The Cross Fit phase

So several people have asked me why I am not the biggest fan of Crossfit. Well, here it goes. Cross Fit much like Taebo and Kravmaga have made a name for themselves based on a "hollywood" push. Off of that they manufactured their own facility and then put out their own certification process. So what's wrong with that? Capitalism at it's best right? First some "real" history on Crossfit. Crossfit is the loose translation of the Russian based gym. It was started by former Russian power lifters and gymnasts to give their off season athletes a facility in which they could maintain their bodies strength while not competing. It worked. They key word here is off season. Like anything else The originators off crossfit realized that they would have to periodically give their athletes different workouts to maintain their flexibility and keep their bodies from getting injured. Sound familiar? At the time Hammer strength and Nautilus were making these new state of the art machines, crossfit didn't have the money to manufacture let alone buy anything. So they got ropes, sandbags,used tires,kettlebells,bars,benches and pull up bars. They incorporated a great deal of power lifting moves into their movements in conjunction with kettlebell movements to build dynamic and explosive strength. Nothing new, just on a much smaller scale. The first crossfit in the US was introduced in Seatle(not California) .They started with firemen, a small group of local powerlifters, and a military presence as it's main focus. One of it's early patrons was a man named Jim Jones. Jim jones(founder of Gym Jones) was tasked with getting the actors in 300 into shape for the movie. While using several of the Crossfit exercises , Jim also encorporated sprinting and stretching to keep the actors from getting injured. When the movie 300 came out Jim Jones took credit for the actors and Crossfit took credit for Jim Jones. Interestingly enough Jim Jones is in no way affiliated with Crossfit nor does he support Crossfit. Why? Who knows.
So here is where Crossfit exploded . Off of the movie 300 Crossfit packaged their name, franchised it, and created a certification process. What exactly are they packaging? Kettlebells? They've been around for 100's of years. Bench pressing? Box jumps? Plyometrics?Ropes? Tires? Sledgehammers?Did anyone see the first Rocky? Oooh maybe it's the whole "circuit" aspect of it? Well years ago circuit training was the wave of the future. Except they were done with machines. Going from machine to machine for several reps or time until the entire body was worked. These "circuit " classes were deemed too easy for the serious gym patrons and soon they faded away. In reality it's all the same thing. A press is a press. A jump is a jump, and a swing is a swing. Full body workouts were not invented by Crossfit.
So, save yourself the money. Buy a kettlebell from Target and do some jumps, pushups and pullups for free. Most gyms these days have kettlebells , plyoboxes,pullup bars, and bench presses.
Be wary of any fitness craze that suggest "this is the only way" to workout.