Crossfit is neat in principle but most of the affiliates do a terrible job of the programming.
If you want to just do cardio with barbells and feel dead after every workout, Crossfit is great. But feeling like you are going to puke because they just run you into the ground doesn't mean you are necessarily getting a good workout. You are using a lot of energy, and thus burning a lot of calories (as well as training your cardiovascular system) sure, but you won't get very strong.
Crossfit works because anything works for someone who is brand new to training. You will build some muscle and get a little stronger because you are doing something but once you adapt to the stress that Crossfit provides, you won't really get much further without some dedicated strength programming (which is what a lot of the good affiliates use to supplement the WODs.)
I don't really like Crossfit because the "programming" is kind of ridiculous. I don't know if you saw the Games Open WOD from a few weeks ago where you had to work up to a 210 snatch for max reps in like 12 minutes, but that sort of thing is insane and a good way to hurt yourself. Olympic lifts aren't meant to be performed for as many reps as possible for time, especially at heavy loads. I also am not a big fan of the elitist attitude that Crossfit seems to promote. It's funny because the people who win the Crossfit Games are never people who actually follow Crossfit's "programming", so Crossfit doesn't even win at it's own game, let alone at making people "good at everything".
It can definitely be a good environment though with the right coaches, and it's great for motivation. It just really lacks the strength component, and all physical activity relies on strength. The WOD yesterday was like 225 pound squats for 21-15-9 reps, supersetted with 36kg KB swings for the same rep scheme. You have to be fairly strong to get through that workout in a reasonable pace, and you aren't going to get strong without training to be strong. If your max squat is 275, that workout is damn near impossible, and you have to move slowly because you aren't strong enough to make the reps, so you don't get the conditioning effect that Crossfit is intended to provide. For someone who can squat 500, the workout is a lot more reasonable although still a ball buster, but form breakdown doesn't become an issue and the weight is not heavy enough to hurt that person, whereas it could seriously injure a weaker person.
What affiliate is it that you go to, got a website? Would be interested to look at their programming. If they have open gym times (not common for Crossfit gyms but some do) you can always go in and work on building your strength individually while still doing 3 or 4 metcons per week for the group experience.
I train with a couple of friends in a garage, one is a huge Crossfit nut. But we focus primarily on strength and use barbell complexes, the Prowler and hill sprints for conditioning. If it helps for perspective, strength training is actually a way bigger hobby to me than music, haha... At the last meet I did in December I squatted 473, benched 330 and deadlifted 512 in the 220 weight class. I've since deadlifted 550 but haven't attempted to beat the other numbers.
Also, Crossfit is fucking expensive.
