150513 - 60 Minutes.
Quite a few folks have asked if I've seen the 60 Minutes special on CrossFit and if I have opinions. I do, but the most important point is that the CrossFit piece doesn't matter.
Most of the folks that come here have no idea who Greg Glassman is, and probably don't care. I tell folks he's the CEO of CrossFit and started it with his ex-wife Lauren and pretty much end it there. We end it there because CrossFit is so much larger than any one person. We value the teachings and information from people no longer affiliated with CrossFit while still following the training, tenets and charter of CrossFit. We maintain and seek out certifications in CrossFit because we see the intrinsic value in doing so. We build coaches from within. We are proud members of a global community that has commonality through workouts with names like "Fran" and "Murph." We let people drop in from other affiliates for free. Not because we don't need the money, but because we acknowledge the role that community ties plays.
Hot topics of discussion on the internets and referenced in the episode are: injury rates in CrossFit versus other training (and versus sitting on your butt), how CF-L1 is given over a weekend and can't possibly make someone a good gym owner or trainer, how CrossFit is a cult and so on. I don't care about any of that, because in our practice, in our gym, that stuff doesn't matter. What matters here is our exceedingly low rate of injury, how CrossFit is the most effective thing anyone who steps into our doors has done, how our trainers don't coach classes without hours and hours of experience. and our head coach/owner (me) has an anatomy and physiology pre-med background and over 15,000 hours of CrossFit coaching experience (ask the owner of Miramont or Fort Collins Club or 24 Hour Fitness or Planet Fitness what certifications they needed to start their facility and how many hours of coaching and education they have), how we've never come close to a single rhabdo case or any serious orthopedic injury due to poor programming or unsafe movement, and how awesome, unique and accepting our folks are.
Every single CrossFit is different and given the power to be so. That's what sets us as CrossFit affiliates apart from some franchise. We can do what we've seen work and ignore unsafe or ridiculous trends in fitness: we weigh and measure safety and efficacy and get rid of the BS (like swiss ball squats). We have vast experience giving smart nutrition recommendations and don't have to outsource to do them. CFNFC has tested workouts and movements through over 6 years of trial and error.
We are a proud CrossFit affiliate. When other affiliates in town were de-affiliating, we stayed the course. We've seen CrossFit grow in Fort Collins from two affiliates in 2008 to seeing it in globo-gyms and over 10 affiliates in Fort Collins now. We've taken an athlete to 6th place in Regionals. We've weathered personnel storms and learned from past mistakes. We continue to advance our knowledge of human performance. We don't get any financial support or benefit from CrossFit so their million dollar deals don't impact us. It's just me, a couple of coaches, minimal equipment, an iPhone camera, and lots of heart and sweat.
That's why the 60 Minutes piece doesn't matter. Because that's not us.
General warm-up
3 rounds
25 double unders
10 med ball twisting lunges
10 PVC lunging pass-thrus
10 PVC overhead squats
CrossFit
AMRAP 12:
5 snatch high pulls M:95/75 F:65/55
10 hang squat snatches
15 overhead squats