anyone tried CrossFit?

[tassosss]

Does anyone have experience with CrossFit?

I'm thinking of joining the one close to me because self-motivation has not been getting me running or lifting weights on my own in months. It's winter, and I'm in the midst of my winter exercise fall-off that has lasted since last winter. The local CrossFit place has a beginning class and decent reviews. I'm also aware and wary of the fact that it's kind of a cult. My question in regard to that is, is it a friendly cult? Though that might be location dependent...

My main goals are to get back in shape and strengthen my upper body: back, shoulders, and core especially. My current fitness activity is swimming once a week-ish. I've got chronic recurring pain in one knee and my neck&shoulders, which both need exercise to help manage.

Comments

[abyssinia]

Yep. Crossfit varies widely by the specific gym you go to. It can be amazing and it can be terrible. You can also participate in the cult-y parts as little or as much as you want to.

Things I love about crossfit: the varied exercise, feeling more capable/able to do whatever I ask my body to do, building well-rounded muscles helped a lot with some of my joint pain from childhood sports injuries, the supportive nature of group classes, the hands-on coaching, the possibility of modifying every exercise to fit your individual needs/fitness levels.

Things I don't love about crossfit: the cult-y part, Crossfit HQ is (my personal opinion) a bunch of dudebro assholes who are going to get an athlete killed, the inconsistency between different gyms

My first Crossfit experience I lucked out to find an AMAZING gym. I stuck with them for 2.5 years and loved them. Things they did right (in my opinion)
* have a 3 week long intro class for new people to let you adjust slowly/introduce you to movements - classes limited to 6 people
* keep a clean gym (and were otherwise highly professional in running classes)
* have an incredibly professional coaching staff that was always improving - evaluating/helping each other, getting more certifications/professional development, occasionally hiring coaches that fit skill gaps in what they had
* kept classes small (max of 12 athletes per coach)
* made sure athletes were properly warmed up for a particular class's workout (i.e.: warmup specific to that day's workout, not just a generic warm-your-muscles), always incorporated well-planned skill development
* constant communication with gym members about the theory behind why they are planning workouts who they are and other available skill development
* never tried to cram too much into a class
* emphasized proper form/pacing above all else (it wasn't "how much can you do how fast" but "how much can you do how fast provided your first priority is safety and proper form" - a good coach will stop you mid-workout to correct you, have you drop weight, etc)
* created an atmosphere where everyone felt supported and welcome regardless of ability and fitness level

I've moved a bunch since then and I'm now on crossfit gym #5 - none of them have ever been as good as the first one. Some of them were deal breakers for me - unprofessional coaching, dirty facilities, unsafe practices, encouraging people to push super hard without worrying about form and thus risking injury.

You can absolutely start crossfit at any fitness level (provided you don't have a medical issue that would make it bad) and you can absolutely modify any and all of the movements around any injury issues (a good crossfit gym will have coaches who work with you on that). A gym that has beginner classes, like you mentioned, to me is a good sign. But it things feel wrong - if they are urging you to lift heavy before you have the skill or push too far past your comfort zone, don't be afraid to say it's not right for you - the majority of people will never compete in crossfit and there is no need for them to treat it as anything beyond a generalized fitness program. I do crossfit so I can function better in my daily life, if it huts me than it failed its purpose.

Also - go in with NO ego. It will kick your ass, you will feel slow and it'll suck to have people running laps around you if you let it get to your head. I go in and pace myself to what works for me and tell myself that if I feel like I got a good workout, that's what matters - and who cares what others did.

Happy to answer any questions!

[tassosss]

Thank you for such a detailed reply! Especially the things to look out for for a good place. I'll definitely pay attention to those.

I had formal weight training with sports in college and I've done enough start-stop cycles of weight training on my own in the last couple years so I have an idea of my limits for starting things out. I fully expect to be a total newbie to this style though! Ass-kicking is definitely on the agenda :)

[lyorn]

I did this for a while in my regular gym. It was fun, I enjoyed it a lot. Unfortnately, I a) do not function well under pressure, and b) I had a shoulder mobility issue that prevented me from doing some exercises in good form, so I had to do them in the easiest variant (which was boring and I got cold, and my form was *still* bad and couldn't improve for lack of load.) I felt that the trainer *did* care that no one hurt themselves, but I was miffed because the solution was not right for me.

I did beginners' course, and I was reasonably fit and lifted a bit above beginner's level, but, yeah, shoulder issues, which was why I gave it up as "not enough fun, all in all."

At 46 I was by far the oldest in group.

I found it very important to not take things too seriously and not let the pressure get to me, but work at my own speed an ability. That might be a very necessary mental skill for Crossfit, because if you discover that it's cult-y, you can leave before it gets at you.

That was, note, not an acutal box.

(Actually dealing with my shoulder issues now (finally!), but I might never be able to get perfect form on a clean and press for body mechanics reasons, so I don't think it's worth doing it again.)

[tassosss]

Thanks for this. I definitely have the neck/shoulder and knee to consider, but I'm comfortable in my own skin and physical self that I think I'd be okay taking things at my own pace within the class. I might wait a little while though and talk to my doctor first.

[natmerc]

The variations in the WODs were great! That was a lot of fun.

It didn't work for me BUT it might work for you.

I get injured easily for a variety of reasons. The instructors were a mix of bad to decent to good in watching out for bad lifting form. Be careful. It sounds like you've got more background so you can deal with that, but you might be frustrated with people telling you to do things that could injure you.

What I couldn't deal with was the competitiveness of it. I like lifting, but when encouraged to do so in that type of PUSH-TO-THE-MAX atmosphere, I will lift past my safe point and then injure myself. If you can hold yourself back when necessary, I'd say go for it and try it out. It can be a lot of fun and the beginner's class is totally worthwhile even if you don't join afterwards.