Hello, everyone I am not new to CrossFit but I do have a 4 Y/O unanswered question. Some background: I ran cross country and track competitively for 7 years and I also played soccer for ~10 years. Running is a big part of my life but I stopped doing it competitively after my first year in college. When I joined cross country at my community college I expected it to be hard but I didn’t expect boot camp. My coach had hired an assistant for one purpose: CrossFit. Every other day we were expected to do a weightlifting workout OR stationary cycling workout OR circuit workout before going on a run. They weren’t light workouts either and we had many injured runners and runners that quit as a result. I just want to know why people think CrossFit and cross country go together. I know core workouts and swim workouts are important but weightlifting for 45 mins before going on a 6 mile progression run!? I think you guys get the gist, but am I wrong for thinking cross country and CrossFit are better left separate?
orthodoxlady1994
New member
@jared280 You’re thinking about these 2 sports as comparable, when they have different purposes.
CrossFit by design is a generalist sport. You’ll sometimes hear the expression “knowledgeable in all, master of none”. The goal is to build athletes who have a baseline level of strength, endurance, flexibility, explosiveness, etc.
Long distance running is a specialist sport. You are taking one dynamic of fitness and trying to maximize performance in that one specific domain.
My guess for the reason your coach added CrossFit is that they were seeing an imbalance in his athletes which was hurting performance. As I’m sure you know, long distance runners benefit not only from having lower body endurance and long capacity, but they also need core strength, upper body mobility, etc. So they were trying to prevent injuries by correcting this imbalance by supplementing your training with a sport focused on a wider range of fitness modalities.
CrossFit by design is a generalist sport. You’ll sometimes hear the expression “knowledgeable in all, master of none”. The goal is to build athletes who have a baseline level of strength, endurance, flexibility, explosiveness, etc.
Long distance running is a specialist sport. You are taking one dynamic of fitness and trying to maximize performance in that one specific domain.
My guess for the reason your coach added CrossFit is that they were seeing an imbalance in his athletes which was hurting performance. As I’m sure you know, long distance runners benefit not only from having lower body endurance and long capacity, but they also need core strength, upper body mobility, etc. So they were trying to prevent injuries by correcting this imbalance by supplementing your training with a sport focused on a wider range of fitness modalities.
@orthodoxlady1994 From my experience, CrossFit made me stronger and most likely a better runner. I was a more seasoned athlete than a lot of my teammates and that is likely what made the difference. My CrossFit coach neglected the injuries my teammates were facing and that’s where most of my frustration comes from. Everyone that signed up was there for long-distance running not CrossFit 
orthodoxlady1994
New member
@jared280 Just like with any other sport on the planet, CrossFit has good coaches and bad coaches. Any coach, in any sport, is failing at their job if they don’t listen to his athletes and adjust training to accommodate injuries.
IME, the vast majority of CF coaches do a great job of adjusting workouts to meet their athlete’s abilities that day. If yours didn’t do that, then I’m sorry you experienced one of the few bad ones on our sport. They are rare, but they do exist - and I’m sorry you had that experience.
IME, the vast majority of CF coaches do a great job of adjusting workouts to meet their athlete’s abilities that day. If yours didn’t do that, then I’m sorry you experienced one of the few bad ones on our sport. They are rare, but they do exist - and I’m sorry you had that experience.
heatherssister
New member
@jared280 My understand via different coaches' podcasts and articles is that for most people, especially higher level athletes, there would be little-to-no crossover. Crossfit has been shown to drop the performance of high level athletes in other sports.
Would it help the average couch potato? Perhaps. But more than losing a bit a weight and training running? Probably not.
Would increasing your 1 max reps in certain lifts such as deadlift, clean, snatch, and press in the off season help an athlete generate more power and become a faster runner? Probably. But in the off season. Athletes don't want to leave championships in the weight room.
Training during the season in two sports hampers your recovery and can lead to injuries. Crossfit is a sport, not a supplemental weight lifting program. The concentration in intensity and improving metabolic conditioning would leave a long distance runner in a recovery hole. I believe most coaches and athletes would be better off working on endurance running and running technique with a sprinkle of speed work such as hill sprints.
Would it help the average couch potato? Perhaps. But more than losing a bit a weight and training running? Probably not.
Would increasing your 1 max reps in certain lifts such as deadlift, clean, snatch, and press in the off season help an athlete generate more power and become a faster runner? Probably. But in the off season. Athletes don't want to leave championships in the weight room.
Training during the season in two sports hampers your recovery and can lead to injuries. Crossfit is a sport, not a supplemental weight lifting program. The concentration in intensity and improving metabolic conditioning would leave a long distance runner in a recovery hole. I believe most coaches and athletes would be better off working on endurance running and running technique with a sprinkle of speed work such as hill sprints.
noname5137
New member
godspropertyinfo
New member
diamondhp87
New member
@jared280 I’m training for a 50k and still going to CrossFit three times a week. Sometimes it’s hard to fit in 4 runs a week plus all the CrossFit but I think it’s been a huge benefit to my running. It’s helped massively with injury prevention and leg strength which is something most runners don’t work on enough. Plus Ultras are all about running on tired legs and doing CrossFit in the morning and running at night is a great way to run on tired legs.
@desypete +1! I'm in exactly the same boat and have had the same experience as you. I didn't want to give up CrossFit while training for a 50 mile race. I do listen to my body though, so there has been a day or two where I skip a WOD and only run. Staying mentally flexible without making excuses is a fine line, but I think it's important.
tammajenna
New member
@jared280 There are several moving parts here.
I became a better long distance runner after doing crossfit without even training running at all. I think the reason is that my core and my lower half of the body got so much more solid. All the tiny stabilizer muscles that normally you wouldn't really be able to access only by running. Crossfit is so core dependent that I think it's a good base for any other physical activity.
I was less prone to injury while running since my entire body was just so much more stable and stronger.
I think also Crossfit helps you to access that "little bit" over your redline and builds your mental strength. So whilst it may not help your performance in running directly, I think it can help you really finish strong by just staying at or above redline towards the end.
With that said, there are some people that get massive doing crossfit (I don't know how, since it's such a cardio focused discipline) but they do and this will ultimately impact your running performance.
I've been doing Crossfit for about 7 - 8 years and whilst I get more muscular and toned I don't really put on mass that easily so that aspect of it hasn't impacted my running. But as stated, my body is just more "tight" and strong all over that running just feels more solid and secure. Never get any running injuries at all, and I have that extra bit of mental energy for the strong pushes at the end to finish strong.
I became a better long distance runner after doing crossfit without even training running at all. I think the reason is that my core and my lower half of the body got so much more solid. All the tiny stabilizer muscles that normally you wouldn't really be able to access only by running. Crossfit is so core dependent that I think it's a good base for any other physical activity.
I was less prone to injury while running since my entire body was just so much more stable and stronger.
I think also Crossfit helps you to access that "little bit" over your redline and builds your mental strength. So whilst it may not help your performance in running directly, I think it can help you really finish strong by just staying at or above redline towards the end.
With that said, there are some people that get massive doing crossfit (I don't know how, since it's such a cardio focused discipline) but they do and this will ultimately impact your running performance.
I've been doing Crossfit for about 7 - 8 years and whilst I get more muscular and toned I don't really put on mass that easily so that aspect of it hasn't impacted my running. But as stated, my body is just more "tight" and strong all over that running just feels more solid and secure. Never get any running injuries at all, and I have that extra bit of mental energy for the strong pushes at the end to finish strong.
diamondhp87
New member
@tammajenna I think it depends what sort of distance runner you are, if you are mid pack to lower it could definitely help. I would argue though that you would see better results in specific weight training rather than CrossFit.
That being said, I've been doing CrossFit again for a few months now, and have seen a decline in my distance running, but I love CrossFit training so happy to compromise
That being said, I've been doing CrossFit again for a few months now, and have seen a decline in my distance running, but I love CrossFit training so happy to compromise
@tammajenna Core workouts are a main focus for long-distance runners. In high school I remember doing wall sit competitions and planking competitions and in college we had 10 minute core sessions every practice. But anything that bulks the arms/shoulders up long distance-runners should avoid with a 10 foot pole.
tammajenna
New member
noname5137
New member
@jared280 Sounds like you guys were victims of poor programming. The CrossFit training should have staggered to complement the running. Either high intensity interval training on the off days, weight lifting in the a.m. run in the p.m. or short and sweet metcons before the run that taxed the upper body and core but not the legs. We have a lot of success at our box and about 30% of our members are long distance runners.