Athabasca University - MDDE 610 - Assignment #2
Computer Assisted Instruction: Learning Crossfit Technique
Background:
Crossfit debuted in 2000 and was conceived by Greg Glassman and Lauren Jenai. It is described as physical conditioning program consisting mainly of a mix of body weight exercises, Olympic lifting and aerobic exercise.
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Crossfit gyms are known as "boxes" and are suprizingly spartan. You will not find the typical treadmills and large weight machines found in most other gyms. There is a selection of barbells, plates, kettlebells, rings, pull-up bars and climbing ropes. The spartan nature of the gym is deceiving for the amount of work participants undertake within them.
Crossfit has exploded in popularity over the past 5 years for a number of reasons. Some of these include:
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The arrival of the Crossfit Games in 2007 highlighting the fittest athletes in the Crossfit.
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Participants encourage one another and promote healthy competition and personal bests.
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It's structured, 1 hour workouts are high intensity and are a combination of aerobic, anaerobic and strength work.
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Further information can be found on the following websites:
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Reasoning: Why Crossfit for Me?
I had heard about Crossfit through social media channels (Facebook and Twitter) and had done some research into them through magazine articles and watching the Reebox CrossFit Games on TV:
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Will Gadd, multisport athlete has this to say about it:
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A controversial study into Crossfit:
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The Kinesiologist in me was intrigued and a bit skeptical. As I was starting a new school year in September, looking at turning 40 and wanting to improve my health and fitness, I decided that I would do Crossfit. I have tried gyms before and designed my own training regimes for different fitness events, but in both instances either my interest dropped or when training for the event finished, I stopped training. It has been a year since I seriously trained and Crossfit provided something I needed: structure, physical challenge, someone telling me what to do, and convenient timeframe. In my busy life, this one hour class seemed to be just what I needed to improve my fitness. I joined Pure Athletics Crossfit in Prince Albert.
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I felt the aerobic component would be easy and the body weight exercises I was already well versed in. It was the Olympic type lifting that I felt I needed to get a better understanding in. I had seen high performance olympic athletes doing lifts like snatches and cleans before but I had never had a chance to learn the technique. I understand the benefits of weightlifting on strength and fitness and I also understood the dangers. A great article that highlights the pros and cons can be found at the site below.
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I had been training for two weeks and starting to learn the lifts when this assignment for MDDE 610 came across. I had found that while my local Crossfit gym had done a great job on helping me start to learn the correct technique, I felt that I could use some more instruction and research. So I began to look into what mobile apps and online instruction were available.
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Crossfit Computer Instruction and Apps
A search of the Apple App store found many Crossfit "Workout of the Day" (WOD) Apps. While most of the apps were free, few of them provided video instruction. Most came with timers for doing workouts and some basic videos on technique. Unfortunately many charged money for them and the quality of videos ranged from very basic to decent.
The following apps have a good selection of instructional videos.
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WOD Genie Gain Fitness Virtual Trainer
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The CrossFit website had a good range of videos that described specific weightlifting techniques well. They showed videos of the motion and highlighted key points to remember when performing the skills.
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Youtube also has a lot of videos (overwhelming number actually) that show different Crossfit techniques. Below are the links to some good ones that I came across in my research and watched to help me learn.
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As you can see i researched a number of different CAI's methods in order to determine best ones for teaching technique.
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Final Results and Evaluation
After watching the videos and surfing the internet for information I started to practice my lifting techniques. I tried out the muscle up (which will be a few months from mastering) and practiced the snatch, clean and jerk, squats, wall ball and split jerk. In order to learn the moves I would watch the videos, practice in front of a mirror with no weight the basic form, then practice at my gym in the workouts over the span of two weeks.
The following video is a snapshot of my technique at the end of one month of CrossFit Training. The video shows the following techniques: Split Jerk, Deadlift, Clean & Jerk, Snatch, Thrusters, Wall Ball, Pull-ups, Kettlebell Swings, Barbell Squat.
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I have paid attention to the instruction given by both my CrossFit coaches in class and the instructional videos, apps and resources I have found for this assignment. In a sense, the video shows the result of a "blended" learning approach to learning CrossFit Technique.
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**Disclaimer: This is not an instructional video showing perfect CrossFit technique, it is simply an analysis video of my technique for my own personal use.
Critical Analysis of Computer Assisted Instruction for CrossFit
As I consider the vast research put into this assignment to determine the best way to learn CrossFit lifting techniques, there were a number of apps and websites that stood above the pack in terms of providing effective instruction.
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Mobile Apps - I found this area rather disappointing. I was ideally looking for a free app that would have videos of CrossFit Techniques. I assumed that this would be a go-to for CrossFitters to have on their device so that they could watch the technique then try it themselves. While there were a number of paid apps available that touted they had instructional videos I found that only a few had it. Most CrossFit workout of the day (WOD) apps were simply tracking devices to record your workout results (sets, reps, time to complete) and see how you compare against yourself and others. The instructional video side was limited in terms of effective instruction. The three best that I found in my research are WOD Genie, Gain Fitness and Virtual Trainer (mentioned above with links to the websites).
You Tube Videos - It's easy to get lost when searching CrossFit on Youtube. I found myself surfing for hours easily from instructional videos to people's personal experiences with CrossFit, to some very weird, strange videos tied to CrossFit (you have been warned). I was quite pleased with the instruction in the videos I posted above from Prevoxin, Juggernaut Training Systems and CrossFit. It felt like I was right there in the gym and I enjoyed the personal coaching instruction being provided. They took each skill, broke it down into manageable parts, had us practice these parts, highlighted key points regarding technique, then had you put it all together. If I was to choose one YouTube channel it would be CrossFit. There are some free videos online but after talking to coaches at my local gym they said if you sign-up for the CrossFit Journal ($6 a month or $50 a year) you gain access to more instructional videos and resources.
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Websites - There are a lot of CrossFit websites out there that provide workouts, describe the gyms and have a social media presence where proponents and critics hash it out. In terms of the best I for instruction, I would stick with CrossFit's main website (link below) and pay it's membership fee to access the journal.
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Final Reflections on Computer Assisted Instruction - I believe that computer assisted instruction provides a wealth of benefits to helping people learn a new skill. The ability to access the content from anywhere, at any time and to be able to watch it as many times as you wish is one of the highlights of Computer Assisted Instruction.
In the area of learning a new physical skill, there was once crucial component that would have improved instruction. Feedback. Having a way to first off see your technique and have a coach or other certified individual critique it is important, in order to ensure the proper technique is followed. It's too easy for students to try the instructional video and think they are doing it correctly, when in fact they may be making small but important mistakes. I found that by watching my form in a mirror and through my recordings I could get a basic idea of the technique, but I found that when I was in the classes and the coach was right there to give me pointers, it was invaluable to improving my form.
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When I review my technique and compare it to the videos I can see areas that I can improve upon. Overall I felt that getting computer assisted instruction has helped my CrossFit lifting technique and blended with the face-to-face group feedback in the group classes, that it is an excellent way to learn. I would recommend to anyone planning to do CrossFit classes that utilizing the CrossFit Website, reviewing the literature and videos and selecting the best app for you will help you get the most out of your experience.
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As I reflect on this experience I wonder about how the topic I chose impacted the results and I wonder if there are easier skills to learn online (i.e. learning a language, cooking) that better favor CAI than more subjective or complex skills. It will be interesting to review other classmates experiences in this assignment.
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References -
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A Beginner’s Guide to CrossFit | Nerd Fitness. (2017). Nerd Fitness. Retrieved 11 October 2017, from
https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/a-beginners-guide-to-crossfit/
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Beginners Guide to Clean & Jerk with MegSquats | JTSstrength.com. (2017). YouTube. Retrieved 11 October 2017, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1066&v=IcCGLoNqN2U
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Beginners Guide to Snatching with Meg Squats | JTSstrength.com. (2017). YouTube. Retrieved 11 October 2017, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2t9xkKzATU
Crossfit 101 - The Basics. (2017). YouTube. Retrieved 11 October 2017, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBvy_A2jTmk
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CrossFit: Forging Elite Fitness. (2017). Crossfit.com. Retrieved 11 October 2017, from https://crossfit.com/foundation
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GAIN Fitness - Fitness Results for Busy People. (2017). Gainfitness.com. Retrieved 11 October 2017, from
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Mastering the Bar Muscle-Up. (2017). YouTube. Retrieved 11 October 2017, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=61&v=astSQRh1-i0
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Pure Athletics | Crossfit Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. (2017). Pure Athletics. Retrieved 11 October 2017, from http://pureathleticspa.com/
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WOD Genie by Alvin Yu (2017). AppAdvice. Retrieved 11 October 2017, from
https://appadvice.com/app/wod-genie/517874327
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Virtual Trainer Apps. (2017). Virtual Trainer Apps. Retrieved 11 October 2017, from http://www.virtualtrainerapps.com/
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**Disclaimer: This website was designed for partial completions of my masters course. The opinions are mine alone and video's of my lifting technique are not to be considered instructional. If your interested in CrossFit, find a gym, take a free class and ask questions in order to make an informed decision.
