06/08/2020
: We are done.
Me and .ford.14 opened CrossFit Transcend almost 10 years ago. We started back in 2007 way before Reebok played a part, before the game was known and back when CrossFit was something you could never explain but always loved. The community of people at the time mainly being law enforcement, military and firefighters were always supportive, encouraging and with an "underground" type of feel. I fell in love in what became over a decade-long pursuit.
Fast forward quite some years later and now I am dropping any and all ties to CrossFit - which will include competing.
This is for multiple reasons. It started selfishly - when I got to be the 15th fittest man in the world and finally reached my dream that I had sacrificed everything for - I was burned to the ground and became public enemy number 1. The same community that I helped grow (being at the first regionals, opening a gym, competing at regionals 9x there after, making it to the games, etc...) was the exact same community that did not hesitate to burn me to the ground without taking a second to hear my side of the story. I found myself relying on people who knew me and strangers alike like to get the truth out. I could barely recognize the community that I had joined 10 years earlier. It was a blessing though, as this obsession became toxic and if it were not for this cold wake up call I don't know if I would have ever been able to shake it.
In addition to that the education in CrossFIt is, well... awful. All you need is a heartbeat and 3 days at a seminar to pass the "CrossFit exam" and you can open a CrossFit gym. I was always shocked not only at how poor the education was (ie.. zone diet? Really? wtf?) but how little experience was needed. Every Certification I went to had a huge handful of people who were getting certified, who now had the right to open a "CrossFit" gym and had NEVER DONE CROSSFIT before that weekend. Outrageous.
CrossFit "metcons" and workouts are fun, and I will still incorporate these because I enjoy them, but if you're looking to just get stronger or look better naked CrossFit is not a great choice. I often have my own clients who all go to CrossFit gyms do strength work on the side to fulfill the requirement of preventing and/or increasing lean mass while cutting. The calorie expenditure of CrossFIt is also highly overrated. The community and intensity is why people love CrossFit. As for the programming It's constantly varied and intense, and I think that can remain, if in the right dose, alongside nutrition and strength work, but it does not need to fall under the CrossFit umbrella. As for the community: we have come to the point where the people have outgrown the leader which leads me to the tipping point.
As most of you know - Greg Glassman who I have met and talked to in person several times, was the leader of CrossFit. He started what we all come to know today as CrossFit. In the beginning we all looked up to him - he was well spoken, intelligent and was leading us down a new path in the fitness world. As the years have gone on we have seen something entirely different. He lacked the ability to stand up for affiliates, to set any type of standard for CrossFit gyms to adhere to - most becoming very poorly run and giving the rest a bad name. He made decisions about the sport that I entirely disagreed with and fired many many people who helped build the community. All of that is nothing compared to his statements, or lack thereof, he has made recently. I'll leave this with a few resources so you can learn for yourself if you have not already seen everything there is to see, but I want nothing to do with him or the CrossFit name. I am not sure what will happen to CrossFit as a whole and I will always miss the crazy journey I had in the sport that I dedicated so much of my life to but the time has finally come and I will not be there when it goes down.
CrossFit Transcend is dead. PerformaFuel HQ - which will be an entirely re-developed headquarters for my remote company Performafuel, with state of the art testing and strength work will be coming very, very soon.
https://morningchalkup.com/2020/06/08/i-can-no-longer-be-a-part-of-that-crossfit-games-athletes-abandon-brand-under-ceo-greg-glassman/
As a surge of global CrossFit affiliates, businesses and sponsors distance themselves from the brand, the sport’s elite athletes have also condemned the comments of CrossFit founder and CEO Greg Glassman. CrossFit has since taken to its official Twitter account to apologize for the “pain it has ...
