What is Cross Fit, Anyways?

What is Cross Fit, Anyways?

If you've walked through any urban neighborhood in the last decade, you've likely passed a CrossFit box — their doors flung open and revealing people flipping giant tires, climbing ropes and performing Olympic lifts while coaches shout encouragement from the sidelines. 

If you've ever wondered what exactly goes on inside these industrial-looking gyms that have proliferated across American cities, or whether CrossFit is just another fitness trend, here's all you need to know about the community that’s effectively become a culture in itself! 

All you need to know about CrossFit

A brief history of CrossFit

CrossFit wasn't born in a corporate boardroom or developed by a team of sports scientists. Instead, it emerged from the vision of Greg Glassman, a former gymnast and personal trainer from Santa Cruz, California.

In 2000, Glassman officially founded CrossFit after spending years developing his training methodology throughout the 1990s. His approach combined elements from gymnastics, Olympic weightlifting, calisthenics and high-intensity interval training into one comprehensive fitness program. The first CrossFit gym — or "box" as insiders call it — opened in Santa Cruz, becoming the birthplace of what would grow into a global fitness revolution.

What began as one gym and a simple website offering daily workouts quickly expanded into a franchised empire. In 2005, there were just 13 affiliated CrossFit boxes; by 2012, that number had exploded to over 3,400 worldwide! Today, according to the official CrossFit website, more than 12,000 affiliated gyms exist across the globe.

The growth of CrossFit was accelerated by its competitive element of training, and in 2007, the first CrossFit Games were held at Director of the CrossFit Games Dave Castro's family ranch in Aromas, California. What started as a small gathering of about 70 athletes at an employee's house has evolved into a major sporting event with hundreds of thousands of participants in the qualification stages and millions of dollars in prize money for winners.

Throughout its expansion, CrossFit has maintained its core philosophy — preparing people for the "unknown and unknowable" through constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity. This preparation, according to CrossFit methodology, creates well-rounded athletes ready for any physical challenge.

What makes CrossFit different from other forms of exercise?

Walk into a typical globo gym (CrossFit-speak for commercial fitness centers), and you'll likely see people isolating muscle groups on machines, trudging along on cardio equipment or following the same routine they've done for years. CrossFit turns this conventional approach to fitness upside down in several distinctive ways that have come to represent the brand as a whole.

Community-centric approach

Perhaps the most noticeable difference when entering a CrossFit box is the atmosphere. Rather than individuals with headphones working out alone, you'll find groups training together and  encouraging each other through challenging workouts. This community aspect is not incidental—it's actually foundational to the CrossFit experience.

Group training environments have been shown to significantly increase motivation and commitment to fitness programs, and CrossFit leverages this through its class structure; members are encouraged to work out together, build relationships and hold each other accountable throughout their workouts!

Workout programming

CrossFit workouts, known as W.O.D.s (a.k.a. “workout of the day”), follow a distinctive pattern that separates them from conventional exercise programs.

First, they're constantly varied. You'll rarely do the same exact workout twice in a short period, which prevents adaptation plateaus and keeps training fresh and engaging.

Second, they combine multiple fitness domains in single sessions. While traditional programs might separate strength and cardiovascular training into different days, CrossFit integrates strength, endurance, flexibility, power, speed, coordination and agility into comprehensive workouts.

Third, they're measurable and repeatable, as each workout has specific parameters that allow athletes to track their progress over time. When you revisit benchmark workouts months later, you can precisely measure your improvement!

Functional movement focus

CrossFit emphasizes movements that mirror real-life activities, so instead of isolating muscles on machines, CrossFit prioritizes compound, multi-joint movements that enhance your capability to perform everyday tasks. This functional approach trains the body as an integrated system rather than a collection of separate parts.

Studies have found that functional fitness training produces significant improvements in overall physical capacity and quality of life, especially as we age. By practicing movements like squatting, lifting, pushing and pulling with proper form under load, CrossFitters develop practical strength that translates directly to daily activities.

Intensity as a cornerstone

While many fitness programs emphasize duration over intensity (think long, moderate cardio sessions), CrossFit flips this equation. Most CrossFit workouts are relatively short—typically 5 to 25 minutes—but performed at very high intensity.

This high-intensity approach triggers what exercise physiologists call E.P.O.C. (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption), or the "afterburn effect," where your body continues burning calories at an elevated rate for hours after the workout ends. If you’re short on time but still want to get a workout in, then high-intensity interval training provides comparable (or superior) benefits to traditional endurance training in significantly less time.

CrossFit's remarkable growth from a single gym in Santa Cruz to a global movement with over 12,000 affiliated boxes speaks to its distinctive and popular approach to fitness. By combining functional movements, community support, measurable results and high-intensity workouts, CrossFit has created a training methodology that challenges conventional exercise paradigms.

What truly sets CrossFit apart, however, isn't just the physical results — though those can be impressive — but the way it transforms fitness from a solitary pursuit into a shared journey. The community aspect creates accountability and connection that many find missing in traditional gym environments, while the varied programming keeps both body and mind engaged.

Whether you're intrigued by the competitive aspect, the efficiency of the workouts or the focus on real-world physical capability, CrossFit offers a comprehensive approach to fitness that has resonated with millions worldwide. Give it a try, and you might find yourself a convert in no time!

Have fun!

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Featured photo by Meghan Holmes on Unsplash

Second photo by Victor Freitas on Unsplash

Third photo by Corey Young on Unsplash