What type of person joins a CrossFit gym?  Why do they stay with CrossFit year after year?

Are they young, fit, athletic people?  Are they former athletes trying to relive the glory years?

The truth is there is no one type of person that joins a CrossFit gym.

CrossFit gyms are unique fitness facilities that attract people for a variety of reasons.  Sure, everyone wants to be in better shape.  People want to be healthier.  People, for the most part, understand the value of exercise and proper nutrition even if they don’t quite know how to go about it.  These are the most common reasons that people join our gym.  But why people stay with it year after year is often different.

We refer to our members as athletes.   My friend Josh Martin, owner of CrossFit For Glory, puts it this way:

You are an athlete.

Yes, YOU.

You play the “Sport of Life.”

You don’t have goals to make it on the field as a starter. You’re not looking to go pro. You’re not training for Team USA.

But you do want to get in good shape and be fit. And have fun doing it.

You’ve got kids (grandkids?) to chase around, groceries to pick up, and meetings to sit through.

You’ve got life. That’s where we come in. Our CrossFit classes are designed especially for you. The best part is that there is a community of like-minded individuals here to encourage you along the way.

So, why do these people do this hard work, year after year, at our gym?

The Goal Driven Athlete

Many of our athletes have things that they want to accomplish both within the gym and outside of the gym and our workouts are central to their ability to hit their goals.  Maybe your goal is to lose weight.  Perhaps you want to be able to run your first 5K.  Maybe you have aspirations to be a competitive CrossFit athlete and test your abilities against (arguably) some of the fittest people in the world.  Maybe you want to hit personal records on your bench press, squat, deadlift, or clean and jerk.

These athletes stick with our training program because they have seen, first hand, how our coaching and programming has helped them reach their goals and has inspired them to make new goals year after year.  They lost 30 pounds, ran their first 5K, have lifted heavier at 40 than they did at 20, and have gotten into the best shape of their lives.  They work HARD because their hard work yields results.

The “Tick the Box” Athlete

Exercise is important.  Strength, flexibility, endurance, stamina, speed, agility, balance, coordination, power, and accuracy make for a healthier body and increased longevity.  These athletes understand this.  They know that our programming is centered around these fitness domains even if they don’t think about it in these specific terms.  Do these athletes love CrossFit?  Some do.  All love the results.  It’s hard work.  It’s the effort effect that helps them tick the “I did my exercise today because it is good for me and I need to do it, even if I don’t like it” box.  These athletes don’t care about competing in the CrossFit games, they aren’t looking to run and marathon, and they couldn’t care less about their one rep max clean and jerk.  They stay, year after year, because they know that they NEED to exercise and they know that there is no better way to achieve a broad range of health and fitness than CrossFit.

The Social Athlete

Now, don’t get me wrong.  These athletes have goals and they know that they look and feel better by coming to the gym.  And most of them LOVE CrossFit.  But the reason why they stay year after year is the thing that makes CrossFit gyms different from other health and fitness centers.  Here, everyone knows your name.  They know your spouse and kids’ names.  They know that your kids play sports.  They’ve probably been to their games to cheer them on.  They know when you need prayer and encouragement.  They know when you need to be called out and humbled and they know when you need a helping hand.

Because CrossFit gyms usually have a smaller membership, you see the same people all the time.  You share this common experience; workouts that challenging, fun, different, and make you have to dig deep at times.  People cheer you on.  They want to see you succeed as much as they want a taste of that same success.  For these athletes, the other members become their “gym family”.  We’ve had marriages, best friendships, parties, cookouts, outings, sports events, charitable events…  These athletes come back year after year because of the strong sense of community that they get from CrossFit 2311.

So, which one are you.  Which one could you see yourself becoming?  Could you be all three rolled into one?  A lot of our members are.

You join a gym because you want to get into better shape.  You know that you should do it.  You might not be sure how to do it.  Maybe you need a coach, a teammate, a workout buddy.  Maybe you need a program that will help you get out of a rut in order to reach your goals.  Whatever your “WHY” is, don’t waste time.  Your health is too important.  You might be scared, nervous, intimidated…  So was everyone else.  They quickly realized that those self-imposed barriers were unfounded.  They learned that a CrossFit gym is a place where people want you to succeed and the coaches are here to make sure of it.  You don’t have to be competitive, you don’t have to be involved in the social aspect of the gym, and you don’t need to be an “exercise junkie” who eats, sleeps, and breathes CrossFit.  You just have to be YOU.

You can schedule a free 20 minute consultation here to find out how we can help you.