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

[Irving]

Everything I've been doing is absolutely something I could just do at home, which is what I want. BUT, I wouldn't do it at home. I'd get tired and mad and quit.

[Jer]

So what's the deal? Haven't had an update in a while. How are things going? I've been doing a Crossfit-ish type workout a couple times a week. It's great.

Things are going good man. I'm addicted fully and have even bought more shoes since the last posts. lol

You should find a local Crossfit gym to check out if you can. I tried to do Crossfit style workouts and even did a garage workout with these same guys that now own this Crossfit that I go to. I got a good workout doing it myself and an even better workout when I would go to the garage classes these guys taught to a bunch of members. I know first hand now that the workout you get doesn't come close to what you will get from an actual Crossfit box. It's quite a big difference and the biggest part is certified trainers. People think Crossfit is expensive but it you think about what it would cost for a gym membership plus a personal trainer every time you went Crossfit will look like a bargain. Having spent years in a gym I thought I was pretty good at lifts, specifically compound lifts. My weights were high so I thought I was doing shit right. I'm amazed at how wrong I was doing so many things and having different trainers right there next to you teaching you basic movements the right way from ground up and then right next to you correcting mistakes during the workout once you combine them is priceless. It really is. That coupled withe motivation they offer makes the price tag a bargain. Hard to explain though, you just have to experience it for yourself.

Nice you're working out OOPS i mean cross fitting. But really is one work out regime superior than another? Now i can sit back and read jer rant.

The more I do it the more I can see how people become addicted. I'm not a spring chick and have done various other methods of exercise to include your typical weight lifting/cardio that most guys like to do starting at an early age. I can say w/o a shadow of a doubt having done that for years that this is better way. The atmosphere and attitude is night & day difference and I've already made new friends. People I met at gyms tend to be more lone-wolf types and as such many lack interpersonal skills. In short, there's a lot of weirdos at a regular gym and I used to wear headphones to avoid them all. Sure I would learn most of their names over time and maybe even make a few friends who I talk to outside of the gym after years of going. I've been going to this smaller & newer Crossfit gym only a matter of months and within the first few weeks I already knew dozens and dozens of people's names, we're all friendly and I have lots of people I talk out outside of the Crossfit classes now too. Genuinely good people. This also carries over to the workouts themselves which is still hard for me to wrap my mind around. At a gym you compete only against yourself. That's your motivation. With Crossfit you still have that but even better is the competition against others on your level as well as some who are more advanced to give you something to work towards. Those people who you are directly competing against cheer you on while THEY work out. It's nuts. You genuinely route those on who compete against you because it drives you harder too.

People talk about how Crossfiters are always in your face about it and I haven't experienced that. People ask me about it and I will mention it & answer any questions they have if they ask follow up questions but that's about the end of it. The negativity from those I know who are weight lifters or body builders is enormous though. I've been a member of BodyBuilding.com for years and that is just a horrible site. I haven't been there in years actually. That same attitude however is present in most body builders I know on most social media networks. From unprovoked facebook posts to health/workout threads in various gun/car/truck forums. The body builders quickly take over and their attitudes towards Crossfit is atrocious. It smacks of fear of the unknown because they think they way is the best and how dare anyone do something different than their way so they must be idiots to be made fun of. That attitude is exactly why I don't go to regular gyms anymore. The pretentiousness is palpable. I'm a strong dude genetically so I'm made for weight lifting but the attitude at ANY gym I've ever gone to across the nation is exactly the same and it doesn't spawn growth or happiness. I know that's not for everyone just like I know Crossfit isn't for everyone but for me... it fits. I'm getting in better cardiovascular shape & my body composition is improving as well. All of my movements are improving and my weights/reps are slightly increasing with things becoming easier. I know without a doubt that if I stick with this in a year I'll be in the best shape I've even been in in my life at a spry 37 years old. I hope to be able to go to local competitions some day too to drive myself even further.

Of all the unhealthy addictions in this nation I will never fault someone for being addicted to getting healthy... regardless of what method they use and I have a hard time imagining someone so petty that they can.

[hurley842002]

The more I do it the more I can see how people become addicted. I'm not a spring chick and have done various other methods of exercise to include your typical weight lifting/cardio that most guys like to do starting at an early age. I can say w/o a shadow of a doubt having done that for years that this is better way FOR ME. The atmosphere and attitude is night & day difference and I've already made new friends. People I met at gyms tend to be more lone-wolf types and as such many lack interpersonal skills. In short, there's a lot of weirdos at a regular gym and I used to wear headphones to avoid them all. Sure I would learn most of their names over time and maybe even make a few friends who I talk to outside of the gym after years of going. I've been going to this smaller & newer Crossfit gym only a matter of months and within the first few weeks I already knew dozens and dozens of people's names, we're all friendly and I have lots of people I talk out outside of the Crossfit classes now too. Genuinely good people. This also carries over to the workouts themselves which is still hard for me to wrap my mind around. At a gym you compete only against yourself. That's your motivation. With Crossfit you still have that but even better is the competition against others on your level as well as some who are more advanced to give you something to work towards. Those people who you are directly competing against cheer you on while THEY work out. It's nuts. You genuinely route those on who compete against you because it drives you harder too.

People talk about how Crossfiters are always in your face about it and I haven't experienced that. People ask me about it and I will mention it & answer any questions they have if they ask follow up questions but that's about the end of it. The negativity from those I know who are weight lifters or body builders is enormous though. I've been a member of BodyBuilding.com for years and that is just a horrible site. I haven't been there in years actually. That same attitude however is present in most body builders I know on most social media networks. From unprovoked facebook posts to health/workout threads in various gun/car/truck forums. The body builders quickly take over and their attitudes towards Crossfit is atrocious. It smacks of fear of the unknown because they think they way is the best and how dare anyone do something different than their way so they must be idiots to be made fun of. That attitude is exactly why I don't go to regular gyms anymore. The pretentiousness is palpable. I'm a strong dude genetically so I'm made for weight lifting but the attitude at ANY gym I've ever gone to across the nation is exactly the same and it doesn't spawn growth or happiness. I know that's not for everyone just like I know Crossfit isn't for everyone but for me... it fits. I'm getting in better cardiovascular shape & my body composition is improving as well. All of my movements are improving and my weights/reps are slightly increasing with things becoming easier. I know without a doubt that if I stick with this in a year I'll be in the best shape I've even been in in my life at a spry 37 years old. I hope to be able to go to local competitions some day too to drive myself even further.

Of all the unhealthy addictions in this nation I will never fault someone for being addicted to getting healthy... regardless of what method they use and I have a hard time imagining someone so petty that they can.

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...).

[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?

[Great-Kazoo]

Of all the unhealthy addictions in this nation I will never fault someone for being addicted to getting healthy... regardless of what method they use and I have a hard time imagining someone so petty that they can.

I agree, like other forms of exercise , including yoga. Having the time to get away from work, the grind at home etc. For myself a good cardio workout within my limitations makes me fell better. Some weights and pool time round it out.

[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.