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Olympic Lifting in CrossFit “Dangerous”, Workouts Just “Beating, After Beating” According to New Jillian Michaels Video

December 5, 2020 by
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Nearly two years exactly after Jillian Michaels first began railing against CrossFit training, the world-famous trainer took to Instagram TV in a 9-minute long video to discuss why she doesn’t like CrossFit.

Remind me: The world-famous fitness trainer has made waves over the past two years, producing two written pieces and two separate videos on why she doesn’t like CrossFit.

  • It started back in December 2018, when she penned an op-ed and video in SHAPE Magazine on “why she wants you to stop kipping in CrossFit.”
  • Then on February 8, 2019, Michaels appeared in a SHAPE Magazine Instagram video about why she doesn’t like CrossFit, arguing that it “has only maybe 20 to 25 movements that don’t really vary,” and that those movements stop “being effective because you’re not challenging the body from various angles of push and pull.”
  • After an internet backlash that prompted SHAPE to run a counter-response from Rich Froning, Michaels went even further with a February 27 blog post on her own site: “The Good & Bad of CrossFit,” where she argues that CrossFit “exercises can be too complicated for the average person.”

Why it matters: This is now the fourth time in less than two years, Michaels has used her sizable global fitness voice and 1.3 million follower channel to rail against CrossFit.

  • While her opinions on CrossFit are unlikely to sway current members away from their gyms and routines, it certainly has the potential to dissuade new members from trying CrossFit for the first time.

One big thing: To the uninitiated observer, CrossFit, according to Michaels in the video seems “dangerous,” filled with repetitive beat down sessions that could result in you having a “heart attack” or “shoulder issue.” She also paints a picture that CrossFit is only accessible to elite and world-class athletes.

A few key lines:

  • “You’re taking some of the most advanced fitness modalities in the world — gymnastics, Olympic lifts for example — these are for elite athletes, right? Hence the term Olympic lifts.”
  • “To me CrossFit is exercising but it’s not about having a plan having a training specific program and then progressing that plan.”
  • “To me, it seems like beating, after beating, after beating, after beating unless something has changed.”
  • “Every friend I’ve had that was into CrossFit had a serious injury, serious, whether it was a heart attack, or shoulder issue or you name what.”

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