If You Are Not Crashing You Are Not Racing

Since the tragic accident experienced by Kevin Ogar there has been a frenzy of debate about Crossfit and its safety record and attitude towards safety.  Not all of the debate has been of a very high standard, some has been better and some has been very funny while carrying an important message.  But we are talking and talking about safety is important.

I love motorbikes. Cannot get enough of them, love riding mine, love watching the racing and on the rare occasion I have participated in a track day I loved that too. For me the greatest sporting event in the world is the Isle of Man TT, a masterpiece of “real world” racing. Humans and their equipment compete against the clock and each other to race around a 37 mile loop of country roads.  Sound familiar?

Motorbike racing is dangerous riding your bike whether scratching or commuting is dangerous, 328 people killed in 2012 on UK roads. In the last ten years 35 people have died on the TT course, 200 have died since 1910.  Take into account the international circuits of World Superbikes, Moto GP the lower classes of Super Sport the national and club classes the figures will be even more staggering, to some.  I have witnessed two deaths myself, one a 14 year old boy. Yes that’s right 14, are you shocked, appalled, outraged? And remember I am just talking about deaths; factor in the injuries from minor to life changing it is a wonder the motorbike is not banned.

But of course motorbikes don’t kill people, people kill people.

What do I mean by that last sentence?  Some of us, not all of us are risk adverse and have a high perception of risk to actual risk ratio; often based on ignorance, as fear often is. Look at the reaction people have to an accident at a nuclear power plant like Fukushima but no one remembers the Piper Alpha disaster. Some of us can be very rational and are happy to take a calculated risk and ride their bike to work, or do that bungee jump, or do Isabel Rx.  Some of us can have a distorted relationship to risk in that if the risk is not high or feels high you are not living.  I can remember looking down at the speedometer and it reading 182mph and feeling disappointed that my bike would not do 200mph. On another occasion climbing in the Lake District a 30m free climb and knowing that one mistake will bring death or horrible injuries but never felt happier. I would be a rubbish bike racer. A friend of mine once said to me when riding his bike “Unless I am 3 seconds away from death I am not having fun”.

Ok time to rein in all this testosterone and start making sense of what I am bringing to your attention.  For me Crossfit has one essential element that lies at the heart of all our PR issues, intensity. “Functional movement, constantly varied, performed at high intensity”. What a great headline, tag line, sound bite, whatever but if you are outside of Crossfit or are ignorant or a hater or just risk adverse you will never look beyond this.  Intensity to you means red for danger, insanity, and irresponsible, even antisocial. But ALL good coaches know that it is “Good form, performed consistently then introduce intensity” Now that is a rubbish tag line or sound bite. I would like to see the Guardian spin that one into a negative.

Crossfit is a sport and therefore will attract all three of the “Risk Types” I have described above and a good coach will manage all three effectively. I always see all three types when teaching box jumps in a beginners class. As a community we will continue to be criticised and I welcome this, as this invokes reflection and improvement where needed. I do love our self deprecating humour but this can often be misinterpreted as arrogance. We need to keep engaging with the fitness/sport industry while batting away the unjust criticisms and taking on board those that can improve our sport.  We owe it to all those clients and athletes who part with their hard earned cash, they are our life blood. Without them we would not have a Crossfit box near you nor the Crossfit Games.

Long may we continue to explore the limits of human abilities while occasionally stubbing our toe.