Longevity & You

[alandavis51]

Does anyone have solid data on crossfitter longevity? Or perhaps longevity related to powerlifts?

Anecdotally I know many people who have never had injuries, and just as many that have had injuries.

I specifically am interested in longevity related to heavy squats, deadlifts, C & L, presses, and the snatch.

I'm wondering if the data shows that programming biased towards Met Con actually has the most favorable results, than biasing to power movements.

Thoughts?

 

[merleharlin]

@alandavis51 I've been Crossfitting for just over 5 years and have never really had an injury. I tweaked my calf sprinting once, and occasionally get a sore back after deadlifting, but that's it.

However, I am not trying to compete, Crossfit is just a way for me to stay in shape, I "workout to live" rather than "live to workout".

I do all the workouts at Rx and my strength numbers have been increasing slowly almost every year (5-15 pounds per lift usually) but I'm not really pushing it too hard.

I'm 47 and can see doing this for 5+ more years at least. There are weeks where there are 5 tough workouts and I feel pretty crappy by the end of the week, I just don't recover like I used to, so I can see scaling back the workouts at some point. But if you can keep control of your ego and don't need to be on top of the whiteboard every day I think you can do this for years and years.

 

[jessica719]

@alandavis51 Go to any powerlifting or weightlifting comp. Just look at all the officials and judges and organisers who are ex-lifters and they are all broken people- limping, bent-over, bad hips, bung knees, hobbling & wincing with each step, sore backs, shoulders, crook necks...

But hey; don't just take my word for it, talk to them - ask them about their injuries: they love telling people about all their operations and fusions and compressed disks and ruptures, as to them it somehow macho validates that they "went hard" at it. It's a shame...

Source: I trained with some national level weightlifters.

 

[allison77]

@jessica719 Happens in every sport.

Source: not a dumbass

 

[noname5137]

@allison77 Yeah, but crossfit isn't a sport. It's a GPP program focused on wellness and longevity. There's competitive crossfit, aka the crossfit games and other competitions, but that's the sport of fitness.

 

[allison77]

@noname5137 The sport of weightlifting, the sport of bodybuilding, the sport of making stupid arguments on Reddit.

 

[noname5137]

@allison77 If you think crossfit training and training for the CrossFit games are equivalent then your sources are wrong.

 

[michaelphemo]

@allison77 "Every sport" ?- I don't think so....

 

[allison77]

@michaelphemo Ok, ok. Maybe not in the sport of bass fishing.

 

[itiswellwithmysoul78]

@michaelphemo Name one sport that doesn't have its injuries.

 

[jessica719]

@itiswellwithmysoul78 "Injuries" covers a broad spectrum of maladies; life-long musculoskeletal function/mobility debilitation and pain is very different from a blister. I am a huge CF supporter, my warning is for the "ego lifting1rep max" power/weightlifters -who all seem to be broken wrecks in retirement.

 

[itiswellwithmysoul78]

@jessica719 I get it and I don't disagree with you. To be on the the far end of athleticism in any sport you are going to come out with a collection of injuries. However that is not exclusive to crossfit and my point was that every sport has its long term wear and tear injuries.

 

[dawn16]

@allison77 wrong.

 

[baodantri]

@alandavis51 Crossfit is so new that we're not yet at the point that we see how it effects people in the very long term. Might want to wait another 30 years when people who started crossfit when it was established are actually the age to be dying.

 

[aaronmark]

@alandavis51 Bergeron has a video about this on YouTube.

His position is that strength biased gyms will generally produce more injuries and have less GPP and general life benefits compared to more metcon focused gyms.
He makes some great points.

 

[toserve]

@aaronmark I think it is this one:

 

[aaronmark]

@toserve That's the one!

 

[dawn16]

@alandavis51 I have seen the same thing at oly and power lifting meets, a lot of broken ex lifters,
I think if longevity is the goal, then swimming, cycling, rowing, yoga, and body weight Calisthenics are the way to go. As far as longevity in crossfit you might want to get Chris Spealers thoughts

 

[noname5137]

@dawn16 Except Spealler is a competitor. Olympic and powerlifters all train like they're trying to be competitive. They go to meets and thrash their bodies. If longevity is the goal, do crossfit for longevity. That's what it was designed for. If you did the level one course then you should remember the wellness-sicjness spectrum and how that goes into a third dimension when we consider age.

I have a 65 year old that comes in and he wasn't able to bend over and take a golf ball out of the hole. Now he's able to deadlift 200lbs and can pick up the ball on every hole because we trained him with the traditional crossfit ideology. We apply calisthenics, stretching, and weights to his training. We do apply intensity. It doesn't look intense, but for him it is. The key is everything together. It's not just the cardio, it's not just the functional movements, and it's not just the variability, it's all of it together. If you're training the general population with any other motives than wellness and longevity, you're not doing what they taught you in the level one course.

 

[sonali]

@noname5137

Except Spealler is a competitor.

Yes this is key. The guy trained for years to win the Crossfit Games. That's a whole other level of training that the average person doesn't come close to.