The CrossFit style of training is now very much mainstream. Lots of people are either doing it as we speak, or they have attempted it in the past, or they’re thinking about doing it sometime in the future. But unfortunately many of these people lack the foundational strength, balance, coordination, flexibility and mobility to perform the workouts safely.
CrossFit sometimes gets the reputation of injuring people, but it’s not CrossFit itself that injures people. It’s the lack of preparation for the demands of CrossFit that causes people to get injured. For example, if you had never sprinted before and then one day you decided to go out to the track and sprint as hard as you could without any preparation, the odds are pretty damn good that you’re going to hurt yourself. And yet you don’t hear people saying that you shouldn’t sprint because it’s bad for you. They’d probably say you should have done a better job at preparing your body for the demands of sprinting.
Well it’s the same with CrossFit training. ANY exercise or program performed at high intensity can injure you if your body hasn’t been progressed into it properly. So instead of pointing fingers and criticizing this style of training, learn what you need to do to prepare your body so your risk of injury is as low as it can possibly be. Here is a great article from Men’s Health called 4 Tests You Should Be Able to Pass Before You Start CrossFit. I like this article not only because it covers which tests you should be able to pass, it also teaches you how to fix your body for any of the tests that you currently are not able to pass. Take your time preparing your body. A strong foundation will keep you injury free so you can become that beast in the gym you’ve always wanted to be!
Besides being a regular contributor to the Function Health Club blog, Jeff Doyle is also the co-owner of Function Health Club as well as a Personal Trainer, BCRPA Trainer of Fitness Leaders and Older Adult Wellness Practitioner. He also has a Bachelor of Human Kinetics. You can contact Jeff directly at jeff@FunctionHandF.com.
