Quote from: PaleoNinja on January 14, 2011, 10:52:26 AM

As with any exercise routine, if a movement is done incorrectly you are just asking to become hurt.  I can't count the number of times that I have walked into a regular gym and seen people trying to imitate crossfit movements and failing miserably.  I swear by crossfit, but please go to a gym with a well-respected trainer (hopefully lvl 2 with other certifications as well...esp oly lifts). 

On a side note, Mark R. is a genius.  That's a great quote.

Swear by what you choose. Crossfit message boards are overflowing with injury threads that are by nature caused by absurd training practices. There is no excuse to push people to the point of developing rhabdomyolysis. It can be fatal, you know?

It's never safe to do high repetition Olympic lifts.

I agree with you that there is a unacceptably high rate of Crossfit injuries and due to Crossfit's more extreme nature the threat of rhabdo is present.  However, just like any training program, you have to know when to stop and the limits of your body.  I often relate my Crossfit workouts to my old cross-country training.  When I used to go out for a 15mi run then the next morning do 20x20 400m sprints the pain and fatigue was out of this world.  It took quite a bit of arguing and risking my place on the team, but I knew that I was on that threshold of extreme damage to my body.  I apply the same common-sense to my Crossfit routines.  First off, I don't entirely agree, nor do I perform, some of the more excessive rep count exercises of Crossfit.  I do find their methodology quite successful in my own training, but again, in moderation.    I am starting to ramble a bit now so I'll cut myself off, but I would like to end with my main point which I believe I have stated a couple times here.  Moderation and common sense must be added to proper form/procedure for training to obtain quality results without a high risk to the body's function.  People who exercise without ANY injury are the exception to the rule, but even more demanding workouts such as those found in Crossfit can have their risk mitigated by proper education, form, and knowledge of your own body.  Now that I have repeated myself about 4 times I'll stop typing.  Sheesh.

My point was that I was a hard gainer and I surprisingly gained pretty easy by going to my crossfit gym and I had tried a lot of stuff. It won't get you ready for a body building comp but hardgainers can and have gained good muscle in crossfit gyms.

I've never been on a crossfit forum but I've been in plenty of crossfit gyms and I've never heard of anyone needing surgery or coming close to death. They are either doing the routines wrong or their gym is garbage. A good crossfit gym will have great balance in routine and focus on technique.

Depending on what your budget is you should look around town and look at Crossfit. They teach HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) and it's like magic. If you follow the diet as you should, you should see result within a 3 months of joining the gym. I am a crossfitter in Las Vegas if you are wondering why I am saying you should check out there program.

"HIT works like a charm for 6 weeks" - Dan John

What does he mean by that?

I think he means you get results for 6 weeks, and then it stops

This one went for ten weeks and showed improvement throughout - http://www.jsams.org/article/S1440-2440%2806%2900114-9/abstract

I think I had enough of browsing and learn about new exercises and diet. Had a good link to start also. Thanks for the informative ideas.