This is not an anti Crossfit blog and Crossfit did not nearly kill her. The misrepresentation of Crossfit as exercise and the need to treat it as a sport is what did the damage.

We recently had yet another Crossfit devote in for an assessment and complimentary trial and as with most people who are over the age of 35 and very involved with a sport but not exercise, their actual physical fitness levels were really quite poor. As usual there was clear and significant disparage between certain aspects of stamina verses strength with many strong functions overpowering or worse – worsening their inherent weaknesses. There were the standard complaints of aches and pains and plenty of inability to combine basic stamina and strength movements without undue stress, the take home message being – It is great to stay active but, however counter intuitive it may seem: sport is NOT exercise

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Many of the most significant physical fitness issues we see are with competitive athletes. That most have the genetics and interest in protecting them (fitness awareness) is what skews how they represent what is effective exercise. In other words, naturally athletic individuals are naturally more inclined to stay fit one way or the other…and it is easier for them than most. Their actual ‘potential’ physical fitness levels are usually sub par when we test them.

This much like how the statistics of overweight people surviving treatment for disease better because of the extra fat was skewed by the fact that if one was lean and fit yet still admitted for treatment (and thus part of the statistics) they were usually worse off BECAUSE a fit person who still gets sick is generally suffering a more serious problem.  http://www.cbsnews.com/news/being-overweight-may-protect-against-premature-death-study-suggests/ A person with inherited/congenital cardiopulmonary dysfunction is a very different issue than a person suffering similar dysfunction from being overweight and out of shape. The sad thing is that the medical community tends to utilize the same treatments for both…but that is another blog.

The easiest way to illustrate how we can miss the obvious is in how many think running makes you thin because most of the people they see out there jogging are thin. From a basic physiological standpoint running does not make you thin and contributes little to fat loss (see our last blog post:  https://wefit.ca/2015/08/10/the-run-on-fat/ ) . Without boring you to tears over the physiology we will goes as far as to say: “thinking running makes you thin is like saying playing basketball makes you tall”.

Overweight, heavy framed folks simply don’t stick at weekly running programs UNLESS they reduce calories and drop all the excess body fat. Thus if you see them out running…they’re thin. If all they do is continue to run but fight with diet (the good days/bad days war) then in short time they give up running.

Getting back to the dangers of high velocity ‘sportcersise‘, for enthusiasts playing athlete can be enjoyable but overdoing it or picking a sport you are not naturally suited for commonly leads to injuries, acute or cumulative. This is often because while caught up in the hype you chase the results you dream of or the sales pitch suggested. Because the activity doesn’t deliver perhaps you chase your goals harder and harder until something gives, either your motivation or your body…eventually both.

It is misleading to think Crossfit will get you properly in-shape, fit and healthy in the same way it is misleading to think running will do much for getting you thin. Both will help for stress relief and mental/emotional reinforcement for motivation but they will provide little in and of themselves to correct physiological conditions caused by overeating and stamina/strength loss.

We know, at first it is hard to wrap your head around that all that action and physical energy doesn’t lead to fitness. Well wrap your head around this – why aren’t daily, physically hard working construction workers the most fit people around?! When you realize that most often the ones over 35 are in exceptionally poor physical fitness condition you achieve a useful peak at the inner workings of physiology. Unfortunately most of the fitness industry takes advantage of how tedious and tough it is to understand all of human biology.

This is all directly comparable to the recent fad of ‘exertainment‘ where music, dancing and such are dressed up in studios as exercise for physical fitness. Watering down the physiological basis for exercise (as regenerative medicine) with entertainment and/or sporting play is really nothing more than and old fashion sales tactic. You may temporarily feel better but the effect is as short lived and fleeting as fast food fixes are for cravings.

Long story short, stay active but play safe and back it up, just like you should to protect against aging, by having a sound exercise and nutrition program.

Be Well,

Andrew and Tierney,

-WeFit

For our take on how something like crossfit fits in for us: