I'm starting back on CrossFit. I only went once or twice in the month since my rib has been healed because the evening schedule of the group classes was not working with my "one big meal in the evening" diet and general busy-ness (and desire to specifically do CF). So I gave up on the group classes and signed up with one of the instructors for personal training 2x/week.

I'm psyched! It will be great to actually have a workout schedule that is regular and planned around my other commitments. Yay! The few times I got in a good workout while on the Warrior Diet I just felt marvelous, so hopefully that will continue. The trainer was glad to hear I'm on that diet, he said that in CF diet is considered the base of the fitness pyramid, more important than exercise.

I told him my workout goals were to learn the CF system to the point where I can safely do all the exercises, including all the lifts, on my own, and understand enough principles to design and monitor my own training program. I may sign up for one of their Level 1 cert weekends down in SD w/ faustin in July (those things sell out 2 months in advance!).

I rocked the exercises tonight b/c of my mastery of kipping pullups (it was 10-9-8...2-1 of fake handstand pushups / no-hip situps / jump ups / pullups), which was fun. Kipping pullups are so awesome.

BTW, here is the famous anti-CrossFit NYT article from 2005: "Getting Fit, Even if it Kills You." The short answer is: yes, really intense workouts for people who are not used to them can be fatal. No one has yet died from CF, but ~6 noobs have ended up in the ER. Working a beginner too hard is stupid, and any CF trainer who does it is (in my unprofessional opinion) being criminally negligent. This does not mean that CF is bad - to the contrary, its intensity is why it is so good for the body and why so many people are so passionate about it. It's one of those cases where that which does not kill you makes you stronger. And that which, if an untrained person did it, would kill them, is the best for making a trained person stronger.

Also, the one-size-fits-all criticisms are ridiculous. I've been going to CF group classes for beginners, and every exercise has variants for people at lower levels of fitness or mobility. And this whole "time over form" thing is so weird - my classes were all about form. Maybe there are different subsets of the community? I guess I could see, once you get the basics down, some stupid people being obsessed about time, but just try sacrificing form when Rob Miller is watching. Your ears will be ringing (and deservedly so).

I was going to do a 1-month of warrior diet post, but it's gotten late somehow so maybe tomorrow.