Supposedly there are (rare) good CrossFit trainers who keep their class safe.

There are plenty of “bad” trainers out there in any field.

And by bad it doesn’t mean they don’t know what they should be doing but rather cave into the demands of their clients that want quick results and to feel the pump.

Just look at how many people go straight into weight lifting with compound exercises without first spending months working on stability, flexibility and burst speed/power.

Then what happens is that they get into a worse state and hit a wall even if they now can bench press 1.5 their body weight.

You would be much better off benching only 100 lbs while being able to stand straight against a wall while keeping your lower back, shoulder blades, elbows and the back of your palm against the wall comfortably throughout a shoulder press.

I’ve literally seen people getting so stiff after “training” for 6 months that I’m not sure if even 2 years of corrective exercises could bring them back to their starting point yet alone to the point where they can start building muscles safely.

And while in the mid 20’s to mid 30’s they might not notice it once they hit their 40’s and couldn’t stand straight because their lats and delts were developed incorrectly and they have no core they sure will.

Supposedly. In personal experience, I've observed an actual 100% fit for people who lack critical thinking skills, or often even general intelligence, and significant Crossfit engagement.

I really do think it is an obviously anti-intellectual consumer cult. I know many people who have tried it and decided it was not reasonable.

Edit:

I think my comment comes across as a generalized put-down, which rubbed people the wrong way and garnered the downvotes.

The experience I shared is truthful. Every single person I know that has really fallen into the Crossfit consumer cult is as far as I can tell a person who proves themselves to be susceptible to morally bankrupt, intellectually inept ideas. All of these people legitimately lack critical thinking skills. That's my own experience.

As far as the actual regime goes, it is pretty-well established to be anti-intellectual and flagrantly dismissive of science. They advertise this.

Yes some very fit people also do it and profit off of it. Some very rich people also promote MLM, which is a consumer cult deserving of similar, but worse criticism.

Should I not be able to criticize people who fall into MLM consumer cults? I think we need to allow criticism.

What about scientology, or other religious cults? What about other anti-intellectual cult of ideas like flat earth, anti-vax or phrenology?

Tell me exactly where the line is drawn, and why.

At least half of the people I've met that regularly do CrossFit are the kind of "anti-intellectual" cult followers who graduated from MIT & are distinguished in their fields, or have Ph.D.s in hard sciences.

Such luddites.

There are a lot of "smart" people that lack critical thinking skills, and whom are also bootlickers willing to ride on the latest bandwagon fad.

Had an acquaintance with a masters in electrical engineering from a prestigious university and worked as a senior research engineer at the R&D labs of a well known cutting edge electronics firm. And I've lost count of the number of weird cults and MLM schemes he's been suckered into.

>Every single person I know that has really fallen into the Crossfit consumer cult is as far as I can tell a person who proves themselves to be susceptible to morally bankrupt, intellectually inept ideas.

Those are probably the vocal ones. Plenty do crossfit and don't harp about it to everyone they meet -- it's just a form of exercise, like running or going for a swim.

great conversation here guys

What would you say about other intentionally anti-intellectual dogmas?

I do think they are worth considering, but also worth criticizing when they're proven beyond a reasonable doubt to be worse than useless.

> worse than useless

what is anyone's goal when partaking in exercise? And how about joining a club? Look at the CrossFit Games winners - do you think they've achieved nothing?

I don't partake in it, for the record. And I do acknowledge that many of the exercises seem ill-advised. But I made an account after like 6 years of lurking to point out that you're being pretty dogmatic in your criticisms of dogmas.

HN throttles your ability to comment if you get downvoted on a couple of comments. I could not reply so I edited my comment above, earlier, to respond to you.

I do think it's blatantly obvious that Crossfit is anti-intellectual consumer cult. They advertise this themselves.

It's a bit much to say every single person who does XFit is stupid, but I was sharing my own observations honestly.

Have you met any MLM people? Would you not say the same? Crossfit intentionally dismisses science and warnings related to potential problems with health and injury. Is that not unethical?

Also, all of my negative Crossfit comments seem to have been hit with the same exact number of downvotes here. I wouldn't expect it, but also wouldn't be surprised if there is some brigaiding here.

100%? I'm interested to hear the reasoning and methods used to arrive at this conclusive statistic.

He's just as morally bankrupt for putting up false statistics.

It is really impossible to say. There are just too many variables to consider here. For example:

Some CrossFit gyms have more offerings than just the traditional WoDs. E.g.: your friend might have be mixing mobility training, strength, cardio workouts.

Also, your friend might have latent injuries or have to stop for a week or so due pain/soreness. It is just you are not aware of those.

Some people are anatomically more fit for certain exercises than others. I'll skip any days with dead lifts because it is an exercise I cannot compromise proper form. So, I protect myself even if for many CF coaches it is just temporary weakness I could improve.