In recent years, the fitness industry has increasingly taken over CrossFit. In record time, the popular sports direction has gathered a whole army of fans fanatically defending the postulates of this program, which, apparently, causes natural irritation to fans of other forms of classes. Quite often, unfortunately, one has to hear reviews and opinions that crossfit is extremely traumatic and has nothing to do with health. In addition, there is a misconception that this format of classes is suitable exclusively for trained people, and an ordinary person should not even think in this direction. We propose to substantively understand the essence of the issue.
The era before crossfit
I won't tell you the exact time and date of the appearance of fitness. But I think you will take my word for it: it has existed for a very long time. And during the period of its existence it has undergone a lot of changes. This applies to the methods used, techniques and popular trends. For quite a long time, bodybuilding has had a big impact on fitness. As the name suggests, the main goal of bodybuilding is above all to create a harmonious body in terms of appearance: proportional shapes, low body fat, etc. In simple terms, the girls went to the gym with the sole purpose of pumping up the "cubes" of the press as soon as possible.
In addition to general developmental exercises, that is, exercises that involve 2/3 of the muscles of the body (squats, presses, deadlifts, etc.), the bodybuilding adept uses local impact exercises during training in order to work on a particular muscle separately … This, in turn, spurred the development of the simulator industry, which helped in the best way possible to isolate a particular muscle group during exercise.
To pay tribute to everything that has been done over these many years: a lot of good training methods have been developed, a whole base of high-quality exercises has appeared, and high-quality equipment has been created. However, over time, the vector began to change and excellent appearance, as the goal of classes, began to give way to functionality. It's no secret that a good appearance and a proportional body does not necessarily mean that its owner is in good health. The consumer (represented by members of fitness clubs) has become more interested in the development of qualities such as endurance, agility, coordination and flexibility. This, in turn, has spurred the development and use of both new equipment and new training methods. As a result, functional training began to gain popularity. He brought a new vision to the fitness training format, regulating,that in order to improve the quality of life, it is necessary to perform exercises that correspond to the challenges that life can present. That is, to develop the skills and physical qualities necessary in everyday life:
- the ability to effectively move various external objects (pull, push, lift, carry, catch, throw), differing both in shape and weight
- the ability to effectively move your body in space (pull up, jump, run, etc.)
- the ability to work with different levels of intensity: both for a short time and with high intensity, and for a long time, avoiding overwork
The era of crossfit
One of the downsides to fitness is the fact that, like any product, it carries a lot of marketing. The boom in functional training has spurred the development of a wide range of various equipment and fitness systems, each of which is fighting for the title of almost the most correct and indispensable for the consumer. This gave rise to many one-day programs and some kind of "dummies" that, under the trend of functional training, banally earned money from clients who, logically, are easy to manipulate, because they are poorly versed in a huge variety of offers.
CrossFit - without exaggeration, has become a breath of fresh air among the same type of proposals. In fact, this is a program that incorporates the best training methods from various sports. Throwing away all the "husk" Greg Glassman - the creator of CrossFit, managed to create a universal product to improve the basic physical qualities of a person. Although CrossFit has existed as a phenomenon since 1974, it only took off in the 2000s. Including because the market is fed up with marketing, there is an urgent need for a product that would really work and give a quick and tangible result.
What is CrossFit?
This is a highly intense, continuously variable functional training. This definition does not carry anything revolutionary, it is just the dry residue of the whole variety of programs and methods in the fitness industry. It has long been not a secret for anyone that:
- only hard training brings results;
- only a constant variation of the training format helps to maintain the proper level of stress on the human body, which in turn allows you to prolong the positive effect of training;
- functional exercises, that is, natural, multi-joint, involving a large number of muscles in one movement, are more effective than regional or local exercises (aimed at one or more muscle groups).
And yes, CrossFit really brings tangible results and pretty quickly!
Harm or benefit?
As much as CrossFit is popular, it is equally disliked. Do you want to ask if it is harmful or dangerous? Let's figure it out. There was a negative opinion about the program for a number of reasons. First, the program is armed with technically complex exercises. Their training requires a certain amount of time and the development of skills from the trainees. As with any program, mistakes in execution technique are injuries. Since the "code" of the program, that is, the methods, and the base of exercises are freely available, some beginners ignore a professional trainer and start training on their own. Which is often the cause of injury and overtraining. The trainer will not only teach the correct technique, but also suggest an exercise option suitable for each specific person.
Secondly, the program is held in a group and is competitive in nature. The psychology of a person is such that he always, feeling sorry for himself in class, thinks first of all about how to cheat. However, another mechanism works in the group - no one wants to be the worst, and this makes you work harder, overstepping laziness and achieving better results. There are pitfalls here. Sometimes the ego can cloud the mind, and the athlete will risk bringing himself to a critical state. Moreover, wanting to do more and faster, students often lose the correct technique for performing exercises, which, among other things, is traumatic. A qualified trainer will always adjust the technique of execution and control the intensity so as not to harm your health.
Third, CrossFit is accused of having to work at high intensity. Intensity means either heavy weights, or the maximum pace of execution, or both. However, the accusations in this case are completely groundless, since high intensity always means the correct execution technique, including load distribution. So, if, for example, an athlete in a task that must be performed for 20 minutes starts to work immediately at a peak pace, then after a couple of minutes his strength will run out and the task may even become impossible. The term "high intensity" should not be taken literally. The intensity is adjusted based on the goals and input characteristics of the task: weights, repetitions and approaches.
Fourth, the CrossFit system is feared because of the way it is presented in marketing materials and on television. Marketers, wanting to showcase the picture brighter, show photos and videos from CrossFit competitions. Muscled guys and girls perform weightlifting exercises with huge weights, work to the limit, straining their trained bodies. Of course, an ordinary person has the feeling that he is, to put it mildly, not ready for this, and, most likely, does not even want to try.
Competitions, of course, are just the tip of the iceberg. They are intended for a narrow circle of people - professional athletes who have many years of training behind them.
I can say for sure that CrossFit is potentially dangerous, but no more and no less than any other program. As in any other program, all responsibility here falls on the shoulders of the coach, and only because of his shortcomings, the student can be injured. The coach's mistakes are obvious:
- set the wrong goal.
- did not teach you how to perform the exercise correctly.
- did not keep track of the performance during the lesson.
- picked up the wrong exercise or task.
As a conclusion: CrossFit is suitable for everyone - from a child of 4 years old to an elderly person.
Photo: Getty Images
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