Rich Froning and Dan Bailey

[Bako Lifter]

http://games.crossfit.com/video/mens...t-jumbotron-wr

Here's the video of them destroying the final workout of the central east regionals.

I'm trying to understand why Crossfit gets such a bad rep compared to bodybuilding and powerlifting. Is this kind of strength and endurance not admired?

This is the show. The spotlight, the final stage for the best of the best crossfitters. Is this not as impressive as a guy shaving his body, getting disgustingly tan, buying a thong and posing in front of people? Or putting on a 2-ply canvas bench shirt, 8 foot long wrist wraps, arching your back for minimal range of motion and benching an extreme weight that nobody has any business even attempting raw?

Dont get me wrong, I admire top bodybuilders and powerlifters. Hell, I've competed in powerlifting and worn gear. The amount of hard work and dedication is nothing to smirk about. The top guys are world class athletes.

What do you think about when somebody says they do crossfit? Do you think of the guys in the video above? Or the average guys who just perform crossfit.com workouts to lose weight and stay healthy?

Anyways, the performance in the video is insane. And please don't flame me for the second paragraph . I have the utmost repspect for athletes in those sports.

[Alex.V]

My main issue, really...

Look at the bio for these guys.

Look at how long they've been doing Crossfit.

Now, think about whether Crossfit MADE them who they are, or whether these guys are just damn good athletes that translated this into strong performance in this particular blend of disciplines.

i.e. is does Crossfit produce incredible all around athletes, or do incredible all around athletes kick ass at Crossfit?

If these guys can be at the top level after a year or two of doing it, makes you wonder if Crossfit is the means to an end, or the end in and of itself. There's the rub. I'd argue it's a bit of the former, but more of the latter, whereas the zealots argue it's all of the above.

Is Crossfit bad? Hell no! Can it be tough? Absolutely! Are these guys incredible athletes? Damn straight they are!

But is it Crossfit something that takes years and years of dedication and specialization to excel at? Nope. You can argue that's a good thing, you can argue that's a bad thing. But this is why extreme specialists will always slam those who opt to try everything at once.

Believe me, I know.

It's like sprinters slamming decathletes. Or throwers slamming decathletes. Recognize it for what it is- a particular type of athleticism. Period, full stop. I'm no detractor of any athletic discipline- only of those who believe theirs is superior to all others. Powerlifters will say they're stronger than these dudes, bodybuilders will say they're bigger, ironman triathletes will say that this doesn't count as endurance. And they'll all be right. But there still needs to be respect.

[r2473]

I'd like to see crossfit be more strength based than technique based. What do I mean? The types of muscleups they do for example are more based on just getting the kipping technique down. You need to learn how to create and use momentum from your body in the most efficient way possible. Certainly this is a (good) skill to know. But I'm far more impressed with guys that do these without using momentum. I mean, you don't even have to use a "false grip" to do this type of muscleup. Just kick and writhe through the transition. "The transition" is the beauty of the muscleup. It just seems like crossfit develops / emphasizes the "wrong" things IMO. Rewards certain "cheating" methods and "bad habits". ("Wrong" meaning, not what I'm looking to do I guess).



Same for the toe touches to the bar, etc.

I guess "it is what it is", and I just need to leave it at that. Crossfit simply isn't gymnastics. They are just different.

[ncsuLuke]

Froning is an absolute animal, would be shocked if he didn't win the games this year too. Also, I was glad to see some of the best struggle with burpees, granted I struggle with them in a much easier...

^ and holy shit that is ridiculous. The way he goes from a dead hang to up like that is unreal, not to mention all the other stuff that I could never imagine doing.

[DoUgL@S]

Rich and Dan do not follow Crossfit HQ's philosophy of typical crossfit programing, 1 workout per day and 5 workouts per week (3on/1off or 5on/2off). While they do incorporate crossfit workouts they so a lot of strength work, something more and more coaches are starting to incorporate, and the training volume of multiple workout sessions per day.

So as impressive as they are, they are not representative of typical crossfit, as much as crossfit the sport. That being said, I like crossfit's metcons for GPP and the fact that it incorporates olympic lifts.