Crossfit vs Starting Strength to get back in shape

[TopChef]

Hello. I used to be in great shape in highschool but have since let my health degrade. I have committed myself to getting back in shape and am curious what experience others have had with various programs.

I was going to do Starting Strength which focuses on lifting heavy to build muscle, and then after I reached a point I was going to switch to Crossfit which focuses on high intensity training.

But now that I think about it, I wonder if it wouldn't be better to start with Crossfit. I think I will see faster gains in my health by focusing on high intensity training, and then doing strength training later. I will do some measure of strength and HIT training simultaneously, but I really want to focus on one thing at a time.

Does anyone have any thoughts?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Held for Ransom]

My wife does Crossfit religiously and her body is *ridiculous* - especially her hindquarters. Granted, she was a super freak athlete to begin with.

Her husband on the other hand... :groove:

In all seriousness, I have done it for quite a while and until my back/neck issues laid me out flat for six months I never felt better. I'm getting back now but it's not for everyone especially if you are (1) older and (2) not already pretty active.

For me, the hardest thing is adequate recovery. The soreness is oppressive at times.

 

[theag]

There are multiple fitness experts who label crossfit as "too-much" (as in contraproductive). Sry, no time to search for it right now.

Personally I never tried crossfit and am not interested because I have great results with heavy lifting.

 

[karmazon]

They are two different things so it depends on what you want. Starting Strength is focused on one thing only - strength. Crossfit doesn't have a focus, as you probably know, it's about all areas of fitness. I personally do powerlifting(and have started with SS) and I love it.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[TJPB]

Neither focus on nutrition.....which is where you want to start.

 

[Connor]

My dad is a highly respected exercise physiologist (sorry I had to brag a little), and he was actually asked by the US Army to give a talk about CrossFit. It's an excellent training program; however, it does carry a high risk of injury due to the intensity. I have a bad back from years of tennis and other issues, so I'm not into it, but I know several people who are, and they are in ridiculously good shape. I would recommend something like CrossFit or P90X (and eating healthy of course!) over something that just pure strength training if you're looking to get into overall better shape. Sounds like you want to improve your cardio fitness as well as strength, so I wouldn't suggest starting with Starting Strength.

 

[Mouse McCoy]

I was a personal trainer. Crossfit in its essence is ok.

The problem comes with these Crossfit 'boxes' that are setup by people who don't have the first idea about health, joint mobility, and most glaringly of all don't teach the correct form and how important it is. They're in it to make money and there is little to no required training before you can take on customers. This is all fine if you have a coach who knows what he's doing, in fact this would be a great thing. However in 80% of cases (that's being conservative) you have an insane potential for injury because the coach is telling you to do multiple Olympic lifts to failure, and everyone knows not a single one of those lifts are in good form when it takes a few years just to be mediocre at that lift.

I digress. I recommend Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 fullbody routine I'd get his .pdf

Starting Strength is full of invaluable information, but Jim Wendler's program is the best I've come across in terms of gaining strength. If you're just after hypertrophy I have a good bodybuilding split routine and cutting diet from a pro BB'er (forget that part), but the hypertrophy routine works in spades. 5/3/1 is scientifically brilliant at increasing your maxes... in my experience I was adding 10lbs to my squat each week without straining myself, Jim Wendler's programming is excellent.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[ruskism]

Hello. I used to be in great shape in highschool but have since let my health degrade. I have committed myself to getting back in shape and am curious what experience others have had with various programs.

I was going to do Starting Strength which focuses on lifting heavy to build muscle, and then after I reached a point I was going to switch to Crossfit which focuses on high intensity training.

But now that I think about it, I wonder if it wouldn't be better to start with Crossfit. I think I will see faster gains in my health by focusing on high intensity training, and then doing strength training later. I will do some measure of strength and HIT training simultaneously, but I really want to focus on one thing at a time.

Does anyone have any thoughts?

Like many have mentioned already, the differences between Starting Strength and Crossfit are immense. Two completely different types of training with two completely different types of ideologies (and thus, results). The main allure of Crossfit is the friendly, team-based atmosphere that incorporates anaerobic and aerobic type workouts which will help take weight off of you while building sport-specific strength. Starting Strength, on the other hand, is more based on learning the main compound lifts that are essential to lifting weights while giving you a structured strength program that is based off of progression. You will find yourself stalling less on something like Starting Strength than you will participating in Crossfit. If your cardiovascular health is important to you, you can always add HIIT or LISS to your Starting Strength regime as well. The only drawback, in my opinion, is the absolutely absurd price that most Crossfit gyms require you to pay.. especially considering the average Crossfit coach is less qualified than the average personal trainer in a commercial gym (who also happens to be an idiot).

My wife does Crossfit religiously and her body is *ridiculous* - especially her hindquarters. Granted, she was a super freak athlete to begin with.

Her husband on the other hand... :groove:

In all seriousness, I have done it for quite a while and until my back/neck issues laid me out flat for six months I never felt better. I'm getting back now but it's not for everyone especially if you are (1) older and (2) not already pretty active.

For me, the hardest thing is adequate recovery. The soreness is oppressive at times.

Cannot and WILL NOT ever deny that Crossfit does wonders to the female physique!! :]

My dad is a highly respected exercise physiologist (sorry I had to brag a little), and he was actually asked by the US Army to give a talk about CrossFit. It's an excellent training program; however, it does carry a high risk of injury due to the intensity. I have a bad back from years of tennis and other issues, so I'm not into it, but I know several people who are, and they are in ridiculously good shape. I would recommend something like CrossFit or P90X (and eating healthy of course!) over something that just pure strength training if you're looking to get into overall better shape. Sounds like you want to improve your cardio fitness as well as strength, so I wouldn't suggest starting with Starting Strength.

Starting Strength is not pure strength training by any means - it's a beginning routine that allows people new to weight lifting to learn the core compound lifts that are going to be the most important part in any bodybuilding or strength training routine later on down the road. It is one of the core beginning routines that I'd suggest to anyone starting off.

I was a personal trainer. Crossfit in its essence is ok.

The problem comes with these Crossfit 'boxes' that are setup by people who don't have the first idea about health, joint mobility, and most glaringly of all don't teach the correct form and how important it is. They're in it to make money and there is little to no required training before you can take on customers. This is all fine if you have a coach who knows what he's doing, in fact this would be a great thing. However in 80% of cases (that's being conservative) you have an insane potential for injury because the coach is telling you to do multiple Olympic lifts to failure, and everyone knows not a single one of those lifts are in good form when it takes a few years just to be mediocre at that lift.

I digress. I recommend Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 fullbody routine I'd get his .pdf

Starting Strength is full of invaluable information, but Jim Wendler's program is the best I've come across in terms of gaining strength. If you're just after hypertrophy I have a good bodybuilding split routine and cutting diet from a pro BB'er (forget that part), but the hypertrophy routine works in spades. 5/3/1 is scientifically brilliant at increasing your maxes... in my experience I was adding 10lbs to my squat each week without straining myself, Jim Wendler's programming is excellent.

Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 is not meant for a beginner by any means. It is meant for intermediate to advanced lifters because of the slow progression that it's based on. You were able to put 10lbs on each week not because of the programming, but because you either 1) started with too low of a 1 rep max, or 2) you used his 90% of your starting 1 rep max (which meant you knew you were starting lower than you should have to eliminate from plateauing in the cycle..). Also, you should not have been adding weight to your working sets each week until your 4 week cycle was over regardless, that throws off the entire routine. You stick to your working sets all 4 weeks and then bump your 1mr up depending on how well you performed over the previous 4 weeks. You seem like the perfect example for a guy who should have been on something like Starting Strength, not Jim Wendler's 5/3/1.. leave that to guys who are happy to throw 30lbs on their squat in a year, not 3 weeks.

 

[Mouse McCoy]

I did do and learn from Starting Strength before 5/3/1, and yes I followed his calculation -- so I'd be under #2 if I recall correctly, but full disclosure it's not 90%, it's a more nuanced calculation.

But you are right once again, I should have slowed down! After lifting for three years, and as soon as I felt I was at the intermediate stage was when I started 5/3/1.

Thanks again for your time and knowledge.

 

[ruskism]

I did do and learn from Starting Strength before 5/3/1, and yes I followed his calculation -- so I'd be under #2 if I recall correctly, but full disclosure it's not 90%, it's a more nuanced calculation.

But you are right once again, I should have slowed down! After lifting for three years, and as soon as I felt I was at the intermediate stage was when I started 5/3/1.

Thanks again for your time and knowledge.

No worries breh, didn't mean to come off as hostile at all. I've ran 5/3/1 for a couple years, a long with Smolov, Sheiko, Coan/Philipi, etc. and the 90% is definitely what he recommends to start out with. Only because he's afraid of people burning out and plateauing within a cycle or two, and then going back to the drawing board with a defeated mentality. Especially when you're totaling close to Elite, those couple of pounds off of the working sets mean a lot. Do you still incorporate strength training into your routine? And what certification(s) do you have? I have the ACE cert, but to be honest it's completely useless.. can't believe they feed people garbage like this and expect us to help. I refuse to help a 40 year old woman learn how to half-squat on a bosu ball just as much as I resent watching a 22 year old curl in a squat rack. Wish I could get my $500 back!!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Daniel A]

Hey TopChef,

I am also in the process of getting back into great shape. It's been a little over a month of focused/routine physical exercise I believe and I've had some nice gains already. I started out with cardiovascular exercise only, running and jump rope. Then I did the same cardiovascular exercise with light-weight/high-rep weight lifting. Now I am doing the INSANITY by BeachBody (I have P90X too) workout along with weight lifting at the gym.

It worked well for me. If you like that plan, you should do it too. Don't forget to maintain a healthy diet too.

I looked into Crossfit but would rather do soccer or gymnastics along with Krav Maga. Swimming too man, can't forget that.

I've been reading a lot lately and one of the books I am going through is GSP's (UFC fighter). He is doing gymnastics and his MMA training. For myself, it would be Krav Maga and the other stuff I mentioned.

I can't tell you what to do, but I've let you know what my plan is and it's worked well so far. Look into it, maybe you will like it too. Right now it is 3:06 AM...doing a lot of exercise is keeping me up late at night though :sleep: Watch out for that man!

 

[Skys]

Starting strength. You will not regret it. Great base to work from, no matter what you will do next.
Perhaps you will stay in the strength department, that's great. You can go from SS to Texas Method, Madcow or 5/3/1.

If you want to go towards crossfit, Starting Strength is a great base to learn yourself proper technique with your main lifts. I would not advice to learn yourself bad habits with 50x power cleans, 50x barbell squats and 20x deadlifts AMRAP and as fast as possible.

A good crossfit school will not let you neglect your technique. Unfortunately, there are way more bad cross fit school then good ones.

A good article about crossfit: A Review of Crossfit - The Sweat Pit

As almost always. Slow, steady progression beats 'magic pills'. A lot of people use crossfit as the latter and end up injured, completely fatiqued or just hating sport. Starting strength becomes boring, because you keep doing the same lifts over and over and over and over.. But you will see results.

Remember, 1. losing fat happens mostly in the kitchen 2. Don't forget to do some cardio besides strength training.

 

[psychosapper]

As almost always. Slow, steady progression beats 'magic pills'. A lot of people use crossfit as the latter and end up injured, completely fatiqued or just hating sport. Starting strength becomes boring, because you keep doing the same lifts over and over and over and over.. But you will see results.

This is key to starting any fitness regimen, regardless of program. Your body needs to adjust to being more active by strengthening joints/ligaments/etc, before you see any real gains. This is also the key to avoiding injury.

Personally, I've had great success with CrossFit. I'm a huge fan as each workout is scalable to your fitness level (and motivation level!). I did CF exclusively (no additional cardio or strength training) during a 9 month deployment. Came back and destroyed my boss on runs and PT tests. My boss spent the deployment training for triathlons and was already in great shape. Your mileage may vary.

Will you be working out at home and need to purchase equipment? Or plan on joining a gym? In my experience some CF gyms can be pricey.

All workout regimens have the inherent risk of injury. Do whatever program you enjoy, the important thing is that you're active!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Hermann]

Personally, I can recommend

http://www.rosstraining.com/forum/

It´s a site dedicated to general fitness and combat sports in particular.
If you are interested in getting in shape the "strength and conditioning" forum
offers really good info from very knowledgeable members.

Best regards

 

[InLikeFlint]

If you're looking away to strip away your fat and build up your cardio first, then start with cross fit and then move to strength training. I started with a lot of running and body weight stuff until I got my weight and BF% really low and since then I have just been building muscle.

Keep in mind you can always add a little cross fit flare into your strength routine…I generally add conditioning into my workout 3-4 days a week. (Mind you, cardio is not the same as conditioning…cardio would be running, biking, rowing…conditioning is ropes, boxing, weighted sled, weighted carry, weighted throws, sprints).

I recommend Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 fullbody routine

I agree with this entirely. I started using 5/3/1 about 3 months ago because my trainer recommended it and have been entirely content with it. My strength gains in Bench/Deadlift/Squat/Military have been huge. However, I always supplement the "Main 4" exercises with plenty of other things in each muscle category (Rows, Lat Pull Downs, Bicep/Tricep workouts, Abs/Core, etc etc)

 

[The Abundant Man]

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[The Abundant Man]

How do I post pics on here?

 

[The Abundant Man]

I am currently doing Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 with Crossfit. I do a 5/3/1 workout then a crossfit workout right after.

People at my MMA gym think I'm on steroids lol

 

[masterneme]

Crossfit or any high intensity training is meant for experienced people with good form on every exercise, if you haven't dominated the basics it will destroy your body and when you get older you'll be all screwed up.

Starting Strength is great, just keep at it until you have perfect form and you plateau which can happen in years.

If you get bored try some calisthenics in the process.

I don't understand this mentality of abusing your body through hardcore exercising, you can get the same results without feeling like crap and without damaging your joints and ligaments.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[lowtek]

crossfit is a 1 way ticket to snap city. Doing highly technical lifts that take people with dedicated coaches years to master, for maximum reps in minimum time, is a recipe for disaster. The injury rates are astronomical.

If you're new to lifting, drop 5/3/1 (it's a great program, but it's for intermediate lifters) and pick up starting strength or stronglifts 5x5.