Adam Neiffer: Humble, Hungry, Awesome

“Adam (Neiffer) is one of those guys who’s been quietly doing all the right things for a long time,” said CrossFit Media Senior Coordinating Producer Tyson Oldroyd.

Neiffer, a 12-year affiliate owner, lives in Fort Vancouver, Washington, with his wife, Lauren, and daughters Emma, 8, and Hope, 7. After being introduced to CrossFit by Neiffer’s brother in 2005, Adam and Lauren opened CrossFit Fort Vancouver in 2009 with not much to go on but blind faith.

“When we opened our gym it was at the peak of the recession — maybe not the best time to start a business,” Neiffer said. “We really didn’t know what the future would hold, but we knew we loved helping people, and CrossFit is the best platform to be able to do that.”

Twelve years later, the affiliate is thriving with approximately 385 members — including the Fittest Man on Earth, Justin Medeiros.

Faith

Prior to opening CrossFit Fort Vancouver, Neiffer put extensive thought into how he wanted his professional life to unfold.

“There were three things that I wanted to accomplish: … do something that I really enjoy, make a positive impact, and earn enough of a living to support my family and lifestyle,” he said.

As his passion for CrossFit blossomed, Neiffer pondered affiliate ownership but was still faced with uncertainty.

“Is this gonna be a passion project that I use to help people?” he asked himself. “Or is this going to someday turn into a viable career that I can use to hopefully make a positive impact but at the same time, hopefully make a living?”

With his wife’s full support and an overwhelming desire to share the value of CrossFit with others, Neiffer decided to go all in and open the first affiliate in Fort Vancouver on April 1, 2009.

“We had four people show up on the first day and we were like, ‘This is amazing!’” he said.

Five years later, the couple was well on their way to accomplishing everything they had hoped for. Neiffer’s passion for CrossFit was evident as he recalled the moment he realized it was all going as planned.

“I was talking with my wife, Lauren, and I was like, ‘We’re doing this! It’s happening! It’s working!’” he said. “I love what I do, I get to go to the gym every day, and it doesn’t feel like work. … I get to hang out with people that I want to be with, I get to make a positive impact on their lives, and we’re making a living doing it.”

Faith comes in many forms, and Neiffer, a devotee of Christianity, said that while there is a strong Christian faith community at CrossFit Fort Vancouver, the affiliate focuses on inclusivity regardless of religious background. The real common thread among his members, Neiffer said, is a “heart of service.” From a community full of people who desire to serve others, the idea for “The Way,” a nonprofit organization, was born. The Way is the charitable arm of CrossFit Fort Vancouver, Neiffer said, and will partake in things like fundraising, volunteering, and supporting those in need as well as charitable organizations.

“The mission of The Way is to glorify God and love others through service and giving … . It will allow us to rally that heart for service that our community has and give us some structure around a lot of the things that are already happening in our gym … so that we can continue to expand on the service and giving that has defined our community for the last decade,” Neiffer said.

Neiffer hopes to use the nonprofit — set to get off the ground in early 2022 — as a branch of CrossFit Fort Vancouver that encompasses his roles in this life.

“I’ve been blessed so much in my life, and my role is two things: Glorify God and bless others. I haven’t found any better way to do that than through CrossFit,” he said. “That’s why I do what I do.”

Family

Neiffer proposed to Lauren at the grand opening of CrossFit Fort Vancouver in 2009.

“It was the perfect time to do it,” he said.

The family has grown by two since then, and today Neiffer fills many roles as husband, father, affiliate owner, and coach to his members as well as Medeiros, who has seen enormous success in the past two years, taking third at the CrossFit Games in 2020 and winning it all in 2021. Fulfilling so many responsibilities is not always easy, Neiffer said.

“It definitely has come with some challenges, and I would say my wife Lauren is the true glue,” he said with a smile. “She’s the rock star of the family who makes it all happen.”

Neiffer said he considered his coaches, affiliate members, and athletes as part of his family, and he strives to keep their best interests in mind.

“One of the real blessings of affiliate ownership and being a coach is the ability to get kind of creative with our schedules and be present with my family,” he said.

Realizing the benefits of a flexible schedule and valuable family time, Neiffer aims to provide his coaches with the same opportunity.

“It became our mission in terms of our coaching team to not just provide part-time employment for people to do just because they love doing it,” he said, “but to create a professional opportunity for our coaches where they have a job that they absolutely love and they don’t want to do anything else, and they see themselves here for a long time.”

Viewing his affiliate members as family means the goal is always to provide sustainable value catered to the needs of each individual.

“We feel like if we focus on doing right by the people who are in our gym and providing an amazing service to them, it’ll have value in their lives and they’ll hang around.”

Fitness

Neiffer first realized the value CrossFit could provide to others back in his days of fighting wildland fire. He said his hot-shot crew exponentially increased their fitness, improved their nutrition, and doubled down on the fun after adopting the training regimen in 2007.

“We were a better team, we started eating healthier, and we just had more fun. It was awesome,” he said. “I saw how much benefit CrossFit could have on a population that was already fit.”

A teacher by training — Neiffer holds a bachelor’s degree in physics and education — he wanted to share that fun and fitness with others however he could.

“I felt like I could help people in a more profound way through CrossFit more than anything else I had ever done,” he said. “(CrossFit) was life-changing for me and for a lot of people that I know, and I want to share it with as many people as I can.”

No stranger to high-level competition, Neiffer has competed seven times in Regionals and five times at the Games with his affiliate team from CrossFit Fort Vancouver. The team won the Affiliate Cup in 2010 and stood on the podium again in 2017, taking third overall. But he said his competitive days are behind him as he forges ahead in life with other goals in mind.

“The best part of my job is getting to coach classes and work with people that really, truly realize the benefits of CrossFit,” he said. “The competitive athletes — that stuff’s awesome, and don’t get me wrong, I love it! It’s super fun and it fires me up. But at the same time, those people are gonna be pretty OK either way.”

These days, it’s seeing “ordinary people doing extraordinary things all the time” that keeps him excited about fitness.

One of his members, Charlie, suffered a stroke in 2009.

“His doctors told him he’d never walk the same again, and the dude’s doing handstand push-ups and running 5Ks — that’s what fires me up,” Neiffer said.

“Seeing people do anything that they didn’t think they’d ever be able to do is super significant and something that we always celebrate,” he added. “And it happens every day.”

While physical fitness was the first thing that drew Neiffer to CrossFit, he has realized over the years that there is much more to gain in community, mental fitness, and longevity.

“At the end of the day,” he said, “we all love CrossFit for the fitness — but it’s not just about the fitness.”