[thompo]

It's also a bit ironic that starting strength will teach him the proper mechanics for most compound lifts, and then Crossfit will turn around and teach him how to work as quickly as possible with an often times alarming disregard for form.

If anything, I'd look into barbell complexes as a way to prepare for Crossfit.

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_trai...

Check out the Cosgrove Evil 8, it's one of my all time favorites.

[rgraham]

Your statement about CrossFit encouraging a lack of proper form is patently false. That is a common, and false, criticism of a great fitness program.

CrossFit encourages you to work fast because intensity is correlated with power and results. Power -- what we want to build a capacity for -- is simply work over time. Results come more quickly to intense training because the body has shown to adapt faster to (relatively) intense stimuli. crossfit.com is covered in references for the interested.

Form is a key part of these movements, but learning a proper squat or clean is the endeavor of a lifetime. No one is perfect at significant load here. CrossFit teaches a balance of these elements that maximizes fitness in the athletes. Injury due to improper form or overtraining is contrary to what CrossFit wants to achieve.

Some people take things too far. Some people not far enough. CrossFit simply wants you to push your relative limits each time you do a WOD. That is how you get better. You're never going to be a great race car driver taking practice laps at 30mph.

There is more to say, but I'd challenge you to find a good affiliate and try it out. Experience is a grand teacher.

I'm CrossFit certified.

[rluhar]

Off topic - but does anyone know of a Crossfit gym or a Crossfit group in Tokyo?

[dkarl]

In my experience, Crossfit trainers are good at coaching form. Their top priority is getting you to do the movement and get a good workout, but when somebody has bad form, they coach them a lot and make sure they use light weights or no weights at all until their form is good enough to lift safely. I always had terrible deadlift form and wasn't able to correct it until I got some coaching at Crossfit. They fixed me up quickly, got on my ass when I got sloppy, and within two months of starting, I was lifting more than my previous deadlift PR -- 45 times in a single workout. (Granted, my deadlift form was atrocious. I was squatting 40% more than I deadlifted and had basically given up on it before I went to Crossfit.)

The better your form, the more you can safely lift, and the more you can lift, the higher the work rate you can achieve. That's the logic that drives the Crossfit trainers I've worked with. Crossfit isn't consistent from location to location, though, so what you say may be true.