My name is Joshua Conn and I have been a personal trainer
for about 10 years now. I am a
certified Strength and Conditioning Coach, an Advanced Corrective Exercise
Specialist and I specialize in injury prevention, pain management and pre/post
rehabilitation exercise prescription.
I have always looked at “trendy” workout programs with an
educated mind and a great deal of skepticism. The average fitness enthusiast and customer cannot see past
the fantastic marketing to figure out if this program or that program is right
for them. They just see some
good-looking paid models and they want to look like them and do what they are
doing. Now don’t get me wrong,
there is nothing wrong with watching the late night infomercials of these
pretty people working out. But
please remember, they are trying to sell you something!!
Hope I haven’t lost you yet. You’re still wondering what this has to do with
Crossfit. Well here you go. Recently my personal workouts have
gotten stale and boring. I
realized that I needed a change; I needed something new. Enter Crossfit. Over the past 2 weeks I have done about
7 self-run Crossfit workouts and I am not ashamed to tell you-- I’M HOOKED!
Don’t get me wrong; I am sticking to my guns when I say that
Crossfit is not for everyone. In
fact, it can be pretty bad for a lot of people. It all depends on your experience and your body’s ability to
perform functional movement patterns.
If you have experience lifting weights and can perform the major Olympic
lifts (clean, clean/jerk, snatch) correctly you are one step closer to
benefiting from Crossfit. But
those are not the only prerequisites you should think about. If you are considering Crossfit as a
change of pace or already participate in Crossfit workouts, you need to
complete a Functional Movement Screen to avoid injury. The Functional Movement Screen (FMS),
created by Gray Cook and Colleagues, looks at how the body is functioning and
compares that to how the body should be functioning.
What does this all mean? A Functional Movement Screen will tell us if there are any
asymmetries in your movements. It also allows us to see where there are
dysfunctions that limit proper functional movement. It means that if your body is not doing what it is designed
to do CORRECTLY, then completing many of the Crossfit exercises may leave you
injured now or in the future. By
completing the repetitive explosive movements in Crossfit exercises you are
risking harm to your body if the structure and muscles of your body are not
properly functioning first. I also
know that most people fall into the habit of trashing form and function to
complete the round or the exercise as they get tired. This is where you must have a strong grasp of what proper
form is and be confident that you’re body is moving properly to avoid hurting
yourself. I am pretty sure that
the average Crossfit instructor has little to no knowledge of FMS or real
proper form. I’ve witnessed many
Crossfit instructors not say a word as their participants exhibited form that
can and will send somebody to the hospital. So, beware! But
remember, there are good instructors out there, you just need to find them.
I’ve learned there may be some merit to those “trendy”,
popular programs and I guess I am not a true Crossfit Hater like I thought I
was. Honestly, I have become more
pro Crossfit over the past couple weeks than I ever was before, however, I
strongly believe that Crossfit is not for everyone and most people doing
Crossfit need to also do corrective work to make sure their body is prepared
for the rigors of Crossfit. We
strongly believe that our clients should do corrective work before beginning
ANY exercise program. But I do
think Crossfit is a great change from the “same old routine” most people are
doing. Remember, “to build a house
we must first lay a Solid foundation.”
- Joshua Conn, owner of Solid Fitness
(www.solidfitnesstraining.com)
P.S. I look forward to comments regarding this article, I
know I have some friends and acquaintances that are very serious about
Crossfit. Bring on the responses.
Stay Functional!
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