So who here does Crossfit? (please no Crossfit haters... it's played out)

[Jer]

FIFY

I'm not a crossfit hater, in fact if I could afford it, and had the time, I'd probably give it a shot. With that said, you made some pretty bold and negative assessments towards "Gym goers" that just aren't true everywhere. I go to arguably the "snobiest" Gym in the area, and yet 90% of the folks I'm around are as friendly as can be amidst busting their asses working out. It's not social hour, the only talking I may do is ask for a spot, in fact if you are standing around chit chatting, there are several lounge areas and a cafe for that.

Perhaps you've had some very negative experiences with gyms, but if you are working hard enough, you shouldn't really be paying attention to the guy next to you (notice I said guy...).

No idea what the FIFY is because I'm not re-reading my entire post to find it.

Yes, I realize I made some bold and negative assessments but they're not blind. I've lifted on and off for a couple of decades now all over the country at various gym settings and you must lift at a unicorn if it's completely impervious to everything I mentioned because the attitude is sewn into the weight lifting lifestyle. It's not just a few bad apples and if you found the unicorn then I would say that you have the exception to the rule. The more serious the gym members are the more this attitude exists. Everyone has to be the baddest MoF on the face of the earth even if their PR on bench is less than I warm up with. Like being a bad ass has anything to do with being a stand-offish prick or something yet most feel this way.

Thank you for proving my point by saying it's not social hour. I have NEVER been the type to socialize at the gym and now I can plainly see why & that's the type of person that goes to both types of gyms. I get a better workout in the hour I'm at Crossfit then I have EVER got at the gym even if I was there for twice that time. If you aren't watching the guy next to you for motivation then you're not doing it right. Some of the guys at the Crossfit gym can do awe-inspiring things and that's more motivation.

If you lift weights and it works for you that's great. Seriously. In a nation of fat and lazy turds I commend you for doing something to not fit that. That worked for me once and at one point when I had been doing it for years seriously and I was 225lbs at less than 10% bf I felt like I was in the best shape of my life. And I was. That being said, I now realize that this method is just better. In about every way you can think of other than maybe cost. When it came time to work out again the idea of going back to a traditional gym setting off-put me and almost kept me from getting back into before I started researching Crossfit. I had heard good things and I'm glad I didn't listen to my weight lifting buddies who all bagged on it because they were wrong. It's a simple as that. It's been amazing and I can't wait to go each time. It's not like weight lifting where I needed some sort of 'pre-workout' concoction and some motivating angry music to get me to go and some nights I dreaded going.... I actually ENJOY Crossfit. It's like training to play football. Practice & training sucks but actually playing football is a fucking blast. Crossfit is like playing football in this aspect. You aren't going to simply move some weights around you are going to compete in a series of compound exercises that are set up to compete for reps, time or both. You can compete against yourself, others or both. It's really hard to explain to someone who hasn't genuinely done it before because you're trying to compare it to what you do only differently and it's not... it's an entirely new way of doing things in just about every imaginable way. The comradery is something you won't find at your typical weight lifting gym. If you found one then either your idea of comradery is different than mine or you found the unicorn.

My wife used to go to the gym with me and even though I would push her on cardio and weight lifting she never sweated. Ever. In years that we went she didn't sweat so we just assumed it was a girl thing or something. I pour with sweat even changing the TV channel so it was never difficult for me to work up a sweat. Her first Crossfit class she was sweating like me and it was a whole new world for her. She realized that no matter how hard she 'trained' at a gym it just wasn't the same. You push yourself far past any level of exertion you previously thought was possible and then you just keep going. It's bananas and I've only begun to scratch the surface of what is possible since I'm a n00b.

The biggest mistake weight lifters who discount Crossfit make IMO is they assume that those who do Crossfit are new to working out and just don't know how to workout. The opposite couldn't be more true. I've seen more ex-athletes at Crossfit then I EVER saw at the gym and I've been to some pretty serious gyms nationwide. Sure you have a few D2 football players or a one-time good wrestler throwing around high weight on deadlift, squat and bench but how winded would they be if they showed up to a Crossfit class that COMBINES strength movements with cardio for metabolic conditioning? It's a different beast entirely and I assure you I gave what you're trying to compare it to more than a fair chance to know what I'm talking about. Lifting was my life for quite a few years. I was a beast. I did 130lb dumbells for 12 reps on flat bench followed by 140lbs for 10 reps and finally 150lbs for 8+ reps on my last set. 150lbs in each hand and that's the largest dumbells the gym had otherwise who knows. I could go on but even typing out what would have been an accomplishment for most who lift I feel foolish. It seems silly to brag about such things now because it's pointless. Who cares? What good does that do you in RL? Nothing. That's the difference.

[hurley842002]

No idea what the FIFY is because I'm not re-reading my entire post to find it.

Yes, I realize I made some bold and negative assessments but they're not blind. I've lifted on and off for a couple of decades now all over the country at various gym settings and you must lift at a unicorn if it's completely impervious to everything I mentioned because the attitude is sewn into the weight lifting lifestyle. It's not just a few bad apples and if you found the unicorn then I would say that you have the exception to the rule. The more serious the gym members are the more this attitude exists. Everyone has to be the baddest MoF on the face of the earth even if their PR on bench is less than I warm up with. Like being a bad ass has anything to do with being a stand-offish prick or something yet most feel this way.

Thank you for proving my point by saying it's not social hour. I have NEVER been the type to socialize at the gym and now I can plainly see why & that's the type of person that goes to both types of gyms. I get a better workout in the hour I'm at Crossfit then I have EVER got at the gym even if I was there for twice that time. If you aren't watching the guy next to you for motivation then you're not doing it right. Some of the guys at the Crossfit gym can do awe-inspiring things and that's more motivation.

If you lift weights and it works for you that's great. Seriously. In a nation of fat and lazy turds I commend you for doing something to not fit that. That worked for me once and at one point when I had been doing it for years seriously and I was 225lbs at less than 10% bf I felt like I was in the best shape of my life. And I was. That being said, I now realize that this method is just better. In about every way you can think of other than maybe cost. When it came time to work out again the idea of going back to a traditional gym setting off-put me and almost kept me from getting back into before I started researching Crossfit. I had heard good things and I'm glad I didn't listen to my weight lifting buddies who all bagged on it because they were wrong. It's a simple as that. It's been amazing and I can't wait to go each time. It's not like weight lifting where I needed some sort of 'pre-workout' concoction and some motivating angry music to get me to go and some nights I dreaded going.... I actually ENJOY Crossfit. It's like training to play football. Practice & training sucks but actually playing football is a fucking blast. Crossfit is like playing football in this aspect. You aren't going to simply move some weights around you are going to compete in a series of compound exercises that are set up to compete for reps, time or both. You can compete against yourself, others or both. It's really hard to explain to someone who hasn't genuinely done it before because you're trying to compare it to what you do only differently and it's not... it's an entirely new way of doing things in just about every imaginable way. The comradery is something you won't find at your typical weight lifting gym. If you found one then either your idea of comradery is different than mine or you found the unicorn.

My wife used to go to the gym with me and even though I would push her on cardio and weight lifting she never sweated. Ever. In years that we went she didn't sweat so we just assumed it was a girl thing or something. I pour with sweat even changing the TV channel so it was never difficult for me to work up a sweat. Her first Crossfit class she was sweating like me and it was a whole new world for her. She realized that no matter how hard she 'trained' at a gym it just wasn't the same. You push yourself far past any level of exertion you previously thought was possible and then you just keep going. It's bananas and I've only begun to scratch the surface of what is possible since I'm a n00b.

The biggest mistake weight lifters who discount Crossfit make IMO is they assume that those who do Crossfit are new to working out and just don't know how to workout. The opposite couldn't be more true. I've seen more ex-athletes at Crossfit then I EVER saw at the gym and I've been to some pretty serious gyms nationwide. Sure you have a few D2 football players or a one-time good wrestler throwing around high weight on deadlift, squat and bench but how winded would they be if they showed up to a Crossfit class that COMBINES strength movements with cardio for metabolic conditioning? It's a different beast entirely and I assure you I gave what you're trying to compare it to more than a fair chance to know what I'm talking about. Lifting was my life for quite a few years. I was a beast. I did 130lb dumbells for 12 reps on flat bench followed by 140lbs for 10 reps and finally 150lbs for 8+ reps on my last set. 150lbs in each hand and that's the largest dumbells the gym had otherwise who knows. I could go on but even typing out what would have been an accomplishment for most who lift I feel foolish. It seems silly to brag about such things now because it's pointless. Who cares? What good does that do you in RL? Nothing. That's the difference.

I'll narrow it down for you...

"I can say w/o a shadow of a doubt having done that for years that this is better way FOR ME."

Perhaps you are right Jer, maybe all the ass hats do exist at my gym, and maybe I'm just so focused on MY success, and what I'VE got going on, that I don't worry about what anyone else is doing. I don't need to watch the guy next to me to get my motivation, I look at the pounds I lifted or the time/distance I ran in the previous session, and I beat it. Thank you for showing me the light.

[Jer]

I'll narrow it down for you...

"I can say w/o a shadow of a doubt having done that for years that this is better way FOR ME."

Perhaps you are right Jer, maybe all the ass hats do exist at my gym, and maybe I'm just so focused on MY success, and what I'VE got going on, that I don't worry about what anyone else is doing. I don't need to watch the guy next to me to get my motivation, I look at the pounds I lifted or the time/distance I ran in the previous session, and I beat it. Thank you for showing me the light.

Why do you insist on posting in threads you obviously have no interest in?

[hurley842002]

Why do you insist on posting in threads you obviously have no interest in?

I do have an interest in crossfit, I just can't afford it. I never said anything negative about crossfit, just your attitude towards non crossfiters. But alas, it's your thread so I shouldn't say anything that goes against your posts....

[Jer]

I do have an interest in crossfit, I just can't afford it. I never said anything negative about crossfit, just your attitude towards non crossfiters. But alas, it's your thread so I shouldn't say anything that goes against your posts....

You keep saying 'I'm interested but I can't afford it' and yet you have nothing positive to say about it that would indicate this is indeed factual. You also feel the need to turn even innocent things I say that go against what you think into attacks that need defense. So far your biggest problem is that you think I'm bagging on weight lifting and weight lifters and yet I have done no such thing. I've posted my PERSONAL OPINION BASED ON YEARS (DECADES?) OF FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE. Not really sure how that's open for debate but debate away if you must. Not everything on internet forums is a hotly contested debate.

Have you done Crossfit personally to be able to speak on types of working out from first-hand experience? So far, doesn't seem like you have so I'm not sure how you can take either side in the conversation anyway. If you had, you might start to have an idea what I'm actually talking about instead of blindly assuming I have no idea what I'm talking about instead of trying to turn it into a ePeen measuring contest when I specifically asked for this thread to no devolve into that.

[hurley842002]

You keep saying 'I'm interested but I can't afford it' and yet you have nothing positive to say about it that would indicate this is indeed factual. You also feel the need to turn even innocent things I say that go against what you think into attacks that need defense. So far your biggest problem is that you think I'm bagging on weight lifting and weight lifters and yet I have done no such thing. I've posted my PERSONAL OPINION BASED ON YEARS (DECADES?) OF FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE. Not really sure how that's open for debate but debate away if you must. Not everything on internet forums is a hotly contested debate.

Have you done Crossfit personally to be able to speak on types of working out from first-hand experience? So far, doesn't seem like you have so I'm not sure how you can take either side in the conversation anyway. If you had, you might start to have an idea what I'm actually talking about instead of blindly assuming I have no idea what I'm talking about instead of trying to turn it into a ePeen measuring contest when I specifically asked for this thread to no devolve into that.

You are turning this into something it isn't, I don't need proof of anything as far as crossfit is concerned, because I never said anything disputing your opinion on crossfit.

I must be extremely bored, because as long as I've been frequenting this forum, I should know by now, you can't go against "Jer's" opinion on anything.