About CrossFit in General: ” CrossFit is useless and everyone get’s hurt…statistics show” ” The Coaches don’t know what they are doing” “Sure, if you like your guys small and your ladies to look like dudes” ” I am a personal trainer and I feel…..” Things I have heard about us in particular: “You guys have AC/Mirrors? Real CrossFits don’t have air conditioning” And my favorite “He explained WAY TOO MUCH” These are things members have told me they have heard in the last WEEK. Urban Dictionary Definition: HATER-A person that simply cannot be happy for another person’s success. Hating, the result of being a hater, is not exactly jealousy. The hater doesn’t really want to be the person he or she hates, rather the hater wants to knock someone else down a notch. (And in their sad mind, this will make them feel more powerful!) When I was first getting into Social media it seemed like I spent my time defending CrossFit as much as I did promoting it. It took me a long time to learn that I have NEVER changed anybody’s mind over the internet about something they had already formed an opinion about. People have an inherent need to be heard…not so much to listen. Just check Youtube comments sections for evidence. Whenever you are doing something well there will always be detractors. It dawned on me that for every second I spend arguing with a troll/youtube expert I could use that minute to better serve everyone that have been sweating it out. Here are a couple of tips that help me transcend the internet babble. 1. It doesn’t matter how many Don’t get it. Just how many that do. – If you are in it for the right reasons and have a quality service, detractors more often than not look like fools. I no longer respond to all criticism, if I did I would never find time to complete important milestones of my own, and I am no longer responding to things that don’t warrant a response. So I decided to address these one last time. Examples: “You do cheating pull ups”- No we don’t. We do strict unless preparing for competition. If CrossFit just called them Chin Above the Bars….we would all be fine. “You only lift weights poorly and fast. I will get small and weak”- We follow periodized strength programming written 12 weeks a cycle. We work up to 1 rep maxes…which is literally the heaviest you can lift. Also our motto is Form=Consistency=Intensity. If you do not show competency in one you do not progress on. We might offer a regression or a correction in it’s place. “CrossFit is dangerous!”- It’s more dangerous than what? Being sedentary? Not really. If done improperly…absolutely it is. Just like running, swimming, biking, lifting with poor form, playing sports after being sendentary, eating crappy food, not getting enough sleep, having high stress, etc. “CrossFit causes rhabdomyolysis.”
Ugh… I don’t even want to dignify this with a response so here is a response a CrossFit coach was nice enough to write and an article by Greg Glassman, CrossFit founder.
“It’s too intense for me. I would have to get in shape before going.”
This is a common misconception. Every single move done at CrossFit can be scaled to any fitness level. Can’t lift 40 lbs? Move down to an 18 lb barbell. Can’t do a pushup? Do a regression until you can. Can’t jump up on that box? Step up on that box. Not difficult. Sometimes, I think people use this excuse not to try it mostly because they just aren’t ready to be worked that hard. Understandable, most people aren’t. It’s uncomfortable. It’s SUPPOSED to be.
2. “Trying to get everyone to like you is a sign of mediocrity” -Colin Powell Someone people just won’t like it here or CrossFit in general. This is ABSOLUTELY FINE. It is too intense for some, it is too humbling for others. Everyone has their own path. 3. “If you are really effective at what you do, 95% of the things said about you will be negative.” -Scott Boras Definitely not quite 95%, but CrossFit tends to get a lot of flack…some deserved but mostly not. With the prevalence of social media we now have an incredibly easy venue to share our opinions (Yelp, Facebook, Google, Manta, etc.). With success comes detractors. It is an necessary evil. So take note of what was said, but don’t waste your energy responding to the one negative you get out of 100. It is like a heckler to a stand up comedian. If you engage you end up with myopia and foster negativity. If something is working for you not amount of naysayers will change that and conversely no amount of delusion will create results.]]>
