1. The Axis of Wanting to Be a Middle-Aged Man Who Can Dunk....
2. The Axis of Parenting. And Within That, the Axis of Having a Son.... Maybe I joined CrossFit because I wish to live long enough to be able to play with my son at exactly the age—ten and onward—when I no longer had a father to play with me. Every parent knows how much having a kid inspires meditations on mortality. But was a son also provoking in me rivalrous feelings? Was I going into training for a competition that wouldn’t begin in earnest for twelve or fifteen or twenty years?...
3. The Axis of Geography.... New Orleans...“decrepitude.”... The word brought me up short. New Orleans is a place where one is constantly reminded of nature’s desire to reclaim the landscape....
February 4, 2014
"What is behind the CrossFit need, which is a variation of compulsive intense training?"
Thomas Beller says: "The answer moves along several parallel axes." The link goes to The New Yorker as you might have surmised based on: 1. The fact that my previous post goes to The New Yorker, 2. That "answer moves along... axes" locution (Who talks like that"), and 3. I don't have a third axes to my speculation about your surmising (Sorry, I feel a compulsion toward groups of 3, especially when writing about groups of 3, and what is behind this need of mine, and does it move along 3 axes?):
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"Parallel axes." That doesn't even make sense.
"Parallel axes." That doesn't even make sense.
Made famous, of course, by Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen.
If you get up to eleven axes, you can do string theory.
Parameters were in, axes were out, in the 90s.
The activity described in the article sounds like axis 1 is a collective submission to an authority master over the group yelling at them louder than the very loud hard rock music.
A second axis is staying in the younger generation. This is not a group for old men.
The third axis is getting to tell everyone about it.
Those gyms are springing up everywhere here. Over the past year there are 3 new gyms in my neighborhood.
Our axes go to eleven.
Made famous, of course by Spinal Tap's Nigel Tufnel
I pedal past a gym in rural Ohio every day.
Sometimes there are cars there.
I'm 45 with no kids and have been doing CrossFit in Cincinnati for about a year. I've enjoyed many things about the program, including learning about the complexity of Olympic lifting and the opportunity to see so many people improve their physical capacity in a supportive environment. The "axes" thing is a little too much, but the article is more interesting and complex than most things I've read.
One of the many CrossFit style exercises is taking a sledge hammer and beating the living crap out of a big truck tire.
Another good, full-body workout would be chopping firewood, using an axes.
Wow, it is just so New Yorker to write about your life as if you were passively observing it.
How about the axis of people who have adult onset diabetes and who are using Crossfit as prophylaxis to keep their toes from getting chopped off?
I, too, have the groups-of-three compulsion, and I try to avoid it when writing. I still find myself writing (roughly) "things like one, two, and" and then pausing while I try to think of "three". I can mostly recognize that pause now, and stop at "two".
I am a middle aged guy coming up on two years a crossfitter and have I no idea what the hell this guy is talking about. You are always disappointed when reading an article on a topic of which you have knowledge. It is the curse of the New Yorker to take a personal experience and infer its universality.
The beauty of CrossFit is that everyone comes for their own reasons and treats others with respect and support. There is a zero tolerance for assholes at every 'box' I have ever been in. No one wins at CrossFit and there is humility born of it.
At my 'Box' we have: the sweetest father I have ever seen, who just happens to be covered with prison tattoos; an elderly woman that needed assistance doing an unweighted squat;a bear of a young man who can lift small cars; middle aged ice climbers; female ultramarathoners; a guy that has trouble lifting one of his arms over his head; and everything in between. Oh, and me a 40 something that was tired of getting fatter. The beauty of CrossFit is that all of us are treated like adults and are expected to work to our maximum ability.
rhardin, Park your bike at the mill and stop in and ask for me some time.
Steve,
It was pretty popular in the Army when I was active duty (infantry) a few years back, and I don't think it's a passing fad.
We have our APFT - being small and wiry, I could max that with no issues, but had a hard time in challenges that required brute force or anaerobic fitness. We have our other events where the massive guys can crush guys like me. Crossfit was a great way for all of us to push our limits, get stronger, build endurance.
CrossFit is huge here. The place where I live and the place where Titus lives must be exactly the same.
'That "answer moves along... axes" locution (Who talks like that"), '
I do. Only I spell it axises because moving along axes has an entirely different picture.
Orthogonally, CrossFit is REALLY good exercise if you're careful.
Most people don't have the drive, discipline and focus to follow a good progressive weight training program (I just hit 300 in a 1 rep deadlift last week Huzzah!).
Also there is a considerable amount of evidence that "high intenisty interval training" is the most efficient path to fat burning and muscle building.
We're also social animals.
Tracking *and making* progress is a psychological motivator.
CrossFit works all of these into a program that does really well for most people.
> You are always disappointed when reading an article on a topic of which you have knowledge.
That's the Gell-Mann amnesia effect.
Why do you assume that articles on topics that you don't have knowledge are any different?
> It is the curse of the New Yorker to take a personal experience and infer its universality.
It's not a curse, it's how they work. And sometimes the "personal experience" is complete fiction. However, it's usually just bunk.
I graduated from UW Law School in 2006. Professor Althouse taught me Civil Procedure II and a couple other classes. I got sick of triathlons after running Ironman as a 2L and then discovered CrossFit. I practiced law at a big firm in Milwaukee, mostly asbestos litigation. Three years ago I opened a little CrossFit Gym on the side. 6 months ago, I quit being a lawyer to run my little gym full time. It's awesome. Feels good to be doing something good.
TLDR
I was hoping for a graph.
An army could certainly advance along several parallel axes, but it's a pretty odd thing for an answer to do.
Related: 102-year-old Cyclist Beats His Own Record.
The idea of beating one's own record — even at age 102 — pretty much explains the whole concept of "training" (as opposed to simply staying fit). Hope this guy celebrated his record with a good meal, a good bottle of French red, and some passionate love-making.
Also, re the linked author's remarks about New Orleans: He has a point, but am I the only one who, when reading it, flashed back to various Anne Rice novels/movies?
Axis, in it's most basic sense, is a line pointing in a direction. Parallel axes point in the same direction and are therefore, identical. If referring to the third axis, the normal conclusion would be to assume the "z" axis. Google Rene Descartes for further elucidation.
http://greyskullarticles.blogspot.com/2009/10/recently-ive-received-lot-of-emails.html>Why I Resigned my Affiliation with CrossFit-John Sheaffer-Greyskull Barbell Club
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2009
Why I Resigned my Affiliation with CrossFit
John Sheaffer- Greyskull Barbell Club
Recently I’ve received a lot of emails asking me why I resigned my affiliation with CrossFit with plenty of paid time left in my agreement. I decided that to set the record straight and/or dispel some of the rumors, I would share some of my reasoning behind that decision.
First and foremost, my resignation was fueled by my observation of the precipitous decline in the quality of the average CrossFit affiliate. When I got involved in the organization, most affiliates were garage gyms, some were operating out of parks, or backyards like mine, and most were relatively legit. The people were those who abhorred what was the norm, the Bally’s, Gold’s, 24Hour Fitness crowd selling long term gym memberships to facilities staffed by individuals deemed incompetent to teach one about fitness and promoting near useless exercise regimens. Over the next few years I watched the CrossFit community in general become more and more like the very people and chains that they set out despising at the onset. Now, hundreds of people get certified every weekend in a course that lasts two days and has no testing or requirements to pass...
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2009
Why I Resigned my Affiliation with CrossFit
John Sheaffer- Greyskull Barbell Club
Recently I’ve received a lot of emails asking me why I resigned my affiliation with CrossFit with plenty of paid time left in my agreement. I decided that to set the record straight and/or dispel some of the rumors, I would share some of my reasoning behind that decision.
First and foremost, my resignation was fueled by my observation of the precipitous decline in the quality of the average CrossFit affiliate. When I got involved in the organization, most affiliates were garage gyms, some were operating out of parks, or backyards like mine, and most were relatively legit. The people were those who abhorred what was the norm, the Bally’s, Gold’s, 24Hour Fitness crowd selling long term gym memberships to facilities staffed by individuals deemed incompetent to teach one about fitness and promoting near useless exercise regimens. Over the next few years I watched the CrossFit community in general become more and more like the very people and chains that they set out despising at the onset. Now, hundreds of people get certified every weekend in a course that lasts two days and has no testing or requirements to pass...
Also check out www.99crossfitness.com
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