Crossfit Rebuttal

I'm going to start this blog off with warning you all that I'm pissed off. I'm going to try to keep my cool, but we'll see how this goes.

Many of you know for the past 6 months I have been doing Crossfit. In recent, many people have been posting an article about bad coaching and therefore, how terrible Crossfit is. It's starting to bug me only because it's not how Crossfit is at all. The article discusses how it's all about beating the clock, lifting as heavy as possible, and using terrible form. All I can say is that I feel sorry for the people at the box that guy went to. Sure there are boxes out there like that and it's terrible. I am beyond grateful that the box I attend is not like that. It now seems like people believe that it is fact that all cross fitters want to do is be crazy with bad form. That's not true at all.

What my box is like...
We have a coaches for every class and most times than not we have two if we have more than 10 people. All of them are Crossfit certified as well as went to school or have been in the fitness world so long they might as well have.
There are 5 classes for the WOD (workout of the day) and a fundamental class that is offered twice a week and must be taken twice before you can even start the regular WOD classes. We introduce ourselves to everyone each class so everyone at least knows each others name. We become friends, family, a community.

Class....
Class starts off with a really good stretch/warm up, using both static and dynamic stretching. We spend the next half an hour(ish) doing a strength training of some sort. We use little to no weight to ensure that we have good form before we are allowed to start building up. Some days we even start with a PVC pipe before we are allowed to even get a bar. The coach monitors all of our forms and makes adjustments. We are then allowed to get a barbell and add weight in small increments until we reach a point where are form is no longer right. We stop at that weight. If you can't do a certain weight you don't just keep doing it, which seem to be the case in some other boxes and gyms, you stop. Train safe.

Next we move onto the WOD which changes everyday to keep things varied and interesting. They can include anything from running to oly lifting to other cardio activities. An RX weight is given but again you are forced to use a weight that you can do with good form. (My coach has taken weight off my bar mid-WOD) WODs generally range between 8 to 12 minutes and rarely do we have ones that go any longer than 16 unless it is a partner WOD, which is when you have a partner, split the work, and have time to rest during switch offs. There are modifications for everything and if you can't do the modification, they give you an alternate exercise to replace it. I.e. if you can't doing a rope climb, you do a burpee, box jump, jumping pull up. Can't do a box jump? Just step up. Coaches walk around to motivate you and to ensure that your form is good and you are using the appropriate weight....again my coach has taken off weight. We always cheer for the last person and motivate them to finish the work out because again we are family. At the end of the WOD, after we clean up everything, almost all of us sit around foam rolling and drinking water or protein shakes.

What you need to know about me....
I'm a girl. 5'2" 114#
I have been crossfitting for 6 months and I've only ever walked out of the box with a couple bruises and only have ever irritated injuries that I got before I ever knew Crossfit existed. I now eat 85% Paleo....can't give up chocolate, which yes, is probably 15% of my diet lol. And I hate to say this but to make my point I'm going to go into it. Before I started Crossfit, I didn't eat. I wouldn't for days then one day I would binge eat to the point where I would almost throw up. I hated my body, I hated myself. I was disgusting, pathetic, and depressed. There would be days I wouldn't get out of bed...literally days and the only thing I would get up for was to pee. I never worked out and would stay up until all hours of the night. I was on sleeping pills and would take more than the recommended amount just to get a couple hours of sleep. My whole life was a mess.

Then Crossfit came along. I understand now that seeing bones doesn't make you beautiful. Fitting into a size 00 doesn't make you beautiful. Having sunken eyes and slapping on make up to cover it up does not make you beautiful. Eating makes you beautiful. Sleeping makes you beautiful. Getting strong makes you beautiful. I'm sure some other form of exercise could have helped me, but it wouldn't have given me the family I need to help wake me up from a false reality. I count my blessings everyday with the great coaches I have and the fact that I work in a safe box. I feel bad for all of you who don't, but that doesn't make this whole franchise a joke. It doesn't mean that Crossfit destroys your body. It does if you train poorly. That one guys post breaks my heart because he is bashing the one thing that saved my life. It's not about beating the clock, bad form, and lifting too heavy of weights. It's about growing, learning, and understanding exactly what you are capable of.

Thank you Crossfit 696 for giving me everything you have and being everything I need.