Smashby's Training Blog

Greg Walker, one of the “fire breathers” at CrossFit Lakewood, sent me an email last week sharing some of his thoughts on things he’s recently come across. The main topic was the “elitist” mentality that some fitness programs show towards others. Many of you who read this blog already know the about the ongoing “battle” between CrossFit and P90-X, but the list of rivalries and the search for “The Best” goes on for days.

The topic I’m going to focus on today stems from a picture that Kristin shared with me on Facebook. Here’s what she posted:

Failure? Not necessarily. (p.s.- Don't try at home)

The picture is from the guys over at Fail Blog, and it shows a man doing what looks to be a Back Squat while balancing on a “Swiss Ball”. I assume that the person who posted it on Failblog was saying that what he is doing is completely ridiculous, and therefore, constitutes a “Fail”. Now, my initial reaction when I saw the picture was… “YESSS!!!!!” and I probably laughed out loud. Then, Greg’s question made me pause for a second and really break it down. Here’s what he wrote:

“On those fail pictures of the guy squatting on a rubber ball…I don’t agree with the comment “fail” it should say “misinformed” we are very fortunate that we have found Crossfit, and I don’t think we should label others as failures because they don’t know any better….at least they are getting to the gym! I think the fail comment doesn’t represent the positivity that Crossfit is all about and makes us look like jerks.”

Greg didn’t mean to particularly put down any one picture or group, he was merely saying that the “holier than thou” attitude some people show, can deflate a person’s confidence in simply trying to get in better shape. Basically, he wants people to put down their “Hater-ade” and embrace fitness, however it happens! Here’s my take on the “Is that really a fail?” question:

As a personal trainer (to use the most easily understood job title), my goal is to help guide people down the path of increasing their fitness level and improving their health. That is what drives and motivates me. I personally know some kids from College who could balance on a ball like that, JUMP IN THE AIR and then land back on the ball, perfectly balanced. That takes an incredible amount of balance and coordination, so why is that a bad thing? Or a “Fail”? CrossFit says the “learning and playing new sports” is one of the fundamental requirements of becoming as fit as possible and that keeping things “constantly varied” so your body can’t adapt is essential. If that’s the case, why not bust out a set of Bicep Curls every once and a while to keep your body guessing? Something is better than nothing. You can still think that CrossFit (or Yoga or Pilates) is better than something else, but I don’t think you can argue that as long as it’s done safely, doing nothing is better than popping in that Tae-Bo VHS from a few years ago.

So if you yearn for your 6 minutes of Shake Weight per day… enjoy!

If working out with Richard Simmons is your idea of a good time (and it should be), Sweat to the Oldies all day!

At the end of the day, my advice for people is to be ACTIVE and have fun doing it. As soon as “working out” seems like a chore, people start to resent it. Physical activity should be fun! It’s just my personal opinion that CrossFit is the most fun and the most effective fitness methodology out there.

Get out there, get your fitness on and have a great time doing it! Your mind and body will thank you!

For the record, I DO still think the picture above is funny, though.