Very often I happen to talk to people who practice CrossFit and who are enthusiastic about the fact that they arrive at the end of the class completely destroyed and without energy. They say they are very happy with this and they feel that the work done has been really useful and they are ready to return the next day. In addition, they have a reason to complain, incomprehensible to most people.
Actually this attitude is not exactly ideal, especially if one takes into account that the body needs some time which often goes well beyond 24 hours to recover 100% and that not all sessions should lead practitioners to total tiredness. Let me point out that, it is not me who say that, but a certain Tudor Bompa , if you do not know him, you would be better making some research.
Anyway I think these people have been brought to think in this way by their trainers who maybe, shoot six or seven weekly sessions at very high intensity levels and are really convinced that this is the right way, in spite of what it is stated in the “famous” Level One CrossFit Guide , or the basis of all the bases of CrossFit.
Too much training doesn’t work very well
Regardless of the considerations related to physiology, pushing people to always go to the limit is not exactly the ideal way neither to obtain training results or improvements, nor certainly to avoid injuries and above all to keep people inside the Box for many years.
While considering the competitive aspect of CrossFit it is however undeniable that training theories exist, also and above all for Elite athletes, who modulate the type of effort not only according to certain periods of the year but also on the type of athlete, allowing them adequate recovery and rest. Moreover, here we talk about ordinary people, people who have a job and a life, requiring energy and commitment to be able to get to the end of the day.
At this point one should not be surprised if some say that CrossFit is a hard and tiring discipline, that it is dangerous, that brings injuries and so on. In fact, that type of CrossFit, which goes in search of the maximum performance at all costs, is rightly in line with the opinion that many people have.
Crucial is the role of the Trainer who must certainly acts as a motivator but at the same time he should also have the sensitivity to understand a little better the people he is facing and avoid subjecting them at all costs to torture in the name of the performance .
CrossFit is not competition at all costs
I believe that the good Glassman would have to disagree on this interpretation of his creature, born to be suitable for everyone and scaled if necessary to allow everyone to improve at a performance level but more from a general point of view than a sporty one .
We all know that making a new PB is a great satisfaction but we also know, or we should know, that not all people live to reach new records and that many prefer to shyly leave their comfort zone, with completely personal times and ways. If a Trainer doesn’t understand this, then he did the wrong job, you are in the wrong Box and unless you are among those who plan to participate in some important competition, change immediately and find something less destructive.
Being a Trainer, or Coach as many call themselves, is not an easy activity and requires sensitivity, empathy and above all the ability to push people to do something more than normal without pushing them just for the love it doing it. It may seem strange to you but most people don’t like being squeezed like a lemon, preferring less disruptive activities both on the body and on their mind.
Being constantly subjected to the pressure, asked to give more and more is exhausting and if it works well for professional sportsmen, which in CrossFit concerns an infinitesimal percentage of the practitioners, it can have devastating effects that are anything but positive on anyone else. In theory, a Trainer / Coach should know this. And I stress this, because in many cases the thing is not so obvious.
The only way to realize this is to visit multiple boxes
If you really want to know how CrossFit works, don’t just go to a Box because if you don’t get out of there and by chance you’re in one of those “competition at all costs” boxes, you don’t really know what you’re missing.
On the other hand, if they tell you that CrossFit is there and you don’t bother to check it out, you are likely to believe it as well and in the end you will remain, as has happened to many, rather disappointed. Go to the Boxes, do the classes, try to understand the differences and choose the one in which you find yourself comfortable and not only the one close to home or with the lowest price because, even if it shouldn’t be like this, there is CrossFIt and CrossFit and since Crossfit Inc. does nothing to guarantee that where you go the service you receive is adequate, do it yourself and you will discover a lot of things you never imagined.
