But CrossFit isn't the exclusive property of dues-paying members. CrossFit affiliates—like Fight Club's Tyler Durden—have a simple credo: "This doesn't belong to us." Anyone can direct his or her web browser to crossfit.com or an affiliate site for the WOD, video demonstrations of unfamiliar exercises and intensity tips, all for free.
"CrossFit is an open-source model—anyone can do it, at home or at a gym, with minimal equipment," says Decker, who also devises workouts on his own that he can do at a local park. "You don't need a trainer or coach because every bit of help you could possibly need is available online."
If you're one who strives to best the man next to you, just find a gym to call home. In the end, CrossFit isn't really exclusive at all. It may, in fact, be more inclusive than most other forms of exercise around.
FITNESS EARNED
This is fitness earned: No one finishes a CrossFit workout wondering if they made any progress. The ache from yesterday's session and the burn from today's are evidence enough of that. CrossFit workouts are comprehensive—calves to clavicles, so to speak. Experienced CrossFitters are extreme athletes. They aren't in it for the pump or the physique perks—they're after strength, skill, precision—but they end up leaner and more muscular for the effort, anyway.
I got through workouts that I was certain would leave me searching for the door (or the trash can). After being exposed to CrossFit, I really wonder if there's any form of exercise I couldn't handle. In only six weeks, I dropped from 176 pounds at 10% bodyfat to 173 pounds at 7% bodyfat and improved my baseline workout time from 4:37 to 4:08, nearly half a minute better than I did as a CrossFit rookie.
Take that, whiteboard. M&F
For the author's full workout journal, click here.
To download "Hell Week"—a seven-day barrage of CrossFit workouts designed by Andy Petranek—click here.
>> To continue your CrossFit crusade on a daily basis, visit www.crossfit.com or www.petranekfitness.com. And for exclusive action footage from our photo shoot, featuring the CrossFit Filthy 50, head over to Videos.
