Ask a Coach: What Makes CrossFit, CrossFit?

I love this question because it means someone is genuinely curious about what we are about and wants to learn more. If you had asked me this question several years ago, I would have immediately said, “The community.” Our community is not just good, it’s unique. It goes against the norms and is filled with people who challenge themselves, encourage others, and overcome obstacles. This social aspect may even encourage people to stick with the program. But when I thought about it more, plenty of other fitness programs out there also have a good community environment, albeit without some of the attributes our community thrives on.

When people ask me this question now, I say something like: CrossFit leads to the best results of any program due to the potency of the methodology’s fundamentals. The community is an amazing bonus, but the methodology truly sets us apart and guarantees results.

I started my coaching journey about 20 years ago, and I honestly didn’t think the results I’m seeing in our community now were possible. “Normal” people are busting out pull-ups and doing Olympic lifts with sound technique, women are deadlifting 200+ pounds, for example. This didn’t happen before CrossFit came around. We don’t see these things happening in other programs. The potency of CrossFit relies upon elements like variance, using functional movements, and working at high-intensity levels. When I explain these concepts to people I’m coaching, I usually keep it simple.

Functional Movements

Yes, we use functional movements that make sense in the real world (squats, deadlifts, etc.), but a key ingredient is the compound yet irreducible nature of these movements, the neuroendocrine response we get, and their ability to generate high levels of power output. If you want results, you need to do these movements. This starkly contrasts the small range of motion, low-power, booty-blasting, isolation movements we see commonly performed in many fitness (not health!) programs.

High Intensity

You’ve taken your Level 1, so you know we define intensity as power. I’ll typically just let the athlete know that discomfort will likely occur and that their goal is to work hard with these movements while maintaining sound technique. My job is to ensure they are working at levels that challenge them at their physical and psychological tolerances each day. Most other programs cannot threshold train each person relative to their current capacity and shy away from that fine line of balancing precision of movement with speed/load of execution with the complex elements we do. But with our coaching, they can trust they’re always pushing their limits in a safe and effective way.

Variance

We utilize a variety of loads, movements, volumes, and time durations, which allows athletes to get a broad range of results. This differs from most of the programs out there, which are always light, always long, etc.

When combining these fundamental principles with our nutrition recommendations, great coaching, and the best community around, we create a recipe that guarantees results.

Have a question for a coach? Please submit that here.

---

About the Author

Eric O’Connor is a Content Developer and Seminar Staff Flowmaster for CrossFit’s Education Department and the co-creator of the former CrossFit Competitor’s Course. He has led over 400 seminars and has over a decade of experience coaching at a CrossFit affiliate. He is a Certified CrossFit Coach (CF-L4), a former Division 1 collegiate wrestler, and a former CrossFit Games athlete.