I love Crossfit, but... because of it I have 2 herniated discs in my neck and an aching lower back. I love it as a sport, but I'm starting to doubt it's "healthy" for the common, non-elite athlete, like myself.

I realize you shouldn't get hurt if you have correct form, but it's not like I don't try for the best form possible. Pretty much all of my Crossfit friends have hurt themselves, some seriously.

Furthermore, working until you collapse, pass out or puke is kind of glorified by the Crossfit culture, which doesn't seem healthy. I'm conflicted because I love the community, but not the work or the culture. I feel it's way to dialed up for elite athletes. What do you think?

CrossFit is by far the best, most functional form of exercise, IF, and that's if a BIG if, you're under great instruction. I was very fortunate to go to CrossFitLA where Andy, the owner, had been teaching CF for over 7 years when I joined (now 10 years), and he worked directly with Glassman, so he knew all the fundamentals.

I would say north of 50%, if not north of 75% CF gyms are under qualified to teach O-lifting, which is where most CF injuries come from.

At CFLA, nobody was ever pushed to puke, it was all about scale, and once you reached a point of comfort 3-6 months in, they would let you push yourself beyond your limits, otherwise, they kept challenging me to lower my weights, reps, etc. to proper levels.

I could keep going, so..

Here's what I think is the 2nd problem with CF...coming shortly...

The most prevalent CF injuries are shoulder injuries, which are caused by OH (overhead) movements (snatch, OH squat, etc.), BUT I'm not so sure what's "functional" about OH movements, while they do test your stability and flexibility, not sure how you would use them in real life!

So, with great instruction, and no OH movements, I think CF is the best.

Here comes the onslaught...or not :)

Good comments Omid!

Some context:
I have a 4 month old with colic who isn't sleeping, which means I'm not sleeping. The only Crossfit class I can hit at my local box is 5:45am, and right now, that's not an option for me. So, I've been hitting a regular gym in the city during the afternoon. I'm lifting and playing basketball. It's way more "casual" that Crossfit, but I feel great, minus my lingering injuries from Crossfit. (My elbow hasn't been right since I worked for, and got, my first muscle up)

Also, re: functional movements. Right now I carry a baby carrier around a lot. It's like bicep curling all day, but that's not "functional" according to Crossfit, right?

Again, despite the injuries, I love the sport!

My coaches have never pushed me to puke, but when Crossfit got started several years ago (when there were no affiliates, everyone did the WOD on crossfit.com), you weren't a real Crossfitter until you met "pukie the clown". Really, there were shirts for sale with pukie on them.

At the NorCal Regionals, I heard several people clamoring over how hard certain athletes pushed themselves *because* they projectile vomited after an event. Ripped hands are badges of honor.

There's an underlying culture that I think promotes the wrong things, but I suppose it's up to the individual to gauge how far they push themselves.

goes back to my comment of which box do you go to...if the coaches are smart, they don't feed into any of that nonsense...at cfla, they had a pukey bucket, but it hardly ever made an appearance, and people hardly talked about it...in fact, during the baseline workout to test your ability, they would make a joke, "trust me, this is not easy, but if you want to give it all you got, go for it...those people usually end up saying hi to pukey" - the better boxes don't feed into the nonsense

Great comments Omid and Jason. I am an on and off again CrossFitter. Currently I'm "off" as I'm having trouble finding time with work, life, etc.

I feel it is important to understand that as with any physical exercise, CrossFit is what you make of it. It is up to the coaches and the individual athlete to make sure you are scaling the exercises appropriately for your skill level to avoid injury. It is also important to find the right CrossFit box for you. I was fortunate to find an AMAZING box in Hermosa Beach, CA (CrossFit South Bay -- crossfitsouthbay.com) where both the Coaches and the Athletes are really great people.

With skilled coaches and a supportive environment CrossFit can be a life changer.

Couldn't agree more with Omid. The culture of the box will dictate your experience with CrossFit. If you find yourself in an environment where puking and torn hands are encouraged (and that is not what you want), I would recommend finding a better situation.

Again, its up to you to determine what you want out of it, and find a like minded group of CrossFitters.

At the end of the day, its about accomplishing your own personal fitness goals.. whether that is just to be able to eat whatever you want, and not worry about it... or lose 10 lbs, or look good in a bathing suit, or to compete in the CrossFit games..

Worth noting, I herniated the discs in my neck by trying to jerk too much weight. There's a fine line between pushing yourself and hurting yourself, and the competitive nature of Crossfit blurs it even further.

At the box I go to, everyone has to write their times, weight, reps, etc. from the WOD on the whiteboard for everyone else to see. That's great for accountability and encouragement, but also made me push too hard on multiple occasions. I guess that's on me, and I'm fine with that. I'm not blaming Crossfit for anything, I'm just questioning if the culture is healthy given the amount of injuries that occur in the box.

CrossFit is being marketed as "The Sport of Fitness" (at least by Reebok) so as with any sport that is physical in nature, injuries and such do happen. Good coaching, practice, preparation and proper technique should help to remove some of the risk of injury just as it should in Football, Basketball and other physical sports.

Jason, I'm glad you brought up the competitive aspect. CrossFit is a competition at times. But I think an important point is that you should not be competing* against the others in your group. You should be competing against yourself. And ENCOURAGING others in your group to do their best. Just try to beat your previous PR (personal record) for a power clean by a pound. Or beat your last WOD time by a second...

* Yes, if there is another friend in the box who is comparable to you in fitness level, it is fun to compete against them, however your main competition should be yourself.

I'm a fan of CrossFit in the sense that it's beginning to popularize (now with Reebok's help) the idea that strength training can be a convenient & effective workout that someone can fit into their regular day.

I'm also a fan when, like Omid, the instruction is really awesome and a HUGE emphasis is put on proper form and the difficulty of the movements evolves over time.

But...

But I'm less of a fan because of:

- The business. The licensing business model makes CrossFit its moolah, but allows under-equipped/experienced people to universally teach "CrossFit" classes. Like any franchise model, it's extraordinarily difficult to maintain quality with that model... but here the cost is people's health in the short-term (potential injuries) and/or interest in health in the long-term (potential to have a bad experience & never try again).

- The cost. Memberships usually cost an absurd amount of money, which makes it inaccessible for a very large population of people.

- The potential for injuries. I also know a ton of friends who've been injured doing CrossFit-- and have been myself. Have a back injury (couple slightly herniated discs) like Jason and extensive experience w/ proper lift form, but still hurt myself when doing tabata squats... because it's basically impossible to maintain proper form on the 7th & 8th sets of doing as much as you can do in 20 seconds of anything.

- The marketing. It's being marketed as "for anyone" when it's clearly not and (though it depends on the box), there's little to no emphasis placed on being applicable to everyone-- with an obvious example being that CrossFit (and most boxes) post just a single WOD for everyone to do, with little to no variability. Competitiveness and the team aspect aside, which I think are for the most part great for some people, think the "one size fits all" pitch is often off-putting for beginners and females.

We've written a bunch about CrossFit on Greatist, but one article particular (greatist.com) is worthwhile read into the world of Crossfit-- and even cited on the Crossfit Wikipedia page!

From my experience, Crossfit *within a qualified gym and under trained instruction* is extremely beneficial. I've broken my back and both my shoulders (old injuries from sports and stupidity growing up), and when I did crossfit on my own, I often had trouble completing any of the lifts and had to back off for fear of injury.

Since then, however, I've joined a gym with a qualified instructor, who's been able to teach me the proper forms/etc for each workout, and as such the Crossfit methodology has been far more beneficial than any other workout program I've done (solo and under trainers).

Also...

In response to the comment about only a single WOD for everyone, while it's true that usually only one is posted, in any good gym, the instructors are able to scale/modify those WODs for your current level, ensuring that you don't hurt yourself, but also that you don't 'over compensate' and scale it down so much you lose the benefit.

Yes; absolutely good for me. I started Crossfit in February and the workouts (a.k.a. "WODs") have been very effective. Over the course of 6 months, I dropped 35 pounds and acquired muscle tone. I look forward to the workouts for the following reasons:
1. Proper lifting instruction for each exercise
2. No judgment from anyone for being an amateur lifter
3. I don’t have to think about the workout; it’s already set for me

Also, nine times out of ten, I’m scaling the WOD to cater to me; and I think that’s the beauty of Crossfit.

The one I attend has teenagers, grandmoms, cancer survivors, war heros and any and all things between.

Maybe "everyone" is too broad a term, but Crossfit covers a broad spectrum.

I've been CrossFitting for almost two years at LaLanne Fitness, and I'm injury free. In fact, doing CrossFit has dramatically increased my metabolic fitness, reversed metabolic derangement, and led me to do mobility work on my shoulders and wrists, back, and legs. I've gone from sedentary/obese to active/a little overweight. I'm nowhere near doing Rx weights or elite times, so I'm only every competing with myself. My coach @WillieMax is super-focused on correct form; he pushes me to keep working on metcons, but he never pushes me to go heavier. Part of it might be that Will has many different CrossFit and non-CrossFit certifications. Will, what certs do you have?

(1/5)
Thanks for folding me into the conversation Benji. My feelings on CrossFit and injury prevention stem from my work in coaching both group classes and 1-on-1 clients. The main, and obvious difference between the two is the amount of time that I, as a coach can watch athletes move. In the 1-on-1 setting it's 60 minutes straight. In a group class, that probably averages 15 people, maybe 2-3 total minutes per athlete. For the remainder of a class the athlete needs to make many decisions about appropriate weight and whether their body is responding properly to the movements.

(2/5)
This can be hard if 1) the gym doesn't have an on ramp program to properly introduce basic movements; squat before front squat, before overhead squat, before snatch, etc. How many of you were taught a clean before a front squat or a strict pullup before a kipp, or a plank before a pushup? And 2) if the coach isn't up to par. How many of you know what certifications your coach has been to, when was the last time they attended one, and if they continue to educate themselves? Not to boast, but since I've become a CrossFit Level 1 trainer I've gone to certifications for their Kids program, mobility, olympic lifting, gymnastics, powerlifting, and am a USAW (Oly lifting) Level 1 Sports Performance Coach.

(3/5)
Before the end of the year I will have also attended the Perform Better Functional Training Summit, Tony Blauer's SPEAR seminar, and CrossFit's Strongman and Football certifications. CrossFit CAN work for everyone, but infortunately most don't know what to look for in a gym and trainer. If you've never worked out before, joining a gym with class sizes of 15+ is probably not the best idea. If there is no system in place to learn basics that can be a recipe for disaster. The safest way to learn is to go slow. Too often people forget that the prescription is mechanics, consistency, intensity. In that order.

(4/5)
Think about learning to swim, cook, ride a bike. Anything you can do with ease now. I can't imagine your first time in a pool was swimming multiple laps, or your first cooking experience was behind the burners in a fast paced restaurant. These movements must be learned with the understanding in mind that these are funtional movements meaning they are movements for life and because of that you have your whole life to perfect them. CrossFit cannot be mastered in 6 months or even two years.

(5/5)
Coach Glassman suggests that the adaptation to CrossFit is a 10 year process. Sounds about right to me, and if you can get on board with that, and keep that in your consciousness when training, then it will be much easier to slow things down, learn them right, and prevent injury. Practice makes permanent, not perfect. Bad habits lead to injury, only practicing good habits, and repeating them religiously will prevent injury.

Will I definitely agree with just about everything you have said. I have taught CrossFit now for a little over 5 years and have owned and operated a CrossFit Affiliate. I would agree with just about every comment on this post. We are working at levels of training. We have split most of our classes into a level 1 & 2 workout with an assigned coach to each level. We have an On-Ramp program and have a Fundamentals only class that focuses on basic movements not for time.

We focus a ton on mobility and prehab movements. It's tough to say whether CrossFit injures people or if people's lifestyle predisposes them to injury and CrossFit just brings that out. We take extra time to find the people who sit all day or have been only bench pressing for years or have other lifestyle issues that could cause poor body mechanics, and make sure we correct those things before they start trying to do some of the more advanced movements.

Doesn't any of you think that crossfit is the HOT thing to do and people is charging a LOT because it's the trend and it's kinda overrated?