Guest writer, Dan Smith, shares his views on the obsession with CrossFit that is sweeping across the globe.

Why CrossFit, and not P90X or Insanity, or X2, or TRX, or the myriad of other workouts that seem to proliferate the infomercials and health clubs in every suburb across the country.  Why to people who join a “Box” as they’re called, seem to have joined a cult or sorts.  They have their own lingo, their own swag, and their own cliques.

I have a number of friends that have joined a CrossFit gym over the past few years, and all of them it seems, have turned to this brainwashed mindset that CrossFit is the great thing since we walked on the moon.  I get it, its a fun workout, and its fun to workout with other people in a team of sorts.  I even tried it for a few weeks, just to see what the hype was about.  The daily “WOD”‘s that routinely kick your ass, that are named for everything under the sun, the grunts, the groans, the screaming to get that one more burpee or muscle up.  I get it, but I don’t.

Physically, I gotta say, I did feel great after a couple weeks of going to the gym, or box.  However, I soon began to develop pains in my knees and joints, that I never encountered while doing other, at home, workouts.  Maybe CrossFit is much more intense than the P90’s of the world, but is that a good thing.  I got great results from doing P90X, and then again from Insanity, and the Asylum series.  I can’t say that I would look or feel any better doing CrossFit workouts than I did when I was in prime shape after 90 days of Insanity.

At the end of the day, maybe there is something “primal” about the CrossFit workouts, that creates this CrossFit Obsession in everyone.  I felt it as I was in the heat of the daily WOD, smashing a tire with a sludge hammer, or running a mile with a 20lb vest on, then doing pushups till I couldn’t see straight, but my question is, is it worth it, or at least worth it more than just doing an at home workout?