CrossFIT?
Short post here gang. I was collecting the final clips needed for the upcoming vid and watched Gary Taubes' appearance at CrossFit just today. OMG people. Is it just me? Or does the CEO of CrossFit make you a little ... umm ... uncomfortable?
Paging Dr. Davis! I mean, really. I'm no physical specimen myself. But I'm also not Founder & CEO of CrossFit either! Promoting Gary Taubes and how CrossFitters have been behind him for a long time. Ummmmm.... Especially fun was after the intro how Gary (looking pretty fit if you ask me, or at least lean) lamented being the least fit person in the room.
I JUST DON'T GET THIS FOLKS!!!
I don't know much about CF & the Paleo roots and whatnot. I've learned a little more of late, but please realize I'm pretty much totally out of the loop and don't even really know what CF is specifically. So when I see stuff like this it does make me gasp and wanna shake some people! Really man ......... :-(
Comments
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/opinion/sunday/we-only-think-we-know-the-truth-about-salt.html?_r=1&hp
http://unleashthebeef.com/
The awful irony of Taubes + CrossFit is surprising if you know the story of Wolf and The Zone and VLC.
So there is controversy. But if Taubes says that it is perfectly safe then I now think we ought to keep it in the type of containers used for spent nuclear fuel.
The evidence that is behind salt and cardiovascular disease is as depressingly low quality as that behind fat and cardiovascular disease.
There's a genuine community feel behind these gyms. People will cheer on the owner when he squats 385 lbs, but they'll also cheer me on when I struggle to do 85.
There are plenty of valid criticisms of Crossfit as a workout regimen and the nasty politics in Crossfit corporate but the community they gave birth to is amazing.
However...
The requirements to become CF "certified" is laughable considering what they ask participants to do. At those intensities and with the technical proficiency required to perform many of the lifts, CF coaches should know how to screen somebody.
There are also fundamental flaws in their programming, to wit: no semblance of periodization (everything is very random), multiple reps of highly technical lifts (olympic lifts should NOT be performed for high reps),kipping pull-ups (ugly for the shoulder joint).
Lastly there is a superiority complex and a cult-like mentality attached to CF. Many of their proponents are way off their rockers and refuse to believe any other system measures up. (sounds like other cults we know of here.. hmmmm.)
As for Couch Glassman - the man is a piece of work. Doesn't seem all there at times and makes very brash and oftentimes untenable claims.
Viscerally plump Glassmann (it a gas, mon) is fronting CrossFIT ?
Clearly, he does not see what a counter-example he is to the clients of his business. His employees MUST be sniggering quietly behind his back.
Maybe even a Fixx-like irony in the making??
As for GT - this latest article is a return to what he writes well about - failures in scientific speculation.
However, having spent 80-90% of "the dietary delusion", he let himself propose ANOTHER delusion. He put himself in his own firing line. Oh, dear.
"O wad some Power the giftie gie us. To see oursels as ithers see us!" Robert Burns
"If he would have walked his way back on TWICHOO I could respect that." Evelyn Kocur
As for BS Barry, his dietary composition %ages are a variation of Gannon & Nuttall's LoBAG diets.
Slainte
http://www.maxwellsc.com/blog.cfm?blogiD=90
Interestingly, the antithesis of Crossfit, the high intensity training, machine based crowd (of which I am more a part of), is also very fond of paleo and low carb and also loves GT. Many do IF and love to workout in the fasted state.
If you want to find a group of exercisers that isn't into low carb, you're going to have to look at the runners/marathoners I think.
They have a recent series of videos called "Killing the Fat Man" where a forty something year old fat guy takes up the challenge. It's a bit of a time investment, but quite entertaining and inspiring.
You'll also get an idea of what the workouts are like, how they scale the programs according to fitness level, etc.
Here's the first episode:
Killing The Fat Man Episode 1
And I certainly don't subscribe to GT's simplistic war on insulin. If I did, I'd never get enough protein to avoid sarcopenia.
That was an incredible article. I have never thought of fitness and strength from that angle. Very interesting to hear about the various presidential administrations lamenting the poor fitness state of the youth even back in the '50s. Imagine what they would think now!
SPAM ate my previous comment?
@Swede: I saw your earlier comment and later it was gone with no explanation why.
Seeing how many CrossFit followers are practiced defenders of the faith, expect to get an overwhelming number of comments here at some point in the near future.
I though it was interesting how prior US presidential administrations were lamenting the poor fitness state of the youth. That was in the '50's?
If only they could see us now.
On the other hand, to the extent that he views CrossFit as a lifestyle choice for fitness and health, then his own non-compliance to the program is a bit of a fail.
I have seen two excuses offered: (1) He has a bump knee and a limp, from a gymnastics accident; (2) As CEO/Founder of a successful business enterprise, he doesn't have enough time to do the workouts regularly.
Unfortunately, these excuses reinforce some of the criticisms of CrossFit: too dangerous, takes too much time.
I'm surprised the cult-fitters haven't swarmed here too!
I feel a commercial coming on, a la Cy Sperling; some version of
"I liked the beer belly so much I bought the company"
Throw a chunky gold chain and a windbreaker on glassman and you have yourself an extra from The Sopranos.
Or, maybe he looks more like a recent release from the state bin. Posturing/thought content says "I am coming off a mania"; belly says "I take a LOT of seroquel".
Let this be article of evidence 385009 that "paleo" is a silly little cult.
Glassman's metabolic syndrome tells us nothing whatsoever about paleo as CF as a franchise model business or exercise philosophy has never had anything at all to do with Paleo.
Paleo diets were simply adopted by CF enthusiasts and box owners as a quite reasonable alternative to the Zone.
Glassman's gut is to CF as Jim Jones' drug addiction was to the People's Temple.....
...Kind of like when I'm working nights and religious patients have the televangelist channel on, where some runty little sheister speaking in rhythm and rhyme, ranting/shoving the sickness out of people for a fee.
It shows those devout are gullible, will believe anything that is popular/hyped, even when there is a good reason to be doubtful. In other words, Krusegate and food reward mania and so on.
The moral failings / deceit / lies of religious / cult leaders are not exceptions, but the rule. Morally bankrupt people often become very good at manipulating people with words; sometimes they can become very charismatic cult leaders. Your example is ironically spot on.
It's not the fact this man looks like a manic depressive in convalescence or that his main food source is a 6 pack of budweiser daily... it's the fact he has basically bullshitted his way into mass popular hysteria, and suckers are eating it up. Certainly it is possible he has TEH SECRET! for fitness, but if this guy can't even manage to look minimally healthy (I don't mean super fit, but at least healthy for his age group) what are the odds he knows what he is talking about? Why should I listen to him again, other than the fact he's got an awesome ponzi scheme going and weaker nervous system types are drooling lobotomized zombies at the bottom fueling it?
I'll be the first one to argue we shouldn't assume a person knows what they are talking about just because they are thin / trim / attractive ... however, I DO think we can assume a person probably doesn't know what they are talking about if they are offering health advice, but happen to look like they have had several CABG's and a random blood sugar will be over 140. It doesn't work in reverse. If you look like a corpse, like utter *crap*, like your body is ridden with metabolic disease, you probably don't know how to control or prevent it... or at least, you don't know ENOUGH to attempt to lead / guide others hoping to make changes in their own lives that they can sustain forever.
What I find sad about Zone is that it's a pretty good diet for a lot of people, but as I recall based on a lot of theories made up out of thin air.
Yay drama. I can't believe that was almost 2.5 years ago. Feels like yesterday
So, when I saw him limping down the hallway a couple of weeks later with a cast on his foot, I wasn't surprised. He had a stress fracture (I forget exactly where), and thus ended his CF career. Now, I know that every CF box is different, and that there are competent coaches out there, but this is just one story I've heard from people who join CF.
The only shining light about the CF hype I can see is that more people are becoming interested in learning the Olympic lifts ... so much so that Reebok has actually put out a new Olympic lifting shoe.
Surrounding all of this is the specter of Gary "exercise is counterproductive" Taubes giving a talk to the hyper-exercising CFers... the same hyper-exercisers who have mostly abandoned post-workout carbophobia.
As a side note and to top it off, I did see a video talk by Dave Castro (the anti-Wolf from CF and involved in the whole dustup), and in that video he seemed like a very nice guy, too. Very reasonable presentation about exercise, also.
Personally I think the literature is not as cloudy as many might think. Doctors recommend lower sodium diets for those who are salt sensitive, most of whom have risk factors for heart disease. As a society we are looking to reduce excess sodium from foods but, as was noted in the article, there has been little change in sodium intake for the general population.
Taubes steps up and makes it sound like adding a salt lick to your house will be protective against heart disease and I think that is irresponsible.
Oxymoron? Something that flawed can't be that potent. On a side note I am all for killing fat men and fat chicks for that matter, such ugly people tarnishing society.
I can't wait for the day when I can wake up and all I see are skinny muscular beautiful people. Maybe we can get lucky and all those people with glasses (killing the four-eyed man) will be gone as well. All those loathsome people with perceived imperfections gone, dare to dream. It didn't work for Germany in the 1930-40s, but that's ok we can always try again. If at first you don't succeed try, try, try again.
On another side not the female trainer was damn hot. I've always had a weakness for brunettes. There's just something about dark curtains that turns me into an insatiable carpet bomber.
I don't agree at all. I think the Biggest Loser approach of chronic cardio and fat phobia is deeply flawed, too, but there's no doubt that it's a remarkably potent method.
If you take insulin control to the logical extreme of "any insulin is bad" then yes, your conclusion makes sense. Unfortunately, no sane person thinks this because without insulin you would be super dead super quick. Adequate protein intakes stimulate insulin, and are also absolutely essential to health.
On the other hand, a bag of starch (e.g. tater) offers nothing of value for an extremely fat person, a diabetic person, or similar sick individual and anyone who thinks eating this is just as good as a ketogenic diet is kidding themselves to put it bluntly.
LOL I"m 30 fricken years old in a few wks, and I already WAS fat. My skin that resists aging and youthful appearance and low body fat is a RESULT of my diet. I look early / mid 20s BECAUSE of my diet. I have the body of a teenager BECAUSE of my diet.
If I never went on ketogenic diet at 20 I would probably be an obese aged hag by now, like pretty much everyone else in my peer group.
I was more just shocked at the physique of the founder and CEO. Craig's "excuses" comment hits home. It's just another example of hypocrisy, and it looks to me like you can't out exercise or diet a drinking problem (?). Then again, many coaches' physiques leave far more to be desired. It's just that this guy was up there on stage extolling the virtues of Taubes who has never been paleo (though revered by many), and Zone is too high carb to fit TWICHOO either.
Yeah, Wooo, practiced jokes should always be reassessed though ;-)
Welcome to the Asylum Renee & yaktipper!
GT has argued exercise makes you slim, reduces body fat long term, in absence of co-occurring diet change. I have no idea why so many people get off misrepresenting the very practical and reasonable arguments GT has contributed (i.e. smashing the myth that exercising more will cure obesity), meanwhile they turn a blind eye to the RAMPANT ABSURD QUACKERY that passes for obesity therapy (i.e. "the biggest loser", which is nothing but a freakshow, and has no relationship at all to what it really means to long term control the disease of obesity, merely an exercise in ridiculing/mocking/parading around freaks for our entertainment... but JM has the audacity to attack taubes. Oh TEH IRON-E).
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