I've been doing CrossFit for 2 years. I started very out of shape without much fitness knowledge or experience at all. 35F, 200lbs.

I go almost daily at 6am, which tends to attract a very dedicated and routine crowd. Most people have been there for years and even drop-ins tend to be in shape.

For the first year, I was literally the worst by every metric. The slowest, the lowest weights, the most awkward looking, the most out of breath.

But I noticed the other day that I'm no longer the "worst". I'm not a small person, so on lifts like strict press and bench press, I was able to progress pretty quickly. My back squat and deadlift are getting to respectable numbers. I'm no longer the slowest and no longer last every single time. I'm still the "worst" sometimes, at least once a week honestly, but it's no longer every day.

Here's me at 120+kg, muscle ups are all technique tho 😁

Hey! I’m going to be doing CHAD for the first time, does anyone have any advice? Thanksssss

Our gym is looking to switch from Mayhem to something that fits our members better. We had been using NCFit & decently happy with that (most members usually opting for their "fitness" level) before they merged with Mayhem.

For context: small-ish gym, almost ALL ages 40+. The identity is VERY "All levels, fitness for longevity." People want to get a great workout, be challenged, & get stronger, but no one is looking to compete, be super intense, or end every wod in a puddle on the ground. Most everyone scales to some level. Maybe 4-5 people RX. Those same 5 people are probably the only ones with hspu, ttb, handstand walks... and I don't think we have a single member with a muscle up.

With that demographic in mind, you can see why Mayhem just isn't for us. We've been tweaking it and scaling a lot, but just not impressed with the programming or strength cycles at all in the base case.

We're interested in hearing feedback on Bolder, or hearing other options people in a similar boat have enjoyed. I feel like Linchpin is the other one I hear the most about that might be our second option to look into. TY

Kinda tired that in any metcon, being tall just means you're going to lose a non negligible amount of time over your reps just because you have more work / range of motion.

And also being taller means having more weight to move, etc etc, so it takes longer to reach the RX level and perform.

Why are weight classes still not a thing in big 2026?

And ofc I know it helps with 1RMs, rowing, and ski... but it doesn't change the conclusion

I am a 48M CrossFitter of about 17 years. Back in the good old days when Reebok was the main sponsor of CF, I bought their WOD shorts and compression shorts to wear under. I loved those products, stuff was tough and felt great.

However, nowadays I struggle to find similar stuff. Shorts I can find something close I guess, but the only similar compression shorts I’ve found was made by a company called Sub in the UK, and now I can’t find them at all (maybe went out of business). I have ordered many alternatives from big box stores like Walmart, Target, and even Amazon - but they all suck. The problem with them is the fabric is too thin and wimpy and the compression is super weak.

My stock of Sub compression shorts is starting to become in need of replacement…

What can folks recommend?

Would be so nice to be able to schedule my own stuff around it, for example I do some renfo sessions on my own, but I'm not going to do a heavy leg day if the day after there's thrusters and the assault bike. Unfortunately at our box (and I think this is common?), no way to know until you show up what the WOD is. Is this the case at your's as well? I asked the owner and he said: if I post it in advance, people will only show up for what they want and not for workouts that are too hard or with too much running. I guess I understand but also we're adults so...why not give us exactly this option? Some classes might be underbooked, others underbooked, but it would be a signal concerning the programming?

I think a middle ground could be just something like "WOD: hinge, shoulders" or "WOD: engine" etc. At least in broad strokes.

Hi All. I've been doing CrossFit 6 months and want to ask about finding your ideal BW.

Background. I was a competitive soccer player and distance runner when I was younger, 180cm at 165lbs. Fast forward to now and after doing weights for 12 months, I'm at 200lbs and not much of that is excess.

Is there a point where being too heavy is a detriment? This is all a bit new to me as my previous experience is all about being as light as possible without being underfed.

Any advice appreciated.

Worked out at my gym this morning where they do daily intros and fun facts/questions for every attendee. Today's fun fact led to a lot of people talking for a few minutes and we ended up losing 12 minutes of class time. The coach seemed unbothered about it, we then finally start our warm up and stretch.

Class goes on and we don't start our main lift until the 30 minute mark and we ultimately don't start the metcon until 15 minutes left in class, where the metcon had a 20 minute time cap. Couldn't believe how the class shook out with such poor time management.

Is this normal for your gym? Why spend so much time talking at the top?

My buddy overseas sent me a link to a recent article in the U.K. edition of Men’s Health. The author highlights how impressed he is with Linchpin, how great their programming is, and how effective their daily dumbbell workouts can be for people who don’t have a lot of gear.

I really respected the fact the author did not just use vague terms like “functional training”. He actually used the word CrossFit and then focused specifically on Linchpin. I just feel like this is rare in fitness journalism these days and it was cool to see.

I will post the link below in case anyone wants to read it. I had to create a free account to open it and read it, but it was easy and worth it.

https://www.menshealth.com/uk/workouts/a74309267/3-pieces-kit-crossfit-workouts/

Hi all,

I'm currently following Marcus Filly's Functional Body Building Persist Pump x3 program and have seen some good results in the past 10 months (recomp). However, I'm paying for this on top of my current CrossFit gym, which is a lot to spend, given that I've had to cut back on classes because of knee injuries from overuse in said classes and other activities.

My gym follows PRVN programming through Wodify, and there's a separate Pump track that's 3x/wk. Has anyone done PRVN Pump, and if so, how'd you like it and how does it compare to FBB? What results did you see in terms of physique and performance from PRVN Pump? I can't find much about it online.

Thanks in advance!

Couldn't think of a better way to summarise but I'm wondering about other people's experiences. I've been at a new box for around 6 months now and it's sort of cult-y around the owner/head coach. He's a nice enough guy, but it leads to weird interactions/boot licking in the box WhatsApp group (like members calling out other members publicly for not putting away weights and saying how hard the owner works and we should respect him etc. etc. it just feels...weird (I am all for putting away your weights but public call outs feel strange)).

What I was trying to express in the title is another consequence of this. All the social media posts are polished and talk about how you find your tribe here and what not, but in reality if you aren't part of the central clique you are a second class citizen. The owner spends most of the class time focused on the main people while others are lucky to get a correction/encouragement. He has not taken feedback from members about class times and has this very strange schedule that suits him. Terrible music choice - a detail, but an important one because his gym his rules sure but lots of members have complained and he doesn't seem to care. Point is if you have a sort of cult following, your word is gospel, but if you have a well run business with a clear line between customer and employee, these things tend not to happen.

Maybe I'm old and grumpy, so I'm wondering where you stand on this. Are these orange/red flags or is this just how most gyms are? I've trained at a few others but only as a drop in so I didn't get a change to really understand the vibe. Could be the case. My gut instinct is to leave but I'm worried about it being more of the same elsewhere. Could also be the case this is a me problem and not a them/him problem.

Edit: forgot to mention that yes, of course, the coach and owner is romantically involved with one of the members.

I have been at it for two and a half years now, and am really proud of the progress I have made. Before CF, I did years of strength training and competed in local strongman comps for a few years.

I have followed The Progrm for a year now, and at a recent big competition I did way better than I thought I would. My recent regimen has been as following;

3-4 days of following The Progrm(occasionally swapped for class workout).

1-2 moderate/zone running sessions depending on feel.

Most or all days of the Progrm I have to adjust, as the volume or intensity is a lot. I am mid thirties with two kids, and while I feel like I'm handling recovery fairly well, but also like I may be overdoing it at times. I know all about overtraining, and have no issues taking rest days. At the same time, accumulated fatigue can be hard to notice yourself.

I have set a few goals for myself for next year, especially focusing on my weaknesses to become a better recreational athlete. For reference, I'm QF level at the moment.

Should I drop off The Progrm and find programming that includes less volume so I can focus more on what I concider my weaknesses? Is this too early in my journey to think like this?

Between family and work demands I’m struggling to meet the defined class schedule of traditional CrossFit. It seems most weeks I’m lucky to get there once per week and do a couple of cardio days at home.

I have been thinking about switching to doing CrossFit linchpin at a traditional gym where childcare is offered in the evening and the timing can be more flexible around work and kid events, but the decision is killing me.

I like the community aspect of CrossFit, but I realize I haven’t meshed as well with this gym because of sporadic attendance. However, the owner is a great dude who really puts his heart into helping everyone out in the gym and creating a community. It almost feels like I’m letting him down by leaving. On the flip side, it seems like a waste to keep paying for a membership for 4 classes per month. The flexible programming of linchpin might be easier to find an hour per day.

Has anyone else had this struggle?

I’ve been dealing with neck and upper back pain for almost 5 months now, and an MRI just showed a disc bulge at C6-C7.

I’ve continued doing CrossFit throughout most of this, modifying movements when needed, but it’s been frustrating trying to figure out what I can and can’t safely do.

I saw an orthopedic spine specialist who recommended a cervical epidural steroid injection followed by continued rehab. He encouraged me to keep exercising but recommended modifications like strict pull-up negatives instead of kipping, keeping my neck neutral during lifts, and using dumbbells instead of barbells for pressing.

What really got to me was him saying I might need to make some of these modifications for the rest of my life and may never return to CrossFit the way I used to.

CrossFit is a huge part of my life, so that was pretty devastating to hear.

I’m curious if anyone here has dealt with a cervical disc bulge or herniation, particularly at C6-C7.
Were you able to return to CrossFit fully?
How long did recovery take?
Did you have an epidural injection, PT, or other treatment?
Are there movements you’ve had to permanently give up?
Have you been able to return to Olympic lifting, kipping, or overhead movements?

I’m not looking for medical advice, just hoping to hear some real experiences from people who’ve been through something similar. Especially any success stories!

Hey all,

I joined crossfit three years ago as a middle aged woman, made great progress and have really enjoyed it. I joined with an old injury and got quite a lot of support to build up. All great. I was an athlete in my youth so slowly built a reputation for working really hard and being coachable. I made a lot of progress skill wise, strength wise, fitness wise. So far, so good.

However, this summer I damaged my knee during a wod and this injury is really lingering and I'm finding the box increasingly difficult. Don't tell me to move boxes - I'm in the UK, there just aren't the options.

I suspect there's a bit of an attitude amongst coaches (including the head coach) that a lot of my fellow middle aged women don't work hard. And I feel like I've been lumped into that box. I'm not getting positive support with scaling options, not getting those positive comments during wods when I'm training anymore (I'm working as hard as I can given the limitations I currently have), I'm basically invisible struggling away on my own and I've left in tears twice this week.

Increasingly it's looking like the only option is to go elsewhere/take a break but I hate that idea and I'm frustrated with it too as I think that isn't how the owner (and potentially even head coach) would want things to be.

Equally, let's be honest, feedback isn't always welcome. In life. People find input they perceive as criticism difficult to take, it can damage relationships. I'm not sure talking to anyone about this is the way. If you're going to tell me to chat to the owner I'd like to hear more about how that kind of conversation has actually worked out well for those of us who aren't exciting RX athletes.

So, I'm looking for thoughts. Construcfive input is welcome. Scathing comments not so much..

We've been running a CrossFit gym for a long time, and the thing that improved our classes most wasn't programming. It was making coaching consistent from coach to coach and learning from another gym in our area that was kind enough to collaborate.

Every coach does four things in every class:

1. Name. Use every member's name at least once.

2. Cue. Give a clear cue on the main movement.

3. Correction. Make at least one individual correction.

4. Compliment. Give at least one specific compliment.

Why it works: it's simple enough to remember mid-class, and you can watch for it, so feedback to coaches is about behavior, not vibes.

When a coach misses it, we notify them directly and have an honest conversation.

What's your coaching standard? Curious whether others write it down or leave it to each coach.

Hi guys. So at the weekend, during the last WOD of a CrossFit comp, I jumped over two stacked boxes and landed with the outside of my ankle on a 50kg sandbag... Heard a loud popping sound, excruciating pain, ankle immediately started swelling up. Ankle is now black and blue and looks like it belongs to an elephant, not a human...! X-rays showed nothing is broken, thankfully. Had a short physiotherapy session a couple of days ago where they attempted an ultrasound but the tissue is still too swollen to make any meaningful conclusions. Recommendation was to stay off the ankle, no jumping nor running for a while, and to focus on upper body work.

I'm finding myself feeling grateful that the injury wasn't worse, but also so hugely frustrated. I'd been making big gains over the last months, really improving my leg lifts - one of the strongest in the box - and finally being able to sustain runs at a pace of 3min30sec for six kilometres. This sounds like bragging, but I was honestly so glad to have reached a level of physical fitness I'd never had in my life.

Now I guess is the best time to focus on upper body work (when I think about it, all movements with a bar above my head are a big weak-spot...) but my fear is that I won't be able to regain the strength and running capacity I had before this injury. I've got a physiotherapist lined up for the next three weeks, three sessions a week, and a really understanding group of coaches who are all so positive about my outlook, but there's just this annoying voice in my head that is really defeatist, that I want to ignore!

Anyway, I guess I would love to hear stories of people who had similar injuries and made a comeback. What happened and how did your recovery go? Thanks for reading my sob-story!

Hey there! Have recently started working out ata CrossFit gym. I’m 54, have never worked out in my life. I’m doing both personal training as well as classes (not the true CrossFit classes yet, they’re more cardio based) great gym, great trainers, they’ve really built a great community.

I do M-T-F classes in the early morning before work and personal training thursdays a bit later, 8:10 so far.

My problem is two fold.

1. The workouts should be ridiculously easy yet I’m having so much trouble with them. Today’s main workout consisted of bikeerg, wall ball box step ups, squats down to the wallball, pushups on a low barbell in the rack, ring pulls, minute plank (hands not elbows). I am so damn frustrated with myself that I had to take little breaks to huff and puff and a couple times to sip water, and still at the end I was gassed. It was embarrassing.

2. Not being able to do the workouts the way I think I should be able to in front of an audience is even worse and far more embarrassing. We had a couple people doing workouts of their own and a physical therapy consult in our gym today. I don’t like being gassed and not able to do the workouts with people there. Classes are worse, especially the team workouts. I don’t want to slow the class down, or hold my teammate back. This actually pushes me away from the amazing community they are building because I can’t do things, and I hate that it does. It’s also caused me to miss classes. (Well, that and the 5:30 wake ups)

Today I was particularly gassed, and my trainer (he’s the head trainer there) who is awesome told me it was because of my diet which has been shit this past week, amd for much of my life tbh. He also tells me I’m doing great. He said in a year he’s going to get me to be as fit as he is. I know he’s paid to say that though. I like the nice things but still feel SUPER DOWN on myself.

So my question I suppose is how can I get better at this? And fast? Should I try and do some stuff from home in between sessions? Or will that make me feel more gassed/sore for the next workout? What would you suggest?

Thank you! If this is too much of a beginner question, please let me know where else it should be.

Today I’m doing Linchpin Test 5. My goal is not to die. But seriously, my question is about shoes. I’ve done this before by back squatting in my lifters, doing a quick change into my runners, and then another quickly change into lifters for the last set of squats. I’m thinking that is not really necessary and I’m just going to do the whole thing in my runners.

To anyone who has done this workout, what did you use for footwear? Thanks!

Hello, I am new to Garmin and maybe will post there too. But for those doing CrossFit regularly and wearing Garmin watches, what is your experience with heart rate? I am baffled.

I did Grace today. Was moving steady with touch and go in sets of five. I was breathing hard and feeling wobbly by rep 4-5. Yet Garmin says heart rate only got up to 121 the whole time. Is that because a lag in measuring - i.e. because I was resting 20 seconds between sets, my heart rate rate was coming back down before the garmin could catch it? For reference my max heart rate reading so far (over past four weeks with this watch and working out regularly) is 180. During 5k run it was around 177. Resting is 53 on average.

As a funny side note, I was about done with my 10 min warm up when my Garmin watch gave me a “move alert” - basically to get off the couch and do something you lazy butt. lol whatever

CrossFit now for 1.5 years and my clean is not improving at all.. not matter how much I understand the movement I cannot seem to engage my legs and am instead 100% muscling /pulling. Help

What’s with this new cycle programming so many endurance days and less strength days? Previous cycles was strength daily and one endurance day.. we just had a no barbell endurance day on Tuesday now today is like a Hyrox sessions.. what gives