why the hatred?

Alf Veedersane

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

I'd blame that on the event organisers, every competitor is at the back of the platform and has weights stacked directly behind them. Which is a huge no-no to anybody who has done Olympic weightlifting.

Exactly. At best, bemusing. As it happened, it proved pretty catastrophic. Just saying it wasn't a direct result of the sport.

Cuddlesworth

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Exactly. At best, bemusing. As it happened, it proved pretty catastrophic. Just saying it wasn't a direct result of the sport.

Yep, the point I was trying to get across was that Events like this can be run really badly, have nothing to do with crossfit as a brand but still contribute to the hatred of crossfit as a whole.

Mellor

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

I'd blame that on the event organisers, every competitor is at the back of the platform and has weights stacked directly behind them. Which is a huge no-no to anybody who has done Olympic weightlifting.

Wasn't that something that happened in training?
Regardless I do t see how it was from an over the top WOD as claimed.


Edit: unless we're talking about different incidents of course

Transform

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

I watched a youtube video a while back of a small crowd in the US who decided to do a "competition", in which they had WOD like segments that included strict pull ups. They were very specific about the strict part as they didn't like the crossfit methodology. The comments afterwards were hilarious as what was and wasn't a "kip", when none of the contestants were really doing strict after the first few. I've been searching for it since but I watch a lot of youtube videos, since it was a good example of why crossfit kips.

Kipping is effectively a product of including body-weight movements into a competitive environment. And it doesn't really come from crossfit, its a natural progression to making the movement easier and it was taken from gymnastics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vhhkhB4S0E

If you say do 20 reps of pull ups, people will kip. So either waste your time, or embrace it. But it does make crossfit look stupid in videos and is a easy source for online bashing, adding to its bad reputation in the usual gym bro circles.



Yep, its more of a strong man workout. But its a very clear and obvious example of bad coaching in a crossfit environment. Most people in that video should never have been exposed to that exercise or weight. Its not appropriate to their skill or strength level. It was also a top ranked video for the search term for a long period.


Back to the OP's point, fail videos have always trended well on youtube and "Gym fails" was replaced with "Crossfit Fails" a few years back. As a brand or methodology that's a serious problem but in recent times that has trended back to gym fails..

How many crossfit gyms can you identify in the below videos. That you know are crossfit, not just strength and conditioning gyms, Olympic clubs or people just dicking around in normal gyms or at home. Or competitions that are sponsored by crossfit. Even most Irish competitions are not actual crossfit events and are run by whoever wants to run them and are not restricted to crossfit only branded gyms entering.

I like this one the best, its the OC throwdown. This is from a competition in the US done by a crowd that have nothing to do with crossfit(but aimed towards them) and is pretty much hated by most of the gyms in the US at this point. A games competitor was paralysed with their stupid over the top WODs and another person broke their back. And yet when this event was reported on in the media and by fitness bloggers, it was a crossfit event in which this happened.

There is also(at this point) a pretty strong case that the crossfit band was deliberately damaged through the release of "the Devor study" in 2013. The report claimed that crossfit had a higher rate of injury then other branded sports, which was parroted heavily by the media and bloggers. I read the report, its methodology seemed pretty circumspect. The long and short of it is that crossfit claimed the report was fabricated so that the organisation would not be considered for valuable military fitness contracts over the incumbent NSCA. They sued afterwards and it looks like they are going to win, there seems to be a lot of evidence against the writers of the report and the NSCA to validate crossfits claims. I'd be interested to see what that might cost in the end for the NSCA.


All of this over the years causes the image to suffer. When the conversation crops up in the pub, the topic will tend to be based around a perception rather then a specific and well thought out argument with points and counter points. And most of that perception comes from fragments of news reports, headlines and half watched videos online. Plus the fact that crossfitters never shut up about crossfit.

There have been good points though, its brought a new level of awareness back to gymnastics and Olympic lifting, regardless of them seeming to hate it. I think its the main cause for the resurgence of proper free weights coming back into Irish gyms and the opening of large scale strength and conditioning gyms as well. Its been a large part of the mobility movement, which is pretty important for us as a whole.

good summary but a minor correction - NO event outside of the crossfit games can be labeled a crossfit event.

Ive also a huge problem with all the 'scaled' events popping up all over the place which is just a way to get people to pay to do a competition. If organized well with safety in mind then thats fine but there should be no max effort lifts at such events e.g. max snatch complex etc

Cuddlesworth

Mellor wrote: »

Wasn't that something that happened in training?
Regardless I do t see how it was from an over the top WOD as claimed.


Edit: unless we're talking about different incidents of course

Nah, your right the guy that broke his back did it in on the Hurdles WOD highlighted in that video.

Keven Odgar was paralysed in another competition doing heavy snatches.

I was just using the event as a example that when a bad thing happens that isn't related to crossfit, it has the crossfit name attached to it. There were criticisms as to how the events were handled, the space given to athletes, the time-frames between workouts and the inclusion of things like the hurdles in the past, might be better now. Although they don't do peg boards, so they have that going for them.

Transform

Mellor wrote: »

Wasn't that something that happened in training?
Regardless I do t see how it was from an over the top WOD as claimed.


Edit: unless we're talking about different incidents of course

no it was defo at an event that had lots of top crossfitters attending (NOT crossfit event technically) and doing the snatch

Mellor

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

Keven Odgar was paralysed in another competition doing heavy snatches.

Transform wrote: »

no it was defo at an event that had lots of top crossfitters attending (NOT crossfit event technically) and doing the snatch

That's the one I was thinking of. I remember the video. I honestly thought it was just in training. From memory, it looked like he was just snatching in a random spot in the gym

Brian?

There a lot of great things about the Crossfit methodology. Brilliant stuff altogether.

It's the cultishness that drives me up the wall. The winner of the games is the "fittest man on the planet". He's perfectly adapted to crossfit alright. I'd like to see him win Le Tour de France.

I also don't like the reps for speed idea with Oly lifts.

RTighe

Big thanks to all for answering.



As a relative newbie to fitness and weights it's interesting for me to see others perspectives on particular areas and also to have the
"crossfit" attitude more or less debunked.

thanks again

Rob

MightyMandarin

Brian? wrote: »

The winner of the games is the "fittest man on the planet". He's perfectly adapted to crossfit alright. I'd like to see him win Le Tour de France.

I think if we're going to name anybody as the 'fittest on the planet' it has to be a road cyclist. The punishment endured for 3 weeks on Grand Tours is just beyond gruelling, and what's more is that most do it more than once every summer, like the Giro and Vuelta along with the Tour, in addition to all the other small tours and classics aswell.

COH

Pffffft...I'd like to see a Tour de France winner win the Crossfit Games.

Or a powerlifter win Wimbledon

Or a lion tamer pilot a space shuttle

MightyMandarin

COH wrote: »

Pffffft...I'd like to see a Tour de France winner win the Crossfit Games.

Or a powerlifter win Wimbledon

Or a lion tamer pilot a space shuttle

None of those sports require the level of 'fitness' required by road cyclists, thus none, especially crossfit, should award the title of 'fittest on earth' imo.

Zillah

What about mega endurance runners? The kind that spend three months crossing the Sahara.

Lunatics.

RTighe

Zillah wrote: »

What about mega endurance runners? The kind that spend three months crossing the Sahara.

Lunatics.

http://inscription.marathondessables.com/default.aspx

these guys!!!!

Transform

Brian? wrote: »

There a lot of great things about the Crossfit methodology. Brilliant stuff altogether.

It's the cultishness that drives me up the wall. The winner of the games is the "fittest man on the planet". He's perfectly adapted to crossfit alright. I'd like to see him win Le Tour de France.

I also don't like the reps for speed idea with Oly lifts.

as someone thats been doing crossfit longer than most now i honestly dont see ANY cultishness. What i see are the average person doing crossfit buying everything with reebok labeled on it and thinking they're elite because they can kick into handstand and do kipping pullups.

MightyMandarin

Zillah wrote: »

What about mega endurance runners? The kind that spend three months crossing the Sahara.

Lunatics.

Those lads have incredible stamina and endurance and are without doubt some of the fittest on the planet, but I think one has to account for the distance and speed which they cover aswell. Most stages of the Tour are between 150-200km, some longer on flat and shorter on mountains. The speed those guys cycle at (typically between 40-50km/h on flat), notwithstanding the distance they cover with little rest and recovery, is still remarkable.

I've been to 2 stages, one on the flat and one in the mountains and even with 7-8% incline on the road those guys still ****ing fly past.

Personally I think the speed they cover makes them more worthy of the title imo.

Reps4jesus

MightyMandarin wrote: »

I've been to 2 stages, one on the flat and one in the mountains and even with 7-8% incline on the road those guys still ****ing fly past.

Personally I think the speed they cover makes them more worthy of the title imo.

meh, we could all do that if we were cycling antelope blood into our bodies like they are.....
But truthfully on ped's or not, wouldnt argue with you that these guys have to be very close to the top in terms of endurance

Alf Veedersane

Not too many cyclists have won Ireland's Fittest Family.

QED.

whippet

I keep telling my dog he's the 'best dog in the world' ... deep down I know he isn't .. but I like to keep up the charade to keep up the spirits at home

DylanJM

I think the whole who's fittest thing is pretty pointless. I mean what even defines fit? It seems endurance is always used as the defining attribute. What about strength and mobility? I think they are pretty fundamental attributes in determining fitness. Is someone that can cycle 150km in a day but can only squat 50kg more fit than someone that can cycle 50km and squat 150kg? What about the middle person that cycles 100km and squats 100kg?

shutup

Its plain stupid to compare sports.

No matter what somebody achieves there will always be something they cant do. They will always be a fan of another sport there to point this out.
Just enjoy which ever sport you enjoy for what it is.

The highlights of my sporting calander are Tour De France, Vuelta, Football World Cup or Euros and Intriguing MMA fights. It makes no difference to me if a gym head points out how little these guys squat or an athletics fans points out how slow their 100m sprint is.

Anyway, why is it people hate crossfit again?

Mr. CooL ICE

shutup wrote: »

Anyway, why is it people hate crossfit again?

Because youtube

Cuddlesworth

Transform wrote: »

What i see are the average person doing crossfit buying everything with reebok labeled on it and thinking they're elite because they can kick into handstand and do kipping pullups.

I think you should start thinking about things from their perspective. In my head, being able to kick into a handstand or do a unassisted pullup(ignoring kipping) puts you at least into the top 10% of the adult population once you start heading past 30. For most people who have been introduced to fitness through crossfit and who are surrounded by obese people in all manners of their life, in their eyes they have suddenly become the elite.

I work in IT though, so I might be biased in terms of my experiences. The only time weight becomes a issue to the people around me is when their belly becomes too big to fit comfortably between them and their desk, but not big enough that they can't just rest their keyboard on it. But you are heavily involved in the fitness industry and I'm assuming that a disproportionate percentage of your social circle is in that top 10%.

Brian?

shutup wrote: »

Its plain stupid to compare sports.

No matter what somebody achieves there will always be something they cant do. They will always be a fan of another sport there to point this out.
Just enjoy which ever sport you enjoy for what it is.

The highlights of my sporting calander are Tour De France, Vuelta, Football World Cup or Euros and Intriguing MMA fights. It makes no difference to me if a gym head points out how little these guys squat or an athletics fans points out how slow their 100m sprint is.

Anyway, why is it people hate crossfit again?

Just to be clear, I'm not saying cyclists are the fittest sportsmen in the world. I don't think you can say anyone is. It's stupid when crossfit do it.

drdeadlift

Transform wrote: »

now that REALLY made me laugh!!!!

on a side note you will see more people wanting to join groups and group training as many people have lost connection with others and to become part of something bigger than themselves.

Joe rogan raised this in one of his videos,intersting stuff.

Transform

drdeadlift wrote: »

Joe rogan raised this in one of his videos,intersting stuff.

im seeing it more and more as people move away from thinking connection on social media is real.

Transform

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

I think you should start thinking about things from their perspective. In my head, being able to kick into a handstand or do a unassisted pullup(ignoring kipping) puts you at least into the top 10% of the adult population once you start heading past 30. For most people who have been introduced to fitness through crossfit and who are surrounded by obese people in all manners of their life, in their eyes they have suddenly become the elite.

I work in IT though, so I might be biased in terms of my experiences. The only time weight becomes a issue to the people around me is when their belly becomes too big to fit comfortably between them and their desk, but not big enough that they can't just rest their keyboard on it. But you are heavily involved in the fitness industry and I'm assuming that a disproportionate percentage of your social circle is in that top 10%.

true enough as 60% of the pop are overweight or obese so fat acceptance is the norm and its quite sad to think that we now have greater access to fitness facilities than ever before but willpower is still harder to control for many.

Ive no problem at all and think its brilliant that people believe they're elite

im just uncomfortable that people ACT and SWAGGER around like they believe they're going to regionals or the games because they've been doing crossfit for a year or came 9th in some local small crossfit type competition.

As already mentioned there's good and bad to ALL aspects of fitness and that includes activities like yoga which you think would be non competitive.

I do crossfit for me and try to help people get better at it without getting injured from junk metcons and poorly managed programming.