Cross Fit Injuries.

[Batmeat]

Quick survery for those of you that do Cross Fit.
Have you been injured doing it? Whether you have a pulled muscle, strains, or anything more serious. My understanding about cross fit is that you're work out is more based on quick times and heavy weights with little work on your form. If I'm wrong, somebody correct me.

 

[deadlyapp]

It all depends on your coaches and you. Here is my history:

- Never was very athletic through college. I swam a lot in highschool and was in reasonable shape, but nothing phenomenal. Ended up gaining a lot of weight through college.
- Started crossfit about a year after graduating college and went to a gym that a friend of mine worked at. I only went because it was free. The coach there had no on-boarding program and while being certified, was clearly not a crossfit coach. He didn't do his own programming - mostly borrowed standard programming from crossfit.com and implemented some non-crossfit programming. Anyways, because I had no idea what I was doing, and he didn't coach at all, I badly hurt myself doing deadlifts (or something similar) and struggled for a couple of months with a significant amount of low back pain.

- The second crossfit gym I went to, after I moved to northern california, had a good on-board class and the coaches were extremely well trained in the movements and took a lot of time to ensure perfect form. I started going nearly every day and gained a significant amount of strength. I went from being afraid of deadlifting 135# to 265# in about a year.

- After moving back to southern california, I started going to my third gym. I've been there almost exactly a year now and my deadlift is up to 375#, my squat is up to 345#, snatch to 165#, and I do nearly every workout RX and have started competition classes. The coaches here give great cues and outside of normal soreness have never been injured or strained more than a good foam roller and lacrosse ball can get out.

I'd say everyone's perception and experience is different, but if you injure yourself crossfitting, then you're a) at the wrong gym or b) pushing yourself too hard and not listening to your coaches or your body.

 

[Riverhound777]

I would say it probably depends on the gym and the coaches. I just started about two months ago and really like my gym. The coaches really focus on form and depending on how good your form is, either push you if you doing well or suggest you take it easy if you're still working on getting the movement down. I've never felt I was in any danger of injury. In fact i've felt much more confident now that I have someone checking my form than I did when I went to a regular gym by myself.

That is really the main reason I decided to drop my $65/m gym membership and fork out the $150 for crossfit, so I could have someone help me with the form. I would love a personal trainer, but crossfit is a nice alternative. And the group atmosphere has been more fun than I thought it would. It basically feels like a small group of friends that decided to pool their money together to split time with a trainer (our classes are usually 4-8 people).

Another thing to consider, at least with my gym, is that the fast paced workouts very rarely include heavy weights. You're not going to be running back and forth between deadlifts, snatches, and squats as fast as possible. At my gym we usually warm up, stretch, and get ready for some sort of olympic lift like front squats or presses. We do that movement with whatever sets they have for the day(say 3-3-3-1-1-1 front squat) over 20 minutes, no rush, plenty of recovery time and at your own pace while the coach walks around and helps everyone. Then after that we'll have some sort of fast paced workout routine, like 21-15-9 russian kettlebells and wall balls for time. Only at the highest performance level group do they sometimes have something with olympic lifts in a timed routine. And at that point their form is perfect and they are only using like 50% of their max weight.

 

[ArchAngel777]

It is important to note that injury is possible even with perform form and sub maximal weights. The risk certainly declines as the weight is dropped and as the exercise is performed with better and better form. But the minute you decide to engage in any exercise, the risk is injury is there. Of course, it is there even if you don't exercise.

From my observation most injuries fall into two different categories...

A) Maximal weights - even good form breaks down under this scenario. Injury is bound to happen if a person is constantly handling maximal weights. Murphy's law.

B) Overuse - This is probably much more common of an injury, though is easier to recover from, usually.

I don't think Crossfit perse causes injuries. Just like any organization, if you get a bad coach or a bad student, bad things are more likely to happen.

 

[gothamhunter]

I could answer yes, because I have, but that would just further the notion that Crossfit is dangerous and no one cares about form and it is a chiropractor's gold mine and blah blah blah, when it's really just as dangerous as any other workout method based on your own physical ability and your coach.

I've had two injuries; one was from a sprained foot from jumping down from doing muscle ups. Was this a "Crossfit injury"? Nope, just sprained my foot from landing on it funny. I could have done the same damn thing dicking around at home.

The second was straining my lower back from bad deadlift form. Again, was this a "Crossfit injury"? Nope, just had shitty form on a lift that I've always done outside of Crossfit too. I just rounded my back too much.

So I guess my answer is yes, but the question is inherently flawed.

 

[Batmeat]

So the best thing to do from reading everyone's posts is to have a good trainer to watch you and make sure your form is adequate for the lifts/exercises you're doing. My buddy wants me to come to his home gym and do cross fit with him, which is why I posted the poll. I haven't lifted for over 10 years and don't want to get hurt.

 

[GasX]

#1 tip to those new to crossfit:

Don't be afraid of scaling the workout. You can always use less weight or an alternate exercise.

 

[edro]

I've never done crossfit, but I know a girl who broke her ankle doing box jumps.
She's not what I would call "athletic" though.
I voted yes for her.

 

[deadlyapp]

So the best thing to do from reading everyone's posts is to have a good trainer to watch you and make sure your form is adequate for the lifts/exercises you're doing. My buddy wants me to come to his home gym and do cross fit with him, which is why I posted the poll. I haven't lifted for over 10 years and don't want to get hurt.

Unless he is a personal trainer or has taken an advanced crossfit course and has coached, i'd be hesitant to take him up on his offer. Jumping into crossfit and aggressive lifts without a good coach is a recipe for disaster.

 

[gothamhunter]

If your crossfit box doesn't have foundations course, and a standard for scaling your lifts, it's not an appropriate box for newcomers.

 

[gothamhunter]

So the best thing to do from reading everyone's posts is to have a good trainer to watch you and make sure your form is adequate for the lifts/exercises you're doing. My buddy wants me to come to his home gym and do cross fit with him, which is why I posted the poll. I haven't lifted for over 10 years and don't want to get hurt.

As in one in his house? I wouldn't do that. You want to start off with an affiliated place with good trainers that set you up for success, not failure.

 

[Kaido]

My brother just got out of Crossfit. Has to have minor knee surgery due to injuries from it. I know plenty of people who have never gotten hurt from Crossfit, but I also know plenty of people who have, too.

fwiw, he never got hurt working out at a gym with a paid trainer.

 

[Humpy]

I could answer yes, because I have, but that would just further the notion that Crossfit is dangerous and no one cares about form and it is a chiropractor's gold mine and blah blah blah, when it's really just as dangerous as any other workout method based on your own physical ability and your coach.

I've had two injuries; one was from a sprained foot from jumping down from doing muscle ups. Was this a "Crossfit injury"? Nope, just sprained my foot from landing on it funny. I could have done the same damn thing dicking around at home.

The second was straining my lower back from bad deadlift form. Again, was this a "Crossfit injury"? Nope, just had shitty form on a lift that I've always done outside of Crossfit too. I just rounded my back too much.

So I guess my answer is yes, but the question is inherently flawed.

Yep, without a definition of crossfit it's a bogus thread topic. I answered no.

I do a ton of box jumps, power cleans, and GHR's, etc. but not any crossfit that I'm aware of.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Really depends on the box and you as an individual.

I personally spend a lot of time working on my form, especially the olympic lifts. Many people in my box do not, but to be honest they do not lift enough weight to stand a very good chance of hurting themselves. E.g., when you are squatting less than 1/2 your body weight, poor form does not generally translate to an increased risk of injury.

The only "injury" (and I'm not sure that is the right term) that I may have suffered due to Crossfit was some pretty bad SI joint inflammation. As in bad enough that I saw multiple doctors for it and had to take a month off from working out before it calmed down. Before and since that time I have not had any SI or other issues, and I attribute that to the fact that I make a much more serious effort to stretch out before a workout. I honestly do not think crossfit was the culprit, however, as it is likely that I would have experienced the same issues with any workout regimen that involved squats and/or lunges.

You are right in that many CF workouts of the day (WODs) involve lifting weights while under cardiovascular duress. This naturally leads to a break down in form. But as before, the weights used during WODS are generally fairly light for most people, so the risk of injury is lessened that way.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

As in one in his house? I wouldn't do that. You want to start off with an affiliated place with good trainers that set you up for success, not failure.

QFT. Unless of course your friend is a certified personal trainer who can teach you how do the various movements properly.

 

[deaner]

#1 tip to those new to crossfit:

Don't be afraid of scaling the workout. You can always use less weight or an alternate exercise.

BEST advice ever! Less weight, focus on form. Reps can also take over for lowered, scaled weight. Don't be a douche - be safe!