Is CrossFit Bad? A Reno Coach's Honest Answer

Is CrossFit Bad? A Reno Coach's Honest Answer

CrossFit isn't perfect, but a bad CrossFit experience doesn't make the methodology bad. That's the short answer after 20 years of coaching and 12 years of running Double Edge Fitness here in Reno.

If you spend any time on Instagram, you'd think CrossFit is a guaranteed injury with no muscle to show for it. Usually that message comes right before someone sells you their own program. Either I've learned nothing about fitness in two decades, or a lot of people are making CrossFit sound bad to make their product sound better.

I'll be upfront: I own a CrossFit affiliate, so I have skin in the game. Here's what I've actually seen, including where CrossFit falls short.

What CrossFit actually is

CrossFit is a training methodology: constantly varied functional movement executed at high intensity. The goal is broad work capacity, being good at a lot of things and ready for whatever life puts in front of you.

Greg Glassman started building these ideas as a teenage gymnast in the 1970s. CrossFit, Inc. was founded in 2000, and the first workout of the day went up on CrossFit.com on February 10, 2001: dumbbell thrusters and quarter-mile runs. (CrossFit)

Here's what most people don't know: CrossFit is a license, not a franchise. Affiliates like Double Edge pay to use the name, but each gym programs and coaches its own way. Some gyms do this really well. Some don't.

A bad gym is like a bad doctor

If you have a bad experience with a doctor, you don't decide all doctors are bad. You find a better one.

CrossFit works the same way. A gym that throws beginners into heavy, fast workouts with no coaching gave you a bad experience. That's a problem with how it was run, not proof the methodology is broken.

The honest weak spot: intensity before efficiency

CrossFit is high-potency training, and done incorrectly, it can hurt people. The most common mistake I see is pushing intensity before someone moves well.

Intensity is what drives results, but you have to earn it with efficient, correct movement first. Push it too early and people get frustrated with the learning curve, burn out, or get hurt. Group classes and workouts for time can add to that pressure.

That's where coaching quality matters more than anything. A great coach protects the intended stimulus, scales the workout to the person in front of them, and moves them toward their goals while managing most of the risk.

"You can't build muscle doing CrossFit"

That's wrong. Since 2012, I've watched hundreds of people build muscle, lose fat, and improve their metabolic health doing CrossFit. I've seen it happen in other programs too.

Our program includes progressive strength training, aerobic conditioning, and metabolic conditioning. Train with us three days a week and you'll keep moving the needle on your health. Train five days a week intelligently and you'll move it a lot further.

Why we coach in a group

One-on-one coaching is probably the best experience you can buy. I coached that way for years and still do it, and it delivers exactly what a person is looking for. But at $75 to $100 an hour, three sessions a week isn't realistic for most people. Small group is more personal, and it's expensive too.

A well-coached group class delivers, in my experience, 80% or more of a one-on-one experience at a fraction of the cost. Training three days a week at Double Edge works out to roughly $20 per class and if you come 5 days per week it is $12 per class.  Same price as a coffee at some places. Every day I watch our coaches give a personal experience to a lot of people at once.

Group training also gives you something one-on-one can't: other people. COVID showed us how much the training environment matters. Shared work and shared suffering build bonds that carry people through the ups and downs, and I've never seen a program build those bonds better than CrossFit.

Every program checks some boxes

I've coached long enough that I don't think any program is bad. Most of them check important boxes, and people can get healthier on any of them if they stay consistent. Any program taken to the extreme carries risk, and bodybuilding is no different.

So what are the boxes? Here's what I believe a program needs to cover every week for long-term health:

• Progressive strength training: asking a little more of your muscles over time
• Aerobic capacity: the base that lets you work longer and recover faster
• VO2 max: your top-end engine, built with harder intervals
• Mobility: improving it, then keeping it as you age

Pair those four with good nutrition and sensible calorie management, and I believe almost any program can deliver long-term health and vitality. At Double Edge, those four are what we aim to hit with our programming every single week. Some people will need extra easy aerobic work outside of class to build a bigger base, and that's okay.

The fitness program you enjoy is the one you'll stick with. CrossFit never claimed to be anything other than CrossFit. It's built to make you capable at a lot of things, not the best in the world at one.

Why I still believe in it

If I thought another program was a better option for long-term health, I would change what we do at Double Edge. I haven't, because of what I see every day. Our members range from teenagers to people in their 80s, and many have trained with us for years.

I'm 42, and I can't imagine training any other way.

If you've had a bad CrossFit experience, or you're curious but unsure, come see how we coach. You can book a free seven-day trial at Double Edge Fitness in Reno.