So I am genuinely interested in learning more about Crossfit. I looked into it and it turns out there is a new Crossfit gym in my town but holy G-d is it expensive! $565 initiation fee and $165 per month. Is this unusually expensive our are all Crossfit gyms this expensive?

sheesh, can't we all just share knowledge and do the training at home?

I haven't heard much about initiation fees. That sounds a bit high.
The $165 a month is slightly on the high side of average ($150). If you compare it to a Bally's fitness at $25 a month, Crossfit is very expensive. If you compare it to hiring a personal trainer at $100 an hour (low near me) and train with them 3 times a week for 4 weeks ($1,200 month), then Crossfit is a bargain.
I have trained at an affiliate a couple of times, and really enjoyed it. (There is not one near me).

Keep in mind, the bally's business model depends on signing up thousands of people and hoping/expecting only a small percentage to actually use the gym. The Crossfit model is based on signing up dozens of people and hoping/expecting they all use the gym as much as possible.

Just go on crossfit.com - They give you a work out of the day, you simply have to follow it. Obviously it needs to be scaled to the individual but most stuff you can do at a regular gym.

They even have videos to demonstrate the different workouts. I'm still trying to get those damn muscle ups down. It's just not in the foreseeable future.

Though I suppose this is not helpful if you are looking for the group workout motivation or how to plan your own crossfit wod's.

Better yet, if you want to get in shape for the outdoors, go to www.mtnathlete.com. You have to purchase or make some equipment to do some of the exercises, but it's pretty basic and seems to have less of the repetitive (or not as much of it) exercises that can lead to overuse injuries.

fatdad wrote:Better yet, if you want to get in shape for the outdoors, go to www.mtnathlete.com. You have to purchase or make some equipment to do some of the exercises, but it's pretty basic and seems to have less of the repetitive (or not as much of it) exercises that can lead to overuse injuries.

Mtnathlete is great, and I've incorporated some of Robs stuff into my routines, but he does some weird stuff that is not always easy to duplicate in my gym.

EB-If you dig the group stuff and camaraderie, then go for it. If not, you might consider just going for 2 months, getting the basics down and then doing it on your own or in a Globo gym.
Or do it on your own, check out http://www.crossfitbrandx.com/index.php ... wforum/16/ for scaled workouts.
I don't have much choice, the nearest affiliate is 40 miles away. (Plus my gym is free since I am a firefighter).

ExcitibleBoy wrote:So I am genuinely interested in learning more about Crossfit. I looked into it and it turns out there is a new Crossfit gym in my town but holy G-d is it expensive! $565 initiation fee and $165 per month. Is this unusually expensive our are all Crossfit gyms this expensive?

For another sample, our gym has no initiation fee (free first week actually) and a tad lower monthly. I asked for a few more % off for my wife coming too, and for significant time in advance. In fact, this is the first I've heard of any CrossFit gym charging an initiation fee, but I'm sure they are out there.

The mainsite WODs are good to go for someone who knows the movements and has a facility, but the atmosphere at our box makes it well worth it to me (lots of folks pushing hard is motivating). IMHO, with the other options, the quality of the trainers and fellow trainees are the deciding factor if its worth the $ or not, and only worth it if you can budget it.

EB, based on your experience and previous posts (which I hold in high regard), I'd love to hear your results/progress/thoughts as you proceed.

3...2...1...Go!

Now mtnathlete.com is charging $25 per month just to see their workouts. Disappointing.

Well, it's all about making $$$ isn't it?

Crossfit seems to have hit the sweet spot that is intensity of workouts via limited time, and the motivation of comraderie and competiveness framed as personal challenge/improvement.

It not what crossfiters do, it the fact that the do it, regularly and intensely.

brandon wrote:Well, it's all about making $$$ isn't it?

Crossfit seems to have hit the sweet spot that is intensity of workouts via limited time, and the motivation of comraderie and competiveness framed as personal challenge/improvement.

It not what crossfiters do, it the fact that the do it, regularly and intensely.

As for mtnathlete, I think they would be better served keeping their site free, and making money off seminars, member gyms, etc. and have bigger "army" of fans. The way they are going, they will make money off a smaller number, and then have an even smaller number of people to upsell.
As for crossfit, I think the "what" is equally important, functional movements, olympic lifts, etc. But I see your point. Regular and intense exercise of any kind is way more beneficial then not so regular and not so intense stuff.

Well, bird, if we're talking business.

Mtnathlete is not the first-mover in the niche, has little brand awareness, and is targeted to a small demographic, likely with less $.

I wish them luck. Following the gymjones model I suppose.

You can join Divine Madness in Boulder for "free". They're still kicking around.

bird wrote:Now mtnathlete.com is charging $25 per month just to see their workouts. Disappointing.

I heartily agree. I've been a huge fan of Rob and Mountain Athlete since the very early days, and am also disappointed in this startling shift. Yeah, gymjones is charging for access (Salvation Club...gotta love it), but Twight is still posting the basic workouts done each day for free AND for the paying members you get a ton of extra resources/videos/etc. Rob wants to charge us to see what he's always shown for free and with no upgrades...

Yes, you gotta make money, I know. But it doesn't seem like he's about to go out of business: new gym in Boulder and apparently a fair amount of military consulting.

And this is the worst (to me, at least, with lots of current/ex military family): he's also going to charge the military guys $25 to view the militaryathlete.com workouts. Not cool, if you ask me.

At least Crossfit's still free online...

Question for you's guys (esp. bird and brandon):

What's so special about the WOD that, once you know what all the exercices are and the proper techniques for performing them, you couldn't design your own program? Is it *that* hard to come up with a challenging workout regimen? Assuming that you're logged your workouts, wouldn't it be possible to go back and use previous WOD's, but with increased weights (lifts)/longer distances (sprints)/shorter recovery intervals, etc.?

I'm a big fan of paying for value, which it sounds like these programs provide -- to an extent -- but I hate paying for stuff with limited/no value. Once the knowledge has been imparted, which I don't mind paying for, is it just the motivational/competitive aspect of these programs that keep people signed-up (which certainly has SOME value)?

Disclaimer: I don't work out nearly often enough nor intensively enough (and I haven't checked out the CF/GJ/MA sites in a long time) so I'm not 100% sure how they're currently set up.

Alpinisto wrote:Question for you's guys (esp. bird and brandon):

What's so special about the WOD that, once you know what all the exercices are and the proper techniques for performing them, you couldn't design your own program? Is it *that* hard to come up with a challenging workout regimen? Assuming that you're logged your workouts, wouldn't it be possible to go back and use previous WOD's, but with increased weights (lifts)/longer distances (sprints)/shorter recovery intervals, etc.?

I'm a big fan of paying for value, which it sounds like these programs provide -- to an extent -- but I hate paying for stuff with limited/no value. Once the knowledge has been imparted, which I don't mind paying for, is it just the motivational/competitive aspect of these programs that keep people signed-up (which certainly has SOME value)?

Disclaimer: I don't work out nearly often enough nor intensively enough (and I haven't checked out the CF/GJ/MA sites in a long time) so I'm not 100% sure how they're currently set up.

Just to clarify CF WODS are free, Mtnathlete begins charging Dec 1.
The CF WODS are set up to maximize general physical preparedness. One of the best things about following the WOD's is that you will hit areas of weakness fairly regularly. For example, I hate jumping rope, but when it comes up in a WOD, I'll do it and now I am getting better at it. If you do your own programming, there is a tendency to stick with your "favorites". CF claims some "magic" to the programming, which I don't really see from the outside, but the results for most followers imply they are doing something right.
As for mtn athlete, you could very well go back and print all his workouts from last year and go through those. Other than providing 3x a week workouts (which are generally pretty good), mtnathlete does not provide much value for the reader (there is value in what he does in the gym and seminars, etc. Just not that much on his site vs CF)
As for knowledge being imparted, once I took the CF level 1 seminar, the main thing it taught me was how much more there is to learn. Crossfit has the Crossfit journal for $25 a YEAR. With video's articles, etc. Plenty of value there.
All that being said, I do about 50% of my own programming now. (after 3 years of CF/MTA). I'm finishing a "strength cycle" now and will be moving on to endurance/sport specific for the winter.