Studies Measuring Injuries in CrossFit Seem Flawed
There are a number of articles and studies claiming that CrossFit is more dangerous than traditional weight lifting. The problem I have with this statement is that you are trying to compare apples to oranges. It would be similar to saying marathon runners sustain more injuries than mall walkers or rugby players sustain more injuries than badminton players. Traditional weight training is nothing like CrossFit training so making comparisons seem irresponsible, gives the sport a terrible name, and spreads misinformation.
In addition, there are many varying levels of CrossFit athletes, and their willingness to sacrifice form and technique due to fatigue (common reasons for injury) is going to vary a lot between each person. I think most CrossFit athletes recognize the risks, and understand their sport demands a lot of practice, proper coaching, and progression. If people aren’t aware of these necessities, they haven’t gone through the proper channels in learning and training for CrossFit.
As you dive deeper into the data, many of these studies come under a lot of scrutiny and have been accused of faulty data and results. In fact, there are three recent studies that measure the number of injuries that occurred in CrossFit athletes per 1000 training hours. The results showed there were between 2.1 and 3.1 injuries per 1000 training hours.
This rate of injury is actually lower than other sports such as Strongman competition, Powerlifting, and Olympic weightlifting (based on results from other studies).
We aren’t here to try to make CrossFit look better and safer than other sports, each is their own, and shouldn’t be compared. We simply want people to remember that if you take the proper precautions, train smart, and use progressions to advance your training, you will love the benefits of CrossFit and be able to handle any adversity that comes your way, whether it is injury or dumb studies!
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