What is CrossFit?

By: Giovanni Curcio

What is it about CrossFit that I’m not getting?

I used to ask myself that, time and time again.

Some call it a cult. Some a family. Others, call it insanity.

Regardless of how it’s been labelled since its advent nearly a decade ago, one thing is certain: CrossFit is not a fad, it is a fitness insurgency – a call to arms, of sorts – and its followers continue to grow in number at an exponential rate each day.

In 2005, there was a mere 13 known CrossFit-affiliated “boxes” nationwide; today, that number has far surpassed 10,000.

Sure, there are naysayers – throughout history, there always have been, in the face of revolution – and much of the scorn CrossFit endures is largely due to its ambiguous origin rooted somewhere in between a fitness regimen and a sport.

Well. It’s both. And it’s neither.

CrossFit is a monster entirely in its own class – a chimera of primal and perennial philosophy.

The first time I set foot inside a “box” (a term affectionately used by avid practitioners to describe a gym specifically engineered for CrossFit workouts), I admit, I was overwhelmed.

To be surrounded by fitness aficionados can be intimidating enough, but CrossFitters aren’t your typical lot of protein-crazed, cardio-addicted gym rats; CrossFitters aren’t the sort to isolate in a corner and count reps in a lonely routine.

No. CrossFitters understand that a community is only as strong as its weakest link. No man, or woman, are left behind during a WOD (workout of the day), and stranger or not, you can expect to be cheered on to your very last repetition, to your very last breath before you collapse.

And that’s what CrossFit does differently: it values community.

In a society that’s so ironically disconnected through a myriad of social media, CrossFit has found the formula to bring you back to your primal roots as a hunter-gatherer tribe member; CrossFit returns the humanity behind ancient practices that enabled average men and women to accomplish the unimaginable.

You won’t understand that until it’s you, lying there face-down in your own sweat and blood, but once you experience the benevolence of a CrossFit family, you’ll wonder how you ever went without it.

And I didn’t understand it either, until I too, took the plunge.

Only then was the veil lifted from my eyes; only then could I truly feel connected with that mystical source that seemed to energize its practitioners with endless determination and courage.

You see, it’s not about how heavy you can lift. It’s not about how many repetitions you can do. It’s not about how fast you are, or how agile, or how exact.

To focus on these superficial accomplishments would be missing the point entirely.

CrossFit is about the people standing beside you, to your left and right, and experiencing together, as a family, just how far you can push your limits.

CrossFit is about achieving what others deem impossible – while never forgetting that you belong to a community of unconditional love and respect.

So ask yourself – are you ready to join us, and accomplish miracles?