Members at Oxford CrossFit workout Tuesday. PHOTO BY: JASON ZHANG
Rule one of CrossFit: Always talk about CrossFit. So, let’s talk about CrossFit.
The American College of Sports Medicine listed functional fitness as one of the top 10 fitness trends for 2015, and CrossFit boasts high-intensity functional fitness for all age groups.
Since 2005, CrossFit-affiliated gyms have grown from 13 to a whopping 7,000.
Two of those can be found here in Oxford: CrossFit 38655 and Oxford CrossFit.
The CrossFit “cult,” as it is often referred to by both those who do it and those who don’t, measures fitness by increased work-capacity across broad times and modal domains.
For those who don’t speak fitness, CrossFit 38655 manager Hayley Gregory explained it further.
“You’re basically trying to do constantly changing workouts so that the body is allowed to be constantly changing and constantly improving,” she said. “We really try to be careful about looking at the goals of the individual and then letting CrossFit meet them wherever that is.”
Those goals are so important at CrossFit 38655 that the members cover an entire wall: checklists of long-term fitness goals from “do a one-handed pull-up” to “exercise all 40 weeks of my pregnancy.”
However, some question how the execution of CrossFit differs from any other fitness regimen.
Jeremy Loenneke, an assistant professor in the exercise science department at The University of Mississippi, expressed his uncertainty about CrossFit’s idea of functional fitness.
“I think it’s probably functional to be doing any type of fitness,” he said. “I think being stronger is usually functional in itself. I also don’t know how many times you’re Olympic lifting during daily activities.”
Oxford CrossFit owner, Brady Williamson, claims Olympic lifting is only a small part of the bigger picture.
“Some of the things we do that may seem less functional—like climbing a rope—but it strengthens everything from your fingers to your toes and your spine,” he said. “But all of the exercises we do are going to help you in the rest of your life, whether it’s carrying around a baby or just doing work around the house.”
Gregory admitted that, at one point, even she doubted CrossFit’s claims.
“I was an athlete in college, and I had a negative opinion of (CrossFit),” she said. “It was really me not giving it a shot. At that point, I thought it was a fad. Now, I don’t really see an end to it. Even if it transitions into something else, I don’t think it will ever die out.”
The reason, according to both Gregory and Williamson, has a lot to do with the community aspect of CrossFit.
“Typically fitness is a transient thing,” Gregory said. “CrossFit makes it permanent. The community aspect is what keeps members. A lot of people wouldn’t push themselves on their own.”
CrossFit 38655 member Tonell Jones agreed that the community aspect was a big reason she loves CrossFit. She also explained why CrossFit has it and other fitness regimens don’t.
“We have to go in there and get broken down, to the point where we’re almost in tears during some (Workouts of the Day),” Jones said. “Seeing someone else struggle like that from the same workout that you are doing makes you want to cheer for them. Somehow, encouraging them helps you continue moving.”
But Jones thinks there is an even bigger reason CrossFit will increase in popularity.
“The gender norms it is capable of destroying is one major reason it will stick around,” she said, comparing the ability of women and men to lift weights.
Jones also described how CrossFit is helping to break down society’s psychological conditioning of women.
“The most important difference for me was that shift in focus from losing weight to gaining weight,” she said. “I can’t tell you how many women in our gym would constantly speak proudly about how fit their thighs and their butts were getting.”
While some believe CrossFit’s popularity will fade with its trendiness, loyal CrossFitters will continue to use the program as a method of self-improvement.
“Here, you don’t avoid your weaknesses,” Williamson said. “Every time you see a weakness, you have to focus on it. It gives you the ability to not be afraid of anything.”
And, of course, people will continue talking about CrossFit.
“CrossFit has completely changed the way I view myself: mentally, physically and emotionally,” Jones said.
