| by Allana Wooley |CrossFit devotees live for the high intensity, varying communal workouts that push their bodies to the brink.
There's a bond that runs through the CrossFit community. Athletes, the preferred term for CrossFitters, find their athleticism pushed and challenged in exercises that include gymnastics, strength training, cardiovascular cycles and more. CrossFit certified trainers lead groups of athletes through the WODs, yelling encouragement to complete the workout, to achieve a new personal record, to get faster, to perform more repetitions than ever before. Athletes encourage each other, bonded by the tough mental and physical demands of CrossFit, but they also compete against each other and themselves.
It's this community-induced competitive spirit that has many questioning CrossFit's benefits. CrossFitters routinely post images to social media boasting about their bruises, sore limbs, and scraped and calloused hands. Far more worrying is the tendency to celebrate WOD-induced vomiting and muscle injuries.
There is a favorite mascot in the CrossFit community, a green-faced, muscular clown vomiting before a loaded barbell. "Pukie the Clown" is a testament to how strenuous the workouts are, how hard the athletes work. But it is also illustrative of how many in the CrossFit community celebrate this all-in, "no pain, no gain" approach to exercise.
Pukie has company in "Uncle Rhabdo," another CrossFit-adopted mascot. Rhabdo, short for rhabdomyolysis, is a serious condition that results from injured muscles: cells explode and their contents enter the bloodstream leading to possible kidney failure and even death. Uncle Rhabdo is a clearly exhausted clown hooked up to a dialysis machine, his kidney lying on the floor in a pool of blood. It's a sobering image, made light of by Uncle Rhabdo's blue-haired, red-nosed clown face.
As an organization, CrossFit cautions against the potentially lethal threat of "rhabdo" and throwing participants into workout settings they aren't yet ready for.
Wade Sisk, who co-owns No Limit CrossFit Fort Worth, has been involved with CrossFit for half a decade. A passionate advocate for CrossFit's benefits, he sees the two-day course and certification test-the only requirements to opening an affiliated branch-as real problems with CrossFit's model.
"Box to box, there is a main philosophy, but coach to coach, you have different emphasis," Sisk said. "A lot of boxes don't focus on form, they just give you a lot of weight and see how much you can do: 3, 2, 1, GO. That's where you get a lot of injuries. The way I see it, you aren't going to get fit in a day. It's not a sprint, it's a marathon."
For Sisk, who holds a bachelor's degree from TCU in kinesiology, and his wife, Natalie Sisk, with a bachelor's in kinesiology and psychology as well as a master's in coaching to her name, focus on form, function, mobility, and flexibility to prevent injury are the main priorities.
"I look at CrossFit more as a teaching method; if you do it properly and are not worried about the WOD, you can prevent a lot of injuries and really get the form right," Sisk said.
There's no denying the significant benefits of CrossFit's high intensity, well-rounded approach to exercise and wellness. Athletes have greater awareness of their bodies, are plugged into a supportive community, and are mentally and physically stronger individuals. But it is easy to take CrossFit's emphasis on hard work too far. It's important that CrossFit newbies and devotees alike pay attention to form and listen to their bodies before embarking on any new exercise regimen.
