Last week CrossFit Headquarters took down its social media accounts (yes, there’s actually a “delete account” button). That’s right.
You can read that first sentence again and let it sink in a bit. Facebook and CrossFit’s three main Instagram accounts are gone, totaling somewhere around 6 million followers.
I wanted to take a moment to chat through what’s going on and what it means for you and CrossFit Roots. It seems natural that when any big change like this happens, athletes would start to question what it means for them and their gym.
Everyone inside (and outside) the CrossFit space seems to have an opinion about it – brand suicide, smart forward-thinking visionary, social media insanity, revolt against the gimmicky fitness environment, privacy policy backlash, etc. and you can read more about it here or here.
Next week CrossFit Roots will turn 10 years old.
That’s ten years of workouts, improved health, friendships, community, and a hell of a lot of fun. I don’t know what the outcome of the lack of social media presence will be and in many ways, I don’t care, or maybe I don’t have time to care, or perhaps I’m just used to the chaos from above.
My first thought goes to “how will this affect our members, our team, and their relationships with CrossFit?” And what do we need to do to innovate and move forward? Because, CrossFit – the theory and method works – and each of you have proven that over the past ten years.
Go to the Information
The trickle-down effect of bonafide CrossFit content will decrease on social media. CrossFit often posted informative or educational videos, and it was easy to share them with you, or you might have even seen them as part of your news feed from other CrossFit friends throughout the world. This passive process will no longer be the case, and you’ll have to go to the information. It’s important to go to the information because it helps us grow and to understand CrossFit better.
Here are are a few places to start:
Go Class and Talk to Your Coaches
Come to class, let us lead you through CrossFit, work hard for us, ask questions, rely on us, and let us help you. We’ve pointed you in the right direction for ten years and we’re going to continue to do that year after year.
We’ll notify you of new posts from within the SugarWOD app, on Facebook and Instagram, or you can sign-up for our blog feed. We’ll keep the conversation going on health, fitness, movements, training, nutrition, and the shop.
CrossFit.com (often called The Mainsite)
Dig into The Essentials. Download the Level 1 Training Guide and read it. Ask the coaches questions, apply what you learn.
Whether you were happy to see CrossFit redirect more toward health and fitness, or not, the Games are cool. And the athletes are amazing. We’re all adults here and can make a clear distinction between us – everyday athletes – and them – professional athletes – and realize the difference in training. So we’ll do our thing and then watch them on TV, admire the hell out of them, and come back the next day a little more inspired.
Un-Muddle the Conversation
While we’re losing out on the spread of some great information, there’s probably some negative skewed messages of which we never really wanted in the first place. Obviously, there are CrossFit haters out there (what gives?!), and well, they’re almost more vocal than CrossFitters, which makes for a lot of misinformation out there in the social media space.
Like that one time when you almost had your friend ready to start CrossFit and then she saw some CrossFit video on her feed, read one comment from a person who stated that “CrossFit ruined her life,” and she was out! Yea, maybe we can avoid a few of those situations…
As CrossFit has grown, the message has been muddled. Sure, we know it’s constantly varied, functional movements, executed at high intensity, but there are 7 million posers out there who have their own spin on the arrangement of those eight words. News flash: there is only one CrossFit, and we have a method, theory, application, and it f%#king works. For the folks who say it doesn’t work for them, they’re doing it wrong (see: consistency, nutrition, movement quality, and lack of intensity, to name a few).
Get Back to the Basics
I recommend that everyone go back to the basics or visit the basics for the first time. Immerse yourself in the content, and we’ll keep sharing it on our blog. Why is this important? Because the more we read about the method and theory behind what we do and why we do it, the more we can apply to our daily training, our life, and our health. And the more that we can grow with the information as our CrossFit capacity matures.
It feels a little like we’re going back into the dark ages and for some reason, I’m OK with that. Maybe it’s because the early days of CrossFit felt a lot like the dark ages. It was underground, it was rogue, it was hard.
Eric and I started CrossFit in 2007. Saying you were a CrossFitter was like saying you were an alien visiting from Mars. People looked at you weird or gave you a HARD eye roll. You were obsessed with the CrossFit Journal. You lived for the message boards. You really hoped Annie could get just one muscle up. And you got really tired of people telling you that starting a CrossFit gym was a terrible idea.
But most importantly, you felt as if you were part of something that could actually save the world. You started your gym to help people, and you joined a CrossFit gym because you believed that the world deserved better for health and fitness.
We’ll Have to Tell Our Story
Without CrossFit participating in the conversation online, social media will craft a new CrossFit message on FaceBook and Instagram. I think this means we’ll have to tell our story locally. We have to share the word, tell our friends, and tell them to go visit crossfit.com.
Or maybe you’re tired of trying to convince your friends who continuously admire your progress and results and ask you about CrossFit but have 6 million excuses why it won’t work for them. In those instances, I recommend you just reply with, “Yea, CrossFit sucks, don’t try it.”
A Belief in CrossFit
This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend the Granite Games, one of the CrossFit Sanctionals that offers Scaled, Rx, and Pro divisions for teens, masters, and open.
It’s hard to convey the feelings and emotions that I come away with from those experiences. Whether it’s The Games or a Sanctional, I come away wanting to be a better person. I want to workout harder (notice I didn’t say more), eat better, work harder at my job, be a better Mom and wife, and add efficiency to my life.
The common denominator that brings those people together is openness and belief that fitness is a journey, and they’d rather be part of it than stand on the sidelines. And an unyielding belief in the method of CrossFit.
If you have never participated in or attended a CrossFit competition, I can’t recommend it highly enough – it’s not about competing, it’s about the experience and what you walk away with. It renews the vigor that motivates you daily. And who doesn’t want that?
Change is only scary if you fear change. As we turn the page and head into the next ten years, I only have love, admiration, and a heartfelt thank you to take with me into the next ten years.
This is your gym, we are CrossFit, now let’s go workout.
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