Fitness fads have been around for years and I do not see it fading away anytime soon. P90x, hot yoga (two that we have already blogged about, and if you missed it, shame on you) are just a couple of current fads. There is one that I believe is not only unnecessary but down right harmful to the human body.

I am not even going to make you guess, it’s Crossfit! This thing has really taken off the past couple of years. Now that Crossfit is televised worldwide, it’s receiving more recognition than ever before.

This whole craze started back in the early 2000s. I guess this guy and his wife were feeling pretty ambitious, so they made up a workout routine that would be very difficult for even a navy seal. From there it moved eastward, and now it’s worldwide.

Watching people sweat, scream and grunt while they do these grueling exercises is fairly entertaining. It’s like wow! These people look like warriors! Everything they are doing is so hardcore. Too bad they are all going to have arthritis in 5 or 10 years, and there have been documents of people dying from these workouts. Just the other day my certification teacher was telling a story about how a Crossfit trainer caused a lady to die from exhaustion. That is not my major rift with Crossfit, cause that can happen with any incompetent trainer.

The issue I have with Crossfit is that it promotes rapid movement that takes years off your joints and ligaments. The whole idea of Crossfit is to take functional movements from everyday living (lifting up a briefcase, squatting to pick up a controller, reaching for a cereal box) and implement them into a structured workout.

The problem is the lack of control throughout each exercise. During crossfit, a person is completing a good number of repetitions and with that comes fatigue. By the time you complete a cycle of exercises, you are already tired whether you are trained or not.

So, by the time you start round two, your form, posture, and focus are no longer there, leaving you susceptible to injury. One time I heard someone in Crossfit say “if your form is good, you are not doing it right”. Come on! See, this is what happens when people do not have the proper educational background.

If they had a proper background they would know that constant jerking movements can cause inflammation of the bursa resulting in bursitis. If or when the bursitis becomes chronic, there is a chance of arthritis and there is no cure for that! Look, I am not trying to take away potential options of having fun.

Not all the Crossfit routines are bad, just slow down your pace if you decide to do it. Stay away from all that jerking motion! When you start to lose your form, drop whatever weights you are carrying and take a breather. I really do not want you to be wearing knee and elbow wraps while popping your arthritis pills just to get through your day!

-Phil