Let’s just say I am embarrassed. Granted, it’s not about what I have done. Not this time. It’s more along the lines of an affiliate photo that has me wondering if I will ever recommend someone to check out the crossfit.com mainsite page again.
I’m not going to talk about what they did wrong: (http://www.crossfit.com/cf-affiliates/2011/08/tuesday_110816.html)
That picture speaks for itself.
No, this is about me.
I don’t want to be associated with that kind of fitness philosophy. There. I said it.
Why? Well… let’s start with why I started down the CrossFit path in the first place. My kids. I got into CF because I no longer had the luxury of 3 hour training days, long weekend rides, runs, paddles and swims. No I needed something that would allow me to keep my foot in the game of adventure racing.
CrossFit has allowed that to happen.
So, why would I want to disassociate myself from that? Again, that picture speaks volumes about what’s wrong with the mentality of the ‘Extreme Athlete’. It happens in triathlon, adventure racing, and I’m sure it happens in any potentially competitive environment. You lose sight of what’s important. It’s clearly happened in CrossFit.
Seeing that picture of a dad recklessly endangering his own child so he could get a 5 minute blip on internet fame and also prove to the world that he could still get his workout in, makes me ill.
I don’t care if that wasn’t his intention. It’s how it came across. It’s how myself and apparently a LOT of other people saw it.
Back to CrossFit and Kids.
While the original intention of doing CrossFit at home was so I could get a workout in and stay close by (I have a great garage and backyard setup now for CF), the motive behind the workouts have a new flavor. It’s now important to me that my kids SEE dad and mom workout. Lead from the front right?
As a fitness obsessed dad, I get it. You need to get your workout in.
Here are some ways you can use your kid safely in a workout:
- Goblet squats – hold your infant with your hands. Baby bjorns are lame. Hold your kid, use your HANDS
- Push-ups – when they’re old enough to hold on, have them climb onto your back. Instant dynamic weight
- Thrusters – kids LOVE this. Full squat, stand and push your kid into the sky. Need a crossfit WOD to feel better about this?
- Kid Thruster
- Kid on back pushups
- Kid on back lunges
Or you could just play with your kids. Call me crazy.
Back to why I am embarrassed:
- Cult psychology appears to be rampant – (I know, it’s a GOOD cult. I don’t care!)
- Gushy motivational montages. This is NOT what got me into CF.
- Softball throw? Nah, this is not as embarrassing as the crazies claiming to be elite. Throwing also fits within the scope of the CF fitness definition.
- The major disconnect crossfitters have with people who are NOT crossfitters. It shouldn’t take a public outcry to realize that putting a weight over your head with a baby strapped to your chest is a bad idea. At the very least, have the empathy to know that this picture is going to resonate with… I am drawing a blank. WHO WOULD LOOK AT THAT AND SAY TO THEMSELVES: “oh I remember doing that with my kids, awww…”
What to do now:
I am at a loss.
No I’m not. I train how I want to train. I have goals. I don’t put my kids in danger. If one day I happen to do a CF WOD, so be it. If I do something from Pavel or Dave Whitley, so be it. If it’s something I thought was cool from Rob Orlando, who cares? I’m going to try it. Just as long it doesn’t involve strapping an infant to my chest.
Forgive the Wagners. This was clearly not their intention, and if you have been a parent of any child during that infant period, you are not getting enough sleep, and your decision making ability is impaired.
Which is why it’s probably a good idea to skip CrossFit for a while until you are getting good sleep 
Be smart people. Stand up for yourselves and know when to say “BAD IDEA”, stop the madness or simply walk away. Come back to do something that makes the world a better place, that inspires others to make the world a better place.
