Why CrossFit is Wrong for Non-Fitness Athletes
CrossFit is an awesome sport, but it’s just that…a SPORT, not a training modality for competitive athletes. CrossFit does many things that other sports could learn from, such as the competitive and supportive environment. Also, CrossFit is a great opportunity for athletes who are no longer competitive in their respective sport, to stay fit and compete in an alternative arena. However, it is not meant to be used as a training modality for athletes looking to improve their performance in other sports.
Sport Specific Demands
Like baseball, football, lacrosse, etc., CrossFit is a sport with its own unique and specific demands. Meaning that athletes will be training to improve their CrossFit performance, not necessarily performance in their sport. Think about it this way; you wouldn’t play baseball and say you’re training for basketball.
All movements in the gym, require some degree of skill and practice to ensure safe execution. However, key CrossFit movements such as Olympic lifts, gymnastics movements, and muscle-ups, require an even greater level of skill and practice in order to avoid injury and improve performance. Olympic lifts require a ton of power and coordination, which leads people to assume that those attributes (power and coordination), will be translated into other sport-specific movements. But generally, performing Olympic lifts will improves Olympic lifting proficiency more than sport-specific power. I go into more depth about Olympic weightlifting here, but there are safer and simpler ways to improve overall power than employing snatch and clean and jerk variations.
Periodization
Athletes have a demanding competitive schedule and require training that prepares them for the specific demands of their sport; meaning periodization is a necessity. No matter the sport an athlete is training for, they will need to structure their offseason to allow them to build a general base of fitness and movement quality that will prepare them for more specific training demands as the offseason progresses. CrossFit attempts to train the full range of fitness attributes-from absolute strength to aerobic endurance-in one training session, or a week of training sessions, which doesn’t allow for the type of periodization and adaptations competitive athletes require.
In general, an offseason will be periodized with a hypertrophy block first, then a strength block, then a power/sport specific demands block, then an in-season program during the competitive season (though this periodization model can change based on the training age and specific needs of the athlete). Ultimately, CrossFit can’t account for these needs. It is difficult to train all fitness attributes at once, which usually leads to poor performance, or at the very least, limited progression. Focusing on one attribute at a time is necessary to make the types of improvements required to improve sport performance.
Individualization
As I mentioned, CrossFit is leading the pack in terms of creating a tight-knit community with an excellent support system for trainees. However, group training, the foundation of the CrossFit community, does not account for the individual needs of an athlete. A pitcher and soccer player have very different training requirements, but if they both join a CrossFit class their training programs will be identical. The specific demands of a sport/athlete must be considered when evaluating potential risk and reward in the gym. For example, muscle-ups require significant shoulder mobility and can force athletes into poor positions, in which the humeral head will glide forward in the anterior capsule, which can lead to anterior shoulder pain. This would obviously be a major issue for a pitcher or any other overhead athlete, and therefore would likely be contraindicated in their individualized program.
Overall, CrossFit is a fun sport that fosters a supportive and competitive environment. This community allows individuals to stay fit and competitive as they move away from other sports. However, enjoy CrossFit as a sport unto itself, and don’t try to use it as an offseason training plan for athletes in other sports.
Resources
Photo:
“A Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, CrossFit instructor demonstrates proper form for the thrusters exercise before the competition, Camp Arifjan, March 23, 2018” by SGT Dylan Grace
“Quarterly fitness competition” by Airman st Class Chris Drzazgowski