This is not McDonald’s. This is My CrossFit Box.

Exactly

McDonald’s has rationalized their business to a Global presence.  When you enter a McDonald’s restaurant you know exactly what to expect.  When you order a Big Mac you know exactly what it will taste like, what it will be wrapped in and what type of table you will be sitting at when you eat it.  They also have somehow trained us to pick up after ourselves – good job McDonald’s, something did transfer into CrossFit.

Now let’s move from why we engage in fitness to where we engage in fitness. Similar to McDonald’s, gyms like 24 Hour Fitness have rationalized their existence (Globo Gym).  When you walk into a 24 Hour Fitness you know where to find the free weights, how to find the next scheduled spin class and don’t worry, there will be a trainer who will put your weights back.

These gyms can also offer muti gym memberships.  No matter what town you are in you can drop into a 24 hour fitness.  You can squeeze in a work out anytime, anywhere and know exactly what to expect.  This translates into a consistent customer experience.

This is what CrossFit lacks but it is also what makes a Box a Box. If it was any other way, the wave of affiliate openings would not be happening. We love the unique Box flavor, the programmers who some consider crazy and the overall unexpectedness that exists.  If we really think about it – this is what drives most of us to continue with CrossFit.  Not knowing what tomorrow’s WOD will be until you wake up in the morning and check the site – or just show up and be totally surprised.

Growing Pains – Not Alan Thicke 

Anything that grows at the rate that CrossFit has in the past couple years will experience the pains that many of us see.  CrossFit gyms have popped up all over with trainers and programmers that probably should not be directing such workloads.  A typical pattern is – a member at one Box spins off to open their own Box.  They find a place, buy some equipment, try to sneak other members with them and hope that their couple years of CrossFit and their certification will be enough to create a quality program.  This gives way to poor Boxes and in some cases injuries to folk who believe in their new coach.

Besides the ability to purchase the CrossFit name and pay to be CrossFit certified, there is no regulating CrossFit Box umbrella.  And again, we do not want one.  But this does create an opportunity for bad experiences – building conditions, cleanliness, programming, safety, client relations and just a lack of good business practices.

One cannot purchase a CrossFit “franchise” ready with management graduates from CrossFit U, stocked with wall art or a monthly delivery of promotional banners to swap out for the new sale or product push (Sherwin Williams is brilliant at this).  But again – this is not what we want.  What we do want, as a community, is for everyone to love their CrossFit experience from their very first WOD.

This Blog & What to Come

This blog will continue to rate Boxes based on Drop Ins – check the “What is WOD Nomadic?”.  Over the next several months we will continue to post our reviews based on our Drop Ins.  Hopefully we will hit some of the Boxes that will be in your area during your travels and you will have some quality insight into which Box you should Drop In on.  And remember – this blog is intended to supply information for the traveler trying to find a Box, not someone trying to find a “home” box (although one could correlate the two).