Culture Shift

When I first discovered Crossfit, I made a great effort to share my good fortune with the world. I was the guy who posted his first Fran time in his Facebook status (just ONCE. And I have matured a lot since then). I tried to recruit friends to do Saturday morning “free WODs”. I wore my Crossfit t-shirts to the supermarket to buy coconut milk and Sunbutter.

I was pretty shameless.

All of my efforts resulted in a huge movement of Crossfit haters that I am totally and individually responsible for creating. Crossfit is not for everyone, I get it.

But lately, my Crossfit-hating friends (and family members) have been trying to beat me down, not with their own reasons for rejecting Crossfit (“it’s too hard”, “I don’t have time”, “I’m addicted to gluten and Cheetos”, blah, blah, blah) but with a new reason for why I should reject Crossfit.

“It’s gone mainstream”, they say.

I admit, one of the attractive qualities of Crossfit for me was that it was kind of edgy and “underground”. It rejects the traditional gym culture and widely accepted treadmill-philosophy of fitness (literally). For the ultimate non-jock like me, that scored them a lot of extra-cool points.

Of course, this dynamic also creates a reverse-snob effect that Crossfit kind of perpetuates. There’s no shortage of “globo-gym jokes” amongst Crossfitters and the tendency to stamp “Forging Elite Fitness” on anything stationary only fortifies the argument that Crossfit does have its own kind of ego problem.

But now that Crossfit boxes seem to be outgrowing the boundaries of grassroots exclusivity into strip malls and fitness clubs, my Crossfit-hater friends are quick to point out the hypocrisy of the new mass appeal of Crossfit. How can it be elite if everyone is doing it?

First of all, despite the “elite” fitness that Crossfit claims to forge, Crossfit was never “elitist” to me. In every box that I have been to, the athletes come in all shapes, sizes and athletic levels -- some of them are elite athletes, and many of us are not. But all are always welcomed.

OK, a part of me wishes that it could stay as it was. I am not a fan of corporate sponsors and big Crossfit events like the Crossfit Games. I think that the stardom of athletes and the promotion of the games distracts from everything that I enjoy most about Crossfit.

But whether Crossfit achieves mainstream appeal, big corporate sponsorships or even globo-gym-level recognition is irrelevant – Crossfit will never be for everyone (the Equinox crowd will never give up eucalyptus-scented towels for torn, chalked hands and ab-mat burns).

And there is no hypocrisy, no moral conflict with promoting Crossfit to a mass audience. Elite fitness has nothing to do with exclusivity. Hell, if I can do it, anyone can do it.

Nightline clips, the Crossfit Games and its celebrities will bring new interest to Crossfit and that might turn off some hardcore Crossfit veterans and empower some of my favorite Crossfit haters. Personally, I like to see the new faces that graduate from the on ramp classes into my regular 7PM class. And I like to see the coaches enjoy some success and recognition for all of their hard work. As the box grows, so does the programming…it’s a win for everyone, really.