Jul 11, 2012 - 3 min - Uploaded by Team USAOlympic weightlifting is a great way to stay in shape and cross-train. Jim Schmitz, 3-time coach. I ordered this little manual & a companion DVD/CD-ROM from IronMind. I started implementing the first program today. It is simple, but exhaustive and it seems like it's going to really work. I have always sucked at Olympic lifting & have long wanted to get better, but have had no idea how to -- no-one I've.

28 - 05 IWF World Championships Attention! All weights are in kg. How to: How to: How to: () This subreddit is for the sport of Olympic-style weightlifting, which tests the snatch and the clean and jerk, and related links and topics.

Please keep general strength training, powerlifting, and other strength sports in their respective subreddits. Is: • A place to discuss weightlifting theory, methodology, and programming in a professional manner • A place to ask questions about form, training style, programming, or anything related • A place where all weightlifters - regardless of training goals - are welcome • A place where all members are held to a standard of excellence not found in larger subreddits is not: • A place to post memes, blogspam, or things that provide no value • A place for you to post your NSVs or any other threads of similar nature. If the only discussion created is congratulating the OP, post it elsewhere. • A place to post sexual content of any sort, including comments on the attractiveness or lack thereof of any lifter. • A place to post slurs or other derogatory remarks toward anyone's race, religion, gender or sexual identity. • A place to diagnose injury or prescribe treatment addressing injury.

If you believe you have an injury, the safest course of action is to consult a professional. (as of Jan 1, 2017) Other Strength Sport Reddits • • • • • •. The style or technique used by various lifters is what works best for them.

That's one of the great things about Olympic Lifting, you use the style or technique that works best for you. There isn't just one technique that everyone must use. When I go to the Worlds or the Olympics I always go to the press conferences after the lifting and I have asked many, many of the medalists why they use a certain technique and the all say that's what works best for them.

You have to use trial and error to find out which is best. There are many great examples from Juri Vardanian to Anatoly Karpathy (who I felt had the absolute best technique ever). Another great example is the gold and silver medalist 75 kilo women in the 2012 Olympics, one used the frog style stance and split jerked, the other started with a wide stance, didn't move the feet and power jerked.

So, you go with what works! Now that Jim has answered, I'll add that you can't assume that what a lifter does is what is best for them, at any level. It's just the best that they've figured out so far.

For example, I think there's a fairly strong consensus that a bent rear leg in the jerk is more stable. A straight leg tends to be use more as a brace and is less used for support, while a bent leg allows for a more equal distribution of weight front-to-back. We also know it's a common problem for an athlete to put almost all of their weight on one leg and shoot the other back. So if, say, Klokov tends to jerk with a straight back leg, I don't think you could differentiate between whether that's something he desires to do or whether it's just an issue he hasn't fixed.

Supposedly Klokov himself said his technique is not as good as some of his competitors. That being said, body proportions also have a lot to do with it. The optimal knee bend changes based on your overall leg length and your femur/tibia length ratio, as well as how far out you're able to get your front foot. That's why, when choosing what 'style' to use (if you want to put it that way), many of us simply look at your weight distribution to decide if what you're doing needs adjustment. I agree with all of what you said.

I think bending the back leg provides more support in general because it recruits more of the leg muscles. However, dropping the back knee can also cause problems. Perfect example is julia rohde: first attempt looks solid. Second attempt, i think she misses because of the way she drops her back leg - which causes her right hip to collapse. I have tried experimenting with different jerk positions and knee angles.

I find that using 90 degrees recruits a lot more muscle in the left leg as opposed to pushing the left leg straight out. It does leave me open to error, though. Like dropping my knee to the floor. Which would be bad under heavy weight.

So, a slightly larger angle works best. I, however, naturally default to a straighter leg. And I think that also causes me to miss lifts, because I feel it leaves me unstable. Yeah, it's important that you stay tight in the receiving position, which I think is the error you're describing. We're used to keeping the front leg working hard in the split, but the back leg can be a bit lazy. I put this on the same level as staying tight in the catch of the clean or the snatch: easy enough to fix, and not a strong reason not to use the technique.

About Julia as an example, I don't see her right (rear) hip collapsing on her 110kg jerk. Instead, it looks to me like her left (forward) leg was unable to brake the downward momentum of the bar, or perhaps just that she was slightly out of position and got spit out from underneath the weight. From the overhead view at 2m22s, she flies out of position the instant after she plants her feet. If her back leg was collapsing then I expect she would have struggled under it longer as it crushed her. This looks more like what would happen if, say, her back was too arched and/or the weight was just slightly too far behind her.

I think overall our coaches are getting better and doing a pretty good job, thanks to USA Weightlifting's Coaching Education Program. New coaches sometimes push their lifters too hard and heavy too soon and there are also the coaches that bring their lifters along too slowly.

I think the biggest problem with our coaches is they don't help with the officiating and running of competitions, everyone wants to be a lifter or a coach, but few want to be a referee, loader or meet director. A US weightlifting coach has to do it all. I don't train any of my lifters on two a day programs because they have jobs and or school. Therefore, they train 3 to 5 times per week for about 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

These are good hard high quality workouts. However, if I were to train someone twice a day I would do technique work and squats in the morning and heavy lifts and assistant exercises in the afternoon or evening. There have been so many changes from going from iron weights to rubber weights, to improved technique and training methods, to women getting into the sport big time, but I think the biggest is the professionalism that the most successful countries do, they select, recruit, develop and reward their lifters and weightlifting is their job! Torrents Hacker Experience Bot. The most impressive lift I have seen was Vasily Alexeeve's 255 C&J at the 1976 Olympics, he won his gold medal with 230, then jumped 25 kilos to take back his record from DDR's Gerd Bonk, who had done 252.5 at the 1976 Europeans.

I don't like them. My main issue is that the qualifying procedures should have been determined 12 to 9 months before the qualifying deadline, so lifters and meet directors could prepare and plan for them.

Now we have a good news, bad news problem with USA Weightlifting, the good news is our sport has grown tremendously and the bad news is we can't quite handle it yet. I would like to see the National totals raised so that just our very best lifters could compete on one platform, but have lower totals for the American Open and have the AO a two platform competition.

I would like to see our Junior and University Nationals also run on two platforms. The biggest problem we have with this great growth in our sport is we don't have enough qualified officials and support staff. I just hope we do a better job of qualifying criteria and qualifying events in 2015 than this year.

.And I push them only as far as they can go safely. With that said, I actually love Crossfit workouts and they very closely resemble some of my 5x5 conditioning workouts Variations of Starr's 5x5 but done one lift after another in unbroken rounds.WITH WEIGHTS SCALED to the individual's ability.

I personally LOVE to smoke a Crossfit workout.it's excellent training, for those who are able to do it safely.and for those who are able to guide folks to do it safely. But for the money? No, not worth it in my opinion.And that was the question.

Not speaking of the gyms. Addressing human nature.

It's in a competitive person's nature to push, and to try to push farther than the person next to them. The nature of Crossfit does encourage people to push like this.when you simply don't want to continue.you push through to the end. Form gets sloppy, people get hurt. For example, how many people do you see actually performing CORRECT C&J when doing 'Grace'?

Yet they push on. I don't like any type of group training for this very reason. This is why in my gym, it's appointment only.one client at a time. Hey that was me. I know all about starting strength. The reason I go to my gym is that we have good programming that doesn't blindly follow the Crossfit.com prescriptions.

Sometimes we periodize with strength programming, sometimes we randomize with 'unknown and unknowable' metcons. I pay for the access to the equipment, space, and the atmosphere that pushes me. I would LOVE to own my own box, and I've run the numbers, I couldn't make it work for less than $150/month/client, and even with that I couldn't make enough for myself to quit my job. The costs around here average at about $20 per CLASS. It's just insane. I decided to save myself money and bought a used oly set, (with extra weights and a bench w/a squat rack set up) with rubber coated weights no less, for $500. Made my own weighted ball, got a few rubber mats and dumbbells, and hung a chin up bar.

In the process of making a dip stand, plyo boxes and eventually a wall mounted squat rack (I have to shift around my set up a bit from squat to benchwork). Eventually when i move my gym from the basement to garage I'm going to hang some rings as well. I understand there is always a budget, but at Henry's (if you have those near you) grassfed ground beef is the exact same cost as non grassfed.

Yes the steaks are more, but if someone wanted to they could eat grassfed for the same cost. Or buy a whole cow or go in with a few people to buy a cow.

My point is, very few of us can afford all things, but we spend money on what is important to us. If you do well on factory meatthat's all good. The people that find it important to eat grass fed will find a way. We all have to choose what to give up and what to spend on and it's all about. I was looking into the price and basically, to use the Crossfit name you have to pay a pretty hefty sum to the dude that established Crossfit and there is the re-certs for the trainers so that's where a lot of the money is going. I agree - it is way too expensive and I hate the bullying of the people at my local box if I feel that 2x/week is enough for me but not for them.

I wish I could find a box that was more mellow and charged less for those of us who don't want to over-train b/c I really need a group. Thanks for explanation Water Ratt, I forget that not everyone knows my history sometimes. Awhile back, I was super excited to finally get a CrossFit 30 mins from my house. I ponied up for 3 months, but the coach was terrible.

He wrote the WODs on his white board and walked away. It was never anyone but me and him, so I got no sense of CrossFit community. Also, I've lost over 100lbs, so I do manage to take care of myself. If another opened, I would gladly give them my money for good coaching. I know they exist, I've met them, sadly not near me!

Thanks for explanation Water Ratt, I forget that not everyone knows my history sometimes. Awhile back, I was super excited to finally get a CrossFit 30 mins from my house. Free Download Aashiqui 2 Mashup Mp3 By Kiran Kamath on this page. I ponied up for 3 months, but the coach was terrible. He wrote the WODs on his white board and walked away. It was never anyone but me and him, so I got no sense of CrossFit community. Also, I've lost over 100lbs, so I do manage to take care of myself. If another opened, I would gladly give them my money for good coaching.

I know they exist, I've met them, sadly not near me! Dave, I'm confused: CROSSFIT IS FREE!! Log onto the main site and do the workouts? Where else do you get such an awesome program for nothing??? And why do so many people run it down????

Who's fault is it if you overtrain??? Who's fault is it if you overeat?? Or fail to eat clean???? The whole 'cult' thing is ridiculous; we joke about it all the time. Are people who eat paleo in a 'cult'. Are vegitarians in a cult?

My CrossFit gym cost me $100 a month for unlimited sessions. I usually go 4 times a week @ 6 bucks a visit. My co-workers pay twice that for their daily frappa-mocha-trent'e. For my money I get personal attention at every workout.

A personal trainer would cost a lot more. Could I do this on my own? Sure but working out with this community is way more fun and challenges me every workout.

I did crossfit in my basement for a couple years before Spartan CrossFit opened up in my area. Since moving up from my basement gym I have someone to watch my technique and correct improper form which lessens the chance of injury. I have a group of friends that inspire me to push myself to do the best I can. FYI: I'm a 52 year old Firefighter/paramedic that has lost 25lbs this year since going paleo & doing CrossFit. I'm in better overall shape than ever in my life.

I'm a better (safer) firefighter because of CrossFit. The police officers who work out at my gym are better cops because of CrossFit. If CrossFit doesn't work for you PLEASE find something that does.

But don't bad-mouth it because it doesn't fit your lifestyle or pocketbook. I've been in the fitness industry (personal training, group ex, boot camps, nutrition coaching, etc.) for years and have been working out since I was a kid (not counting years of martial arts, youth sports, etc.) I have literally done it all and the only thing that I have experienced that tops a Crossfit workout for sheer intensity is the workouts my sadistic Krav Maga instructor put us through. I do think that many Crossfitters (based on personal experience) are overtraining. There is no reason to go 5 days a week. I have generally put up the best AMRAPS (@ RX w/ no modifications) on every workout I've gone to and I think that this is one of the reasons why. Crossfit is not a perfect system and it isn't the be-all-end-all that some Crossfitters believe it to be, but Crossfit does A LOT of things right and I am VERY happy that they are getting more popular.

Crossfit has done an awesome job with getting women to lift weights and take pride in being strong, the competition makes working out a lot more fun and exciting, the movements are generally scalable and functional, AND Crossfit has generally embraced Paleo/Primal, bringing it into the mainstream much quicker than if the Crossfit community didn't exist. It's all about what YOU consider to be bang for your buck.

Yes $150 per month is expensive if you are not seeing any gains, don't enjoy the interaction at your box or only go a couple times a week. There are so many negative spins you can put on that cost. That was just to name the obvious few. On the positive for me, I love the interaction and the passion and encouragement of my trainer (not to be confused with a cult leader) and fellow CFers. I go at least 5 times a week (maths = about $7.50 per session, much cheaper than a pump class with only half the squat ROM) and thoroughly enjoy sharing in other peoples CF gains and experiences. I love that my outlook on life has changed for the better, not to mention that getting those heavy items off the top shelf in the kitchen is so much easier now.

I also look better in strapless frocks and you simply cannot put a cost on that at 42yrs of age:) If I did not get these positives or felt that I was paying too much I wouldn't go. It's a choice. If you don't want to pick up the bar then don't. If you don't want to go to CF, then don't. Walk away with your $150 and spend it where the outcome makes YOU feel good.

I agree: CF is overpriced, because most CF trainers suck. They are often inexperienced, uneducated, and have little idea how to program effectively. What they have going for them is mostly enthusiasm and sometimes, a basic understanding of Paleo. If you find a good gym with excellent trainers, like Kelly Starrett's gym in SF, you should be willing to pay double what they charge, and you will easily get your money's worth. If you think that $150/mo. Is too much to pay for shitty coaching, you are spot-on.

If you think that $150/month is too much to pay for excellent coaching, you simply aren't serious about training. (To be honest, most people who pay $150/month for CF aren't that serious about their training, but they can either afford it or they enjoy the camaraderie. And don't underestimate the camaraderie. It's awesome, and vitally important for long-term fitness success for most people.) In CF's defense: all of the criticism above apply to non-CF trainers and gyms, too, except most globogym memberships are cheaper than $150/month. There are many extremely crappy non-CF personal trainers who charge $60+ per HOUR. The fitness industry as a whole is plagued by a large number of overpriced, undereducated trainers who fail to deliver on their promises.

This is further compounded by the fact that the general public has no clue how to effectively train themselves, so they have a hard time figuring out who the true experts are. The situation is very similar to the problems that face nutrition counseling. Find experienced coaches who know what they're doing, and pay whatever they charge. You will save so much on long-term medical bills and injury treatment that it will be worth it. (I guess the catch-22 is that most people don't know how to figure out if the coaches are any good!) (FWIW, I was briefly a trainer at a CF gym.). I dunno too much about crossfit specifically, but I always advise people to above all else make sure they are working out in a sustainable manner. If it requires a lot of money, driving, sales pitches or any other annoyances, the odds of you actually sticking with it are way lower.

I workout with kind of crude equipment that I've stuffed into my office at work. Is my workout the best out there? Is it one where I have zero excuses about not doing it? This is why I don't recommend people to even start out with a gym membership. I think an effective, simple, sustainable program can be built out of pull/chinups, pushups, jump squats, calf raises, wrist rollers etc. Buy one of those door-mounted chinup bars, some dumbbells if you want and so forth and I bet you could arrive at something that is at least 80% as effective as using all of the equipment at a gym.

If it's 80% as effective but you do it for 10x as long, obviously it's way better. There's a lot of antagonism these days toward anything not involving a barbell, but that's silly. All that matters is that you're doing something with at least a reasonable amount of intensity/frequency/volume and that there's some measure of progress workout to workout. I pay $130/month for 12 Crossfit classes for me and another $130 for my girlfriend.

We both LOVE Crossfit and our box is full of great people and really excellent trainers who take the time to prepare realistic WODs, check form and offer encouragement. For me its worth every dollar. For years we both had gym memberships that barely got used. How much money was wasted there?

Gyms make a ton of money on people that sign up, show up twice and never come back. I am always psyched to go to Crossfit and push my body past limits I didn't think I could reach. Just my 2 cents.

So I show up to my CF box on a Saturday morning and my awesome coach asks me why was I wearing make-up? I told him that I had many errands to do after the work out and I wanted to get right to them after the WOD without going home to shower and primp. He looked me straight in the eye and said, 'Girl, after this WOD you are not only going to have to go home and shower, but you will also need to brush your teeth again.' And that is why I pay $110 for CF.because I have an amazing coach who will not allow me to 'phone it in'. I have been a dancer, a tennis player, a runner, a Stair Master freak, a Step Aerobics extraordinaire, a couch potato, over weight, super skinny, a binger and a starver and through it all I have never found a program that safely & systematically pushes me past my mental limits like CF does.

I have been thinner, I have been fatter but I have never been more FIT than I am today. And the cool thing is that I will be even more fit next week because the program and the coaches never allow me to say 'this is good enough, I am satisfied enough to coast from here'. When I look at the WOD and my mind whispers 'you can't it's too hard', and then I complete the WOD scaled to my ability.that feeling is priceless. There are a couple reasons crossfit is $150 a month on average. • A good crossfit box should provide personal attention to you and your needs, with coaching that helps you progress. You're getting a great bang/bunk if you're getting almost personal training. At 5x a week that's $7.50 an hour which is an insane deal.

HOWEVER if your trainers/facility are not giving you attention or not providing you with what you need you should tell them. If they don't respond then follow a website with good programming or go to a different box.

• The operating costs of crossfit facilities are somewhat complex, but if they charge less than $150 they are not only somewhat devaluing the brand but also screwing themselves over as owners. More people come and train who are less focused and the equipment/trainers get stretched out. It actually makes for less quality programs. People should know that they are getting amazing quality and paying for it. That's why you pay extra for free range beef right?

Now if you don't want to pay for a box, you don't need a ton of coaching, and you have specific goals, follow a crossfit website and work out in a 'globo-gym.' That's what I'm doing. I followed main site for a while but it didn't align with my goals so now I'm following www.crossfitfootball.com for some strength-based awesomeness. If you want a good WOD blog with all the main focuses (crossfit/CFF/Crossfit Endurance) check out www.crossfit-strength.com which posts everything. Crossfitting or not, get some workouts in and have fun! Dave - if you have to ask why people CrossFit you will never understand any answer given to you. Best of luck to you in the future when you make broad statements with huge assumptions.

Personally I pay $150 a month and I KNOW that I receive top notch training and the environment in which I train is unmatched. People spend $150/month on all sorts of BS.cable, phone, entertainment, etc. If you can't afford to invest in your health and longevity now I really don't know what to tell ya other than good luck in 25+ years. If you get any angry answers I would say it's due to the abrasive manner in which your original post was worded. I saw a guy on here say that he just finished a '12 week strength course at Crossfit' and then listed his routine.

I was thinking 'that's basically Starting Strength with minor modification!' Could have saved a ton of $$ doing that a local gym.

I think that Crossfit is great if you like a group workout environment. If you like to fly solo or use the gym for stress release then perhaps it is not for you. I think Robb Wolf had a good point about the fact that every few years the top athletes at the Crossfit games changes. He says that this is due to burnout and unlike every other sport you get worse past a certain time point not better. But I have some friends who swear by it so to each their own (as long as you leave those annoying 'today's WOD is X' out of your facebook/twitter updates:-). Hey that was me.

I know all about starting strength. The reason I go to my gym is that we have good programming that doesn't blindly follow the Crossfit.com prescriptions. Sometimes we periodize with strength programming, sometimes we randomize with 'unknown and unknowable' metcons. I pay for the access to the equipment, space, and the atmosphere that pushes me. I would LOVE to own my own box, and I've run the numbers, I couldn't make it work for less than $150/month/client, and even with that I couldn't make enough for myself to quit my job. I agree it's way to expensive, but remember its not just space, equipment and help. There are taxes, and I would guess the big one with a setup like Crossfit would be insurance.

However, yes, I agree its way too high. As far as the overtraining, I think that is up to the individual. You control your exertion levels, your reps, your weight, etc.

Get to know what you can handle and what you cant. I run, but I'm not running a marathon tomorrow because I cant.

If you can only do a couple of pull ups at a time, maybe doing three sets of a couple is a bad idea. As in everything paleo, the poison is in the dose. Crossfit is prohibitively expensive.

That being said, if you don't know what you're doing, there is a reason to pay that much, assuming you're going to a high quality box. I think crossfit is a wonderful concept and I made great gains when I was doing crossfit with my friends at my college gym. I think there are many many boxes out there whose trainers aren't careful/patient/watchful enough so if you don't know what you're doing, its important to get competent trainers. If you know what you're doing, you're committed to to pushing yourself to intensity and you keep an eye on form (or have a workout buddy who will) its easy to do crossfit at a gym like Gold's. You definitely miss out on atmosphere but its only $30 a month.

I did crossfit for years at my university gym. I've since left gyms entirely. I joined two local meet-up groups (meetup.com), one that plays ultimate frizbee and one that does obstacle course race training sessions. I get my high intensity interval training in playing ultimate (and I do it much harder and longer because I'm playing a game) and some cross-fit style workouts from my obstacle course group. I go to each twice a week. I get the camaraderie from these groups that I used to enjoy while doing crossfit with my climbing buddies. Oh, and the groups are free to join and attend.

I go 'rock climbing' at a climbing gym a few times a month to keep my chops up. I also made some 'lift heavy stuff' gym equipment for my house that I work out with.

Each item costs less than $30. • home made Bulgarian training bag- go here: • pull up bar (the kind that use pressure to stay up) • 5 gallon water jug, full of water of course • cinder blocks to pinch grip carry to build grip stregnth • a big tire The only things I miss out on are rope climbs, olympic lifts that require an oly bar and anything involving rings, because I can't afford them yet. If you want results, you'll get them no matter what you do or don't have access to. When I was living in nortern Oman, I had a pull up bar, an empty floor, mountain bikes, water jugs and a massive sand dune to sprint up. I like to think I did a pretty good job working out with my limited resources. As Mark Twight of Gym Jones says, the 'the mind is primary.'

If you want it, you'll sweat and burn to get it. People spend money on what is important to them. Some people do Paleo but won't spend the money on grass fed beef, rather they eat factory farmed meat that is contrary to 'Paleo' lifestyle. Some people don't buy organic produce because it costs more. Some people spend money on an expensive hair stylist or clothes or cars. It's individual thought and what is of personal importance.

To each their own. I don't think CF is too expensive.

My health and fitness level is very important to me and working out at a CF gym with great trainers and next to people who push me is worth every penny, not to mention how CF helps me manage stress. It's an investment in me.

Now if I couldn't afford it, I'd do it on my own???but I'm fortunate I can afford it and enjoy it and have never felt I was paying too much. I understand there is always a budget, but at Henry's (if you have those near you) grassfed ground beef is the exact same cost as non grassfed. Yes the steaks are more, but if someone wanted to they could eat grassfed for the same cost. Or buy a whole cow or go in with a few people to buy a cow. My point is, very few of us can afford all things, but we spend money on what is important to us. If you do well on factory meatthat's all good.

The people that find it important to eat grass fed will find a way. We all have to choose what to give up and what to spend on and it's all about. I do find crossfit at an affiliate gym to be a bit too pricey to do all the time, but I gladly invested in a one-month package to learn some new stuff and get the built-in motivation of working out with a group (and the motivation to do workouts that weren't particularly enjoyable / not just stuff I find fun). The trainers at my nearest affiliate all have numerous crossfit certifications and were experienced personal trainers before getting into crossfit, so I felt like I was in good hands (EXCEPT I once saw one of the coaches telling a new girl to do power snatches in a workout when she didn't even know how to do a clean properly). Will probably buy a package every few months or so, but it just ain't doable as an ongoing thing- the boyfriend and I got a couples' unlimited package with a 10% military discount and it ended up being about $160 for each of us. I tend to agree that CrossFit is too expensive, but also it would be roughly an hour for me to drive to a box.

I tried to do it on my own for a while, but it's too much to figure everything out (different lifts, etc). I would spend as much or more time getting ready to work out as I would working out.

This was pre-paleo days for me but it did work to cut some weight off and get stronger. I haven't quite established my paleo workout routine, but so far it consists predominately of walking. I am quite busy right now with work/school, but when summer gets here, I plan to increase the walking and add in sprinting/lifting a la Primal Blueprint. I do believe it likely that a lot of people overtrain and it seems CrossFit would fit right into the overtrain approach.

But I think it can also make you a beast if you want that. I just want to keep getting in shape, and I think lesser workouts will suffice. (That being said, Mark Sisson wrote that his workout was like CrossFit for the rest of us, so he is probably okay with it.). Crossfit is very expensive but I am a part of a gym and it makes complete sense to me. I used to go to the gym and work out a lot but I never saw great results. Crossfit produces amazing results. They have programmed workouts for you and the coaches are educated and know what they are talking about.

They make sure you have good form for everything that you do to avoid injury. They push me when I don't think I can go any more.

I surprise myself everyday. The people there are like a family. I go at 6 pm everyday and sometimes people suggest I go to an earlier class but I know who is going to be at the 6 and they expect me there. I love seeing those people and going through the crazy workout with them. It is bonding.

We all have each others back. One guy today gave a 600 dollar vitamix to a girl at the gym for free today! We all just want to help each other out and support one another. We may have different goals but we all ended up in the same place and you bet there will be cheers for everyone and every mile stone they accomplish.

I understand it is super spendy but a lot of gyms are flexible, it isn't like a normal gym. For example, I clean my gym once a week and the price gets knocked down to 40 bucks a month. Now that is attainable for sure. I love my box and my crossfit family. I am 55year old female, over weight and out of shape.

Found my CrossFit 'box' because it is close to work and home and fit into my schedule. The owner and other coaches are fantastic.

I am not really a self starter when it comes to fitness and had really let myself go. I feel like I get the supervision and encouragement I need. And I was concerned about the cost, but also new a regular gym did not work for me, never felt I really knew what to do. But more importantly I was concerned about my health. Way too young to feel the way I did preCrossFit. Find what works for you.

It's totally worth it to me. I do it with my wife and now my teenage son is doing it too. I suppose the reason I love it so much is because we have two awesome coaches that focus intensely on technique and are constantly training us during the WODs.

It's also an awesome box with much better equipment than I could ever afford, or find the space to keep. Not to mention that it's righ down the street from my house. I pay $75 a month with a veteran's discount, my wife is an additional $50 and my son an additional $30 so I feel like I'm getting a really good deal. Normal fees for us without the discount would be $150 first person, $50 for additional family member (wife) and $30 per additional family member after that (son).

I would still gladly pay that amount for what I feel like I'm getting out of it. I'm making better fitness gains than I ever have before, getting a lot of personal training and advice and meeting some really cool people.

I couldn't be happier with CrossFit, and when I go on the road, I take it with me by doing simple WODs with push-ups; sit-ups, holds, burpees, squats running and whatever lifts I am able to do in the crappy hotel gym where I happen to be staying. There might be a lot of other things that are cheaper than CrossFit but I like having my workouts planned out for me and getting all of the personal training that comes along with it. For me, I haven't experienced anything that has more bang for the buck than Crossfit. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE? Listen, for years, I weightlifted at The Sports Palace in San Francisco.

That was a real gym. Not some pu$$y social network, like Crossfit. I didn't have a 'trainer' there. I had Jim Schmitz, who coached the US Olympic Weightlifting team. Sure, that was back in the 90s, but I didn't pay anywhere near what nowadays would be $150. Think any of those people at Crossfit were better than him?

Yeah, the showers were cold, so what, go home to shower. The gym I went to up until last year cost me less than 50 bucks. Again NO PERSONAL TRAINERS. I got help from the owner who used to coach the weightlifting team at Stanford (when they had one) and now is a Strength Coach at Boise State (that's why the gym closed).

Think your Crossfit trainers are better than that? Yeah, sometimes people threw up on the floor when they did a heavy set. For sure, that never happens at a Crossfit joint. WHY WOULD ANYONE PAY that kind of money for such a CHICKEN SHEET Place like Crossfit? With a thousand bucks, (about six months of your Crossfit), you can buy yourself enough good equipment, stick it in your back yard and workout there. That's what I do now. No distractions, no guys wearing stinking cologne, no butt-thonged godesses (gotta admit, I kind of like that though), no chicks whaling to their BFFs about their boyfriend problems, no people trying to look pretty while they do lame exercises, like tricep kickbacks on a Bosu ball.

Home workouts in your very own home gym are the best thing (unless you go to a hardcore gym). I used to do Cross-fit because I love working out with other people and it keeps me motivated. I'm one of those people with very low self-esteem, so to have not only trainers but people going through the same activities as me make me feel less alone. I also like the fact that you are sure those people will accept Paleo, rather then trying to argue with a trainer who disagrees with you. But I stopped doing it because I'm a college student and can't fork over $100 a month when I have to pay over $3000 a year for books. Someday, I'll be back, just don't know when:(. I had only used a barbell for a closet shelf extention before joining!

I need the help with my form so I don't throw my back out or make some other bonehead move. I suppose I could get that at our post gyms, but my 'personal trainer' was overweight, had a double chin and NO personality! Not exactly the person I wanted spotting me. It turned out that she only really knew how to set the Nautilus machines and use those, and that is apparently what qualified her as a 'personal trainer'. That told me I needed to get away from those facilities. We're not made of money, but I'm willing to pay for quality things that matter to me. That runs the spectrum of everything I buy.

It also helps that my gym is the cheapest in the area (with an even better military discount) and the coaches are great. We've even had several people move to our place from other CF groups because the coaches do such a great job. They have not once let me hurt myself yet they are still able to push me just enough that I'm making gains. It turned out to be a great way for me to meet people that are interested in being active. I am a magnet for really nice but really sedentary people!

As for motivation, I don't lack it because I was going to the gym the same number of days per week. I just seem to perform better with people around me who aren't chilly and aloof. Also, it wasn't a matter of motivation as much as confidence and the need to find a place where it could grow instead of just hang out and waver occasionally. It wasn't just my workout that was static. You and I probably may not place the same value on things, but you asked and that's why I Crossfit! Don't be angry, just do your own thing, I'll do mine and we'll be gaining the way we gain best.

That sounded very Sesame Street, didn't it? Not speaking of the gyms. Addressing human nature. It's in a competitive person's nature to push, and to try to push farther than the person next to them.

The nature of Crossfit does encourage people to push like this.when you simply don't want to continue.you push through to the end. Form gets sloppy, people get hurt. For example, how many people do you see actually performing CORRECT C&J when doing 'Grace'?

Yet they push on. I don't like any type of group training for this very reason. This is why in my gym, it's appointment only.one client at a time.

.And I push them only as far as they can go safely. With that said, I actually love Crossfit workouts and they very closely resemble some of my 5x5 conditioning workouts Variations of Starr's 5x5 but done one lift after another in unbroken rounds.WITH WEIGHTS SCALED to the individual's ability. I personally LOVE to smoke a Crossfit workout.it's excellent training, for those who are able to do it safely.and for those who are able to guide folks to do it safely. But for the money? No, not worth it in my opinion.And that was the question.