CrossFit Games reflect gym’s community atmosphere

There’s a fitness phenomenon that has truly exploded all over the map. CrossFit, a workout system which promotes comprehensive general fitness in a group-workout atmosphere, has 1,700 affiliated gyms worldwide and three locally — CrossFit Pacific Coast, CrossFit Goodland and CrossFit Santa Barbara.

But despite the widespread reach of the community, there’s an event that brings everything together.

The CrossFit Games , which are designed to determine “the fittest man and woman on earth,” finished up a couple of weeks ago in L.A. after sectional and regional qualifying events.

Traver Boehm, co-owner of CrossFit Pacific Coast, competes at the Sectionals.

“I run a gym and am in pretty darn good shape and didn’t even make it past the first one if that’s an indication of the talent pool,” said Traver Boehm, co-owner of CrossFit Pacific Coast.

2010 CROSSFIT GAMES HIGHLIGHT FILM

The variety of events that challenge competitors in the CrossFit Games shows the breadth and depth presented in the system’s workouts.

“The events were insane, with everything from reps of 135-pound snatches and muscle-ups, to having to drag 600 pounds of sandbags up and over walls and around a stadium,” said Boehm. “In the last event the competitors had three workouts back-to-back and they didn’t know what any of them would be until 30 seconds before the start of each.”

While no clients of local CrossFit affiliates competed this year, there are already plans to give it a try next year, and workouts are being created to help them in the games.

“Even though no one from CrossFit Goodland competed this year, the revitalizing energy that pervades our entire community surrounding the Games is tangible and leads to more intensity in our workouts up here in Goleta as well,” said Nick Conn, owner of CrossFit Goodland. “The CrossFit Games are the pinnacle of fitness and have been a driving force behind the evolution of CrossFit as a fitness regimen as well as a sport.”

This year’s winners were Graham Holmberg, who trains at CrossFit Gohanna in Ohio, and Kristan Clever (short hair in this video) of CrossFit North Hollywood.

Boehm said that the spirit of the CrossFit Games and the camaraderie between all “CrossFitters” is a reflection of the teamwork in each affiliated gym. Next year, his gym has eight people who are planning to participate, and preparation is in full swing.

“CrossFit is the hardest workout on the planet, bar none,” he said. “If there was something harder, we’d be doing it. That being said, it’s only possible because of the close-knit aspect within the gym. When you suffer this much next to another human being something happens and you build a bond. My people are teammates — they’ve sweat, bled, cried and laughed together all in the name of a ridiculous workout.”

CrossFit will be holding a competition in Ventura on August 14th, and a worldwide fundraiser, “Fight Gone Bad,” will be hosted in Santa Barbara on September 25th. In the fundraiser, all CrossFit gyms around the world do one specific workout on the same day as a way to raise money for three charities — the Lance Armstrong Foundation, The Wounded Warrior Project and the CrossFit Foundation.  There’s more info at www.fgb5.org.  Last year, the event raised two million dollars.