Is Fundamentals + CrossFit a recipe for injury?

[Nathan Wertman]

Is standard CrossFit programming + Gymnastic Bodies Fundamentals a recipe for disaster?  I am very interested in getting started with gymnastic bodies, but I don't want to risk serious injury by overtraining.  I'd really appreciate any advice, experiences or recommendations that folks are willing to share.

I would likely scale the CF programming to account for the 

 

About Me:

Background: 38 yo, male, 245 lbs, 30% body fat, fair strength, better than average mobility, 5x/week CrossFit for 3+ years, nagging achilles tendonopathy, 1 year post broken wrist (not CrossFit's fault)

 

Why not just stop doing CrossFit?

Our gym is the core of my family's social world.  I am a much better husband and father if I get into the gym frequently and workout hard with my 'tribe'.

 

Why the interest?

My father was a collegiate pole vaulter.  His gymnastic strength and mobility has allowed him to age quite gracefully into his 70s.  At 38, I'm starting to think about the next 40 years rather than my next snatch max attempt.  I am actively eating a keto diet and trying to lose about 50 lbs as a start, but I think the functional gymnastic strength would be a great extension to everything I am already doing.

[Mark Collins]

I teach Crossfit mobility class and have shown people the Fundamentals exercises. They make a great warm up for the Crossfit workout. I now see the members of the gym incorporating the Fundamentals exercises in their warm ups.

If you find the exercises eat into your recovery than use a lighter weight in the Crossfit workouts and have a couple of easy training days. Also make sure to put a deload week into your schedule.

[Jon Douglas]

Seems to me like it would somewhat lower the risk of injury in crossfit programming by promoting a comprehensive warmup and some general mobility

[Toni Laukkavaara]

crossfit is always a recipe for disaster. No matter what you add to the mix

[Nathan Wertman]

Thanks for the input Mark.  That is a really good idea and I'm glad it is working well at your gym.

 

Toni, your reply was neither constructive nor solicited.  You and I clearly differ in our opinions.

[Sascha Fast]

I would carefully observe and react. I did crossfit-esque type of training for several years (so, you know I am talking from a point of experience and not only theory), but didn't include some of of the more risky elements (e.g. box jumps + some sort of lower body exercise like deadlift or swings in the same workout). 

I see possible danger in you weak links. Imagine the following: You include some ankle prep in your morning routine and have some snatch work + a medium running WOD later in the day. Your ankles are cooked. Your soft tissue could use some high volume very low load work to get the blood flowing (e.g. a walk) but your box programmed some box jumps the following day. Sometimes, one can do a little bit of extra work (here: two days in a row high load on the ankle) and then give plenty of rest. This adds variability to the training. If you combine it with an additional stress you either heighten the stress on the hard days or skip the the lower stress days when you do your ankle prep there. 

If you don't control all the variables or somebody else there is an element of randomness you possibly can't adapt to. It seems to me that you are a cross fitter and want to add gymnastic prep to your already existing paradigm. I would talk extensively with your crossfit coach and ask him how to implement the additional elements. 

Additional: Identify your personal weak links. Example: I have calfs and achilles tendons of steal. I did my sprint training on concrete for years without any problems. My back was a weak link for a little while because I did 2x/week squats + 2x/week deadlift + 2x/week wrestling. So I ditched one squat day for a single leg day and modified my deadlift training. We all have some weak link. 

I wouldn't ditch the crossfit because it gives you metabolic training and inspiration. It is not all about the most effective and efficient method. It is about living a good life. I would never exclude something which fills you with passion. Because of that, I still do some metabolic conditioning the old way (in my case more of a Ross Enamait style conditioning) because I love it. 

On the one hand, it is a sign of maturity as an athlete to do what gives your the results and don't concentrate on the fun. On the other hand, you are a father, husband and many more. That means you have not only duties as an athlete, so fun, inspiration and having a tribe are obligations that you have to consider as a mature human. There is a difference in being a good athlete and being a good human being.

my 2 cents. Hope you can take something out of it.