Boxing vs Crossfit?

Cambel · May 21, 2012

lefty said:
Ever see a tubby boxer?

lefty

and Chris Arreola. Still a great fighter, though.

joshuadowen · May 21, 2012

At the end of the day it's really going to be about which you enjoy. You'll only ever stick with something you like doing. I have been doing Crossfit for a little over 3 years now and love it. Structured classes are expensive, but, in my opinion, worth it early on. If you don't already have a strong background in weightlifting, you'll need some coaching and accountability. Particularly with olympic lifts, technique is everything, and poor technique will get you hurt. That being said, there are a lot of really bad coaches out there, so another consideration may be finding a coach you like in your area, be it a Crossfit coach or a boxing coach.

Pennglock · May 22, 2012

Will you people please stop naming heavyweights as if that's some kind of counterpoint to the fact that 99% of boxers who've ever been competetive in a weight class didnt carry around much chub?

Op should take up boxing. It's a skill, nay, art that will improve your life in ways that go far beyond fitness. Just make sure you find a proper gym and trainers, not some kind of 24-hour-jazzercise knockoff.

Crossfit- at least the formula programmed on their webpage- may get you results for a month or two, or a bit more if you are detrained. After that, pushing through to the next level of athleticism requires a more focused brand of training than they offer.

Mark it 8 · May 22, 2012

My Crossfit gym offers specialized classes such as powerlifting, olympic lifting, and endurance training so that members have the option to focus and develop different areas depending on their goals. It's pretty difficult to measure improvement just doing varied Crossfit workouts, but I have found the other courses really helped me to focus and improve in certain areas.

If you look into Crossfit there are a few things you want to look for: first, look up the owners and the coaches to see what their qualifications are. The Crossfit level one certification is very simple to obtain- I believe it is two days of training- and upon completion, attendees are "qualified" to open an affiliate. Dont sign up with one of the boxes that just has a bunch of level one coaches who have no other qualifications. I would look for a box where the owners still coach; with the rise in popularity, some Crossfit owners are making a killing and are perfectly happy to disappear while they let others coach classes in return for free membership or somesuch. An absentee owner is generally a bad sign. Second, try to get some objective input on the gym and the owners from those who are familiar with the gym- the web is your best tool. Dont ask members because Crossfit gyms take on a hive mind like you've never seen. Finally, see if they offer sessions other than Crossfit. WODs are great, but you will inevitably want to add another component to your training. Some Crossfit gyms will let you come in and use equipment on your own time as long as you dont interfere with classes, but others strictly forbid it.

EDIT: One other thing I thought of: look to see how big the space is compared to class size. Here is why it's important: A class generally involves warmup-->stretching-->strength or skill component-->WOD. If the class is too big for the amount of equipment available, the WOD will have to go in heats. Because of the additional time it takes, some other aspect of the workout will often be shortened (usually the strength portion.)

jase12 · May 23, 2012

good to read all the replies. I've started up at a local boxing gym and loving it. every session leaves me completely spent and i'm starting to pick up the beginnings of some technique which is great. already starting to feel fitter and leaner after only a couple of weeks.

the point about finding the right coach is a great one. at this gym there is one guy there who is awesome, a couple who are good and 1 who is ****. and the difference between the good and **** coaches is huge.

Mr Herbert · May 25, 2012

are you training close to the city? am interested in picking up some boxing classes as well (perth)

jase12 · May 28, 2012

Mr Herbert said:
are you training close to the city? am interested in picking up some boxing classes as well (perth)

yeh a place called 'the ring' in northbridge. its a bit of a 'camp' setup, they are trying to get girls involved, but the trainers are good. especially ryan on sundays. plus its about 3km from my place so i can ride my bike there.

if ur after a more 'legit/grungier' gym, bradricks in osborne park is supposed to be good.

Mr Herbert · May 30, 2012

The western suburbs are void of good gyms and sporting clubs

jase12 · May 31, 2012

Mr Herbert said:
The western suburbs are void of good gyms and sporting clubs

plenty of yummy mummy yoga classes though!

Jr Mouse · May 31, 2012

jase12 said:
it seems like in Perth if you've ever been to an MMA class you have to walk around with a Tapout shirt on and picking a fight with as many bouncers as you can see. think i'll give boxing a try to start with, I like the history around it and think it may be a useful skill to have. might go check out a couple of crossfit sessions as well just to see what its all about. thanks for your responses

The impression I get from my gym-mates that I have on Facebook is that a large portion of them wear Crossfit themed tee-shirts everywhere. Don't even get me started on related status updates. I'm into the workouts and all, but some seem to make it central to their lives.

Jr Mouse · May 31, 2012

Mark it 8 said:
My Crossfit gym offers specialized classes such as powerlifting, olympic lifting, and endurance training so that members have the option to focus and develop different areas depending on their goals. It's pretty difficult to measure improvement just doing varied Crossfit workouts, but I have found the other courses really helped me to focus and improve in certain areas.

If you look into Crossfit there are a few things you want to look for: first, look up the owners and the coaches to see what their qualifications are. The Crossfit level one certification is very simple to obtain- I believe it is two days of training- and upon completion, attendees are "qualified" to open an affiliate. Dont sign up with one of the boxes that just has a bunch of level one coaches who have no other qualifications. I would look for a box where the owners still coach; with the rise in popularity, some Crossfit owners are making a killing and are perfectly happy to disappear while they let others coach classes in return for free membership or somesuch. An absentee owner is generally a bad sign. Second, try to get some objective input on the gym and the owners from those who are familiar with the gym- the web is your best tool. Dont ask members because Crossfit gyms take on a hive mind like you've never seen. Finally, see if they offer sessions other than Crossfit. WODs are great, but you will inevitably want to add another component to your training. Some Crossfit gyms will let you come in and use equipment on your own time as long as you dont interfere with classes, but others strictly forbid it.

EDIT: One other thing I thought of: look to see how big the space is compared to class size. Here is why it's important: A class generally involves warmup-->stretching-->strength or skill component-->WOD. If the class is too big for the amount of equipment available, the WOD will have to go in heats. Because of the additional time it takes, some other aspect of the workout will often be shortened (usually the strength portion.)

+1 This is solid advice.

bicktrav · May 31, 2012

I belong to a Crossfit gym, and the results I've gotten there have far outweighed the results I've gotten doing any other workout regimen (and I've been very physically active for a long time now). So I would say go Crossfit. But, like others have said, you've gotta do research on the gym you end up joining. There are a lot of bad Crossfit gyms out there being run by people with level 1 certs that don't know what they're doing. You can get injured pretty easily with bad trainers and poorly designed WODs.

whiteslashasian · May 31, 2012

Been doing crossfit for about 5 months now and have gotten great results and love it.

I've also been REALLY thinking about getting into some kind of boxing or perhaps MMA type martial art dojo. Need to look into it as this stuff is CRAZY expensive in Manhattan...

bicktrav · May 31, 2012

Pennglock said:
Will you people please stop naming heavyweights as if that's some kind of counterpoint to the fact that 99% of boxers who've ever been competetive in a weight class didnt carry around much chub?
Op should take up boxing. It's a skill, nay, art that will improve your life in ways that go far beyond fitness. Just make sure you find a proper gym and trainers, not some kind of 24-hour-jazzercise knockoff.
Crossfit- at least the formula programmed on their webpage- may get you results for a month or two, or a bit more if you are detrained. After that, pushing through to the next level of athleticism requires a more focused brand of training than they offer.

I've gotta seriously disagree with you on this. Have you watched the Crossfit Games? The competitors in it are some of the fittest people in the world, and that is not a hyperbolic statement. Two competitors at the upcoming Crossfit Games workout at my gym; I would challenge you to find people in better shape than them. Crossfit is a very hardcore training program, far too intense for the casual fitness enthusiast, let alone the "detrained". The notion that Crossfit only yields you preliminary fitness results is grossly inaccurate.

globetrotter · May 31, 2012

bicktrav said:
I've gotta seriously disagree with you on this. Have you watched the Crossfit Games? The competitors in it are some of the fittest people in the world, and that is not a hyperbolic statement. Two competitors at the upcoming Crossfit Games workout at my gym; I would challenge you to find people in better shape than them. Crossfit is a very hardcore training program, far too intense for the casual fitness enthusiast, let alone the "detrained". The notion that Crossfit only yields you preliminary fitness results is grossly inaccurate.

I won't argue with this - my question is whether a sane person can keep up with crossfit for 20 years. there are people at my boxing gym who have been boxing 30-40 years, how many people do some of the fad excersizes that bloomed in the 70's, and I am not sure that crossfit isn't going to go the same way. but that is my feeling, I just don't find it as interesting as boxing, some people do.

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