5 Common Myths About CrossFit
- “CrossFit looks awesome, but I have to get fit before I try it.” We get it. In fact, we’ll be writing a whole blog post on it in the weeks to come. If you’ve seen CrossFit on TV, via YouTube, or just in the transformation of your once average-Joe neighbor who now mows the lawn shirtless to reveal his ripped abs, CrossFit can seem super-intimidating – the kind of thing you have to prepare for through solitary training in a dark gym at 5 AM with the “Rocky” theme song playing on repeat. Don’t do this. Here’s the truth: if you’re used to slogging it out in a conventional gym, plodding away on the elliptical and occasionally doing uncertain crunches on one of those giant pink inflatable balls, there’s NOTHING you can do on your own that’s going to help you get ready for what will happen during your first session in our gym. That’s okay. We know that. No one walks in Iconic Fitness doors a superhero; the transformation happens within our walls. Let us do our job as trainers, don’t waste your time trying to pre-do it for us.
- “CrossFit will make me bulky.” This one comes from the ladies more often than from the men and the short answer is it won’t.
- “CrossFit is too dangerous, I’ll get injured.” We get it – CrossFit gets some bad press every now and then. The things we do are hard: they’re high-skilled, they’re technical, and if you let your ego rather than your common sense guide your training, they can lead to injuries. But we promise that if you pay attention to your coaches, listen to your body, and don’t try to do more than you’re currently capable of in a misguided attempt to keep up with Joe from the 6 AM class who has the 450# deadlift, your daily hour of training will be statistically safer than your drive to and from the gym. Do you want to talk about some things that are dangerous? Obesity is dangerous. Bad movement patterns are dangerous. Our sedentary lifestyles are dangerous. “Quick fix” fad diet and exercise regimes are dangerous. Diabetes and high blood pressure are dangerous. Processed food is dangerous. Painkillers as a fix for chronic pain are dangerous. CrossFit training, when executed with correct supervision and scaling, provides a viable remedy for all these dangers.
- “CrossFit is too hardcore for me, I’m not an elite athlete.” Repeat after me: the needs of an elite athlete and your grandmother vary by degree, not by type. The needs of an elite athlete and your grandmother vary by degree, not by type. The needs of an elite athlete and your grandmother vary by degree, not by type… you get the picture. Okay, now what the heck do we mean when we say this?! What we mean is that the foundational movement patterns required for ANY person to live a healthy, functional life are identical; all that varies is the dose. Usain Bolt needs to squat several times his bodyweight for reps in order to develop the explosivity and power required to be the fastest man in the world. Your grandmother needs to be able to sit down on the couch and stand up again in order to not fall over and break her hip. At its core, this is fundamentally the same movement – their needs vary by degree, not by type. The movements we use in CrossFit training are applicable to, and scalable for, every human on the planet. (So bring your grandma when you come for your first session – we’d love to train her, too!)
- “CrossFit is too expensive.” A CrossFit membership is 3-4 times the price you’d pay for a conventional gym membership at what we lovingly refer to as a “globo gym.” STEEP, right? But comparing the two price points is like comparing the price of an apple to the price of a bag of oranges. (It works, go with it.) At a conventional gym, you’re buying access to a facility, and in some cases to participate in group exercise classes that will provide minimal levels of direct instruction and no tailored programming. At a CrossFit gym, you are purchasing small-group personal training. At Iconic Fitness, for example, our classes are capped at 12 people, and during the daily hour that you train you will be guided through our rigorously vetted programming, receive multiple points of feedback on your form, technique, and execution, have discussions with your coach on your goals and progress towards them, and receive specific guidance on how to tailor our workouts to accommodate any physical limitations you may have. Are CrossFit membership prices expensive in comparison to the conventional gym model? Absolutely. But are you buying an apple or a bag of oranges?
