Watch this video, seriously. This is some twisted psycho crap.
http://www.king5.com/video/eveningmagazine-index.html?nvid=242322&shu=1
Three keys to take home:
1. The ones that don’t get results, get “the ax”.
In research (clinical research) they call this fixing the data. An example: the FDA looks at the influence on diet in health epidemiology. The researchers threw out several large states that showed grain consumption having the greatest correlation with obesity and heart disease, because that didn’t really jive with what was out there, and they didn’t want to seem contrary. WHAT THE CRAP!? So instead of thinking that your program just doesn’t work, you kick out the ones that it’s not working for and move on. Solid training philosophy.
2. He didn’t get the results he was supposed to, while working with his trainer.
There are many possible interpretations here. Some if I may. First, that this clients diet was so poor that the two 20 minute session each week weren’t enough to overcome that and get him results. Second, perhaps they didn’t discuss diet formally at all, leaving him to his own devices. Third, maybe they did but the diet was too difficult for him to adjust to, i.e. they should have changed his diet more incrementally instead of all at once making the transition simpler. Fourth, maybe he should have had more frequency in his workouts. Fifth, maybe his goals were too aggressive. Sixth, maybe the workouts seem difficult but they aren’t as adaptive as the perceived intensity relates. Seventh, maybe he’s a faker and acts that the workouts are harder than they really are. Eighth, maybe the training atmosphere isn’t enough to motivate him to be the best he can be. I’m done.
3. He went out on his own, after getting fired, and got “above average” results in fat loss and muscle increases by upping his cardio and focusing more on his diet.
I see this a proof positive that X Gym’s “program” is unadaptive. BY NOT DOING THEIR STUFF, he got ABOVE AVERAGE results. Which means that BY DOING THERE STUFF, you get AVERAGE RESULTS, according to their system. Weird. This means that average X Gym results are LESS than cheesy, cardio and weight routines that nearly everyone does at Globo Gyms world wide. Further THESE PEOPLE COME TO CROSSFIT BECAUSE THEY AREN’T SEEING RESULTS. My mind is spinning over here.
Here’s what I think. I wish we had this guy. BAD. He’d be like Shane, down well over 100 pounds. He’d be like Ann, pull-ups in 6 months. He’d be like Charles, muscle-ups on rings. He’d be like Jef, adding 70 pounds to his front squat. He’d be like Shannan, front squatting her bodyweight! He’d be like Katie, learning how to run. He’d be like Art, pounding out ring dips. He’d be like Collin, deadlifting 365. He’d be like Tracy, getting her first 7 straight body push-ups ever. He’d be like Frank, training his military press to new heights. He’d be like Dan and Dan, doing their first powerlifting meet. He’d be like John and Nicole, training for a triathlon. He’d be like Laura, getting the banded pull-up to “click” so she can string them together. He’d be like Karen, hit it so hard that you need to lay off for a while. He’d be like KP, learning to climb the rope, hating the burns. He’d be like Pam, idolized by the masses. He’d be like Mark, running a sub 6 minute mile. He’d be like David, getting more flexible while getting stronger. He’d be like Melissa, getting coordinated to learn the jerk. He’d be like Lindsay spending hours each week on gymnastics. He’d be like Austin with a 3:19 Fran time. He’d be like Phill, taking great clean mechanics to the next level. He’d be like CJ, deciding once and for all to get strong! He’d be like Mike, changing his life to try and become a Police Officer. He’d be like Kim, fighting every step of the way. He’d be like – whatever, this is the craziest thing yet isn’t it? This guy gets kicked out because their program doesn’t deliver and because they have the audacity to kick him out, he comes back begging to get let in, to the place that didn’t serve him as they should have in the first place. I hope his home life is stable.
Can you guys please help your friends and family who aren’t here yet to get here, so they don’t get suckered into this crap?!
Thanks for letting me rant. I’m gonna go train Mel now and help her to Jerk, lift stones and run better so she can do the Bloomsday Run in spokane in May and the Strongman contest in August – anyone wanna join us?
That may well be the craziness batch of crap I’ve ever seen, seriously whack… You’re totally legit, Jess!
he’d be like Larry …fired. thanks for not firing me. I am healthier and fitter now than before. and a bit less fat
Im glad your back. I looked at the website for over a week with no change! I love your insite my brother from another mother!
The best thing about the story is that anyone with a brain will come to the conclusion that X Gym Sucks Ass.
Lets see:
1. Pay 300 bucks a month for some pencil neck, under trained desk coach and get no results
OR
2. Do it on your own and see results
X Gym just told everyone how much they suck. Makes me want to go there.
Maddening
I started out here in “pretty good shape” but I’m doing things now I never thought I could! 24 Hour wants me back (my $) , but guess what, I don’t want them! I’ll take the Local’s crew any day of the week.
Ya know, I feel that motivation is a funny thing. I am lucky to have found a workout facility that motivates me to come back and pursue goals.
As much as I don’t like what they are doing to this guy at least he has found what motivates him.
Just another perspective.
It’s actually very creative sales tactics. Give people terrible workouts (A smith machine!?!) bad instruction without enough exercise frequency (not to mention the owner says he’s a CSCS, which sets a bad for the rest of us). Blame them for not getting results. Tell them they can’t workout at the facility anymore. Tell them they will receive a call in a month or two and if they have some results they will be “allowed” back. This creates a sense of failure and urgency to get back in to the good graces of an exclusive training establishment. I was actually practically offered a job from X gym after Velocity fell through. I had an appointment for an interview but after reading about their philosophy I didn’t go. After watching that video I’m glad I did what I did.
While I may not agree with all of Crossfit’s workouts, I can’t argue with the results. There are far too many trainers and coaches who are continuously successful like Crossfit for a person to waste their time following a program that proves it isn’t successful. Not to mention success doesn’t neccessarily stem from body composition, especially when the method used is woefully inaccurate – in order for bioimpedence to be more accurate a person needs to be relaxed fully hydrated and have an empty stomach. Standing on a scale after a workout will give a rather false reading. Results can come in the simple accomplishment of finally performing one pull-up or performing the over head squat with perfect form. Many Crossfiters know the work that it has taken to achieve these things.
Anyone who can’t workout with me will be steered toward Crossfit and will be advised to stay away from X gym like it’s the plague!
I guess I had a rant in me as well but like Jesse I am very passionate about this stuff and I hate to see gyms and trainers taking advantage of people.
I don’t even know where to start. Trademark infringement probably. There is clear confusion in the business name, model or goods, AND the name of their “founder”. Is it just me or does it all sound like a clean,compartmentalized knockoff (in name and claim only) to something that we have all discovered to be dynamic and truly life changing? The best part to me is that their biggest success story is a guy that washed out of my Jiu Jitsu academy less than a year after being the “next big thing”…that was 10 years ago. People grow and change, and I wish that guy the best, but after much self hype he dissapeared like a thief in the night, never to be seen again by my eyes, until I looked at their site this morning. I don’t know how many 20 minute sessions it takes to build character…but I think it is more than two a week. Then you look at the equipment. The only difference between theirs and a global gym is that they don’t have as many weight and cardio MACHINES!!!!! Oh yah,one last thing… What’s up with the pulleys?
That is shocking! By the Way Bloomsday is May 3rd! http://www.bloomsdayrun.org/
I of course have to say a few more things. After looking through their web site, I remembered why I dismissed this place. They follow a variation of HIT training.
HIT (high intensity training) is essentially circuit trianing. The HIT philosophy has been panned by researchers connected to the NSCA. At the 2003 national conference there were 2 presentations showing how HIT was not nearly as effective as other methods of training. Also, the before and after pictures reminded me of those on the outlandish weight loss pill commercials.
One client lost 15 pounds in 3 weeks. The percentage of fat pounds was not listed. Let’s say that 10lbs. were fat. That represent 25,000-50,000 Calories! The person did this in 3 weeks, which is entirely possible if he went into extreme Caloric deficit. 3 weeks of X gym workouts equate to 2 hours of total trianing (3 weeks, 2-20 minute sessions a week = 120 minutes). That equates to burning 208-417 Calories a minute! Cut that number range in half if this person dropped is Calories to create a BMR deficit of about 1000 Calories a day – he had to take in about 1000 Calories a day less than he was burning. If he dropped his Calories to near malnutrition standards, he would still have to burn 2000-4000 Calories per workout, which of course is impossible.
The old saying works very well here: If it sounds to good to be true then it probably isn’t.
Uh Jesse my deadlift has changed.. sorry buddy its 385lbs…yeah so if you could go ahead and change that, that would be great…thanks…. HEEHEE. GETTING AFTER IT!!
Has anyone actually talked to someone at the X-Gym? I actually went to the Kirkland location and grilled the manager there who was more than happy to answer any questions I had. The similarities between the X-Gym and a *GOOD* CF Affiliate are more than you would think. They focus on nutrition (focus on macronutrients, not on calories – not quite “Paleo/Zone” but pretty close since its all individualized, even down to the amount of water you’re required to consume daily), recovery after workouts, and accountability of the individual. They “fire” clients if the client slacks off alot. Just like how a trainer is NOT a babysitter at a CrossFit Affiliate, the X-Gym guys are the same way. If you don’t put in the effort genuinely, you’re going to fail. Just like with doing CrossFit. You don’t put in the time to monitor and maintain your nutrition, make sure you do the exercises as Rx’ed for you (whether you’re a firebreather or a buttercup), and recover appropriately after every workout, you’ll fail and you have no one to blame but yourself. It’s this accountability that allows a good CF Affiliate and the X-Gym to do well. Although the question begs: If you had a client at your CF box and they were completely slacking to the point you knew they weren’t taking anything seriously with regard to the workouts or their nutrition, would you keep taking their money if they were still slacking off and not putting in the effort (even AFTER you called them on their crap)?
The major differences, if anything, is really the equipment used. But different equipment doesn’t make a good CF affiliate better than the X-Gym or vice versa. It’s all different paths to the same goal and I have to admit that the guys at the X-Gym are just as eager as Jesse is when it comes to making someone have a healthy lifestyle.
Easiest thing I can suggest to draw a proper conclusion for yourself is to sign-up for their three free sessions (yes, I said free). You leave your checkbook at home and they’ll give you the same attention they would a paying client. Chew their ear off. Compare notes. Learn and take the best parts to help yourself.
As Bruce Lee said: “Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it.” and “Don’t get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water.” So figure out what works, take it and build on it.
The problem Jon, is that we’re not after the same ends in training. That is the difference. We seek to increase work capacity across broad time and modal domains, X-Gym won’t help with that. They may be as eager as me to make people have a healthy lifestyle, but that doesn’t mean they are healthy – maintaining a high work capacity across broad time and modal domains is how CrossFit describes health, without that you may look good, have good cholesterol but can’t get out of a chair… Doesn’t sound healthy to me. Regarding the sweet Bruce Lee quotes; a major tenet of the CrossFit website is that it is the only open source fitness program ever, if your program can produce better results than CrossFit.com, go online, post your times (beating the others) and then we’ll listen to your training insights. This has happened repeatedly especially with weightlifting in the CrossFit program. Look at some old posts in the archives, the workouts are way different!
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“They may be as eager as me to make people have a healthy lifestyle, but that doesn’t mean they are healthy – maintaining a high work capacity across broad time and modal domains is how CrossFit describes health, without that you may look good, have good cholesterol but can’t get out of a chair…”
So you’re saying a person who is disease-free (no diabetes, no cholesterol problems, no heart/lung/liver/stomach/kidney/etc issues), who maintains an active lifestyle and is stress free isn’t necessarily healthy because they don’t fit in CrossFit’s modal domain definition? Come on now. Just because a person isn’t lifting a barbell or swinging a KB or doing ring work doesn’t mean they’re not healthy. It comes down to the individual goal of the person with what they want, you know that. Remember that CFJ article “Crossfitters, be nice.”? The example that was written by the contributor said something along the lines of “If a lady just wanted to be strong enough to lift her grocery bags, would I be ridiculing her because she can’t deadlift 300 lbs?”
“…a major tenet of the CrossFit website is that it is the only open source fitness program ever, if your program can produce better results than CrossFit.com, go online, post your times (beating the others) and then we’ll listen to your training insights. This has happened repeatedly especially with weightlifting in the CrossFit program. Look at some old posts in the archives, the workouts are way different!”
Of course the workouts are different. They don’t use the same equipment or protocols. But again, it goes back to goal setting and having a good accountability/support system in place for success AND having the individual do whatever they need to do to get to their goal. Jesse, I know you’re good at making sure everyone you train gets the right balance of encouragement and a kick in the butt. That is what makes you good at what you do. But a good coach & trainer always brings out the best in their clients & athletes, even if it means delivering some serious tough love.
And not to be a polemicist (or sh*t-stirrer), but if we have to compare numbers – what about the Big Climb event at the Columbia Tower? Those guys at the X-Gym finished well ahead of all the CF gyms that also participated. The owner finished 3rd overall. The fastest woman on their team edged out all of the CF guys practically. Those guys at the X-Gym must be doing something right if we’re to look at it from a numbers perspective.