“Just keep moving! It doesn’t matter how fast you go,” a voice yelled in a bustling fitness facility on a Monday night, music blaring and sweat pouring from the faces of participants as they performed lunges, climbed ropes and practiced their form on overhead barbell squats. This is a familiar scene at Morgan Hill’s Brethren CrossFit 5 p.m. class and the voice is that of Nicole Perry, one of the seven certified CrossFit trainers that teach classes at the gym. Opened in January 2009 and owned by Lee Pappas, Brethren CrossFit is one of two CrossFit affiliated gyms in Morgan Hill attracting locals to take up the popular fitness regimen.
CrossFit founder Greg Glassman opened the first CrossFit gym in Santa Cruz in 1995. The exercise program has exploded onto the mainstream health and fitness scene and the number of CrossFit affiliated gyms has soared to more than 5,500 facilities worldwide, according to CrossFit’s website. Brethren CrossFit is gym number 980 to have been opened.
Put in the simplest of terms, CrossFit describes itself as the “sport of fitness.” It focuses on functionality, incorporating a variety of bodyweight exercises and movements with weights, including squats, presses and dead lifts, at maximum intensity. Though the focus on strength in exercise moves that are beneficial in practical life is one draw to people, another big aspect of CrossFit that attracts people is the sense of community.
“It feels more like a family than a gym,” said 50-year-old Frank Portera, one of the newest members of Brethren CrossFit, who has lost 23 pounds in the few short months he has been working out there. “I love the instructors here and how they tailor the workouts to each individual. Unlike other gyms I’ve joined, here at CrossFit I feel really inspired—like I’m training for something and not feeling bored just doing curls at some gym with my headphones on. CrossFit is addicting.”
Owner Pappas explained Brethren CrossFit’s philosophy: “The goal here is to create a fun and encouraging environment for all skill levels. We want people to feel challenged and encouraged. When it comes to my gym’s members, their goals are my goals. I want to help them achieve whatever it is they’re reaching for.”
Critics site risk of injury to be high in CrossFit participants. Pappas touches on this by adding, “Our number one rule is to not get hurt. We focus a lot on the proper technique of moves, range of motion, stretching and preventing injury.”
Brethren CrossFit offers more than 40 classes weekly, including classes for private groups, sports teams and teens. The gym works with Morgan Hill’s Silicon Valley Flex Academy to provide physical education to students.
“I want to help kids associate exercise with fun,” Pappas said. “Getting involved in an exercise program like CrossFit has a positive effect on kids that spills over into the other aspects of their lives. I’m happy when I see teenagers in the gym half an hour before their class starts doing homework or reading—doing productive, positive things instead of getting into trouble.”
Morgan Hill CrossFit also prides itself on offering a community and family atmosphere at its facility. The gym, formerly known as Train for Life, became a CrossFit affiliate two years ago. The gym’s co-owner Buckley Tole started doing CrossFit five years ago after missing the camaraderie of the collegiate sports he participated in. Co-owner John Olson became an avid CrossFitter after starting the regimen during his journey to better health and fitness a few years ago, during which he lost 60 pounds.
Morgan Hill CrossFit offers 45 weekly classes, including kids classes four days a week with participants ages 5 to 17, some of which are handicapped and able to participate with modifications. Emphasizing an overall healthy lifestyle, the gym also offers nutrition classes, taught by chiropractor, certified CrossFit instructor and wife of Buckley Tole, Diana Tole. Diana recently kicked off the gym’s 10th Paleo challenge—a four-week-long program that tracks participants’ progress in body measurements and weight loss, check-ins regarding diet and improvements made in a specific CrossFit workout from the beginning to the end of the challenge. The winner gets a free month of membership at the gym.
Diana educates members on eating Paleo, a diet that focuses on grass-fed local meats, fish, eggs, fruits and vegetables and the avoidance of processed food and dairy. Eating Paleo is commonly emphasized at CrossFit gyms. The diet is outlined on the CrossFit website, summed up by stating, “The Caveman model is perfectly consistent with the CrossFit prescription.”
“The first time I did the Paleo challenge here, I lost 13 pounds, and I had already been doing CrossFit for a solid six months prior,” said member Joe Andrade, who has been doing CrossFit for a year and a half, and has lost 50 pounds. Feeling sluggish and unhealthy when he first came to the gym, Andrade was immediately hooked on the fitness regimen.
“I’m motivated to be here,” he said. “I enjoy the social aspect of being at CrossFit. It’s not even just about the weight loss. It has been a lifestyle change for me.”
For Andrade and many others, CrossFit is a family affair. Andrade’s wife, 8-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son have all been members at Morgan Hill CrossFit.
Perhaps the best example of community at Morgan Hill CrossFit is the wedding that took place at the gym a few years ago.
“They rolled out a runway and had the ceremony right here,” Buckley points from the entrance of the gym down to the main class area. “The couple met here at the gym, so they wanted to get married here at the gym. She wore white workout clothes for the small ceremony.”
Morgan Hill CrossFit is also involved in the community by giving back. The gym holds fundraisers a few times a year, including Toys for Tots campaigns and food drives. Recently they held a donation class to benefit Kevin Ogar, a top CrossFit athlete who became paralyzed after dropping a bar on his spine during a CrossFit competition last January in Orange County. The class raised $1,000.
CrossFit gyms worldwide participate in what’s known as the CrossFit season, which can be broken down into three stages. Firstly, there are five weeks of the CrossFit Open, during which one new workout is released weekly for athletes in every CrossFit gym worldwide to perform and compete against one another. Brethren CrossFit hosted a viewing party on a large projector screen for each weekly workout announcement.
According to CrossFit’s website, last year there were more than 138,000 CrossFit Open participants worldwide, a dramatic increase from the 69,000 competitors that registered in 2012.
The second stage of the competition is Regionals, where top scorers from the five weeks of the CrossFit Open compete in 17 designated locations around the world. The CrossFit Games is the culmination of both the CrossFit Open and Regional competitions, bringing the top CrossFit athletes together for a showdown to crown what they deem to be, “The Fittest on Earth.” The event started in 2007 and takes place July 22-24 in Carson. Brethren CrossFit is no stranger to the CrossFit season, as members from the gym have made it at least to Regionals every year since 2009.
But not all exercisers do CrossFit with aspirations of making it to this year’s Games. Take Lisa Stebbins, a mom of two with another on the way who works out at Brethren CrossFit.
“I love the scalability of CrossFit. I’ve pulled back on the weights I use and I’ll probably need to make more modifications as the weeks go on, but I hope to be here doing what I can until the day I go into labor,” Stebbins said.
She started doing CrossFit a few months after her second baby was born and has felt a difference with this pregnancy versus her others.
Among the inspiration quotes plastered on the walls of Morgan Hill CrossFit is “Stronger Than Yesterday,” a common saying in CrossFit. Given the current trend of it rising in popularity worldwide, there’s no doubt that the sport of CrossFit has indeed been getting stronger each day.
