CrossFit vs. P90X

Why write a whole blog post myself when someone has already done it better? Below is an excerpt taken from another site. Link at the bottom of article.

What's the difference? Well, a lot. Some say, not much. They have a lot in common, and they're closer to one another than, say, the average gym-goers 'routine' of machines and cardio.

First off, neither of these methodologies are unique. Both draw from a wide variety of more original sources. In Crossfit's case, it's gymnastics, weightlifting, sprinting, powerlifting, and kettlebells; in the case of P90X, it's Yoga, bodybuilding, and martial arts. All good stuff.

It could be argued that Ross Training (www.rosstraining.com) was the original, but really, this stuff has been around for centuries. Gym Jones is a tougher version still, but is closer to Crossfit than P90X.

Similarities:The beauties of both P90X and Crossfit: they incorporate whole-body movement. They expose the user to new horizons (like Yoga and Martial Arts.) They both decry the current trend in fitness toward machines, opting for primarily bodyweight exercise. They rely as much on the exercises as they do on the coaching (critical for a good experience in either P90X or Crossfit, and a major difference from the GloboGym model.)

Differences: P90X mixes bodybuilding techniques (Day 1: chest and back) with other disciplines, like Yoga and Martial Arts, to maximize . It should also be noted that P90X is largely geared to improving physique, while Crossfit is targeting overall fitness improvement.

Crossfit, meanwhile, uses compound movements from gymnastics, martial arts, weightlifting, and powerlifting, as well as sprinting and running, to maximize the hormonal response to exercise. Workouts are scalable from a rank beginner to a very elite athlete. Workouts are constantly changing, involve big movements that demand focus and constant attention to form. It's easier to 'grow up' with Crossfit, because mastery of many exercises requires years of practice, though the basics can be learned over a weekend, or picked up along the way.

Crossfit, being open-concept, is constantly getting better. Certifications are now available in both basic coaching practices, intermediate skills, and very advanced practices. Members (hundreds of thousands worldwide) bring individual expertise to the table and that adds to everyone's experience. For example, we saw the need for a easy-to-use tracking system, and we built it, spending tens of thousands in research and development, only to offer it back to the Crossfit community for free.

Food: P90X - operates in 3 phases. The first is low-carbohydrate; the second is balanced (but low fat,) and the third is high-carbohydrate, low-fat. This is a good reflection of the current opinion of mainstream public thinking, but isn't exactly up to speed with more advanced training practices. In fact, with even less-cutting-edge media (Men's Health, Oxygen) taking up the battle cry of moderate carb, moderate protein, and lots of healthy fats, I was surprised to see a low-fat diet in such a progressive exercise prescription.

Crossfit advocates the Zone diet to most practitioners, and a growing percentage use the Paleo Diet. There's no 'official' line on nutrition, or prescribed diet, but the Crossfit community is incredibly helpful on this point. There's a Crossfit nutritional certification now. The basic premise is to optimally prepare yourself at the hormonal level to deal with both the tough workouts and the physical demands of life. The workouts themselves demand that you're eating properly: you don't want to tackle 'Fran' on an empty stomach, or experience a blood sugar crash during 'Murph.'

Differences in practice: With P90X, trainees watch a video every day that takes them through a workout. It feels a bit like an infomercial (also the program's primary marketing strategy,) but if that does it for you, then great.

Crossfit posts a daily workout (the WOD, or Workout Of The Day) on its website (www.crossfit.com) every morning. It usually posts a picture of a Crossfitter or group doing something wild, a couple of articles, and interesting links to Crossfit affiliates. Then you have the discussion board, where Crossfitters around the world post their daily results. Most people also read the affiliate blog for more articles of interest from international affiliates. Of note: every single Crossfit affiliate (there are more than a thousand now,) has their own blog. Some do the prescribed WOD, some not. Every one posts articles and video, most every day. Many of the WODs are named so that practitioners can gauge progress (for instance, your 'Fran' time may decrease, indicating an improved work capacity.)

Philosophical Differences: Crossfit chooses to change its focus daily without forewarning its practitioners. This, they argue, helps Crossfitters put out their maximal effort every day, because they don't know what's coming next. It's tougher to save energy for training days at which you're more likely to excel, and thereby increase skill in only one area. Our own research - an independent two-year study on exercise adherence - confirms this notion.

Crossfit is also a lot more fun. Knowing that tomorrow is 'Yoga Day' doesn't do much to excite an exerciser on the third time through the DVDs. How many P90X folks are up at midnight on the P90X website, chatting to others about 'Chest and Triceps' day tomorrow? Few. At Crossfit.com? Thousands are hitting 'refresh' to see the WOD before they go to sleep.

However, each are great at moving people toward the stated goals of the program. Crossfit's goal is to improve work capacity (fitness) on a broad scale; P90X is built to help people lose body fat. Where physique improvement comes as a byproduct of improved fitness with Crossfit, P90X targets that goal singly.

Scientific Differences: P90X relies heavily on the research behind 'muscle confusion' - the concept of every-changing demands on muscle tissue. By minimizing adaptation to exercise, you get more from it; we agree. We love change.

Crossfit cites research, reviews research, and publishes its own scientific Journal every month. Its discussion boards are a constant spot for debate on dozens of topics daily. Workouts are based around scientific evidence, and though founder Greg Glassman may argue with some high-level coaches, he's definitely among the elite and can speak to other scientists on their level.

Catalyst's own study on exercise adherence in 2006 showed that intense, constantly-varied workouts can produce the best adherence rate (you'll like it better, so you'll do it more.) That's what led us to Crossfit in the first place.

Community Differences: Crossfit's biggest strength, arguably, is its community. It's an open-source group, where anyone is free to post anything related to the WOD. There are over a thousand affiliate gyms, each with dozens or hundreds of Crossfitters, and hundreds of thousands doing Crossfit on their own in basements, garages, parks, and streets.

Price differences: Crossfit, at its core level, is 100% free. Skill acquisition, coaching, and gym access is not. Some may practice Crossfit for 30 years without instruction beyond the expert coaching offered in the Crossfit Journal ($20/year) or for free on the main site and affiliate site.

P90X - 3 easy payments of $39.95. Note: the definition of 'easy' depends on your income, I guess.

Verdict: We like P90X. We like exposing people to different methodologies. We like the variety and balance. We think people can do worse; it's probably better than 95% of the programs out there.

But we like Crossfit better. We chose Crossfit because it matched our own philosophy and research. Crossfit feels like a sport. Most Crossfitters eventually become as lean and toned (and more muscular) than P90Xers, but it comes as a side effect to a much-improved level of fitness, not as an end in itself. We also like the incorporation of true strength training, which is hard to instruct on a DVD, and lends itself to all kinds of liability that no one outside of the open-source community can afford. If you were to train with P90X founder Erwin Sean Caravana, maybe there would be more skill-based lifts; we can't know for sure. Details about Caravana are hard to find; is he a Trainer, or just the business brains? Or Cleans and squats with heavy weight, though, force a metabolic change that you just can't duplicate with biceps curls, lunges, and shrugs. P90X also feels a bit too 'sound stagey' to us - lines, even in the 'making of' videos, seem rehearsed. It's well done, but watch a Crossfit video compared to a P90X infomercial, and note the realism: you can't fake THAT.

Source: http://www.catalystgym.com/2009/02/crossfit-vs-p90x.html