When the subject of CrossFit comes up in a conversation, such as a friend asking you how you stay in shape, have you ever heard someone say, "Oh I can't do that (CrossFit), that's too extreme.” Or maybe they say, "That's for physical freaks" or "those people are nuts.” If you have been doing this (CrossFit) for any time at all I am sure you have heard something pretty similar. Hell, there is a good chance you said the same thing yourself at some point before you started.
This drives me crazy! It drives me crazy because this is so far from the essence of what makes CrossFit special. This is a complete misrepresentation of the genius of the original idea Greg Glassman had 20 years ago. This is why the CrossFit Games have been bad for CrossFit.
If you are a diehard CrossFitter like me, after reading that last line you probably want to tell me to go F myself and then stop reading. Don't stop reading. Trust me and follow me to the conclusion of this thought process. I’m a big fan of The CrossFit Games. I'm like one of those Green Bay Packers fans with a huge foam cheese hat on sitting in the bleachers in Wisconsin in December freezing their asses off and having a blast doing it. I love the sport of CrossFit, but I love CrossFit itself even more. There is a difference.
When Coach Glassman came up with his idea of CrossFit he essentially re-invented the wheel from a fitness perspective. He turned the standard ideas of what it means to be fit and how you get there upside down. He was called a heretic and he was attacked as one. This attack continues today. He is also a very smart and very stubborn man and he set out to prove his point through a number of different ways. The CrossFit Games was one of those ways. While there is still some argument around it, it is widely accepted that the CrossFit method will produce humans with the highest physical capabilities. Even non-CrossFitters will acknowledge that CrossFit has set a whole new level of expectations for what the human body is capable of by combining strength, skill, and endurance all together. But he (Glassman) has almost succeeded too much into what the CrossFit Games have become and I believe this is why you have seen a shift in CrossFit HQ's focus on what they consider (most) important.
Because saying the CrossFit Games is CrossFit is like saying that Formula One or Nascar racing is driving. Are you a Nascar driver? Do you drive a car? If you don't want to race at 200 miles an hour does that mean you don't want to drive a car or that you aren't a good driver? We all understand the difference. Nascar and Formula One are the extreme end of a sport that involves something most of us do pretty frequently, something that we all need to do and a lot of us really enjoy doing. Unfortunately though, this difference is NOT understood when it comes to CrossFit.
The true genius of CrossFit is that it is the best way for all of us to get something we all want, to live a long, healthy life and feel good while we are alive. Do you want this? Is this something you think your neighbor wants? Is this something the people you work with want?
If you don't like being alive then we need to have a different discussion, but if you do I think we all want to be healthy while we are alive. We want to be able to do what we want to do and go where we need to go. We don't want our physical body to limit what we want to do with our day to day life.
This is our mission here at King William District CrossFit. One day when people think of CrossFit, they won't think of some person doing a 300 pound Clean and Jerk and then swinging around on the rings seemingly defying gravity. When they think of CrossFit, they will think of their neighbors, the family of 4 they see barbecuing in their backyard, maybe even their grandma still living independently when she’s 90. They will think of their co-worker, the nice guy who talks about going hiking on the weekends with his grandkids.
We want to help you be as fit as you want to be, to live a positive life filled with activity and learning. We want to help you fulfill your goals with what you do with your life. Being fit may allow you to ride horses or keep up with your grandkids or play music. Whatever you like doing and need to do in life, if you are more physically fit you will be able to do it better. And, we can (almost) guarantee you that will happen if you basically do three things:
Show up to class 3-6x a week
Eat whole foods
Keep a positive attitude as much as possible
If your number one goal is to absolutely get as physically capable as you can, we can help with that too. But for most of us, being fit allows us to do the other stuff in our lives we want to do.
We are your neighborhood gym for people who want to be fit and live a healthy life.
So the next time someone says CrossFit is not for them, unless their goal is to be chronically sick and die young, they are misinformed and wrong. We are the people in your neighborhood.
-Dan