The injury risk from CrossFit does not appear to be higher than other forms of exercise. Check the video for why :)

Maturity is realizing that CrossFit has done more to make ordinary people get off the couch and touch a barbell than any of us making fun of it ever will.

I'm 62 and I've been doing CF for about 12 years, on and off.  I don't go hard, I scale everything, I still can't do a pull up or really anything particularly gymnastic, but still I'm in amazing shape for my age according to my doctor.  I started at 50 overweight and heading in a very bad way metabolically, and now all my bloods etc are well within normal range.  I just hit the gym 3-4 times a week, do my workout, eat sensibly and get on with my life. The worst injury I've had is squat DOMS if I've had a couple of weeks off. Oh and ab mat buttrub.  IYKYK. You do you but for me CF is better than a lifetime of drugs, decline  and decrepitude.

My wife talked me into joining.  Been at it 2 weeks.  It’s been quite a wake up call. I’m 56. Have played basketball and Raquetball until I was 52. Then couldn’t find people to play with. So far, I got injured more often playing basketball and racketball—- rolled ankles, stitches from a racket, etc.   I hope I can stick with it. The group is supportive for even a novice like me. Just my 2 cents.

Data point on my experience.  I’m 62, in my third year of CF and this year qualified for and completed CF Games age group Semifinals.  Also have competed I other fitness sports like Hyrox and TFX.  I have had zero injuries, only some elbow tendonitis in my first 3 months.  Admittedly, I was reasonably fit going into CF but had little experience with Olympic barbell lifts like snatches and cleans.  The workouts are infinitely scalable to give time to learn and build correct movements.  I’m 5’7”and weighed 159lbs at 20% body fat when I started.  Now at 152lbs, 10% body fat and shredded.  Not trying to be CF fanboy, just sharing my experience and results.

I"m a physiotherapist and I'm happy when anyone does any kind of exercise. In my clinical experience I'd say crossfit injuries are about as common as football injuries. The difference is the footballers rarely get their injuries training in the gym. I see a lot of people say things like 'I have bad knees because I played football for years'. I now see people say the same thing about having done crossfit for years. Also, one of my standard questions is 'what exercise routine do you typically do?'. The 'I used to do crossfit' crowd is very common and the most common answer for why they stopped is generally 'I was sick of all the accumulation of injuries'. The survey studies are fine and all but I'd say nothing perpetuates the crossfit injury myth quite like all the people who quit doing crossfit. And there are an awful lot of them.

Interesting video. I've been doing CrossFit for a few months now and really enjoy it and there is much more coaching than a standard gym class. I think it's important to find something that you enjoy.

Crossfit has also rehabbed my body after rheumatoid arthritis. So it has reversed my injuries.

I'll give a specific example:  I lost wrist mobility big time...my rheumatologist said that i might not get full range of motion back (and to be careful).

A few years of training and my body adapted to front squats, rope climbs, hand stands etc etc.  

Now I can never stop.

I love CrossFit. I love all modes of fitness but for the last two years CrossFit has been my favorite flavor. As a busy person, what I most like is I don't have to think about programming,  and all my work is done in one hour.

I’m a 66 year old physician who has been doing CF for over 3 years. I have shin scars from box-jump falls, occasional tendinitis, and intermittent low back pain. No major injuries. I often scale workouts and pace myself. Intense CF workouts have warded off depression, encouraged me to push myself and try other challenges like Tough Mudder. When I was in practice, i recommended my reasonably fit patients to try it, and do the same now to anyone who wants whole-body fitness. Being better fit helps me on my small farm every day. I love it and the community I work out with in Danville, KY. In short, I’m addicted!

Each week, I do some form of endurance, HIIT(you can call it CrossFit), and lifting heavy.  Running seems to me to have a higher rate of injuries than what I have seen in Crossfit. With CrossFit you at least are paying to have a coach there telling you that your form is shit or to lower the weight.  That's incredibly beneficial.  With that said, poorly programming HIIT 5-7 days a week seems to lend itself to burnout and plateaus.    A well programmed CF gym however will take that into account and program a variety of modalities which can be very beneficial to one's long term health.

CrossFit took me from overweight and struggling to run a minute to lean and running 5 full marathons and 7 half marathons without injury

I like the peer reviewed research used to support your theory. CrossFit in its entirety is a very solid healthy way to build health and fitness. The problem in the early days of CrossFit when we started seeing gyms everywhere was that it was being sold as a new fitness phenomenon and that it was the only real way to have the best training around. But like you pointed out, CrossFit is a business and a product to make money out of fitness. But out of that is a way to train that supports the best fundamentals for functional movement around in my opinion. Bodybuilding is the least functional training out there because little you do as a bodybuilder can translate into a real world job or situation besides bodybuilding itself. Powerlifting and general strength training is functional but how good is it if you’re super strong but you can barely walk a block without running out of breath? The combination of nutrition, conditioning, gymnastics, weightlifting and throwing, and sport make this workout modality unique and superior to its ability to make someone effective at many different disciplines of fitness. The average CrossFitter who still scales their workouts are stronger than the average runner and faster than the average lifter. Just like at the games level they are stronger than an elite runner and faster than an elite lifter. They can do it all and that’s what CrossFit does for you.

Honestly, even if CrossFit did have a slightly higher injury rate than bodybuilding and powerlifting, it wouldn't be a big deal anyway. The biggest health risk surrounding exercise isn't that there are SO MANY people working out and picking up injuries; It's that too many people aren't working out at all. And people who tend to be more active aren't just rationally weighing the risks of a bunch of different activities and picking the lowest risk/most optimal thing; They're active because they're doing things they enjoy and meeting goals they have (not necessarily just to be "maximally healthy"). If CrossFit helps people find something they like doing, then it's a good thing.

If I’m not mistaken running has more injuries than anything. Nothing wrong with running but more people run so just using the sheer numbers it puts running at the top. CrossFit is basically mixing up exercises that come from 3 different areas. The problem is when people, especially new, try going heavy without proper technique and mechanics being learned.
CrossFit has pushed weightlifting 🏋️‍♂️ into the limelight because before CrossFit not many people did weightlifting or even knew about it, including me.
I say do whatever works for you. I got into CrossFit because bodybuilding got boring. But I still do bodybuilding with more focus on CrossFit.

Great video 👍

great review. good job,

As a PT student from Belgium, I want to say I love your channel and knowledge, Dr. Jordan!!

In theory if you scale you should be okay. But from what I've seen after nearly 10 years at crossfit is that by nature, crossfit is considered competitive. It is impossible not to feel the pressure of "being last" or just trying to keep up or just trying to beat someone else in the class. I've seen people do a lot of strange things that include skipping reps or probably more dangerously just keep trying to move weight even though they can't or getting tired. The deadlifts, snatching, cleans and nother movements are pretty dangerous if done improperly and can cause a lot of problems. I think if you can come in with a very strong mind not to compare yourself to others and not be affected by it, then you'll do a lot better and probably not experience any injuries other than just soreness.

I think the study on beginners is interesting because it highlights some of the risks with CrossFit. CrossFit uses a lot of Olympic style lifts that  require good form to be done safely. I wouldn't expect beginners to have good form, or the stamina to maintain good form, for something like a deadlift. That part of CrossFit isn't exactly beginner friendly. Many of the lifting exercises are for people at an intermediate level.

It's a real science programing training specific to your individual needs. 10 yrs plus at Crossfit I've learnt so much about what works for me to be in the best shape and fitness in all my 62 yrs . Injuries nope maybe some niggles but that's just an indication of what part you need to work on with specific mobility stepping back on weight scaling and building conditioning  till you can slowly progress up the ladder from beg through to Rx. It can take yrs . I started at 51 from a relatively active lifestyle so been easier for me others it takes longer to get to say an intermediate level. Most will not reach Rx level but the rewards in health and fitness can be achieved by anyone who's consistent and can balance the Consistentcey over the intensity . Work hardest on mobility and skill in movement the rest strength endurance and speed will develop automatically.