Good morning and welcome to the WODDITY podcast for news about CrossFit. We are a daily podcast, Monday through Friday, doing CrossFit news in five minutes or less.
My name is Ben Garves and today is Wednesday, the 23rd of October, 2019.
Glassman De-Affiliates Gym
Armen Hammer did some deep reporting in a video yesterday talking through an exchange between a frustrated CrossFit affiliate owner and CrossFit’s founder and chairman, Greg Glassman. The affiliate owner, who runs a competition-focused gym in Kansas City, has been vocal in private Facebook groups about CrossFit as an organization. He criticizes how it has doubled down on its orientation toward general physical preparedness in the past few years, questions if the methodology is any more effective than general bootcamp and high-intensity interval training, and dislikes how it differs from conventional periodized training.
To summarize it all up, he fits into a category of gym owner who wasn’t correctly applying the methodology in the first place and doesn’t appear to believe in CrossFit’s “increased word capacity over broad time and modal domains” credo. It came to light that he had emailed Glassman in 2018 to request being removed as an affiliate, to which a new leaked email response from Greg Glassman basically just says, “sounds good.”
Okay, he used a few more words than that. Glassman’s email says:
“…let’s end your affiliation. I don’t think you’re serving the greater community or your membership ideally. That your box depended on the Regional format sounds like an admission of failed service to your community.
Rather than running a ‘gym designed around competitive CrossFit’ you should be running a gym around providing the best training for your clients.”
In other words, CrossFit is a company and it is a brand. If you as an affiliate are not represented by the brand and its goals, the brand name shouldn’t be the one hanging over your gym’s doors. I understand the owner’s frustration in the competitive shift, but CrossFit was a gym first and competition second. That has never changed.
I’ve put a link to Armen’s full video in my show notes at WODDITY.com. You should watch the full video and weigh in on the subject. There has been a lot of change in the past two years, and change isn’t always easy.
NOBULL Film Festival + Buttery Bros
NOBULL has announced the Buttery Bros will be part of the attraction at their Fitness Film Festival, coming up on November 23rd. Marston Sawyers and Heber Cannon will be premiering something special on the film festival’s main stage. Filmmakers have until October 31st to submit their entries for consideration. You can do so, and purchase tickets, at fitnessfilmfestival.com.
Virtue Athletics: New Fitness Shoes
Remember the days when NOBULL was just a startup shoe company? I do. Tommy Marquez of Morning Chalk Up posted an article yesterday on a new functional fitness shoe startup called Virtue Athletics. This fledgeling, new kid on the block company launched their kickstarter this week and have raised over $20,000 toward getting their shoes off the ground. It’s a good-looking shoe with a couple of different colors and a very functional design. You can go support them in their fundraising campaign – grab the link in my show notes.
Open 20.3 Athletes and Live Stream
Matilde Garnes, who will be throwing down at the Norwegian CrossFit Championship’s Open 20.3 workout announcement tomorrow posted a video to Instagram of herself doing a squat clean at 100 kilos. Watch her alongside Kristin Holte, Nicolay Billaudel, and Rebecka Vitesson on the WODDITY live stream, starting at 4:30 PM tomorrow. Garnes and Vitesson are some awesome upcoming athletes.
Mikko Salo Back for Legends Event
Mikko Salo has confirmed he’s received an invite to the Rogue Invitational’s Legends event. Other confirmed athletes are Tanya Wagner, Julie Foucher, and Chris Spealler.
Apply to the OUTAthlete Program
OUTWOD is taking applications for their OUTAthlete program. The organization takes LGBTQ+ athletes, hooks them up with a gym membership, goal coaching, nutrition help, discounts, and more. I’ve put a link to that in my show notes, as well.
And that’s it for news about CrossFit on Wednesday, October 23rd. Thanks for listening. Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe. It’s the best way to give back to the show, because it helps more people find us. I’m Ben Garves.
