CrossFit training has rapidly grown in popularity across the world in recent years. In the process, this has led to discussions about the advantages and disadvantages. CrossFit training has been scrutinized by various professions include doctors, fitness experts, personal trainers, professional athletes, and more. This has inspired me to write this blog outlining the Pros and Cons of CrossFit. Most of these points are derived from my own experiences while training at various boxes over the past 2 years. Here are the pros and cons you should be aware of: PROS: It has an awesome community aspect. CrossFit is quite unlike the commercial gym in the essence that you come to know the people at your box. You will find that most of these gyms have outings that many people show up to. Here, you will always get that feeling of teamwork and camaraderie during the workouts. There are constant coaching and support–sometimes you have no clue whether you’re doing an exercise right or not in a commercial gym. In as much as it may not be 1:1 training, there is always a coach to guide you through every workout. Leveling up – since you can keep track of how much you’re lifting daily, and you also know the number of your daily reps and sets, you will be able to notice a constant improvement. You also get to advance at your own pace, slowly but steadily improving on your workouts. It is humbling yet encouraging – in as much as you may end your workout fatigued like never before, you pride in the sense of accomplishment whenever you do a workout faster than the previous times. A sense of Competition – the fact that you are surrounded by people cheering you on and competing with you is simply amazing and encouraging. It urges you to push yourself further. It is an awesome outlet for former athletes who still love competition. Usually, after playing competitive sports throughout high school and college, many people usually feel that all of a sudden there’s nothing more to compete in. CrossFit provides that platform onto which you can keep going. You really get to know your limits. Sometimes the workouts can be frustrating- however, they can also teach you how to push through mental obstacles, you get to build your mental strength. It shapes ‘hot’ bodies. Many women out there keep saying they want to have that “toned” and attempt to get it with hours of cardio. What they don’t know is that these bodies are built every day in the gyms.  It builds nicely toned muscular endurance general body fitness – your body is going to be prepared for pretty much any athletic situation after doing only a few months of CrossFit. CONS: It is not the best if you are looking forward to specialization – you are going to get better at a lot of things in the gym, however, if you want to go the extra mile of specialization, say a powerlifter or a trained athlete, it’s advisable to find a specific coach for that sport. Odd programming – this is quite for the critics. Some may not agree with some workouts involved with CrossFit. For instance, there are some workouts which may call for high reps of snatches. These snatches are regarded as power Olympic moves that require one to be in a perfect form to be able to do them successfully.  They are not cheap either– enrolling in these highly intensive gym workouts can be two or three times the monthly cost of a standard commercial gym. However, I always find it is worth it. A bad coach can cause problems – this is especially so if you are up for some more advanced moves that may take months of learning to perform them right; with a bad coach, lifting the heavyweights can lead to horrible injuries. It’s always important to have a good coach who knows what he does. It can lead to addiction- this point can lie either in Pro or Con section depending on one’s perception. I happen to know quite a number of people who started CrossFitting and now all they do, think or talk about is CrossFit. It is easy to get carried away into this and in the process forget about other people’s feelings when all you can talk about is weights and workouts. Bear Grips offers a full line of gear to keep you protected during your CrossFit workouts. Check out our collection HERE

There are many common misconceptions about CrossFit. Today I felt the need to at least let you know what you're talking about (that’s if you really don’t). Otherwise, you are going to sound as bad as jogger trying to persuade a powerlifter about the cons of benching. It's nothing more than cardio! It’s not! Crossfit is all about strength, stamina and power lifts. It involves bodyweight and gymnastic movements, and of course, some interval and longer duration cardio. However, in this cardio are also 1RMs and strongman movements. So, your heart rate will pace up, but if yours isn't going to, then something is definitely missing from your workout recipe – that is intensity. It's not nicely programmed Seriously! - Saying that all of CrossFit training and WODs are programmed correctly is like saying all of the bodybuilding isn't programmed correctly. The programming may not be uniform across all gyms, or among everybody who scales exercises and loading according to their requirements. And if there’s any CrossFitter who may be unhappy with the programming, then such an individual is free to take his or her business to other gyms where the workouts are different. The best CrossFitters don't even do CrossFit! A similar complaint to this is that most of these professional crossfitters were already strong and skilled before they even started CrossFit. In as much as this notion may be true with some of them, the CrossFit Games today is filled with athletes in their mid 20's who have never found an opportunity to train more seriously until they started CrossFit. In short, they are true products of CrossFit training. It's dangerous! Lol! I don’t really understand what the boundaries of ‘dangerous’ really is- but hey, how safe are other sports either? CrossFit attracts many people, some of whom may be inexperienced. So it’s only normal if injuries occur because of the huge number of people registering every year. A few injuries happening to a few Crossfitters yearly should not be the reason you shy off, go and work out! It breaks the bank! Actually, it’s less costly than paying for a regular gym then hiring a personal trainer on top of that. At every CrossFit spot, you will find instructors coaching groups of people, and within that group, they get to work with you alone as the need arises. In the end, it's semi-personal training and doesn’t have to break the bank.

Just like any other sport, CrossFit has its own fair share of risk. Every time you move massive weights or perform some complicated exercises, a possibility exists that you may be injured. You could also get injured while out for a jog or even walking down the stairs in the morning. However, the main thing here is not about the injury rates in CrossFit, but rather how to come back after the injury. Rest and recovery is part of day-to-day CrossFit workouts, and even during injury, you need more rest so that your body can recover well. Below are some of the tips that will hasten your recovery during injury so that you can come back to the box life. Listen to Your Body When you are in the middle of a CrossFit workout routine, your body may be communicating something to you such as taking a rest or even stopping altogether. The same is applicable when you are coming back from injury. Listening to your body especially in the areas in which you got hurt is important. For instance, if it is the elbow that got hurt and when working out it flairs up, it is advisable you stop. In the normal routine, if your body experiences some discomfort in a WOD, you may be inspired to press on. This is not the case when you are resuming from injury. The body system will hint to you whether it is ready to take on some weights or execute certain movements. Follow Your Coach The primary job of your coach is to ensure as an athlete you are safe. They help you to alter or scale a WOD to match your abilities. Listen to your coach carefully and more so when coming back from injury. The relationship you build with your coach comes in handy during recovery because he will tell you the steps to take as you work your way back to full fitness. Seek Advice from Others Who Have Been There Before A majority of CrossFitters have an athletic background, and this means at one time in their career, they may have suffered injury. Don’t be silent, talk to some of these athletes. They have firsthand experience and workable solutions on how to recover. While it is true that CrossFit injuries and recovery experiences differ from one person to the other, it is also true that you may pick one or two words of wisdom from what they went through. Be Gradual Irrespective of the injury you sustained, your body system requires time to start communicating again. There is a strong correlation between physical tasks and the channels of communication between your body and your brain. Most injuries involve nerve damages, and this may take time for the communication signals to be restored.There is no point coming back to CrossFit to stress your body to perform at pre-injury levels. Scale your movements gradually as you build your fitness to a level where you will be comfortable taking off to full CrossFit training.

We all know that CrossFit is arguably one of the most challenging sports or physical events on the planet today. It is a mixture of many training disciplines and uses every energy system in one super workout. Many CrossFitters realize the fact that addition of a few research-proven supplements often has tremendous effects on their workout results. These are aspects of performance such as strength, training endurance, and general fitness.This triggered us to come up with this educational piece on Crossfit supplements for those want to have their WOD scores soaring high. Proteins Protein is the bodybuilding foods that are essential for our muscle growth, recovery, strength adaptations, and even shedding of fat. On the one hand, proteins can be naturally obtained from foods such as meat, fish, and eggs. On the other hand, protein supplementation is also available for athletes involved in CrossFit.Protein supplementation is not only convenient for crossfitters but also more affordable and free from fat or carbs. The benefit is that you can easily increase your total daily protein intake without consuming too many calories and accumulating body fat. Blended Supplements Also called pre-workouts blended supplements is a combination of several ingredients and to make one a complete solution. This type of CrossFit supplement is efficient for the consumer; it ensures they always get what they need, in the right dosage, and without having to use a variety of different products. Other Amino Acid Supplements Along with other basics like BCAAs and Leucine, there are also other useful amino acids or amino acid-like replicas that can work efficiently for a CrossFitter. Some of these are like; Creatine Glutamine Citrulline Beta-alanine When combined, these ingredients have many advantages benefits for a CrossFit athlete. Forget about the misconceptions about them; these are basically what CrossFit supplements contain.

Whether you realize it or not, your day-to-day non-training posture has a huge impact not just on your mental and physical health, but on your athletic performance as well. You may know for sure that slouching is bad and that you should always be walking straight, but you may not know why this is important. The chances are high that you would pay much closer attention to the way you walk or sit if you knew what this may do to your mood and how limiting it is in the CrossFit gym. Understanding the Origins of Posture Sometimes, poor posture may result from injuries and accidents. However, a majority of the times sloppy posture may be the result of bad habits and environmental factors that are not within our control. For instance, if you hunch over at an angle of 60 degrees as you listen to proceedings or even read, the implications this has are similar to someone who carries 60 pounds of weight on their cervical spine.Other factors that are linked to poor posture include being overweight, poor sleep support, muscular imbalances, occupational stress, and improper shoes among others. When we stand or walk incorrectly, our muscles and bones are lined up incorrectly, and this interferes with sciatic nerve flow, the nerve connecting the leg and foot muscles with the spinal cord. Because of this blockage, pain ensues at the back of your thighs, feet, and calves. Ultimately, this results in a condition known as sciatica. Muscle and Joint Damage Sitting for extended periods of time causes stress on your lower back muscles especially the ones on your posterior chain. This has the impact of exaggerating the natural arch of the spine causing hyperlordosis. Sitting on your butts weakens your glutes thus making them inefficient in performing their role of hip extension and stabilization. This limits your range of motion. When it comes to the Crossfit workouts, the effect of weakened glutes is directly translated to poor performance. If you let poor posture dictate your CrossFit movement patterns at the gym, the damage to your joints and muscles can be exacerbated. Impact on Athletic Performance Since poor posture leads to stressed organs, damaged joints, muscles, and bones, it indirectly affects your performance on high-intensity programs such as CrossFit. It is therefore important as an athlete to ensure that your body is always healthy and operates properly for recovery and progress.The elements of good posture include: Correct sitting posture – The ideal sitting posture is when your head is neutrally positioned while looking straight ahead. Your shoulders should be relaxed, and your elbows bent at 90 degrees on your sides. When working on the computer, try positioning the keyboard and raise the monitor to eye level. Recommended standing posture – Ensure your knees are bent slightly, and your arms naturally hanging down by your body sides and your stomach tucked in. When standing for a long time, ensure you shift your weight to your heels or from one foot to the other. To achieve the above posture, there are recommended CrossFit exercises which include a downward-facing dog, hip flexor stretch, foam roller bridge, and thoracic spine opener.

Just like any other fitness methodology or sport, CrossFit not only requires practice, and preparation, but also carries the risk of injury. Injuries are an unfortunate reality ingrained in all forms of demanding physical activities, and thus require acceptance. However, that being said, there are lots of things you can do to minimize or even put to a complete stop to the instances of CrossFit injuries. Here are some of the tried and tested ideas you may want to consider. Proper Warm-ups Warming up in CrossFit has two main advantages. Firstly, it enhances your performance, and secondly, it prevents injuries. Active warm-ups including dynamic stretching serves to activate your muscles as well as enhances your blood flow and body heat. When the blood flow increases, your muscles receive more oxygen, which is excellent for your performance. Furthermore, the increase in body temperature assists in the rapid contraction and relaxation of your muscles, thus making them more efficient. Research has found that muscles that receive more blood and are warm tend to be more pliable. This means your range of motion and flexibility in the gym will be enhanced. With your range of motions enhanced, you can efficiently and safely execute any movement. Post-Workout Mobilization and Recovery During an intense CrossFit training, lots of metabolic waste products are generated and lounged in your muscle cells. These products together with the fluids that surround them must be flushed out. In addition to that, your tendons and muscle fibers may have gotten damaged during the course of your CrossFit workout, and thus require time to cool down and recover. Through post-workout mobilization, waste products such as lactic acid can be removed from the body. This also decreases blood pooling, and hence reduces the instances of dizziness and fainting. Studies conducted on post-workout recovery have shown that stretching especially after a physical activity gives your muscles increased flexibility which in turn improves your performance and prevents avoidable injuries. Ensure Proper Technique, Scale, and Weight Most of the CrossFit injuries are as a result of weights, scales, and technique. As a CrossFit athlete, you must understand the type of weight you can move, the effectiveness in moving it, and when it is appropriate to move it. If you can’t perform a movement at least to the scale that you desire, do not force your system, rather scale down and gradually move up as your body acclimatizes. Work on your skills when you have free time or during open gym. Through practice, you will learn efficient and safe ways to move weights. All these will contribute to injury reduction, and improve your overall performance. Desist from Over Training During a WOD, your body undergoes incredible strain. So as to properly repair itself, it will need a combination of recovery elements including mobilization, nutrients, and rest. Some people believe that in order to boost their CrossFit endurance, they have to exercise daily. On the contrary, lack of rest wears down your muscle fibers, and instead of getting stronger, you weaken. The bottom line is for you to listen to your body and be sensitive in distinguishing the various pains experienced during workouts. Do not ignore little injuries such as rips, sprains, and muscle flares. They may be a pointer to much larger injuries. 

CrossFit is largely an individual sport, but for you to succeed, you need to partner with others in the day-to-day activities including workouts. Rarely is there any sport you can engage in where teamwork doesn’t count. In CrossFit, the following people can help you a great deal in achieving personal success and generally making your CrossFit experience pleasant. Your Coach This is one of the most important people that you must strike a strategic partnership and cultivate a personal acquaintance with. Coaches take time to understand their athletes so that they can package their instruction in a way that you can understand and follow. They know where your strengths and weaknesses are and the right words to use to give you that extra push in your workout.Their advice on nutrition, technique, recovery, and mobility are invaluable to your fitness. Personal coaching relationships can enrich your CrossFit training schedule through personalized programming. Coaches also give you an accountability platform that can help you in sticking to your diet and training plan. Your Workout Partner This is your trusty companion who ensures you come for your training sessions and even cares to find out when you are getting late. Just like your coach, your workout partner understands your strengths and weaknesses and can customize their support to propel you to work even harder.Another advantage is that your workout partner is an athlete just like you and this means they can give you that extra push when going through tough workouts because you will be able to benchmark with them and even comfort yourself that if they can do it, you can also do it. With your partner, you can share goals and keep each other accountable not just in the gym, but also out of the gym and in other spheres affecting your CrossFit performance. Your CrossFit “Rival” You may hate it, but rivals are everywhere including gyms. Rivals can make you work 100 times harder and even endure the harshest workout if that is what it will take to beat them. Because you are determined not to lose to them, you will scale up to another gear during the WOD, and that will boost your performance. Your rival brings in a competitive element to your workout, and this can serve as a motivation.In addition to the above people, you need a role model who may be an exceptional athlete or even a person who has already attained the goals you want to achieve. With these people in your network, your CrossFit fitness training is bound to be exciting and rewarding.