Cross Fit on 60 min.

its a joke. "this is what nature meant her body to be 1 million years ago...or she would have been eaten"  What a crock

My son came in the room and saw that. "What? Is that a girl? I thought only boys were supposed to get muscles like that. She could for sure beat me down wrestling. You're not going to start doing that are you Mom?'  LOL!

I saw someone in front of a cross fit gym the other day who was running down the sidewalk, dragging a huge tire that was attached to a rope tied around her waist. I think I'll stick with triathlon..

Well, I'm no proponent of crossfit.....BUT....... the Crossfit games, and preliminaries,  fill a stadium with spectators who are interested in their sport. A triathlon attracts a few family members until the participants even wear them out with the obsessive banter about it.. The avg. person who does triathlon wouldn't walk across the street to watch a race they weren't registered for.  The Crossfit games and preliminary games are broadcast on ESPN in primetime.  Triathlon gets an hour or so for an 8 hour race on NBC that is two months old by the time they get around to it and most people tune in to watch someone crawl across the line in 15 hours.  The prize money for Crossfit games can only be dreamed of by triathletes.

When you stack the two up against each other it gets kind of blurry trying to figure out who the boneheads are. 

and people bet a ton of money on dogfighting too, doesn't make it any less stupid

Wait, free Crossfit AND a killer body come beach season?!

But dogfighting has no TV contract.

I caught it, and thought the story was fascinating. I thought his message, when asked about being a "cult" was quite interesting from a branding perspective. From the transcript:

Sharyn Alfonsi: When you hear people describe CrossFit as a cult, what do you--

Greg Glassman: Oh, I don't--

Sharyn Alfonsi: --say?

Greg Glassman: --mind that. What if someone led a cult and they didn't know they were? I mean, that would be messed up, right? To-- so I started to kinda try to think what makes us a cult and what would define a cult. One is recruiting. And I ain't recruitin' anybody. I don't-- you know what, you guys-- people call me up, "Hey, I was thinkin' about joining CrossFit." "Well, then call back when you've decided to," you know?

Sharyn Alfonsi: So the doors are open, you're not recruiting--

Greg Glassman: Yeah, we're not recruiting, we're not barring the doors. I mean, it really is an open house.

Glassman says he spends most of his time defending the CrossFit brand with an iron fist.

Greg Glassman: If you don't defend it, you won't have a brand for long. We are in shark-infested waters and I've got--shark-repellent attorneys.

Many of the same reasons people look at triathletes as "kooks" are the same reason why triathletes (and others) look at crossfitters as kooks.  They don't know anything about it, or know just enough and just don't like it, or it's just not their thing.   It's funny to see triathletes call another group of people weird for their pastime in an effort to get fit.  I've done both and both have their eccentrics.

I don't know what the founder said - don't really care.  I know tons of crossfitter that live for it and talk about it all day long and have weird training techniques.  I can say the SAME for triathletes, or runners, or bikers, or swimmers. 

What I find appealing about it is several things.  Even started a blog about my foray into CF.

I like being strong all over.  It's general body weight strength.  Not how much you can bench or squat.  It's being able to do some pushups, sit-ups, pull-ups, pick up things efficiently and safely.  Basically it's strength and efficiency in movement.  Doing IM and tri had me in good cardio shape, but ask me to do a dozen pushups or a pullup?  Forget it.

I never like "weight lifting" either - I think it's a rare breed that does.  Crossfit "disguises" it's strength training in a series of short, intense interval training style workout.  You rarely just do bench press, or curls, or what have you.  That tire pulling thing?  I was surprised how much strength and cardio you need to pull a tire for 400 meters.  TO ME, it's more entertaining to do something like that than do a bunch of squats then run a mile.

It took a bit to get used the "group mentality" and encouragement.  I still don't like it.  But it's a community that's built on mutual support.  Probably why there is quite a pull/draw for people to go to the championships and view it.

You can't judge crossfitters by the people you see on TV.  They do this for a profession.  Of COURSE the women will look a bit/lot brutish/masculine.  They have to get big to compete and be the best.  But in a day to day class?  People or just every day people trying to get healthy and fit.

It IS pricey.  But unlike a mega gym, or even classes in a gym, you don't get much of the quality coaching you "should" get at a crossfit gym.  I started looking at it like a gym membership with a personal trainer/coach because at anytime, I can get detailed critique and coaching on form and technique.  My gym also includes nutritional guidance as well.  Not sure if a 24 Hour fitness does any of that unless you pay extra - and then you are paying the same amount.

Anyway.  People laugh at triathletes.  Never bothered me.  People laugh at crossfit.  Still doesn't bother me.  To me?  Both are just a hell of a lot of fun, I enjoy doing them, it's good for me, and I'm not hurting anyone.  Crossfit to ME, is like being a kid again.  Climbing ropes, jungle gym/monkey bars, flipping tires, box jumps, jumping rope.  Etc.  It's just fun (TO ME).

   Oh. Dear. God.

Nah, that's damn near impossible to do........I'm just getting ready to start laughing as I read this thread.

This gave a lot better picture to me than the 60 min episode. I can appreciate what your saying.

My fitness was a lot more balanced before triathlon for sure so I can understand the whole body aspect. I used to make sure I was active most days but it didn't matter if it was yoga, pilates, a hike in the woods, strength training or swim, bike, run. I am getting back to that since I have not raced in two years but I still have this little voice in my head that tells me even if I do yoga my workout is not complete anymore without swim or bike or run.

Ok, for the sake of reviving COJ I'll play.

I'm not offended but disgusting is pretty harsh. Why not just praise the hard work the woman obviously put into getting that strong? I think it's amazing!

Anyone remember when people used to rip on and analyze pics of Chrissie Wellington for her body? She was an amazing athlete, that should have been the only thing talked about.

A man works out and gets stronger. A woman works out, gets stronger and has her body analyzed by men. And we wonder why young girls have trouble with body image.

There LB, is that something along the lines of what you were expecting?

Yes ma'am, and you did not disappoint.    (also spot on)

fit women with muscles are super attractive.  Women on steroids are not.  The ones in the games on TV are most definitely on steroids, just like the pro football players, Ronda Rousey, etc.

So are the men, what's the point?

Look, I don't get offended by the comments like the one above, but as the father of 4 girls, I know they do.  Those twins you met in Canada are now 5'10.  One of them rides horses and is just tall and lean.  The other got hooked on water polo, after triathlon and swimming, and plays mostly coed.  She is 5'10", about 160 lbs, with big swimmer shoulders and a mean disposition in the water.  It's not a stretch to say that most boys her age don't want anything to do with her in the water.....she's a brutal defender.  But I hear her lament that she wishes she didn't have such big shoulders, or that she doesn't understand why she gets called a biatch while playing the game, or "amazon" by some of the boys in her school.  It doesn't offend her, it hurts her feelings. She'll survive, but the double standard is wrong.  A big aggressive boy is heralded as a great athlete......a big aggressive girl is an "amazon".  No.

There is no comment about the "attractiveness" of men on steroids.....but women are "disgusting".  Again, No.

So am I offended? No.  But as the ultimate protector of those girls of mine, I don't like it.  When it comes to them, I'm a pretty capable defender as well.

I'm with you on this LB.  As a father who raised two young ladies I have seen the variety of ways that they can get their feelings hurt.  I would simply encourage each of us to look at our interactions with others.  You may be surprised how simple it is to have a negative affect on someone.  I made a comparison some years back on this board and was quickly taken to task for offending.  When I reviewed what I had said, well yes, I could see where my flippant attempt at humor could be offensive to someone.  I probably fail more often not, but I TRY to keep the recipient in mind when I post something.  You never know what someone has been through, nor how they may take something.  It sometimes makes it difficult to say what I really want to say, but I am probably better off that way, at least knowing that I have thought through my statement.

BTW, it isn't just young ladies that can have their feeling hurt. 

Originally posted by skipg

Originally posted by trigal38

Originally posted by Left Brain

Originally posted by skipg Don't mean to offend anyone but big cross fit women just look disgusting.

   Oh. Dear. God.

Ok, for the sake of reviving COJ I'll play.

I'm not offended but disgusting is pretty harsh. Why not just praise the hard work the woman obviously put into getting that strong? I think it's amazing!

Anyone remember when people used to rip on and analyze pics of Chrissie Wellington for her body? She was an amazing athlete, that should have been the only thing talked about.

A man works out and gets stronger. A woman works out, gets stronger and has her body analyzed by men. And we wonder why young girls have trouble with body image.

There LB, is that something along the lines of what you were expecting?

maybe disgusting was a bit harsh... but being fit with toned muscles is one thing, I was referring to the select few massive manly looking women. If it makes it sound better...I also think huge body builder men look equally disgusting! The comment did create some COJ activity though

All right, I'll play...

"I think skinny triathlete men just look disgusting."

Wait, no I don't - I don't actually give a crud what they look like. When discussions come up about why people would want to do triathlons or crossfit or go fishing or whatever, the LAST thing that comes to mind for me is how said activity makes that person look. I'm impressed by what an athlete can DO with their body, not what it looks like. And I suspect most of those women doing crossfit aren't doing it so that a man will like the way they look, are they? They are doing it to feel strong, to compete, to challenge themselves. 

Luckily, it's different strokes for different folks, and there are guys out there who love muscles on a woman, while you might hate them.

Just sucks to be the teenage girl looking at society's beauty standards, and feeling like she is less than when in actuality she is awesome and strong (LB's daughter). Why does the way a woman looks have to be brought into the conversation over and over again? 

I didn't watch the whole episode but I did see a good part of it with this where he is super protective of the brand and sues people all the time. They guys was weird - and the profile of him actually diminished how i felt about crossfit. I also didn't like how he openly slagged Reebok. 

I am not against Crossfit - they are very much like us - and many of them were us (aka triathletes) and i admit, I am intrigued and wouldn't mind trying it some time but i am not so interested as to deviate from what I currently do or go out of my way to find it.  But i do love seeing people work hard, work up a sweat and get strong. So, i found what I saw interesting in how it played both sides - a strange cult-like group vs. super fit, inspirational people.