Military Tells Troops: You’re Too Flabby For CrossFit

More troops than ever are flipping tractor tires, lobbing 50-pound kettle bells and conquering the Three Bars of Death in an effort to become “tougher, faster, hard-bodied freedom fighter[s].” But some of them are also working out until they puke, faint or suffer permanent organ damage. Now, a team of medical researchers have a message for recruits: You’re probably not fit enough for CrossFit.

Ditto for P90X and Insanity. Together, the brutally intense fitness regimes are “the big three” being studied and evaluated in a review of high-intensity fitness programs by the Consortium for Health and Military Performance, or CHAMP, at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.

All three are characterized by rigorous, explosive movements and an emphasis on rippling muscles and quick results (see here, here or here). And all three have garnered dedicated followings in military circles: CrossFit is already taught by several Army…

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