california united states 2000 2000 founder greg glassman lauren jenai area served worldwide slogan forging elite fitness website official website a woman doing a kipping pull up . crossfit is a branded fitness regimen created by greg glassman 1 and is a registered trademark of crossfit inc. 2 which was founded by greg glassman and lauren jenai 3 in 2000 . 4 5 promoted as both a physical exercise philosophy and also as a competitive fitness sport crossfit workouts incorporate elements from high intensity interval training olympic weightlifting plyometrics powerlifting gymnastics girevoy sport calisthenics strongman and other exercises . it is practiced by members of over 13 000 6 affiliated gyms 7 roughly half of which are located in the united states 8 and by individuals who complete daily workouts otherwise known as wods or workouts of the day . 9 10 contents 1 history 2 overview 3 business model 4 effectiveness 5 crossfit games 6 criticism 6.1 injury 6.2 exertional rhabdomyolysis 7 social media presence 8 see also 9 references 10 external links history edit greg glassman and lauren jenai founded crossfit inc. in 2000 . 11 12 the company was conceived a few years earlier in 1996 as cross fit . 13 the original crossfit gym is in santa cruz california and the first affiliated gym was crossfit north in seattle washington ; there were 13 by 2005 and today there are more than 13 000 . 6 coaches associated with crossfit include louie simmons john welbourn bob harper and mike burgener . 14 glassman retains complete control over the company after a divorce resulted in his estranged wife lauren attempting to sell her share in the company . glassman was able to obtain a 16 million loan from summit partners to buy out her share . 15 overview edit crossfit is a strength and conditioning program consisting mainly of a mix of aerobic exercise calisthenics body weight exercises and olympic weightlifting . 16 crossfit inc. describes its strength and conditioning program as constantly varied functional movements executed at high intensity across broad time and modal domains 17 with the stated goal of improving fitness which it defines as work capacity across broad time and modal domains . 18 hour long classes at affiliated gyms or boxes typically include a warm up a skill development segment the high intensity workout of the day or wod and a period of individual or group stretching . some gyms also often have a strength focused movement prior to the wod . performance on each wod is often scored and or ranked to encourage competition and to track individual progress . some affiliates offer additional classes such as olympic weightlifting which are not centered around a wod . 19 crossfit gyms use equipment from multiple disciplines including barbells dumbbells gymnastics rings pull up bars jump ropes kettlebells medicine balls plyo boxes 20 resistance bands rowing machines and various mats . crossfit is focused on constantly varied high intensity functional movement 21 drawing on categories and exercises such as these calisthenics olympic style weightlifting powerlifting strongman type events plyometrics body weight exercises indoor rowing aerobic exercise running and swimming . the tire flip a movement sometimes seen in crossfit training . crossfit programming is decentralized but its general methodology is used by thousands of private affiliated gyms fire departments law enforcement agencies and military organizations including the royal danish life guards 22 23 24 25 as well as by some u.s. and canadian high school physical education teachers high school and college sports teams and the miami marlins . 11 26 27 crossfit is not a specialized fitness program but a deliberate attempt to optimize physical competence in each of 10 recognized fitness domains says founder greg glassman in the foundations document . those domains are cardiovascular and respiratory endurance stamina strength flexibility power speed coordination agility balance and accuracy . 28 crossfit appeals to both men and women alike and a recent statistical analysis showed that crossfit participants were almost equally 50 % male and 50 % female . 29 business model edit crossfit inc. licenses the crossfit name to gyms for an annual fee and certifies trainers . 30 besides the standard two day 31 level 1 trainer course 32 specialty seminars include gymnastics olympic weightlifting powerlifting strongman running and endurance rowing kettlebells mobility and recovery crossfit kids crossfit football and self defense and striking . other specialized adaptations include programs for pregnant women seniors and military special operations candidates . 33 affiliates develop their own programming pricing and instructional methods . many athletes and trainers see themselves as part of a contrarian insurgent movement that questions conventional fitness wisdom ; 34 besides performing prescribed workouts they follow crossfit s nutrition recommendations adopting a paleo and or zone diet 35 . crossfit makes use of a virtual community internet model . 36 37 the company says this de centralized approach shares some common features with open source software projects and allows best practices to emerge from a variety of approaches 38 a contention that is disputed by some competitors and former affiliates . 28 effectiveness edit it has been theorized that crossfit s combination of resistance and aerobic exercise may benefit muscle size and cortisol levels but this has not been substantiated by a body of good medical evidence . 39 crossfit games edit main article crossfit games the crossfit games have been held every summer since 2007 . athletes at the games compete in workouts they learn about only hours beforehand sometimes including surprise elements that are not part of the typical crossfit regimen . past examples include a rough water swim a softball throw and a pegboard climb . 40 the games are styled as a venue for determining the fittest on earth where competitors should be ready for anything . 41 in 2011 the games adopted an online format for the sectional event facilitating participation by athletes worldwide . during the crossfit open a new workout is released each week . athletes have several days to complete the workout and submit their scores online with either a video or validation by a crossfit affiliate . the top crossfit open performers for individuals and teams in each region advance to the regional events held over the following two months . the games include divisions for individuals of each gender co ed teams and a number of masters and teenage age groups . 42 criticism edit injury edit the risk of injury associated with crossfit training has been a controversial question since the program s popularity began to climb in the early 2000s . 43 critics have accused crossfit inc. of using dangerous movements inappropriate levels of intensity and allowing under qualified individuals to become crossfit trainers . 44 45 46 47 in response to these criticisms crossfit inc. claims its methodology is relatively safe even when performed with poor technique . 48 crossfit inc. also claims risk for injury can be reduced by properly scaling and modifying workouts a concept taught on its website and at the crossfit level 1 trainer course . 49 50 crossfit inc. supports this position by citing three academic surveys of crossfit participants . these surveys calculated injury rates between 2.4 and 3.1 injuries per 1000 hours of training which crossfit argues is consistent with or below injury rates found in general fitness training . 51 a study published in the journal of strength and conditioning research entitled crossfit based high intensity power training improves maximal aerobic fitness and body composition followed 54 participants for 10 weeks of crossfit training . the study said that ... a notable percentage of our subjects 16 % did not complete the training program and return for follow up testing . the authors said this may call into question the risk benefit ratio for such extreme training programs ... 52 in 2014 crossfit inc. filed a lawsuit against the national strength and conditioning association for publishing this study alleging that the data was false and was intended to scare participants away from crossfit . 53 the nsca denies crossfit inc. s allegations 53 but has issued an erratum acknowledging the injury data was incorrect . 54 the lawsuit was settled in september 2016 with the district court ruling in favor of crossfit inc. s claims . 55 exertional rhabdomyolysis edit the relationship between crossfit and exertional rhabdomyolysis has been a subject of controversy for the company . critics argue that both the crossfit methodology and the environment created by crossfit trainers put athletes at high risk for developing rhabdomyolysis . 56 57 58 makimba mimms claims to have suffered from rhabdomyolysis after performing a crossfit workout on december 11 2005 at manassas world gym in manassas virginia under the supervision of an uncertified trainer . 59 he successfully sued his trainers and was awarded us 300 000 in damages . 60 crossfit inc. was not listed as a defendant in the lawsuit . 60 crossfit inc. does not dispute that its methodology has the potential to cause rhabdomyolysis . 61 the company states that exertional rhabdomyolysis can be found in a wide variety of sports and training populations and argues that its critics have conflated crossfit s high awareness of rhabdomyolysis with high risk . 58 62 one crossfit spokesman stated that espn s report on the 53 deaths in us triathlons from 2007 to 2013 should have put the issue to rest . 62 since may 2005 crossfit inc. has published several articles about rhabdomyolysis in the company s crossfit journal . 63 64 65 66 three of the articles are included in the crossfit manual provided to all prospective trainers . 67 crossfit inc. has also been criticized for having a cavalier 68 attitude towards rhabdomyolysis by promoting a character known as uncle rhabdo a cartoon clown dying in a dramatic fashion hooked up to a dialysis machine with his kidneys and intestines falling on the floor . 64 in response to this criticism greg glassman has stated we introduced uncle rhabdo because we re honest and believe that full disclosure of risk is the only ethical thing to do . 62 social media presence edit crossfit inc. has been variously criticized and praised for its unorthodox approach to social media . 69 70 71 72 this approach has included publishing articles and tweets about non fitness topics including politics philosophy and poetry 73 74 as well as directly interacting with other social media users and critics of the company s program . 1 in one example crossfit inc. s twitter account posted a doctored illustration of a coke advertisement with open happiness replaced by open diabetes . the image was paired with a quote from crossfit ceo greg glassman that read make sure you pour out some for your dead homies . 75 76 controversy followed after singer nick jonas responded to the tweet calling crossfit inc. s comments ignorant . 77 the company defended its tweet stating that compelling statistical evidence supports crossfit inc. s campaign to prevent diabetes by raising awareness about its causes . 78 when abc news asked greg glassman to comment on the exchange he replied fuck nick jonas . this is about the scourge of type 2 diabetes and its underlying causes . his sponsor coca cola is a significant contributor to the diabetes epidemic both with product and marketing spend . 1 78 see also edit aerobics fitness and figure competition national pro grid league references edit a b c bowles nellie september 8 2015 . exclusive on the warpath with crossfit s greg glassman . maxim.com . retrieved 6 january 2016 . crossfit trademark of crossfit inc. registration number 3007458 serial number 78422177 justia trademarks . trademarks.justia.com . retrieved 2016 01 25 . soifer jason . co founder of crossfit workout program opens gym in prescott . the daily courier . retrieved april 28 2014 . glassman greg . nutrition lecture part 2 optimizing performance . crossfit