“Come on! This is your last one!”

I look up and see Nik, 50 yards ahead of me standing on a small grass hill. He’s waving to me, encouraging me to run those last 50 yards instead of my current slow trudge.

He’s right of course, this is my last bit of running for the day, so despite wobbly legs, 100+ degree heat, and burning lungs, I dig deep and jog the last few yards back into the gym to finish the last circuit of the workout of the day.

Some people call Utah “God’s country”, but I think you could call it “Gold’s country” and be just as accurate. Gold’s Gym is the 1000 lb gorilla here, leaving little room for competing gyms to try and find a niche. And yet, tucked away in strip malls or in a few renovated warehouses those niche gyms are hanging in there. Not too long ago I found one of these gyms, it’s CrossFit Ogden, and at the moment its kicking my butt.

Do a quick Google search for “CrossFit” and you’ll find a whole community of people who, online at least, are confident, cocky ,and revel in their “we’re not Gold’s” counter culture. The reason for such a strong online presence is that’s where CrossFit was born. People from around the country would post exercise routines online and the time it took them to complete them. People would compete for the best times, posting scores and issuing challenges of their own. As this practice evolved into CrossFit, the idea of competiveness as a motivator has remained central.

So what is CrossFit? Most programs out there have a person exercise to increase their capacity to do that exercise, like lifting weights in order to lifting even heavier weights, or running in order to be able to run faster. CrossFit however, is about exercising to increase a person’s athletic ability. This means adopting a broad mix of Olympic style weight lifting (think: squats, dead lifts, etc), Gymnastics (pull-ups, parallel bars, rings, etc) and a mix of good old fashion push-ups with odd exercises like throwing weighted balls against a wall or throwing giant tires around.

Take today’s workout of the day (WOD): It’s a 400 yard run, 10 dead lifts, and 10 throws of a 20lb ball against a target posted 10 ft above the ground… 4 times in a row. There’s 5 times written on a giant white board, 1 is Nik’s, the owner/personal trainer, 2 others belong to regular members, and the last 2 are a pair of army recruiters, new to the program.

“These guys did it in about 29 minutes” Nik gestures to the 2 army recruiters’ times. “I want you to try and beat that”

“Ok.” I give him a half cocked smile. It’s all bravado. It’s been nearly 7 months since I’ve seen the inside of a gym, but I know this workout isn’t a cakewalk, and Nik isn’t granting me any special favors since it’s my first day either.

1^st circuit: Time – 3:30 minutes, it’s a good time, but I’m already feeling weak

2^nd circuit: The heat outside is really sapping my strength, I don’t want to know my time

3^rd circuit: I confess: I walk half of the 400 yards, screw the time, I’m not sure I can finish

4^th circuit: Nik is working overtime trying to keep me motivated to finish…

Rounding the corner of the building I jog/shuffle back into the gym to finish out the circuit. One’s first look at the place will leave you under-whelmed. The only machines are a pair of rowers. A few odd pieces of equip liter the ground, mostly weighted balls, some bars for dead lifts, and an odd dumbbell. Jump ropes hang from a pull up bar, and there’s some tractor tires stacked up in the back.

The gym is literally empty, except for Nik and I, credit that to a Friday afternoon. Personal training and motivation are the touchstones of CrossFit, so even on a busy day I’m told to expect this sort of attention. I’m grateful for it. While I understand the how to do the exercises, I’m completely wiped out. The only thing keeping me moving at this point is the barrage of “keep going!”, “come on you can do it!”, and the Metallica blaring (music I got to chose).

A lot of people, especially beginners, could be thrown off by the intensity and in-your-face attitude of CrossFit. It’s true, the WODs are challenging but they’re effective. Most major police departments and the military branches endorse CrossFit to their people because it simply works. A few weeks doing CrossFit and you will find that you will be able to do not only the WODs better, but any other program or sport better too.

The openness about times can leave those out of shape feeling sheepish at first, but it builds community. Everyone see’s your name, they know when you come, when you don’t, they know when you do well, and when you struggle. It’s like having a dozen workout partners plus a personal trainer cheering you on all at the same time.

In the face of all the Gold’s with their hundreds, if not thousands of members per gym, it’s nice to find a place that fosters sense of community, even if that community is in your face and pushes you to excel.

Yeah I got my butt kicked, and yeah, I’m coming back.

Casey – 23:00

To go to the Ogden Branch of CrossFit click [Here]