What is CrossFit?

CrossFit is a fitness and conditioning system developed by Coach Greg Glassman through many years of watching, working with, and coaching all types of people – from those considered “normal and average”, to top athletes. Coach Glassman’s idea – take what worked best from the sports and movements that create the most versitile athletes (gymnastics and weightlifting), and throw the rest out. Actually, the system really created itself – if a workout or an exercise proved functional and got great results (ie- challenged you to the bone), it stayed in the system. If not, well, you got the picture. CrossFit is what remains – bar none, the most effective fitness and conditioning system in the world!

One of the things that makes CrossFit unique is that it addresses the fact that the fitness needs of an “Average Joe” are identical to that of a top athlete – the only difference being intensity (speed & weight) and volume. In all cases, the best results come when training included functional movement (that which replicates real life movement), at high intensity and with constant variety. Any exercise program that meets these three criteria can be considered “CrossFit,” from shoveling dirt, hauling rocks and cutting down trees to weightlifting, pull ups and sprinting.

CrossFit has been called “The Sport of Fitness” because it re-introduces personal athletic achievement and performance to training. The mindset at the start of each workout is to be stronger, move faster, more efficiently, with better form than ever. This is why even after years of training CrossFit style, scores and times in workouts continue to drop and athletes continue to improve. Its hard, fun, exciting, challenging, and will push you to be your absolute best!

CrossFit is by design broad, general and inclusive. Its specialty is in not specializing, and its workouts elicit a maximal neuro-endocrine response from your body by taxing your body to its core with variety, intensity, and multiple joint, full body, functional movements. 

Why Crossfit? Results. Period.

CrossFit Programming

Our fitness programming is designed with focus on improving your capacity in ten recognized fitness domains:

Cardio-Respiratory Endurance – The ability of body systems to gather, process, and deliver oxygen.
Stamina – The ability of body systems to process, deliver, store, and utilize energy.
Strength – The ability of a muscular unit, or combination of muscular units, to apply force.
Flexibility – The ability to maximize the range of motion at a given joint.
Power – The ability of a muscular unit, or combination of muscular units, to apply maximum force in minimum time.
Speed – The ability to minimize the time cycle of a repeated movement.
Coordination – The ability to combine several distinct movement patterns into a singular distinct movement.
Agility – The ability to minimize transition time from one movement pattern to another.
Balance – The ability to control the placement of the body’s center of gravity in relation to its support base.
Accuracy – The ability to control movement in a given direction or at a given intensity.

Portions adapted from and courtesy of CrossFit. 

How is CrossFit different?

In gyms and health clubs throughout the world the typical workout consists of isolation movements and extended aerobic sessions. The fitness community from trainers to the magazines has the exercising public believing that lateral raises, curls, leg extensions, sit-ups and the like combined with 20-40 minute stints on the stationary bike or treadmill are going to lead to some kind of great fitness. Well, at CrossFit we work exclusively with compound movements and shorter high intensity cardiovascular sessions. We’ve replaced the lateral raise with push-press, the curl with pull-ups, and the leg extension with squats. For every long distance effort our athletes will do five or six at short distance.

Why? Because compound or functional movements and high intensity or anaerobic cardio is radically more effective at eliciting nearly any desired fitness result. Startlingly, this is not a matter of opinion but solid irrefutable scientific fact and yet the marginally effective old ways persist and are nearly universal. Our approach is consistent with what is practiced in elite training programs associated with major university athletic teams and professional sports. CrossFit endeavors to bring state-of-the-art coaching techniques to the general public and athlete who haven’t access to current technologies, research, and coaching methods.