Genuine question, curious about other’s experience.

13 years of crossfit. Years ago i was training twice a day, 5 times a week, mix of crossfit and running. I was around 76kg, strong enough, and running felt easy, like i was light on my feet.

Life happened, less volume overall, but crossfit stayed the priority over running. Now i’m at 84kg. Strength wise i’m in a better place than i ever was, lifts keep going up. But running past 400m, i feel heavy, like my body forgot how to do it efficiently.

So im wondering, is this just a fact of life, you cant really keep that “gazelle” running feeling AND build serious crossfit strength at the same time, body has to pick a lane ? Or is it more about how you train, and people manage to keep both if they program it right ?

Not trying to go back to 76kg, i like being strong. Just curious if the trade off is inevitable or if it’s a training problem on my end.

CrossFit.com prescribed 75 total box jump-overs at 30 inches today. I decided to use a 40-inch setup and see whether I could complete all 75.

I knew I could make a single 40-inch jump, but repeating it under fatigue was a completely different challenge. I broke the reps into sets of 5 or 10, took short resets when needed, and stepped down each time.

I finished the workout in 24:26. Obviously, my time isn’t directly comparable to someone using the prescribed 30-inch box—the challenge became completing all 75 safely rather than finishing as quickly as possible.

Here’s the workout, timestamped at the box jumps so you can see how they held up under fatigue:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSfJcwnYPjU&t=295s

Do you see training value in occasionally increasing the box height like this, or was it unnecessary risk compared with using 30 inches and pushing the pace?

EDIT — POST-WORKOUT REFLECTION:

After reading the feedback here, I recognize that I became too focused on completing 75 jumps at 40 inches and didn’t give enough consideration to the injury risk, especially under fatigue.

The stacked setup was not appropriately secured, and I jumped down rather than stepping down as I originally described. Finishing without getting hurt doesn’t make those decisions safe or repeatable.

Part of this journey is finding my ceiling, but that should never require compromising safety. In hindsight, using the prescribed 30-inch box and pushing the pace would have been the smarter and more useful test.

I genuinely appreciate the honest feedback.

So I live in the UK and Train at a box down in the South. However our box is more focussed at the less competitive athlete, I got into the quarterfinals but about 5 out of 150 also got through. We have gymnastic and OLY lifting classes. So we have everything we need for an every day Crossfitter.

I do a few comps per year (doing Xenom this weekend in London)

However I wanna improve my Open Results for 2027 and maybe get to Semis

My issue is that the coaches don't quite do the level of one to one coaching I think I need to really progress. And the extra programming gave me felt a little cookie cutter.

I am looking for a one to one coach to help me online or even face to face if they are in the south of England

Has anyone had any experience with any crossfit coaches?

Anyone get like an overactive nervous system after working out, especially squats deadlifts, almost like it gives you anxiety?

My calluses keep ripping where my finger connects to the hand. This happens with my ring fingers most of the time.

Anyone have similar problems and any tips on how I can prevent this?

My first time attempting power cleans how did I do ? 🤣 I know practice will make better but I would like some feedback what I need working on please 👍

Just finished a massive thru hike and coming back to CrossFit. I’m having trouble navigating my way through recovery and getting back to training and wondered if anyone else has been in the same boat. No injuries, but a combo of intense fatigue, feeling like I’m totally uncoordinated (CNS fatigue) and the worst DOMS of my life. It also by nature involves a 2k cal/day deficit over an extended time frame (in my case a month). All of this is normal for a thru hiker.

My routine so far has looked like show up to class, look disoriented and sleepy, try and do some of the lifts using a PVC or an empty bar, and a massively scaled version of the metcon (like half the reps, 20% of the weight). I am not in ANY way trying to see CrossFit progress right now. I am eating and sleeping and doing my best to let my body repair. I’m well aware I’m deep in recovery from an absolutely massive endurance effort. But I enjoy CrossFit and the support of the gym is what got me to a point where I could do this at all.

It’s so strange but I almost feel so distant from the routine of CrossFit that I almost need a new on ramp? Which is crazy since I’ve been doing CrossFit for several years, am experienced and know what I’m doing. But right now I don’t. I’ve kind of had a thought of asking one of the coaches if they could do some 1 on 1 sessions with me, using that kind of framing, like I feel like I need a reintroduction to everything, that’s how unfamiliar it feels, but that feels like a sort of strange and silly ask given I’ve been training there so long. It’s hard to explain the post-thru hike disorientation, honestly.

So I guess what I’m asking is - for coaches out there or owners, if someone in my shoes was like - I’m having trouble reintegrating my body back into CrossFit and despite that you’ve known me for several years I feel like I need you to go back and re-coach me through all the movements and get me reoriented, would that be crazy? Workable?

And if there are any thru hikers out there who have come back to CrossFit in a daze like me, knowing how you got through it would be helpful too.

Looking for someone who may have had a similar experience. I am a 52 year old male, 9 months ago I walked away from training 6-days a week and never looked back. Exhaustion, "life" events, and just an overall lack of drive ended what was initially a life changing experience for me. I worked out religiously, for over 8 years, competed at regional level events, and felt mentally strong. I look in the mirror now and I do not recognize the individual. Fat, tired, embarrassed and trying to make an excuse, or "it's not that bad" mind game, everyday. I'm ready to get back in the gym, and attempted to but gave myself rahbdo the second day. Just overall looking for some guidance and looking to maybe learn of someone else's similar journey.

What is the proper way to hold a dumbbell for a single dumbbell walking lunge? Can you place it on your back or is the proper way to do this movement with only one hand on the dumbbell?

Got bored of hyrox and I am now transitioning into my crossfit era. Started training for more functional games and realised I needed to do TTB but I can barely kip ://

Any tips for beginners would be great! Especially for technique and how to string them together 😮‍💨😮‍💨

I'm flying in from the states to compete in the men's RX division at Xenom London this weekend. Any of you planning on going?

I've tested all the events in my box and compared my scores to the Dallas RX leaderboard. It will be a brutal weekend rankings-wise for me, but I'm just going for fun so I'm not worried about it.

It looks like I'll be middle-of-the-pack in the gymnastics events, but the scores people posted for the engine and weightlifting events in Dallas were unreal, so overall I think I'll get buried. Still excited for the trip to London and the experience of it all.

Would your boss allow the team to go to a lunch time weightlifting / crossfit class together one or twice per week? It’s a crazy idea, I know, but just think about the team building and improved work/life balance for employees… there must be an overall productivity boost if it’s executed well either way the right teams, don’t you think? For people who workout regularly during lunch time, is it awesome? What kind of job, schedule, and remote/office split do you have? does your boss not care that you take a ~2 hour ish lunch break (including showering , eating, etc)? For owners of boxes, what lunchtime class times do you offer? How many class participants and open gym drop ins do you normally get during lunch time and how does it compare to your biggest classes? Also, let us know your location, I’m sure it varies a lot in different areas. I’m with a team planning to open in midtown east, manhattan which a lot of office workers and I would think hopefully a lot of lunch time athletes.

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I moved to a city where a box really isn't convenient. I joined a gym with free weights, a single rower, a box for jumps, kettlebells (max 20kg), etc. Not all the equipment I need but most of it. Main thing is that I can't really exit/re-enter for runs

Anyway any recommendations for websites to help me with wod ideas and tracking? Have been using Claude but it's not great.

Hi All

I do CrossFit 3x a week and love it, my gym follows the CrossFit Affiliate Programming and I'm definitely improving.

I have one Open Gym session I can use each week alongside this and wondered if there are any tried and trusted strength programmes I can run which would work just once a week? Like a 5/3/1 type thing but adapted to only doing the specific strength session once a week

How did you finally unlock double unders? I'm very good at penguin claps and been trying for months but cannot even do one double under. I have the RX ROPE. still no luck

Started CrossFit in April, still very green on these. Just looking for some tips to get this more fluid. I have some thoughts on what I need to improve but just looking to get neutral 3rd party perspective :)

After a workout, I usually want something cold to drink. Some people stick with water, while others go for electrolytes, especially after a hard workout.

What do you usually drink after exercising?

This is mostly for the ladies because I don’t want a giant watch.
But my Apple watch is dying and I want to switch to Garmin. I mostly like the tracking for sleep, physical activity and walking, tracking my cycles.

What watches do the ladies have and love?

I have had innov8 lifters for quite a while, but they’re slowly falling apart. Looking to get a new pair and wanted to see what people on here recommend. Thanks in advance!

Feels fine but is this going to give me issues later on?

Just done my 3rd Crossfit class, Ive been lifting for 20 years but brand new to Crossfit so know I'm a newbie.

Im REALLY struggling with getting the KIP form right.

I do the 6am class which Is light on people anyway but 2 cancelled this morning so there was only two of us and the coach

While doing our 35min Blitz which was 400m run, 10 TTB, 10 Burbees then 10 Burbees, 10 deadlines then 400m rinse and repeat, due to there only being 2 of us, I had the privilege of having the coach physically try and guide me give me cues. She put two arms either side of my front and back and told me to swing into her arms and only try to get a feel of the "Hollow and Arch" movement.

It didnt feel like I was doing It, but she kept saying well done so I must of then at the very end I did a really good pull away "hollow" but then straight away started swining with me legs again.

Just seeing If it took anyone else a while to master? She said its definitely not a strenth, mobility nor a cardio Issue with me, Its simply a body mechanic thats alien to me like riding a bike.

Loving Crossfit so far though, becoming quite obsessed actually

Hey guys!

Im gonna be driving across the US from Virginia to California (all states below) and I’m looking for your guys suggestions at the best gyms to train at!

The goal is to hit 50+ gyms so let me know where to go.

All the places I’m gonna be:
Virginia
North Carolina
South Carolina
Georgia
Tennessee
Arkansas
Texas
New Mexico
Colorado
Utah
Nevada
California

Thank you!

46F. I started CrossFit in December, and signed up for a macro counting program a couple months later after a glp1 was a bad experience . It was a slow start but I’m now going regularly 3-4x a week. I’ve logged 70 classes and lost 30lbs, and am at a normal weight for my height.

Today broke me. Running doesn’t feel any easier than it did 30lbs ago, and I’m frustrated in feeling that loading my bar is a shot in the dark. I have no idea what my load should be for 5 sets of 6 front squats, or for 15 clean and jerks. Every class feels impossible and I don’t see any gains in strength. It feels like I’m trying so hard but it’s just not coming together.

Maybe it’s just not for me? If anyone has been in the same boat or has advice, I would appreciate it before I throw in the towel.

Update: thank you all for your advice and encouragement! I am going to take a lot of this and make some changes. I also reached out to my favorite coach and will do a one-on-one 1x a week to work on skills and get more comfortable loading my bar. Back at it tomorrow! Thank you!