Originally Posted by
mcafiero
My suggestion to anyone without a coach who is considering crossfit: do research on the coaches and find a gym with qualified coaches who are sticklers on *good form. Tell them you'd like to focus on legs and core and ask if they will allow you to modify your own wods a little bit and see if sometimes you can just go and use their weights to do your own squat and deadlift, etc workouts without doing a wod. And get on your bike a lot, race a lot, and get super fast. And if your goal is to go to the Olympics (you better already be lean), forget about crossfit completely.
I've tried this exact thing. Not long ago, in 2 cities, I was looking for a gym with bumper plates in order to do power cleans be able to drop the weights to the ground. I thought, "Hey, all CF gyms have all of the squat racks, free weights, and bumper plates that I need." So, I call up at least 4 gyms, and all of the conversations went something like this:
Me: "Hi. I'm looking for a gym with squat rack, free weights, and bumper plates for power cleans."
CF: "Yep, we got all of that!"
Me: "Can I do my own program?"
CF: "Yes...but only during 'Open training hours'"
Me: "When are those?"
CF: "Tuesday and Tursdays from 10-11AM"
Me: "Can I do my own workout any other time?"
CF: "No. You must be doing the WOD if you are in the box."
Me: "No exceptions?"
CF: "No exceptions outside of the 'Open training hours'"
Me: "How much per month?"
CF: "$150 which includes expert instruction"
Me: "But I've already have expert instruction from a guy who actually contributed to Starting Strength." (referring to Steve Hill)
CF: "Doesn't matter."
Me: "Ah. OK. Thanks."
This happened at multiple CF gyms. Not just one.
Mark, you have the exception to the rule. Might I ask how much your CF box charges per month?