As mentioned in my previous post, I have a minor addiction to Youtube and I often watch videos when I’m puttering around the house or before I go to bed. One night, I was researching topics for the blog and narrowed down on the topic of CrossFit criticism. A video named “The Problem with CrossFit” by Thenx popped into my search results. Who is this guy, how did he get so ripped and what does he have to say about CrossFit? I HAD to watch this video. Youtube, you got me!

Who is Thenx?

Chris Heria (seen in the video below) is a calisthenics athlete and trainer who runs Thenx, an online platform for calisthenics training. His team offers calisthenics programs, training guides and daily workouts on an app and in-person at his fitness studio in Miami, Florida.

The problem with CrossFit

As a calisthenics athlete and trainer, Chris breaks down his main issue with CrossFit in a 12-minute video, while he does various functional movements used in CrossFit, like pull-ups and push-ups.

Chris argues that CrossFit in its current state has deviated from its original purpose of training in different fitness programs to become better, stronger and efficient to simply  doing as many repetitions as you can, in the shortest amount of time possible. He suggests that progressional training with proper form and technique is what makes you better, stronger and more efficient.

It’s not about what you do, but how you do it… Learn how to do things the right way. At the end of the day, that’s what makes you more efficient… Do not confuse speed with high intensity.

I agree with him on a few points, mainly about proper form and technique. However, CrossFit is essentially cross training in different sports such as weightlifting, gymnastics and the like. There isn’t much time during a class to dedicate to one functional movement such as a pull-up. And even less time to do progressional training, unless you take a specialty class series (a progressional series of classes to learn how to do a handstand, for example). A way around this is to train on your own time to perfect these movements. And as mentioned in one of my previous posts, CrossFitters are generalists not specialists!

If you want to learn more about CrossFit, read my second blog post.

A response

So is Thenx’s problem with CrossFit fair? I’m no expert, but James Linker from Shredded Sports Science, explains Chris’ issue with CrossFit clearly, concisely and rationally There are many other responses (some more emotional), just search for “The problem with CrossFit response” on Youtube.

Now…what is calisthenics?

All this talk about calisthenics made me curious. What is it? Essentially it’s bodyweight training. According to Wikipedia,calisthenics goals are to:

… increase body strength, body fitness, and flexibility, through movements such as pulling or pushing oneself up, bending, jumping, or swinging, using only one’s body weight for resistance; usually conducted in concert with stretches. When performed vigorously and with variety, calisthenics can provide the benefits of muscular and aerobic conditioning, in addition to improving psychomotor skills such as balance, agility and coordination.

Sounds like fun and super challenging to me! And get this… urban calisthenics is an upcoming sport called street workout, where athletes perform routines involving muscle-ups and freestyle moves like spins and flips in urban areas – this is the type of calisthenics that Chris and his team perform. Watch this championship video to see how the pros perform! For now, I think I’ll just concentrate on getting my strict pull-up.