Posted: 7/26/2011 5:34:44 AM EDT
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http://startingstrength.com/articles/training_perspective_gillian.pdf |
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Good article, gets down on CF (she has some good points, others I disagree with) but all in all pretty good. To the surprise of many, I have not done a stitch of direct arm training in about 12 years – not a single dumbbell curl, concentration curl, hammer curl, tricep kick back, cable tricep extension, or skull-crusher. I could feel that I was working harder when I did pull-ups, dips, barbell rows, bench presses, and handstand push-ups. I never understood why other bodybuilders would split their upper bodies into three or four days and then devote only one day to "legs”. I knew from Anatomy 101 and Physiology 101 that at least 60% of your muscle mass is located below the waist – so give it at least 60% of your training time. Excellent. The interesting part is that I was told I was "too big”, that I carried "excessive muscle”, and that I was at a bodyweight that would "slow me down” and interfere with "range of motion” (did I mention that I was a gymnast?). I was also told to learn kipping pull-ups because my dead-hangs weren’t fast enough to get the best times possible. At the time, I weighed 146lbs at 13% body fat (almost exactly where I am now). No matter how good I was as a CrossFitter, I didn’t fit the "ideal” body type. I was instructed to "Zone” diet on 13 blocks – approximately 1,300 calories a day. Previously, I consumed roughly 3,000 calories a day and had maintained the same bodyweight for more than five years. As a result I lost 28 lbs, had 6% body fat and got weak, but I looked like the "ideal” CrossFitter. This is just too bad  It's all about performance, I don't understand a coach (Crossfit or otherwise) telling someone to Zone 13 blocks to lose weight (or telling them to change anything to be honest) when they are absolutely crushing the workouts...WTF... I guess it just shows you that finding a good coach is very important. It sounds to me that she had a really shitty CF coach. In fact, much of her critisizm of CF seems to really boil down to shitty CF programming and a shitty coach... Most of my clients want thinner thighs, a tight butt, a flat stomach, and jiggle-free arms, and they care little about their deadlifts. They have a hard time understanding how one relates to the other, especially after all the popular media brainwashing that they have endured. Some very educated women still believe they can "spot” reduce, turn fat into muscle, and vice versa. They also believe that they have to do excessive "cardio” and lose weight before they weight train so they don’t get bulky. I have been blamed for their inability to lose weight, even when they only spend 3 hours a week with me. My futile explanation of their lack of control during the other 165 hours a week as the real culprit is not well received. Another excellent point here, it's so hard to convince people of this it's mind boggling. |
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Honestly, I don't know enough about CF to make any sort of judge as to whether or not it is a good program. I will say that I abhor fads, and CF has become one, and thus I steer clear. One of the most interesting thing that the article delves into is diet and body fat percentage. You need food in order to be able to get strong, recover and maintain peak performance. Cross fit seems to have become its own little bodybuilding cult, and that's a shame. |
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Quoted: Honestly, I don't know enough about CF to make any sort of judge as to whether or not it is a good program. I will say that I abhor fads, and CF has become one, and thus I steer clear. One of the most interesting thing that the article delves into is diet and body fat percentage. You need food in order to be able to get strong, recover and maintain peak performance. Cross fit seems to have become its own little bodybuilding cult, and that's a shame. CF can be a great program depending on ones goals. It's probably the best program out there for general fitness...IF DONE PROPERLY. In my gym we do heavy squats, deadlifts, bench press and shoulder press at least once a week, then CF workouts on top of it. I've seen some coaches with terrible programming though that really blunts the effectiveness of the program...of course then you have some people who eat very little because they want to be trim, and others (like me) who eat a good amount (but not too much) and maintain a decent amount of muscle. (5'9" 180, I'd put on more in a heartbeat but I do still need to be able to run fast). Basically, it's as effective as you want it to be. As far as a fad...I disagree, did you know there's a million dollar purse for the games this year? Fads don't have million dollar purses. The site has been publishing workouts for coming up on 10 years (and CF has been around for longer than that). It's not for everyone, but it's hardly a fad. Cultish? I don't know...maybe. I think it's just because so many of us have had such great results and like to share it with people...some people are really rabid about it though, and I'll give you that. Many others like myself have no problems with admitting its shortcomings and steering people towards something else if it meets their goals better. As far as CF bodybuldish diet (I think was your point right?) it just depends. Some people follow zone, some don't. My wife does, but that's because her performance is better when she does...275# deadlift at 125# bodyweight is pretty damn good. For me, I perform better at 176-182 or so without zoning...so I don't. I just eat around 3k-3.5k calories of good clean food and call it good  ...Some coaches though will screw it all up though. |
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Quoted: Some coaches though will screw it all up though. This is a good lead in for this satirical article by Jim Wendler http://www.t-nation.com/strength-training-topics/1298 Honestly, I'm just glad that people are doing shit instead of staring at the fucking boob tube. I do think that the explosion in CF has created more demand than what experienced coaches are capable off, which has thus created a lot of CF coaches who don't know shit. As for diet, I don't know how you can workout on an empty stomach. I really try to go in with a 1/2 hamburger and a chocolate shake in mah bellie. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Some coaches though will screw it all up though. This is a good lead in for this satirical article by Jim Wendler http://www.t-nation.com/strength-training-topics/1298 Honestly, I'm just glad that people are doing shit instead of staring at the fucking boob tube. I do think that the explosion in CF has created more demand than what experienced coaches are capable off, which has thus created a lot of CF coaches who don't know shit. As for diet, I don't know how you can workout on an empty stomach. I really try to go in with a 1/2 hamburger and a chocolate shake in mah bellie. I agree completely about the experienced coaches, it's a pretty big problem IMO. I'm lucky, my coach just gets it. He feels strongly that a good foundation of strength is important and trains to our weaknesses. Another problem is that for some reason a lot of crossfitters don't like or won't take the time to do the strength work, and so will never see the results that they could see. Instead they do long grueling metcons and nothing else...meanwhile they don't get any stronger and get good at long grueling metcons and nothing else. Programming is key. Me personally? I get naseous if I eat first...that's the only reason I go on an empty stomach. I eat a nice big breakfast after though. |
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Quoted:
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Some coaches though will screw it all up though.
This is a good lead in for this satirical article by Jim Wendler http://www.t-nation.com/strength-training-topics/1298 Geez, that sounds just like a guy I work with who is studying to become a personal trainer. I took him to my gym one day, and run him into the ground on deadlift day. He still wanted to superset stuff and do random shit, but once we got to the heavy weights he cut that out and realized he had some weaknesses to fix. He has never returned to the gym with me  . But at least he's now asking me questions and I've turned him onto t-nation. I hope he reads that article
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i've seen some CF gyms that seem to do the endless metcon cycle, and that would drive me crazy. mine is split pretty evenly it seems, and my trainer/coach knows my goals and what i do for a living and tailors the workouts to me as much as possible.
we rarely speak of any diet, let alone "the zone." i can't imagine trying to operate on 1300 calories/day as referenced in the article. we did have a 30-day paleo challenge awhile back, but i drink too much mt. dew for that
i will definitely agree that crossfit isn't for everyone. it works for me because it directly makes me better at my job (and aother things i enjoy). just like some folks can't wrap their heads around why we should deadlift, i couldn't imagine being on an elliptical for 30-45 minutes 3-4 times a week  .
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I think this is important as well: Additionally, I had suffered a catastrophic injury 16 months prior, herniation of 5 cervical and thoracic discs from a combination of excessive volume muscle-ups and a very high rep, heavy barbell workout performed for time with extreme fatigue and faulty mechanics. A lot of people would have thrown in the towel. They would have given in to all of the MD's and family members who plead that training isn't good for you. Instead, you get hurt, and you train around the injury or through it and you will heal. |
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Quoted: Quoted: CF can be a great program depending on ones goals. Desired end state is hugely important when choosing a fitness path. You have to know where you want to be to choose a path to get there. Exactly. It sounds like CF was not a program that was going to meet her desired end state... |