanced himself from CF after seeing the nonsense associated with it and his good name and rep tarnished a bit...He's writing from the insiders POV, and doing so as a generally well regarded S&C coach so he know's the differences and the issues of which he speaks.

CrossFit: The Good, Bad, and the Ugly

https://www.t-nation.com/training/cr...d-and-the-ugly

TY for links. I know OF Mr. Rippetoe, but have not read up on his works as much as I should have. That said, I heard good and bad about CF, but hearing and reading is not the same as DOING. I wanted to DO, and so I did. Would I do it again? Sure. But I wouldn't JUST do CF. I think it offers very good tools, and plan to continue using them, but an entire tool box, it is not, as I said above.

Do I have an emotional attachment to it? Sure. I spent a year of my time and money on it. Am I going to deny the facts of my own personal experience? No. I have an ego, but I also have the ability to distance myself from it and be objective, which is what I tried very hard to do in my OP.

I am sure Digital Damage will enjoy this thread immensely! lol

[WillBrink]

TY for links. I know OF Mr. Rippetoe, but have not read up on his works as much as I should have. That said, I heard good and bad about CF, but hearing and reading is not the same as DOING. I wanted to DO, and so I did. Would I do it again? Sure. But I wouldn't JUST do CF. I think it offers very good tools, and plan to continue using them, but an entire tool box, it is not, as I said above.

Do I have an emotional attachment to it? Sure. I spent a year of my time and money on it. Am I going to deny the facts of my own personal experience? No. I have an ego, but I also have the ability to distance myself from it and be objective, which is what I tried very hard to do in my OP.

I am sure Digital Damage will enjoy this thread immensely! lol

You offered a good write up of the pros/cons of CF for you. I added to that with an excellent article on the pros/cons of CF in general, by someone who know the topic and knows CF better than anyone else, which parallels your results fairly well it seems.

[WS6]

You offered a good write up of the pros/cons of CF for you. I added to that with an excellent article on the pros/cons of CF in general, by someone who know the topic and knows CF better than anyone else, which parallels your results fairly well it seems.

Thank-you. It did serve as a rheostat for me, and I am glad to have the links and additional information offered!

[strambo]

Well, what are your goals? Why do you workout? Looks like your strength and body comp was pretty good going in, so not surprising it didn't change much (since you didn't change your diet).

The last charts with the 1mi and 800m runs I think gives the best glimpse into what the year did for you and it looks very significant. I bet now, as compared to a year ago, your anaerobic fitness and work capacity has went through the roof. If you were to get into a fight, SHTF event etc. this is huge. I think you are focusing on, and measuring, the wrong things to show what a year of CF did for you. If you want to graph your squats, then powerlift for a year. Getting leaner (since you already have workouts dialed) is going to be all about nutrition.

*I don't do CF, have never set foot in a "box," so I'm not defending it BTW.

[WS6]

Well, what are your goals? Why do you workout? Looks like your strength and body comp was pretty good going in, so not surprising it didn't change much (since you didn't change your diet).

The last charts with the 1mi and 800m runs I think gives the best glimpse into what the year did for you and it looks very significant. I bet now, as compared to a year ago, your anaerobic fitness and work capacity has went through the roof. If you were to get into a fight, SHTF event etc. this is huge. I think you are focusing on, and measuring, the wrong things to show what a year of CF did for you. If you want to graph your squats, then powerlift for a year. Getting leaner (since you already have workouts dialed) is going to be all about nutrition.

*I don't do CF, have never set foot in a "box," so I'm not defending it BTW.

I have been doing my normal strength training the last few days. I have not noticed any improvement in my need to rest between heavy sets. That said, I typically was making significant strength and leanness gains during my other method of training. We will see how things pan out in the future. My diet has remained decent and not changed in many years.

[WS6]

It's been 4 months, and I'd like to update. I have gained roughly 5# of body weight since I quite doing crossfit, and my lifts have drastically (in my humble opinion) improved. You can see what I was doing at my best in CF in my first post. My best back squat in CF was 375#, and my best bench was 255#. This week, I maxed on back squat, and on bench. It's a raging bitch to keep people from touching my bar when I bench, but this guy swears he didn't put any help into it, and I didn't feel any either. I'll compensate for him making a grab at it by saying I did my own lift-off and racking. My back-squat, I know, some people say I didn't go low enough (I am in that camp), and some say unless you're competing, I went plenty low enough to count the lift as someone who does not compete/lift for a living. I'm just saying for all you nay-sayers out there, yes, I wish I had gone a touch lower, no, I won't argue that it was a competition legal lift, either, but then, I wasn't wearing any of that support shit or elevated heel shoes that I could have in competition...

All in all, I am very pleased with what the last 4 months NOT doing Crossfit have done for me. I have followed similar dietary patterns as before, and my only real change was dumping crossfit, and doing Wendler 5/3/1 with supplemental exercises like cable cross, push-ups, and KB swings for conditioning, along with 45min of cardio on the arc trainer a day. I would also say I've been sick with upper respiratory crap, including the flu, likely RSV, and a cold (about 3 periods of defined sickness) in the last 4 months, and when I'm sick, I still lift, but I slack on cardio, and my diet goes to absolute shit.

Also, my strict OH press is up from 155 to 165.


*I watched in slow motion, and noted my arse leave the bench. I never knew. THIS is why I film max lifts. I get to cut them all up and dissect what went right, what went wrong. Maxes are never pretty or perfect.


*I would also note that I have grown a beard. This is likely responsible for at least some of my increased strength. Having it trimmed yesterday did not net any losses as far as I could tell, though I plan on being very careful about taking too much off at a time.