ardee wrote:
Well that's the thing about CrossFit, it's not really 'regimented'. It's 'exercise', not training. Just exposes you to a number of different movements for the sake of movements. It's more suited to the average guy who really doesn't know fitness and doesn't have a specific plan.
As someone who did competitive weight lifting for years before switching to CrossFit a little over a month ago, I can say this is a completely inaccurate view of the program. It's not "movements for the sake of movements", it's circuit-training that focuses on HIIT (high intensity interval training), olympic weightlifting, plyometrics, and other types of exercises. In fact, these "movements" are movements that you use in a daily life versus a lot of the movements that are done at the gym (when are you ever going to do the butterfly motion? Never). The values of CrossFit differ from weight-lifting as most CrossFit gyms typically place their Top 3 values as such:
1. Cardio
2. Endurance
3. Weight-training
There are pros and cons to normal weight-lifting and CrossFit. With weight-lifting, you are focusing almost exclusively on gaining muscle at the expense of being fit and increasing your cardio and endurance. With CrossFit, you are sacrificing some muscle gain for a more well-rounded exercise and being fit. There is nothing wrong with either program, and to look down on either is pure ignorance. The people I used to compete with in weight-lifting competitions wouldn't last five minutes in some of the WODs (Workout Of the Day) because their stamina and endurance is pitiful and they can't handle HIIT. Likewise, some of the people at the CrossFit gym I go to wouldn't be able to squat as much as some of the people at the gym because they are leaner.
Additionally, "the average guy" doesn't do CrossFit because it is so intense and involves too much commitment and work (and it's expensive...$160 per month!). It's sort of ironic because "the average guy" joins gyms where they use machines or use a bar bell sporadically and don't have to feel bad doing exercises next to others.
All of this not to say that one side is better than the other because it depends on what your values are. I gain muscle (and weight) very easily, and I had to do a LOT of cardio just to not make myself look like a fat slob when I was actually incredibly strong but it didn't show. After being out of commission for about four months with an ankle injury, I finally decided to give CrossFit a shot after hearing a lot of good things about it. I'm only a little over a month in and I am absolutely getting my butt kicked. Everyone around me is ridiculously fit and nimble and are able to do a lot of things that I can't do and what I was never able to do. But I can definitely see the gains, and I plan on sticking with it in the meantime. The biggest issue with CrossFit are the following:
1) You have to transform your schedule around it, instead of it fitting its schedule around you. I had to change my work schedule around so I can make a 7AM class because my days are typically packed around 7:00 and the class I want to take is offered around 6:00. It is incredibly inconvenient and would be the biggest reason why I would drop CrossFit.
2) The people. The CrossFit stereotype of the place being a cult with a hive-like mentality of people who are obsessed with fitness, the CrossFit games, and paleo are completely true (at least at my gym). It is definitely a clique, which may be an unfortunate reality when you get a bunch of completely fit people who are singularly focused on staying fit.
. In my google search, apparently Rodman is too 
(me:)
