About the Author:
Tom Mathis is a local fitness enthusiast who blogs at Cakehole Management. In this post, he writes from a perspective in the future, highlighting the ideas that will have turned CrossFit into a "global spectacle."
I remember trying to enjoy the “Reebok CrossFit Games way back in 2014. Although the Crossfit Games started in 2007, it wasn’t until Reebok’s corporate sponsorship and the introduction of the Open Competition in 2011 that really ignited the CrossFit's growth from a cult following to the global spectacle we enjoy today.
In 2014 it was hard to be a CrossFit Fan in the United States. Following the Games entailed a combination of streaming live feeds on the internet, a switch to ESPN3, then another jump to ESPN2, and a last flip to ESPN for some of the final events. All of this flip-flopping was as annoying as a skinned knee from a box jump; I remember not even bothering to watch the last day of the 2014 Competition. Instead, I tried to stay abreast via Twitter feeds. Weeks later, I finally found a chance to watch the 2014 Finals. The experience almost caused me to stop being a CrossFit fan, but thankfully, positive changes to the competition made my 2015 fan experience, and every year since, far less frustrating and more engaging.
2014 also marked the first year the Games no longer had Tony Budding at the helm of CrossFit HQs media department. Tony Budding didn’t really leave CrossFit per se when he started the National Pro Fitness League, now known popularly as the National Pro Grid League (NPGL) (Go DC Brawlers). I feel Budding’s departure fostered the expansion of CrossFit, because to the layman, CrossFit and the NPGL – uh, look the same and have many of the same athletes. I often speculated if Budding’s departure had anything to do with the somewhat marred televised coverage of the 2014 Games where the announcer’s comments rarely related to what was being televised on the field of play. Of course back then, there were only a couple of cameras on the field; today every competing athlete has full-time camera coverage and fans can select which Athlete(s) or Team(s) they want to watch compete in each event. This capability really helps sponsors know who the fan’s favorites are and explains why some more colorful athletes have great sponsorships.
2014 was also the last year the Sport of FitnessTM saw a serial Games Champion of the likes of Rich Froning. Froning pulled a four-peat, that’s right four consecutive CrossFit Games Championships. Froning represented the first wave of the elite genetically gifted CrossFit freaks we routinely observe today. Froning’s combination of natural ability, work ethic, mental fortitude, a bit of good luck, and embracement of CrossFit was a lethal combination that could not be matched.
Back then, Froning’s competition consisted of a field of very hardworking and talented folks – however, the other genetic freaks, like Froning, were not yet CrossFitters. These exceptional folks were caught up in other professional venues and corners of life. Many were already high-paid professional athletes, Special Forces warriors, and/or just regular folks with exceptional physical abilities living “normal” lives. By no means am I saying it was easy for Froning or diminishing his accomplishments, his success hard earned, but many agree he was always in a league of his own. Ultimately, Froning’s economic success with huge sponsorships, made being a professional CrossFitter a viable career choice for the gifted. So, like all successful professional sports, the genetic freaks found a platform to express their potential and we have the spectacle we enjoy today.
You kids just don’t appreciate how good you have it nowadays and how far we have come as a community! You take the CrossFit Games for granted! I’m sick of all the complaining with all that loud noise stuff you call WOD Jams! Let me tell you unappreciative runts about the top 10 drivers that made the Sport of FitnessTM what it is today:
First, okay, maybe not an innovation, but just a reflection of the maturation of CrossFit Headquarters into an institutional entity that ran like a fine tuned pseudo-military headquarters. In 2014, Dave Castro, the Director of the CrossFit Games, had his name stamped on every event workout from the Open, to the Regionals, and finally, the Games. Castro had a hand in every category including Masters, Teams, and Individuals. That’s right, it is hard to believe, but the Games was literally characterized by the inspiration and innovation of a single person. Today, we still have the Director of the CrossFit Games, but more importantly, a recognized and formal committee and sub-committees objectively builds and validates the events for the Open, Regionals, and the Games. This more formalized structure removed the possibility that one individual could manipulate the outcomes of the Games consciously or subconsciously with biased programming that favored one group of athletes over another. Of course, this process was greatly influenced by the creation of the automated WOD workout programming program, “FranE.” **
So “FranE” had to be the second greatest driver for the Sport of FitnessTM. “FranE” was the brainchild of the late Tommy Marquez **, who disappeared mysteriously soon after the beta testing of FranE’s first release. Back then, there was quite a bit of debate; many critics alleged that the CrossFit Games reflected bias towards a specific body type and that the increasing loads for strength events made it impossible for smaller framed folks to qualify for the Games. The Computer Program FranE was developed to use the physical characteristics and event performance records of all the CrossFit Open, Regionals, and Games athletes who ever participated to create a physics based model of the forces and workload associated to CrossFit like events. FranE’s output is programming for the Games that reflect a series of workouts that best tests fitness independent of an individual’s physical characteristics. The accuracy of FranE’s programming is such that not even FranE can predict who will Win the CrossFit Games. However, FranE can predict, with reasonable accuracy, the likely top 20 finishers each year. FranE’s WOD programming subscription for CrossFit Affiliates also become a great revenue stream for CrossFit Headquarters – time and time again, the FranE’s affiliate membership tailored programming has proven to build the best Affiliate Teams in the Games.
Third, instead of an Annual event, the Games occur every 24 months. At 5 months we have the Open. At 10 months we have Regionals, and at 17 months we have the Games. This change was made predominantly to handle the large volume of games participants through all phases and makes more money for all involved. Processing millions of open participant submissions and the pre-Regional drug screening of athletes was a monumental task. Not to mention the fact that the 21 Regional events grew to be so large of a spectacle with hefty cash prizes that it proved to be smarter to focus consumer spending at the Regional events during one year, so as to maximize the consumer spending at the Games the next year. This temporal spacing was a great boon for the fans, because CrossFit faithful would organize their personal vacations around Regionals and the Games. A 24-month calendar allowed followers to attend both events. In 2014, every region sent athletes to the games; however, that liberal policy was changed when the 24 month format. Now, only the top qualifiers make it to the games. The longer schedule allows for the media to focus on the Regional Podium winners and not distract from the fact making the podium at Regionals doesn’t mean you go to the Games. The longer time was also necessary, because the 12 Month Calendar resulted in too many injuries for fan favorite top athletes. Back then, too many folks would get injured through Regionals and opt out of the Games, which tainted the Games since the best of the best did not always make it to the finals. Many top performers, hobbled by injuries, stood on crutches nursing twists and tears along the sidelines which wasn’t good media for the Sport.
Of course, the 24x month schedule was possible due to the expansion of CrossFit Headquarters across the 21-Regions. In Fact, CrossFit Headquarters now runs only the Games and global marketing. The fourth driver is that every Region has a field office, with full time employees, that run CrossFit operations within that respective Region, from the creation of affiliates, certifications, marketing, drug testing, community outreach, regional sponsorships, and CrossFit sponsored competitive events and, of course, their portion of the Open and putting on Regionals. This evolution was a natural maturation of CrossFit Headquarters that almost didn’t happen due to the strong desire of some to maintain centralized control of CrossFit’s brand. Fortunately, cooler and strategic heads prevailed and recognized that creating Regional field offices was also a way to sustain the human capital necessary to scaling CrossFit to what we have today. For example, in 2014, everything was done with volunteers – even the judging, seriously, no BS – even the judging! Now everyone you see working at Regionals and the Games are paid or contracted employees of CrossFit.
The fifth driver is paid and professional CrossFit Judges. Gone are the days where fans and athletes are left wondering WTH is the performance standard and where victory or defeat lied in the hands of an inconsistent set of part-time judges. Today, CrossFit Judges must be CrossFit Level 3 Certified Trainer, CrossFit Certified Judge, and go through a period of demonstrating consistent success judging local events, High School and Collegiate Level CrossFit Competitions before they get a chance to judge at Regionals. Only the best Judges across all Regions are allowed to judge at the Games. In fact, Regional Judges never get to judge Regionals in their own Region, they are rotated across Regions leading up to the Games. This rotation ensures common global standards and mitigates any Regional Bias. At the Games a Judge can’t judge a participant from their own Region either. A huge benefit to the growth of CrossFit was the ability of local event organizers to call their events CrossFit if they paid for certified CrossFit Judges.
The sixth driver was the Games’ ability to survive Reebok’s 10-year sponsorship. Reebok was key to the success and growth of CrossFit; however, once the Games became open to many sponsors the cash prizes and the career professional CrossFit Athlete flourished. The CrossFit Athlete benefitted because sponsors now had an opportunity to have their brand represented in the games, so big and small corporations began to sponsor more athletes to promote their brands. The professionalization of pretty much all CrossFit Games level athlete’s really leveled the competitive landscape. Gone are the days where someone who never CrossFitted shows up and passes through Regionals to the Games. Pretty much every athlete you see nowadays competed in high school, college, or grew up competing in local CrossFit events.
The seventh driver was the expansion of the competitive categories that included Individual, Team, Masters, and Exceptional. The Exceptional category allows individuals who are amputees; suffer from dwarfism; blindness or visual impairment; wheel chair users; traumatic brain injury; and other intellectual impairments to have a competitive venue to showcase the positive impacts of CrossFit across all demographics. The expansion of the competitive categories showcased the potential of human performance across all aspects of the human condition and really helped grow CrossFit to what it is today.
The eighth driver, which really isn’t that innovative, was the implementation of the most rigorous performance enhancing drug testing in any sport and very strict penalties for infractions, i.e., possible banishment from competing in CrossFit for an athlete’s lifetime. CrossFit’s aggressive and unparalleled stance on performance enhancing drugs has given the Sport of FitnessTMthe reputation as the cleanest sport on earth.
The ninth driver, was improving the media presentation of the Sport. I alluded to how terrible it was for the CrossFit Fans in 2014; however, fortunately, CrossFit decided to stick to their internet roots and televise the Games through the internet to make their venues available to all. This decision proved to be strategic, because it maximized the number of folks who could watch and become CrossFit fans. Regional events were subject to television deals that catered to that Region, but, the final event of the Games was always free to anyone on the planet with an internet connection.
Finally, the 10th driver, which really isn’t as recognized by most as being innovative, but is near and dear to my own heart, was the elimination of the Box Jump from the Games programming. The Box Jump never fit CrossFit’s definition for functional movement and just served to injure folks by requiring them to jump backwards off a box. The Box Jump was forever replaced with Box Jump Overs where an athlete jumps forward onto and off a Box. Individuals must make their own choice to jump backwards off the box and destroy their Achilles tendon. Eliminating the Box Jump in the games, significantly reduced its programming across CrossFit Affiliates, which resulted in less folks skinning their shins, rupturing Achilles, falling off boxes and breaking wrist and elbows. Consequentially, less folks nearly dying and quitting CrossFit due to a traumatic experience with box jumps proved to decisively enhance the growth of the Sport of FitnessTM.
So there you have it – the top 10 drivers that fueled the growth of CrossFit to the global phenomenon you young whippersnappers take for granted today! More importantly, the growth of CrossFit drove the evolution of the fitness industry from a bunch of hacks with gimmick methodologies, diets, and gadgetry to focus on the reality that the general population understood that the sure way to obtain excellent fitness was as described by CrossFit’s Founder, Greg Glassman:
Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat. Practice and train major lifts: Deadlift, clean, squat, presses, C&J, and snatch. Similarly, master the basics of gymnastics: pull-ups, dips, rope climb, push-ups, sit-ups, presses to handstand, pirouettes, flips, splits, and holds. Bike, run, swim, row, etc, hard and fast. Five or six days per week mix these elements in as many combinations and patterns as creativity will allow. Routine is the enemy. Keep workouts short and intense. Regularly learn and play new sports.
** (Editor's note: Remember, this article is written from a perspective in the future. FranE is not a real computer program and Tommy Marquez thus was not a victim of its powers. )
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