Crossfit 214

Now to talk about my first free Crossfit gym experience at Crossfit 214. Full disclosure I xfitted from 2008-2011. I even got my L1 cert with Ben Smith. Heck I even had dinner with Mr. Glassman once. So I'm very well versed in the world that is crossfit, both good and bad. But this was my first experience both in Dallas and in the spirit of trying out free shit out so here goes.

This is a gym surfer's dream. EVERY Saturday there's a free class. This is really nice because there's no limit; you can come here as often as you'd like. The only price to pay is you have to first listen to them prostheletize crossfit. So I liken this to a church event where they make you listen to them try to join them and then they have the event.
I've been here twice now and I am impressed at their ability to come up with challenging but not too

challenging workouts of the day (wods) for people new to HIIT. Both times they were partner wods where you do some work, then your partner does some work. This makes sense because the format builds in some rest so you don't push yourself too hard. The movements were bodyweight or light dumbbell work. Nothing too serious for the uninitiated but if you know how to push yourself you can get a good workout in.

Before and after the Wod is also a great way to meet people, so you could think of this as a free mixer to attend and flirt with other fitness-minded people. The community, in my opinion, is crossfit's greatest strength.

CF214 is your typical Crossfit box, industrial feel, open air with garage doors that open. There's a lot of toys to play with, but I think they won't allow you to play with any of them unless you've signed up with a real membership. I doubt they will have any of the barbell movements in the free wod just because they are so complicated. So my hat's off to these guys for making it fun while really reducing the chance of injury.

I was left a little unimpressed by one of the coaches because during the warm up he mention he was suffering from a certain injury that I too am recovering from. After class I went up to him and let him know that if he wanted I had some resources/knowledge to help him out, but he kind of disregarded anything I had to offer and tried to give me (not necessarily correct) advice instead. 

When I told him I had a tear in the back of my shoulder labrum he nodded and incorrectly called it a Bankart lesion, and didn't really seem to want to be corrected. That was kind of a turn off for me, because he just didn't seem interested in learning about what I had to offer. I get it though, I'm just some random dude and everyone thinks they have an online medical degree. Still, if I were in his shoes I would've at least faked a little more interest or asked questions instead of making assumptions.

Regardless, this is a great place to learn about crossfit and to be introduced to high intensity workouts. It'll push you, but not too hard.

Days: 11
Paid: $0

[UPDATE 9/12/14]

Turns out a friend of mine used to work out here, and after taking off two weeks he came back and hurt some core muscles on a wod. He lost muscle definition and was extremely sore for about four days. When he finally saw a doctor he was diagnosed with a third degree muscle strain.  When he talked to some of the coaches about it the response was kind of “well that’s what you get for going too hard”.  This is one of the things I don’t like about the majority of crossfit gyms.  It’s the coach’s job to push the clients as hard as they can go, and yet it’s the responsibility is placed on the individual to when to stop.  But you know what happens when your body tells you to stop and your coach tells you to keep going? You get hurt, that’s what.  

I know when I started out xfitting for the first year or so I always wanted to push myself to the utmost limits everyday. This resulted in me getting hurt a lot, so I ended up learning that I needed to do everything with perfect technique less I hurt myself.  This, of course, put me in the back of the pack but I really didn’t mind. I didn’t mind the Navy Seal next to me lapping me because his cleans looked like shit.  Of course, I think I’m the exception not the rule. 

And another thing, the limit that you find is kind of pointless. It’s not a strength limit. 17 weeks of starting strength got me stronger than 3.5 years of crossfit.  It’s not a speed limit. When I joined a sprinting group I got a lot faster.  So what limit does Crossfit test? Crossfit tests how much punishment your body can take.  That doesn’t make you stronger or faster. It leaves you broken.  Look I get it; mentally, it is fantastic when you find that limit. When you go farther than you thought you could, the world is your oyster. Perhaps that’s why crossfitters get the reputation of being arrogant, they feel like they can do anything.  But here’s the thing, it’s ok to find that limit periodically.  That way, you can recover.

You run the marathon, great. But you don’t run a marathon 5 times a week. In crossfit, you do (you don't run an actual marathon, what I mean is you go as hard as you can, you compete.).  You can’t go balls to the wall every day, else it becomes raisins to the wall.  The problem is the training in crossfit looks exactly like its competition.  If football players practiced by playing full-on games, everyone would be injured.  (PS crossfit football is legit. I’ve been lucky enough to meet Mr. Weldbourn a few times and the man is really cool.)  I remember visiting one box and the owner invited me to join in on the WOD “It’s a good one,” he said, “It’ll really beat you up,” he said.  People seem to equate pain with gain. While making gains can be painful, just because it’s painful doesn’t mean you’re making gains.

So yeah, CD214 seems like your typical gym in that if you injure yourself while working out they will blame you for it.  Ok rant off.