I find this to be anywhere between comical and pathetic depending on the day considering both disciplines are referred to by so many people outside of them as cults. So let's compare:
Diet
Bodybuilders eat a pretty strict diet as do the dedicated CrossFitters. What's even more comical is how close those diets are. CrossFit is often associated with the Paleo diet - lean protein, vegetables, a little fat, a little fruit when not cutting weight. Hmm.... where have I seen this before? A standard prep diet perhaps? Over and over and over. Next is the Zone Diet also linked with CrossFit - prescribed portions of protein, carbohydrates and fat eaten five times a day. Ok, so most bodybuilders eat 6-8 times a day but really, how different is it? Next.
Coaches
Talk about the collision of two cults. There are some really fucked up contest prep "gurus" out there - butt cream, corsets, three hours of cardio, 800 calorie diets and they see no problem when you are freezing your ass off in 100 degree heat with your hair falling out. And if the next prep takes 4 hours of cardio and 600 calories? Oh well, that is what you gotta do. Metabolic damage anyone? Now CF has its share of fucked up coaches too - anyone with access to YouTube can back that. Yep, there are CF coaches out there that shouldn't be allowed to design there own workouts never mind lead a group of people that may or may not be in shape. CF done wrong is dangerous and dumb people doing dumb things with dumb coaches are getting hurt. Summary? Both activities have shitty coaches and dumb ass participants. Next.
The General Public
BB's and CF's looks funny. The mainstream - the average soccer mom, yoga goer, weekend softball player, armchair quarterback, fat ass with a million excuses - they all think both groups have way too much muscle - you know, muscle you can see. Eat food that wasn't obtained via a drive thru, cooked in a microwave or packaged up at a factory and you are crazy, a health nut, a cultist. Sure, back in the 1970's there was some popular media that covered major bodybuilders alike Arnold and others of his era. Now The CrossFit Games get some air time but I don't expect that to last forever. Something else will come along and take its place. Let's get real, ESPN considers poker to be a sport. Non-mainstream athletes won't be there long. You know, like music on MTV. Can someone explain the difference again?
Society Overall
Different disciplines, different goals. And in many ways, understandable to only those that participate. The average person doesn't grasp the concept of standing on stage in 4 inches of fabric to be judged solely on how you look. Isn't the whole think a lot like Toddlers & Tiaras for adults? A whole day dedicated to triceps? Delts? Calves? Really? The average person also doesn't grasp olympic lifting, sprinting and powerlifting by themselves, let alone muddled up in a big mess called a WOD. Golf they get. Tennis they get. A bunch of people of all shapes and sizes running backwards down the road cheering each other on they don't get. Different work outs, different confusion for the average person. End result? Neither group will be accepted by society at large any time soon.
What makes me different from the shit talkers I refer to in the beginning? I've done both so I know of what I speak. I was never an elite figure competitor and I am not an awesome CrossFitter. Neither define me as a person as they do for some many participants. I have other friends that have done both - concurrently, one first than the other, switching back and forth - but the one thing I note of those that have done both? None of them talk shit like the ones that haven't tried the other side.
What is that saying? Something like until you have walked a mile in my shoes shut the fuck up?
