Non-CrossFit® gym per month
-Gym membership: £20-£100
-PT: £160-£400
-Online programme: £80-£400
Training alone – Lonely
Attendance – When motivates, no check in or accountability
Community support – Never
Inspirations – Online social media influencers
CrossFit® per month
-Gym membership: £80-£90
Experiences qualified coaches – Included
Daily programme – Included
Open gym – Included
Goal setting – Included
Modifications (If needed) – Included
Regular check in’s – Included
Training alone – Never
Attendance – Can’t stay away
Community support – In buckets
Inspiration – Each other
CROSSFIT IS A BRAND:
Yes, CrossFit is a brand that was started in California in 2000. In order to be associated with this brand, all boxes must pay an annual affiliate fee of £2700. CrossFit has to be confident that their powerful name is only attached to the gyms they know are doing things correctly, with their members health and well-being at the heart of every decision.
SMALL CLASS SIZES:
In order for the expert coaches to be able to give their care and attention to every single person in a class at any one time, the class sizes have to stay manageable. Unlike a traditional group class, CrossFit coaches do not spend the entire hour at the front demoing the next movement that they would like you to complete. While clear and detailed instructions are given both at the beginning of a class and to introduce particular movements, CrossFit coaches spend most of their time prowling around the gym, giving targeted feedback to each member.
EXPERT COACHING:
As you may have already gathered, a CrossFit class may look quite different to that of any other group workout class you have attended. With the combination of weightlifting and gymnastics, and the departure from the ‘lead from the front’ model that most gym classes use, CrossFit coaches need to know their stuff. The world of CrossFit can often feel overwhelming with terminology, movements and concepts that, chances are, you have never heard of before
VARIED AND PRE-PROGRAMMED TRAINING:
One of the key facets of CrossFit workouts is that they are incredibly varied. Each class tends to have a wide variety of movements and every class is different from the last. Almost every class will aim to include movements that target your whole body and improve overall fitness. One Monday might be back squats, running and burpees. The next monday you will find yourself climbing a rope for the first time in your life. If you are easily bored, or – more likely – not particularly willing to be both bored and having to work hard then the variety will help you keep on track and achieve your goals. And the best part is, the training is pre-programmed for you. You can look at your week ahead and know what you will be doing and when. No thinking required. All you have to do is show up and give it some welly.
EQUIPMENT
While CrossFit may not be as bizarre as it can sometimes seem in the Instagram reels, there are movements and machines that you just won’t come across in a traditional gym. This allows you to exercise in a more varied and targeted way and improve your overall health and fitness more easily. No fitness journey is ever going to be ‘easy’ but having access to the right kit is often a good place to start.
THE ATMOSPHERE
CrossFit is often looked at as a bit of a cult, with each of its participants seemingly completely unable to ever shut up about it. Forgetting, for a moment, that this is surely a good sign that it really is quite fun, one of the biggest reasons CrossFit members are so obsessed is that they feel they are part of something bigger than themselves. A true community. You will often find it is the same people that go week on week and month after month and with the smaller class sizes you end up getting to know your training partners pretty well. It’s not all burpees and toes-to-bar, lots of the time spent before, during and after class is spent chatting about work, family and who has the nicest trainers.
CrossFit boxes tend to believe that a good gym is a friendly and fun gym. It is in this environment that you are most likely to feel comfortable enough to try new things and not worry if your first, second or third attempts don’t go as planned. And it is in trying new things that we are most likely to improve in ways we never thought we could. Also, it’s just quite nice to start a new hobby and end up with 100 new friends without even really having to try.
So, is CrossFit expensive? Some may say it is. Although when compared against the cost of one big night out, or a monthly splurge on a new item of clothing that you definitely don’t need, it’s maybe not quite so bad.
But is the cost worth it? Yes, absolutely it is.
When it comes to your health, and creating habits and investment in yourself that will last a lifetime, it’s a bargain.