In the December “Question of Strength” article on T-Nation, Charles Polquin discusses his view of Crossfit. He gives 6 reasons why he “can’t recommend CrossFit training, especially for those seeking the highest levels of athletic performance”.
Polquin is a World respected Canadian strength training coach who has trained and/or consulted numerous world class athletes and professional sports teams. His views of Crossfit are well stated in this article, but unfortunately his criticisms are nothing new and have been disputed many times in the past.
One of Polquin’s main arguments is that Crossfit utilizes high rep workouts with Olympic lifts which means that form and technique are lost and that oly lifts are best suited to low rep sets where explosive powere can be maximized. He says,
[high reps and short rest intervals shouldn't be used] with Olympic lifts, where it’s difficult to maintain proper technique with high reps. And it’s especially difficult when supersetting Olympic lifts with deadlifts, or any other multijoint exercise. If you want confirmation, just watch CrossFit trainees do these lifts in videos on their website.
The Olympic lifts should be used to develop power. If you want to develop muscular endurance, you should use simpler movements.
He makes good points and doesn’t lie, but unfortunately misses the point somewhat with what Crossfit is all about. Crossfit utilizes the oly lifts because they produce the most power (distance*force over time). There are simply no other exercises that produce the same amount of power that a clean and jerk or snatch does in a single rep. Strung in sequence and with speed, these workouts generate enormous power which is key to Crossfit’s success.
The other point that Polquin misses is that Crossfit isn’t meant to be “muscular endurance” training nor is it meant to replace an athletes periodized program. Crossfit is meant to increase fitness in a broad and multi-domained approach – as much as possible. The goal of a crossfitter is to be inclined to no athletic specificity, but to be functionally good across the board.
Read Charles Polquin’s take on Crossfit on T-Nation, here.
Read some Crossfitters’ responses to this and Polquin’s previous comments on Crossfit, here in the Crossfit forum.
2 Comments, Comment or Ping
poloquin is correct you guys are in the wrong rep zone for power and are also using the wrong energy system for power.
January 21st, 2009
@Ron W – You’re right. If you’re interested in generating as much power as possible in a single rep, you’re not going to be interested in doing 30 clean and jerks as fast as possible.
However, if you’re looking to increase your max power over the course of multiple lifts, within as short a time possible, 30 clean and jerks in a handful of minutes is exactly what you want to be practicing.
But Crossfit isn’t just about producing max power. It’s about being able (and in some cases, good) across as many domains as possible.
If you want to be the best in a specific domain (power lifting, for example), then you probably want to focus on that domain. If you’re more interested in being good in that domain and good in many other domains as well, then Crossfit is the best program that I’ve come across. If you know of a better program, then let me know.
Thanks.
January 21st, 2009
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