Before opening our Dunbar Street location I took my business plan to the bank where I was informed that 90% of gyms go out of business within the first few years. 90%! I had to explain that 0% of Vancouver CrossFit gyms have gone under since the first opened in 2005. That’s more than a decade of continued success while other fitness facilities are opening and closing all around us.
What is it that makes CrossFits so successful? It is all about serving a higher need. I think Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs is very helpful in explaining what CrossFit offers that your local community centre or Steve Nash Fitness World cannot.
Why do folks go to the gym in the first place? Mostly to serve their most basic survival needs. They want to look good (most likely to fulfill sexual needs via attractiveness) and to preserve health. We can argue that CrossFit will get better results in both categories but let’s allow that both goals can be met at any generic fitness facility. But that is about it. Yes, any gym can serve your physiological and safety needs but once those needs are taken care of they do little to help folks fulfill higher level needs. This is where membership drop off occurs and where CrossFit delivers something that Gold’s gym never can.
CrossFit is a community. It is the Cheers of fitness, a place where everyone knows your name. Deep and lasting friendships are forged, families train together often 3 generations deep. We’re moving beyond simple physiological and safety needs into the realm of love and belonging. Yes, love is a good word to describe the relationships binding our community, it is nothing like the casual acquaintances you might acquire at the rec centre.
CrossFit programming is challenging and confronting. It pushes you beyond your comfort zone. Each breakthrough forges confidence and bolsters self esteem. Ask Dauntless how she felt about crushing the box jumps in today`s Fight Gone Bad. Did she walk away with a sense of achievement? You bet she did! Did she earn the respect of her classmates who watched her conquer her fear? Absolutely! CrossFit is a daily opportunity to earn respect and to admire the achievements of others. It is a wonderful feeling because it leads to increased self esteem.
And once we are grounded in the first 4 needs we are able to move into self actualization. Our acceptance of ourselves and others is strengthened, our prejudices fall away and we can begin to operate morally in the world having earned the self confidence to respond to life creatively and spontaneously.
That’s why CrossFitters can become so overzealous about this miraculous training program that they have discovered. Because it has delivered so much more than they ever expected and fulfilled needs that they never realized were not being met in their lives.
Improving physical fitness is a good starting place but there is so much more to life than that! https://www.empowereverybody.com/get-started/
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