Ok, so here is the deal...CrossFit HAS done a ton for the sport of weightlifting that cannot be disputed, it HAS given this sport a “shot in the arm” so to speak. For the first time in a very long time people in the USA have a particular interest in Olympic Weightlifting in large numbers, possibly more than ever before. I am one of those people, CrossFit opened the door to the wonderful world of weightlifting for me and I haven't looked back since. To me finding Weightlifting was like finding that final piece of the puzzle, but it wasn't all sunshine and puppies to get to this point. First CrossFit tried to kill me and on top of that (as if that wasn't enough), it gave me horrible movement patterns and really bad technique that I still struggle with.
I suppose I’m a bit of an “old school” snob or possibly I am just and old cranky man standing on the porch yelling at the kids to stay off my grass or else! I first came to CrossFit towards the end of the O.M.P. era, that is the “Original Master Plan” era. Believe it or not, there was a time before the Rich Froning’s and Dan Bailey’s did literally every WOD in under two minutes without breaking a sweat. We were a bunch of outcasts lifting weights in our garages and in parks or old service station bays. We had used equipment, stuff handed down or donated, mismatched or better yet homemade. There was no shiny new pull up rig with a fancy name, there was only plumbing pipe and wood put together like a ghetto erector set barely holding together as we flailed away trying to nail down five consecutive kipping pull ups.
Nothing about us was fancy, we were the dirty, sweaty and often bloody fringe society that had a penchant for being as athletically fit as humanly possible (without giving up our beer that is). I was very fortunate to be a part of the first crossfit gym in my home city of Buffalo, NY. We began our journey in a corner of a sportsplex that had ice rinks on both sides. We relished the look of horror and fear in the eyes of the so-called “athletes” being trained next to us with their tension bands and hi-step hurdle drills. Our coach was fearless and innovative with a touch of sadistic task master all rolled into one. He held us together but punished us every second and we ate it up begging for more. Ah, those were the days. But as proud of those days as I am, like a warrior is proud of his battle regardless of outcome as long as he lives to fight another day, there was an unseen downside to all of it, one I’m still recovering from it.
To make matters worse, the commercialization of CrossFit has compounded its overall negative impact on the typical weekend warrior and the majority of athletes today. The “kool-aide drinkers” now number in the hundreds of thousands and like any devout follower of anything radical, all negative comments are strongly disagreed with and usually ignored with prejudice. Like I stated earlier, CrossFit HAS brought the sport of weightlifting to a very large number of people interested in getting stronger, but at what point does the sport of weightlifting draw the line in the sand and say we insist on proper mechanics of the lifts be strictly adhered to.
What I mean is our technique sucks. How can it be good when the founding tenants of CrossFit is almost everything for time? The time race does make the work fun and it does take your mind briefly off the suck, but it does so at the cost of form. Ah, form...always the fun sucker!! Why even bring it up if so many people like doing CrossFit? Well, I believe if you have a fast car but you always hear a clunking noise from the right front tire at speeds of over 50 mph and then at 75 mph it begins to shake violently, you should probably get that shit checked out before you watch your wheel fly past you as you begin your final death spin and subsequent roll. Same goes for complex Olympic Weightlifting Moves, the Snatch and Clean & Jerk. If you don’t have good mechanics of these lifts down before you introduce any substantial load, you are asking for trouble. Everything from muscle strains to torn ligaments and structural damage to broken bones can and will happen and this will sideline you for a long time if not indefinitely.
What I mean is our technique sucks. How can it be good when the founding tenants of CrossFit is almost everything for time? The time race does make the work fun and it does take your mind briefly off the suck, but it does so at the cost of form. Ah, form...always the fun sucker!! Why even bring it up if so many people like doing CrossFit? Well, I believe if you have a fast car but you always hear a clunking noise from the right front tire at speeds of over 50 mph and then at 75 mph it begins to shake violently, you should probably get that shit checked out before you watch your wheel fly past you as you begin your final death spin and subsequent roll. Same goes for complex Olympic Weightlifting Moves, the Snatch and Clean & Jerk. If you don’t have good mechanics of these lifts down before you introduce any substantial load, you are asking for trouble. Everything from muscle strains to torn ligaments and structural damage to broken bones can and will happen and this will sideline you for a long time if not indefinitely.
I have been all over this country and while I travel I train. So my fall back is CrossFit gyms due to my equipment and facilities needs. Typically I pay a “drop in” fee and get to use a corner with a squat rack and a bar & bumpers to lift while this shiny CrossFit/Reebok ecosystem goes on around me, it’s like underwater welding next to a vibrant coral reef...it’s hard to concentrate on the work at hand when there are so many shiny colorful fish to look at. They dance around usually in some type of dance-like sequence that substitutes for a proper athletic warm up. Almost playing games as if they were children in gym class with liberal teachers trying to keep it “fun” for little Bobby and Suzy. Then they all huddle up, it’s time to lay out the “WOD” and discuss standards. Their “coach du jour” puts their best Vince Lombardi mask on and send their troops to the field. The countdown begins and 3,2,1...their off!
This for me is the best part, I mean the absolute best part! You see not only am I a competitive masters weightlifter who has been fortunate enough to have a knowledgeable coach that has taught me the correct and safe way to become an athlete in the most powerful and explosive sport know to man, but I am also a chiropractic student. So watching the movement faults/patterns of the shiny flashy new CrossFitter’s is like christmas morning to me! I see so many faults and bad mechanics that I cant look away, but what is even crazier than a soccer mom flailing away wrecking her back improperly swinging a kettle-bell that is 55 pounds too heavy for her is the “coach’s”. Yes, the “coach’s” (a term I use loosely when talking CrossFit), I know...it’s shocking to think that after their weekend two day seminar they are not the best coaches in the world, but it’s true. They stink, I mean they really stink. Now, let me stop right here and clarify for a moment, not every CrossFit coach is horrible, in fact there is a large amount that are truly amazing and I have been fortunate enough to know some of them, that is how I know these other schmoes stink! I was extremley blessed to have hands down one of THE best coaches when I started CrossFit, if you want to see how its done look up Dave at CrossFit Buffalo, he’s no joke.
This for me is the best part, I mean the absolute best part! You see not only am I a competitive masters weightlifter who has been fortunate enough to have a knowledgeable coach that has taught me the correct and safe way to become an athlete in the most powerful and explosive sport know to man, but I am also a chiropractic student. So watching the movement faults/patterns of the shiny flashy new CrossFitter’s is like christmas morning to me! I see so many faults and bad mechanics that I cant look away, but what is even crazier than a soccer mom flailing away wrecking her back improperly swinging a kettle-bell that is 55 pounds too heavy for her is the “coach’s”. Yes, the “coach’s” (a term I use loosely when talking CrossFit), I know...it’s shocking to think that after their weekend two day seminar they are not the best coaches in the world, but it’s true. They stink, I mean they really stink. Now, let me stop right here and clarify for a moment, not every CrossFit coach is horrible, in fact there is a large amount that are truly amazing and I have been fortunate enough to know some of them, that is how I know these other schmoes stink! I was extremley blessed to have hands down one of THE best coaches when I started CrossFit, if you want to see how its done look up Dave at CrossFit Buffalo, he’s no joke.
But having said that I haven't seen too many “Daves” out there, as a matter of fact I have seen “coach’s” get into fights with their athletes and belittle them in front of people for petty drama filled reasons, I have seen “coach’s” with their backs to the athletes as the WOD was in progress discussing their adventures at local bars the night before and worse, much worse. I typically see “coach’s” give terribly wrong information on form and function to their athletes at the athletes expense. I feel both bad for them as well as excited for the new wave of chiropractic patients that are surely right around the corner.
Being shoved into a corner, I almost become an invisible witness to this strange ecosystem as they go about their business seeing who can get the fastest time on the white board regardless of form or dangerous movement patterns. The only time the “coach’s” see me is when they realize that their athletes are watching me or worse yet, talking to me. It’s as if I have pulled up in my windowless van offering the kiddies puppies and candy if only they’ll get in. I understand why the “coach’s” don’t want someone like me to talk to and/or interact with their “community”, because if I had a career built on bullshitting people, I wouldn’t want someone who knew what they were actually talking about poison my well either.
Being shoved into a corner, I almost become an invisible witness to this strange ecosystem as they go about their business seeing who can get the fastest time on the white board regardless of form or dangerous movement patterns. The only time the “coach’s” see me is when they realize that their athletes are watching me or worse yet, talking to me. It’s as if I have pulled up in my windowless van offering the kiddies puppies and candy if only they’ll get in. I understand why the “coach’s” don’t want someone like me to talk to and/or interact with their “community”, because if I had a career built on bullshitting people, I wouldn’t want someone who knew what they were actually talking about poison my well either.
So back to my question, when is enough enough? Well I say it has to be now, right now. Thanks for the renewed interest CrossFit, but if your going to perform in our sport here are the rules of the game, period. I’ll bet that this scares a lot of Weightlifting higher ups out there because they think it is be bad to “bite the hand that feeds them”, and maybe they're right. But do we just let the sport that we love and fight for get watered down to the point it becomes some shitty light beer?
As a CrossFit born & Weightlifter raised athlete, I refuse to candy coat our sport to anyone for anything. I am a gritty hard nosed garage weightlifter that dances with a bar that hates me almost every day and I have worked too damn hard in my life to let this or anything else happen to the sport that I love. Play by the rules or get out. You know why so many CrossFitters and other athletes of all calibers gravitate towards guys like Donny Shankle and Glenn Pendlay or Don McCauley, Jon North and Travis Mash? They tell it like it is and their love for this sport shines through. They refuse to let you slide for the sake of time and a bullshit number on a white board. Your form wasn't perfect on that lift? Do it again, and again, again until it IS perfect. How do you think a guy like Greg Everett and Mike Burgener got to where they are? Did they seek out CrossFit to become great? No, CrossFit sought THEM out to become what it is today.
As a CrossFit born & Weightlifter raised athlete, I refuse to candy coat our sport to anyone for anything. I am a gritty hard nosed garage weightlifter that dances with a bar that hates me almost every day and I have worked too damn hard in my life to let this or anything else happen to the sport that I love. Play by the rules or get out. You know why so many CrossFitters and other athletes of all calibers gravitate towards guys like Donny Shankle and Glenn Pendlay or Don McCauley, Jon North and Travis Mash? They tell it like it is and their love for this sport shines through. They refuse to let you slide for the sake of time and a bullshit number on a white board. Your form wasn't perfect on that lift? Do it again, and again, again until it IS perfect. How do you think a guy like Greg Everett and Mike Burgener got to where they are? Did they seek out CrossFit to become great? No, CrossFit sought THEM out to become what it is today.
So to all of the weightlifters out there who love this sport, hold yourself and everyone around you accountable. And for any CrossFitter out there who is still listening, please don’t take all of this as an attack on you or your lifestyle or anything else. I was you, and these are lessons that I have learned, my steps in this journey have led me here and my passion that I got from CrossFit has propelled me into the sport of Weightlifting and my love for it. You can do better, demand that of yourself. When I was at CrossFit Buffalo we always talked about “honest standards” and keeping them at all cost, it is those standards that made me question why we should give up form and function for some made up number on a white board, that can only lead to diminished strength and injury. Seek out good coaches and become a watcher of form and a teller of truths & you to will see your world change for the better.
No comments:
Post a Comment