Why "CrossFit" Makes Sense

Why I use and prescribe CrossFit workouts for optimal physical training:

Let’s just start out by stating this: CrossFit does not make sense to everyone, particularly those who have not tried it. Originally, it did not make sense to me, either.

In mid 2006, I set personal fitness goals for my upcoming 50th birthday. I had learned a great deal about different training theories and methods both from reading, from training individuals and from mentoring by some of the smartest people I know. A former client, now a US Navy SEAL, mentioned CrossFit to me as a program a lot of guys on the Teams utilized. I was familiar with CrossFit, but had dismissed it as a form of overzealous training until his endorsement led me to reconsider it. I remained skeptical, as the CrossFit approach did not fit well with my education that segregated strength training, cardiovascular (or “aerobic”) training and sports specific training into different boxes. Two articles gave me reason to reconsider that position.

The first article, published in Spring of 2006, reported research conducted by Dr. George Brooks, professor and director of the Exercise Physiology Laboratory at UC Berkeley. For years, he had studied the human production of lactic acid, widely considered as a harmful exercise byproduct, the source of muscle soreness and a limiting factor in sports performance. His research made a very strong argument that the body, under the right sort of training, could utilize lactic acid as an important source of energy. After reading his articles, I had to admit that my understanding of lactic acid could be completely wrong. I also found myself wondering if this explained CrossFit’s reported effectiveness.

As I searched out more exercise science literature with findings that did not align with conventional assertions, I read about a study by Dr. Angelo Tremblay of Laval University in Canada. Tremblay compared two groups of exercisers: those who did 21 weeks of a typical “aerobic” running in the “fat burning zone” to a second group who performed 15 weeks of brief, high intensity, interval style exercise. Surprisingly, the high intensity group lost 9 times as much fat as measured by body fat calipers compared to the “aerobic” group. The interval group spent considerably less time exercising over fewer weeks than the group who, theoretically, should have lost more fat because they trained within the “fat burning zone.” For years I had counseled patients and clients that weight loss was best achieved through moderate levels of exercise. I had also characterized lactic acid as “the urine of muscle work.” Both principles that I took as gospel were up for serious reconsideration. At this point, I was ready to try CrossFit for myself.

In Fall of 2006, I started training at CrossFit Flagstaff – the workouts were not just difficult, the pace and load felt insane. My muscles were sore; more sore than in a long time. I imagined a conversation at my funeral: “John should have known better than to peg his heart rate in workouts at altitude. What a sad and terrible way to go.” After a month or so, I noticed a big difference in my strength and sense of health. Recurring back pain issues diminished and then disappeared. I wasn’t really losing weight on the scales, but I was developing muscular definition I hadn’t seen in years. More research into the effects of higher intensity exercise led me to discard many of my old assumptions about exercise science. By the end of the year, I attended CrossFit’s Level 1 certification class and shortly thereafter joined the CrossFit community as an affiliate.

I now train people using CrossFit workouts and they rave about the results. It is a hard routine that utilizes Spartan equipment and space at a high intensity of work: not for the faint of heart or less than fully dedicated. The strength and conditioning changes that result, however, drive regular reports of new levels of sports performance, stamina during the day, fat loss, increases in running speed and other markers of athleticism. Additionally, the scoring and small group setting creates an atmosphere that drives personal performance and accountability like no other workout system these athletes have tried.

So, what, exactly is CrossFit?
The founder, Greg Glassman, nicely summarizes the CrossFit approach as a strength and conditioning program built on constantly varied, if not randomized, functional and scalable movements executed at high intensity. Each part of that definition is important:

• Strength and conditioning: this is not a running or cycling program for metabolic, cardiovascular conditioning on even days of the week with a resistance training program for strength and power on other days. There is no segregation of exercise modalities in this approach. CrossFit is a hybrid strength/conditioning program that utilizes Olympic lifts, bodyweight exercises, gymnastics, rowing, running and a plethora of other exercises to develop endurance, power, flexibility, stamina, strength and other anatomical/physiological changes. By combining both metabolic conditioning and strength/power training into one approach, the return on investment of time and work is maximized.
• Varied, if not randomized: I (and many others) have studied and used different periodization lifting plans based on the premise (validated by solid outcomes) that varied load and volume produces better strength gains. CrossFit takes that principle of variation one big step further by eliminating predictable “routine” workouts, replacing them with constantly varied exercise sessions. One session may focus on creating better form, and even a new personal record, in an Olympic lift. Other sessions may alternate high velocity jumping and pull-ups with running, or mix pushups with situps and body weight squats and yet another session may contain only 4 minutes of exhausting, high intensity exercise . Random physical challenge that creates breadth of physical adaptations is the constant variable in CrossFit.
• Functional movements: Functional training has become something of a buzzword over the years, with a steady stream of fitness experts announcing that, surely, their take on functional exercise is the most functional. In the CrossFit approach, functional training must mimic natural movements such as rising from sitting, picking an object up off the floor, jumping, climbing or lifting an object over your head. These kinds of movements are simultaneously multi-joint (not segmental), require trunk stability in the midline and call for strength and power over a relatively short time frame. These kinds of movements have greater application to the demands of everyday, real life: much, much more functional use than isolated bicep curls, running extended distances or curling on a specially designed machine that isolates your abdominals. The equipment and space is deliberately Spartan in approach – the most important aspect of your workout is not how much chrome and fancy machines fill the gym. The most important aspect of your workout is how well the exercises develop the kind of strength, power and endurance needed for meeting the demands of day to day life.
• Scalable: All the CrossFit workouts can be tailored to the individual’s current fitness level. Some come to CrossFit with no training background: workout intensity and volume will be set at a beginner’s level. Others are attracted to CrossFit after years of using other training methods: strengths and weak areas can be taxed appropriately. Age, obesity, medical issues, training history, endurance levels, strength level, and flexibility: all these kinds of issues can be met by adjusting portions or all of the exercise session. A good demonstration of scalability here.
  
• High intensity execution of movement: Izumi Tabata and his colleagues at Japan’s National Institute of Fitness and Sport measured aerobic and anaerobic changes from very high intensity interval training in routines that lasted 4 minutes or less. They discovered that a very high intensity load with short rest periods created improvements in not only anaerobic performance (not a surprise), but also created improvements in aerobic capacity. This means, and this is counter-intuitive to most exercise physiologists and trainers, that an athlete can train with one approach that benefits both aerobic and anaerobic performance. The key to eliciting these gains are high intensity work. And what is high intensity? Greg Glassman steps in with a practical definition in “physical and psychological discomfort.” Scoring the workouts creates this high intensity work: scoring sometimes for points, sometimes for repetitions, sometimes total weight lifted, sometimes a combination of work and time (power). This approach works because, in the words of the late Col. Jeff Cooper, “Men will die for points.” The byproduct of that intensity is what I call “high ROI” – high return on the investment in work.

One last quote from the CrossFit website (www.crossfit.com) is worth mention:

• CrossFit is the principal strength and conditioning program for many police academies and tactical operations teams, military special operations units, champion martial artists, and hundreds of other elite and professional athletes worldwide. Our program delivers a fitness that is, by design, broad, general, and inclusive. Our specialty is not specializing. Combat, survival, many sports, and life reward this kind of fitness and, on average, punish the specialist.
• The CrossFit program is designed for universal scalability making it the perfect application for any committed individual regardless of experience. We’ve used our same routines for elderly individuals with heart disease and cage fighters one month out from televised bouts. We scale load and intensity; we don’t change programs. The needs of Olympic athletes and our grandparents differ by degree not kind. Our terrorist hunters, skiers, mountain bike riders and housewives have found their best fitness from the same regimen. Thousands of athletes worldwide have followed our workouts posted daily on this site and distinguished themselves in combat, the streets, the ring, stadiums, gyms and homes.