How Should Crossfit Balance Its Two Competing Cultures?

[christhasrisen2000]

@reginabrown

This culture seems to resonate more with those over 40, beginners, or those wary of injuries.

I disagree too that is is only for that group.

That is why I phrased it as "resonate more with"

 

[reginabrown]

@christhasrisen2000 Thanks for clarifying

 

[oddrob]

@christhasrisen2000 Crossfit/functional fitness as a sport only has to benefit from dissociating with HQ. In a micro perspective, box owners already do what’s in their best interest, there’s no reason to expect any sort of standardization from boxes all over the world.

The truth is the growth of the brand was always limited, its revenue will always be limited and the longer the “modality” existe the more independent brands will show up out of big local boxes and such.

I live in Brazil and people here are crazy about physical activities and Crossfit is huge here. There are “companies” with 5 CF boxes in a same city. Their brand is already bigger than their association with Crossfit. IMHO it’s only a matter of time before they dissociate.

 

[christhasrisen2000]

@oddrob Is Crossfit as expensive in Brazil as it is in the US? (Average price seems to be around $200/month)

 

[oddrob]

@christhasrisen2000 Even more I’d say.

If it was literally 200USD converted to BRL it’d be more expensive, it’d be about 1000BRL, at the average rates it’s 300-350BRL. Sounds cheap in dollars but that’s about 15% of an average house income.

 

[grace4nan]

@christhasrisen2000

... I'm not sure what a less "RX-y" Crossfit would even look like

There's no way forward. I'll quote myself from yesterday:

"A bit tangential, but it always botherd me that beacuse it's not under one top brand, 'gym training' is never considered - at least in CF circles - to have impacted a lot more lives positively.

Don't tell me that resistance training + cardio in globo gyms is really less effective than CF. And a lot more people go to globo gyms, paying less."

The whole CrosssFit model has reached it's potential, it was basically good to make one person rich. The world has entered a turbulent era again, and especially with the currency exchange rates it won't grow much further. And all the gyms (even affiliates) always had the freedom to cater to any kind of clientele anyway.

 

[borikua]

@christhasrisen2000 The problem with the CrossFit is Medicine group is that:
1. It ignores the history of CF and what made it popular. GG has some pretty famous quotes about falling off rings or puking during workouts. This is the DNA of CF and to leave it fully is to give up what made you successful in the first place.
1. CF is honestly just not that great of an exercise is medicine strategy. It’s not bad at all, and doing CF will for sure get you healthier but there are better methods if health and longevity are your primary goals.

The larger problem is that unless CF HQ decides to actually start auditing and mandating specific practices CF will always have this issue because each box owner has huge freedom in how they run their box.

 

[dawn16]

@borikua To #2… what is better?

 

[catholicnewbie]

@dawn16 I’m also here for this

 

[lovereading]

@dawn16 Same!

 

[meadowgold]

@christhasrisen2000 Not a direct answer to your question, but how does CrossFit balance those two aspects with the Jesus freak anti-vax police fetishizing general right wing nutbaggery?

 

[christhasrisen2000]

@meadowgold I think that is a VERY localized issue in some parts of the country and agree that those sorts of boxes are a reflection of the neighborhood they are in rather than Crossfit.

My experience is that Crossfit is a very open, accepting environment, which stems from the general ethos of everyone supporting everyone during the WOD/we're all in this together.

 

[meadowgold]

@christhasrisen2000 I hope you are right. Obviously I don't know the hearts and minds of every crossfitter. I have been a part of two different gyms and fairly plugged into the social scene at both. Before 2020 I thought it was a great group of people at both gyms. Then all the masks came off in 2020 in response to all the major events that year.

A lot of the most charismatic 'positive' friendly people at the gym outted themselves as total pieces of shit who would be quite happy if 33 percent of the country were marched into concentration camps and exterminated. I know that sounds like hyperbole but it's not

 

[thunderstruck]

@meadowgold Because this isn’t really a thing.

The crowd at your box looks like the people in your neighborhood, because that’s who goes there.

 

[catholic_with_a_mic]

@christhasrisen2000 Forging elite fitness is the name of the game. It is equal parts of the cure for chronic disease and making the fittest on earth.

CrossFit works.

Gyms can lean into either as much as they want or not, but CrossFit is both. CrossFit is what the L1 says it is. It is what the CrossFit Journal says it is.

And these "two parts" have always, before affiliates, before the games, been both.

 

[christhasrisen2000]

@catholic_with_a_mic I hear you. But I think many struggle with squaring the "elite fitness" part with the "get grandpa off the couch" part, and that seems to be affecting growth, especially given the $200/month price point many gyms are at.

I've always been surprised that Crossfit Corporate hasn't done market research, both on current members and on potential members to see why current members love it and why potential members are hesitant to join.

There are a lot of assumptions about why but I have not seen any actual studies. (Though, to be fair, Corporate may well have done them internally)

 

[thunderstruck]

@christhasrisen2000 Delete the games.

It’s really that easy, but vanity is a thing and the loudest CrossFitters are those who think it’s more than exercise

 

[theinformer]

@christhasrisen2000 They aren’t competing, people just don’t listen and/or coaches have undeveloped communication skills to persuade people into sucking up their egos.

 

[antcart]

@christhasrisen2000 I have not heard the "Crossfit is medicine" message since Greg left.