The article on Skinny Fat from yesterday pushed CrossFit pretty hard as a fat loss/muscle building 
program, so I'm going to give you my whole take on CrossFit in about 30 seconds:
The Good:
Teaches people to do the big lifts: Deadlifts, squats, military presses, push presses, pullups, ect. I like that.
Teaches people that they should eat clean (Paleo is pretty clean) eating clean is always awesome.
Cranking up the intensity works really well for fat loss in the short term.
The Bad:
Too much too soon. Throwing people in with too much weight, and letting them do it wrong.
Too much with too little instruction. Again, letting people do it wrong. Wrong + Fast = Really Wrong.
Too much too fast. Having people who actually know how to do the movements correctly, go so fast that they do it wrong.
The "CrossFit Kettlebell Swing" aka "The American Kettlebell Swing". People who suck at the normal kettlebell swing, and are then told to swing overhead end up with: Muted hip extension, shoulder elevation, head forward position, and low back stress.
They say the CrossFit Swing is "full range of motion" but they sacrifice *hip* range of motion (which is what the swing is for) to get more *shoulder* range of motion (not what it's for). This kettlebell swing actually really pisses me off.
Cranking up to 100% intensity every workout, forever, is a recipe for injury.
When I got CrossFit certified (back in 2004 and 2005 – I no loger hold that certification), the official mascot of CrossFit was "Pukie The Clown" and we were told that puking after workouts once in a while was an unfortunate side effect of the level of intensity required in CrossFit workouts.
Back in 2006-2007, we were introduced to the term "Rhabdo" – the point of exercise where your muscle fibers actually break off and poison your bloodstream, because it was a very real concern in CrossFit workouts. Unless you are training for the Navy SEALS (trust me, you aren't. No really, you really aren't) Any program that "Rhabdo's" people is stupid. 
The Consensus:
I've heard that there are some CrossFit gyms that put a premium on form, and put perfect form ahead of speed. If this is the case, I'm all for it.
I've also heard some CrossFit gyms have "on-ramp" classes, where they make sure people have perfect form before ever giving them a timed work out. I'm all for that too.
Really the only two things I have against CrossFit:
1.) Bad form eventually hurts people. Mostly what I see from CrossFit is bad form.
2.) 100% intensity works very well in short bursts (like six weeks) and really runs people down long term.
You could do CrossFit without those two above conditions, and it would be great. But then it wouldn't be CrossFit – at least not by CrossFit's definition. That's why I normally advise against it.
Josh Hillis, RKC, CPT, PES, ZMIS
*Note: Names and pictures: CrossFit™, Pukie The Clown © CrossFit, and Uncle Rhabdo © are all used for editorial purposes. The pictures convey a meaning that could not be expressed entirely with words.
Thanks for this post. There’s a crossfit gym next door to a meeting i had to go to today and I was planning to check them out. They had the door locked…and then I read this post. I didn’t realize they trained with kettlebells differently either.
Hello,
Crossfitter here! I think this is a reasonable assessment of Crossfit. I worked out for years prior to doing Crossfit – I was already in good shape and I already knew good form. For beginners, Crossfit might not be the best program. I honestly believe Crossfit can bring great athletes to another level, but like you said, they often try and apply the same techniques for beginners, which can lead to bad form and injury. I also agree that going 100% all the time can lead to injury – I have “jumpers knee” from doing Crossfit 100% for 18 straight months. Retrospectively, I cant believe I stayed healthy that long!
I disagree about the kettlebell swing however. While some crossfitters may do it incorrectly, crossfit promotes a full hip extension during the swing. I have never had an issue with the crossfit kettlebell swing, and it is 2x more effort than the typical “half swing”, builds the core and balance much more as well. Once again – a high level athlete will not have an issue, but a beginner could potentially be injured.
I do not train at a crossfit gym – I dont like the environment personally. I do it on my own. I try and achieve the best times on my workouts, but I wont cheat to get a better time. Form is critical. I typically mix up my routine with “regular” lifting, cardio, and crossfit. This way I dont burn myself out again.
The Rhabdo thing is more of a “we are extreme!” showboating type of thing than a reality in most cases. Most crossfitters think they are much more intense than they actually are!
Thanks!
Hi Kirk!
It sounds like you have a really great perspective on your CrossFitting, and you are managing your body intelligently.
As far as the overhead swing being “2x more work”, I prefer kettlebell snatches. Safer, tighter, more hardstyle, and definitely more work.
And inside of that, while CrossFit “teaches” full hip extension, 90% of the CrossFitters doing swings have poor hip extension and elevated shoulders. I’m not saying it HAS to be like this, it just is. Google CrossFit and Swing, and look for examples of good form. It’s rare.
I believe YOU are probably doing the CrossFit-Overhead-American-Swing correctly. But no one else is.
If you can find an RKC Kettlebell Instructor in your area, I’d go there!
In the RKC system, we view safety as part of performance.
Yea, I am not part of the cult, I just like the work outs.
I prefer snatches as well! No pun intended either. 🙂 and I agree, most crossfitters do it wrong to get a better time. 🙁