“Wrong doesn’t cease to be wrong because the majority share in it.” Leo Tolstoy

You ever go into a coffee house and order a decaf, non-fat latte? Me either. I don’t think much of them. That’s what some baristas call them “why bothers?”

You ever go into a gym and start doing exercises improperly? Me either. I don’t think much of them and that’s why I call them a “why bother?”

Yet each day I go into my gym and see people doing fitness movements that make me wince.

How did this happen and where did it begin?

First let’s talk about poor fitness movements at my gym. Numerous guys are doing back squats poorly. They aren’t lowering to 90 degrees, they are letting their knees fall in, they are lifting way too heavy and therefore only squatting down 2-3 inches, etc.  You get the picture. An industry has been created that markets a need without instructing people on how to do the basics properly. Injuries abound.

If a few of the guys dropped into a stable squatting platform they would have more power to drive from. Simply dropping some weight on the barbells and going back to the basics will get a guy over time to perform heavier squats.  He will end up building/activating his tendons/ligaments and muscles. The worst part of this is he is an inadequate instructor, and he is teaching others in this gym his poor techniques. What he and dozens like him do is tame compared to what is seen in many gyms across the globe. Poorly performed push ups, burpees, high pulls, swings, cleans etc…I’m not going to correct individuals. I’m done.

Squatting 200 lbs. properly is far better than doing 400 lbs. wrongly. I’m not going to get into numbers here but stats show tens of thousands of people are injured yearly from receiving improper instruction and then going on to use improper techniques for their lifts. BTW this week did you see the video of the guy on YouTube doing hack squats? He snapped his legs backwards and severely damaged himself by going way beyond his ability. Lesson learned.

So where did all of this poor training begin? Some people don’t know any better and that’s actually okay. If they are open to learning than those who know best should try to give them proper direction without ridicule.

It seems in the last decade that poor techniques came with the advent of CrossFit. I don’t hate on CrossFit. CrossFit has done much to get sedentary people off the sofa and into the gym. Poorly taught CrossFit is bad. A good CrossFit coach should be able to build a client’s proficiency in performing standard Olympic Lifts (Deadlift, Pushpress, Squat etc) before getting the client to do other movements.

There are good CrossFit ‘boxes’ run by athletes that would leave me in the dust. But there are also a bevy of “know it all” practitioners who go onto spread their ‘knowledge’ to enthusiastic yet novice lifters. Enthusiasts from here to Timbuktu are snatching, cleaning, and jerking themselves silly while getting injured trying to go for PR’s. They are being led by entry-level instructors who sincerely want to train others but are clueless when it comes to good programming and proper movements.

How did this happen? Franchising is one of the culprits. Initial costs of opening a CrossFit gym include the $3,000 affiliate fee plus other costs. But some owners don’t spend enough time trying to build a good foundation. A few of my friends from the local boxes in my area have told me their ‘box’ coaches are better at programming and executing movements than the owners of said boxes. Shouldn’t it be the other way around?

In the ESPN article titled, “Crossfit explosive growth fuels Safety Concerns” the author described the 10,000 CrossFit affiliates dotting our nation. “Last October, CrossFit announced it had reached 8,000 affiliates. Three-and-a-half months later, the company hit 9,000. And four-and-a-half months after that, just a few weeks ago, came the 10,000th affiliate for the $40 million, privately held company.”

Is this good to have such growth? Yes and no. Great for a company to have good growth, great to get people active, but bad for clients who get injured being trained by unqualified trainers. In my own region I am familiar with the programming offered by the CrossFit affiliates. A few clients injured at local boxes ended up heading over to the CrossFit once owned by retired Navy SEAL Rick Burrel.  He had to re-train them properly so they could continue pursuing their CrossFit passion. Is it the fault of the trainer with the Level 1 Crossfit Certification or the client that didn’t his research? Or is it the industry that pushes out Crossfit articles, Olympic lifting articles in online publishing and in print to sell or what?

What say you?

Throw in racing the clock, reducing time to rest between sets, attempts to obtain a Personal Record, performing difficult techniques, degrading the form and technique,  etc. etc. and you get “Why Bothers”.

When I started doing Olympic lifting during the summer of 2002 under Olympic Coach Jim Schmidt I was just another clueless shmuck. He was good at what he did. CrossFit hadn’t taken off yet and really wouldn’t until about 2004-05.  I did a lot of naked bar lifting and learned to do deep squats with just the 45 pound Olympic bar. When Jim felt I was doing lifts properly, I added 5 more pounds, until that movement was done properly. I performed some of these lifts without weights for a month until I could do them the way he required. In exactly 30 days of signing up at the Sports Palace and using his programming and proper technique I put on 21 lbs of muscle. My lifts were outstanding.

Incredible. The man knows his stuff.

Jim had a system he perfected over 50 years. He even told you how he wanted his equipment stowed away. “Put the weights on and face the plates out the same way.” There was a method to his success. Jim’s teaching style was very organized and he knew just by looking at someone what they lacked and how to help them. But we have instructors today that simply do not have Jim’s background. They train at the nearest Gold’s gym or Planet Fitness and pick up their CrossFit Cert after paying the $1k plus cost. Some very good CrossFit facilities take the time to develop a foundation of strength and technique, but many don’t.

Trying to correct someone in the gym, particularly a stranger that has never seen you exercise, is a big no-no. Are you really going to change the mind of someone who has ingrained a bad habit?

Performing movements poorly is like ordering a non-fat, decaf coffee. It might make you feel good doing it or tasting it but there benefit doesn’t outpace the drawbacks. You’re better served doing things the right way the first time, and every time after that. Prepare a drink the way it should be prepared and drank. It’s no different from tactical shooting instruction. Instructors can show you the basic movement but do they really understand the intricacies in the movement, and can they explain complex movements to you in a simple manner? Can they demonstrate and replicate what they propose time and time again while asking the same of  you?

Good instructors know these things.

In the end you’re better off throwing your WHY BOTHER coffee in the trash. You’re also better off finding a good instructor before you sign up at your first CrossFit gym. Ask around, interview the coaches, and save your money until then. Bother to do it properly or don’t do it at all.