A Physical Therapist Endorses CrossFit!

In case you're getting this for the first time, let me introduce myself.  I'm a physical therapist and an athletic trainer.  I've been practicing for almost 37 years and in 2005 received my Doctorate in Physical Therapy. 

I've been fortunate to see and do things in these two professions that seem highly unlikely for a small town boy whose only acclaim in high school was as the smartest football player.  I count among my friends the giants in these professions.  People like Tab Blackburn, Mike Voight, Kevin Wilk, George Davies, Terry Malone, Barb Sanders, and on and on.

A couple of years ago, I did a presentation at a big physical therapy meeting.  About 500 people attended a program that a colleague and I did on treating patellofemoral dysfunction.

During that presentation, I happened to mention that I send a lot of my patients to CrossFit classes after I am finished with them.  Several months later, I heard from one of the attendees that this was met with a collective gasp from the physical therapists in the room.

Apparently, many of those in attendance felt that it was quite surprising/radical/irresponsible of me to send my patients to CrossFit.  I guess I wasn't paying attention.  I didn't catch that one at all. 

Let me step back a bit and tell you about my work setting.  The clinic where I see patients is basically a 14,000 square foot warehouse, with the physical therapy clinic occupying about a third of that space and a fitness center the rest.  Housed within the fitness center is CrossFit CHF. 

A simple countertop separates the two sides and my desk is a laptop resting on that countertop.  So basically I am looking out at a CrossFit gym when I sit at my desk.

We opened CrossFit-CHF in 2007 as part of Cherokee Health & Fitness (hence, the CrossFit-CHF).  It was the first CrossFit gym in the area.

My patient load is essentially extremity orthopedics with a heavy emphasis on sports.  This clinic was built with sports physical therapy in mind and serves that purpose, in my opinion, quite well.

I'm a biker (non-motorized version).  In 2008, I seemed to hit a plateau on my bicycle. Our fitness director, Steve Bright, suggested I start CrossFit workouts. 

I have always been a "fitness buff."  There really hasn't been a time in my life when I didn't exercise regularly.  But in 2008, at age 55, I guess I was at a bit of a crossroads.  About to be old, getting closer to retirement, and being told it was time to slow down.

I also had enough of a paunch that I didn't really like to take my shirt off. 

Hey, at 55, you sort of expect that.  I was a regular on the bike and did some strength training a day or two a week.  But the shape I was in was not really that good a shape.  I had long since reconciled myself that this was the way things were going to be--that it was part of getting older.

But Steve convinced me that I could do things better, so I started doing CrossFit.  Three days a week with the other four days on the bicycle.

Lo and behold, my performance on the bike got better.  Lots better.  And slowly but surely, my body changed.   It didn't take long until I was a bona fide CrossFit junkie.  I had, as they say, drank the Kool-Aid.  

Now, six years later, at age 61, I am in the best shape of my life--better yet than when I was invincible and in my 20's. I'll leave it to others to describe what I look like with my shirt off but that's not what's important anyway.

What's important is that my core strength is darn good, if I do say so myself.  My overall fitness level?   You might want to talk to the small cadre of buddies that I work out with for the answer to that one. 

Through the years (pre-CrossFit), I had multiple orthopedic surgeries.  Heck, knee surgery was what got me into physical therapy in the first place.  Dr.Ken Bell (orthopedic surgeon extraordinaire) and others have kept me patched together. 

But here's the big thing:  Today, I have little or no joint pain.  I can climb stairs 2 at a time without problem or pain.  Sure, I limp from time to time, maybe when I've really abused my knees such as on the descent of a particularly strenuous hike.  I do have a right knee that is particularly worn out and not as strong as my left.

But I take no medication for that.  Not an ibuprofen. Not acetaminophen.  Nothing.  Na da.  I give the credit for that to the core strength that CrossFit has given me.

Before CrossFit, I thought it was ludicrous for a man my age to do squats.  And God forbid that I would ever again touch a deadlift bar.  Power Cleans were for much younger people than me.

Now those things are part of my workouts on a regular basis.

And...get this...in six and a half years of doing CrossFit workouts, I've never been injured.  Never. 

So here's the bottom line:  I'm healthier than I've ever been (except for that pesky blood pressure problem--you can't escape your gene pool), I have very few aches and pains, I can keep up with people much, much younger than me, and the reason is CrossFit.

My patients that have gotten into CrossFit thank me for it.  Without exception, they are healthier because of it. 

Injuries?  Sure.  From time to time.  But injuries are going to happen and I'd a lot rather have injuries that are the result of an active, vigorous lifestyle than the health problems that are inevitably produced by a sedentary lifestyle.

Why does CrossFit get maligned as the source for injuries? Well, it is, by its nature, pretty competitive.  Those that compete in the CrossFit Games are in an athletic competition and CrossFit injuries at that level are about the same as with other competitive events.

I'm not saying that I'm not competitive.  With my group of buddies, it's not competitive until one of them is catching up with me.  Then it's on.

Their goal is to catch the old man.  Mine is to keep them at bay.

But I'm smart enough in my workouts that I'm not going to do anything to hurt myself and therein lies the key to staying injury-free while doing CrossFit workouts:  You've got to be smart about it. 

Know your limits.  Push your envelope, just don't shred it. 

As for those health care professionals that are aghast that I encourage patients to participate in CrossFit workouts, all I can say is come work out with me.