Coming from a hard working family, I’ve always been involved in enhancing myself both physically and mentally. I was introduced into a program called CrossFit at the age of 14. My parents were currently testing it out and thought I should join in on the workout program. The determination and effort that I exerted revealed strengths and power that I was unware that I obtained. As I progressed in the workouts, my body, mind, and attitude all flourished. It was more than just a workout for me, it was a healing process. My family’s love for CrossFit was demonstrated when my father decided to become a certified CrossFit trainer and coach. Having my father push me to my limit and see me reach goals that seemed unfeasible is an indescribable experience. CrossFit has been a tremendous benefactor to my family’s physical and mental health. However, there happens to be some controversy to whether CrossFit is more beneficial than harmful. Many people believe that the intense, fast-paced workouts cause extreme stress on the body and that the movements of these workouts are dangerous. I believe CrossFit is just as dangerous as any other traditional workout program. With a CrossFit gym that implements strict guidance and coaching on form and a strong sense of comradery amongst the participants in the gym, CrossFit will only benefit in tremendous ways with slim to no injury. 

In a Forbes article, “Is CrossFit Safe? What '60 Minutes' Didn't Tell You,” Dan Diamond writes about the “60 Minute” 15-minute interview with CrossFit founder Greg Glassman. Diamond has seen the health benefits of intense, CrossFit style workouts and how powerful, rewarding, and habit-forming they can be, but claims that it felt more like an infomercial than an investigative report. He believes that the diet CrossFit promotes for its athletes, the Paleolithic diet, is not as promising as the Official CrossFit website says it is. He says the caveman like diet is prehistoric and that as humans evolved so has our means of energy and what we need to perform workouts as intense as CrossFit. Diamond also talks about how easy it is to be a titled certified trainer. He says that these coaches who only took a weekend course to become certified should not be teaching new participants in a whole new workout scenario. He quotes Greg Glassman in his article, “It can kill you, and I’ve always been completely honest about that.” (“Is CrossFit Safe? What '60 Minutes' Didn't Tell You.”) Dan Diamond surely earned his credibility by citing the founder of CrossFit about its dangers if not perused with caution and guidance. Diamond is somewhat bias due to his viewing of others benefitting from CrossFit but remaining to criticize without ever attempting CrossFit himself. Someone in a recreational gym could also obtain serious injury or death if the weights were too heavy and there were not bystanders to assist in this type of situation. The difference between an average gym compared to a CrossFit gym is that everyone is performing the same workout so it easier for the coaches to exemplify the precise way to perform a movement. The coaches are also very mobile and active in the timespan where participants begin to reach the end of the workout and fatigue starts to draw near. This allows the participants to be reminded to focus on form rather than completion. The encouragement and guidance of these coaches are a vital part in a participant’s growth and health while performing CrossFit. 

Erin Simmons, a former athlete, coach, and health and fitness promotor gives her spiel not only on the negative effects of CrossFit but why she stopped doing it herself. She believes that Olympic and power lifts are not meant to be done in sets of 30 or for time at that matter. She states, “They are extremely technique-oriented and are meant to be explosive and powerful over very short periods of time with plenty of rest. Subjecting your muscles to extremely high stress repetitively is not good.”(“Why I Don’t Do CrossFit”)  All of the coaches she has worked with have master’s or doctorate degrees in kinesiology or a related field. Her coaches that she has worked with have dedicated their entire lives to providing a safe and effective strength-training program for high caliber athletes, and not a single one of them promotes CrossFit. She was at A&M working for a men’s four-time national championship track and field team and women’s three-time national championship team. While Simmons criticism has more credibility than Dan Diamond, her views are concentrated on sports that have one specific goal in hand. In collegiate level sports an athlete trains for a specific purpose, usually training the same few body parts constantly. This isn’t the case when it comes to CrossFit. CrossFit incorporates the whole body in almost every workout. This type of workout might not be the best fit for an athlete who is focusing on a certain body part, which is where the critique from college coaches and Erin Simmons derives from. CrossFit is a growing program and has a lot less publicity and money involved when compared to college athletics. As CrossFit grows more participants and publicity, the depth and time it takes to become a certified coach will grow. This will lead to even more involved coaches and gyms and an even larger rise in participant’s physical and mental benefits. 

Brooke Ross speaks about the benefits of CrossFit in her article, “The Controversy of CrossFit.” She claims that the defying characteristic of CrossFit is the intensity. High intensity functional movements are incorporated in CrossFit that optimize physical competence in ten physical domains. These domains are: cardiovascular and respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance and accuracy. She loved that even when her muscles were giving out and her mind weakened, there were fellow gym members there to push her to completion. She fought through the pain with the assistance of camaraderie and adrenaline rushes. In an study called, “The role of social capital and community belongingness for exercise adherence: An exploratory study of the CrossFit gym model,” Jessica Whiteman states that her findings showed that CrossFit gym members reported significantly higher levels of social capital (both bridging and bonding) and community belongingness compared with traditional gym members. This aspect promotes stronger relationships in the gym, leading participants into a lifestyle rather than just a workout. This study dives deep into the emotion of CrossFit and shows that it is just as mentally and socially beneficial as it is physically. She knew that CrossFit could cause harm on someone but only if the techniques were not fully followed through and one focused more on completion rather than function and form. A study was conducted on the injury rates presented in CrossFit workouts. A survey was distributed in New York, Philadelphia and Pennsylvania that was based on epidemiologic injury surveillance methods to exploit the injuries that were caused from performing CrossFit workouts. Injury rate was 20% amongst CrossFit participants, males were more likely to acquire an injury than females, and decreased injury rates prevailed when there was involvement with trainers. The use of Fisher exact tests and chi-square tests when analyzing this data provided a strong backbone for this study. This data was also available on the main CrossFit website which shows the depth and time put into these studies.

This research question is arguable due to the nature of the percentages of people that have benefited tremendously and the people that have been seriously injured. There are people who haven’t even attempted it that are skeptical of it and others who have reaped the benefits from it. With a strong sense of comradery, individual initiative, and persistent coaches who enforce form, CrossFit will be tremendously beneficial with slim to no injury.
