CrossFit’s Eric Roza on approaching Chinese market – ‘We’ve got to operate within the constructs of US foreign policy’
- The branded, functional fitness regime has new leadership and sights on the world’s most sought-after demographic – the Chinese middle class
- ‘Respect the culture and ecosystem in China’ – that’s the message for CrossFit if it wants to succeed
The final event of the 2020 CrossFit Games in October was a doozy. Named “Atalanta”, it was a spectacularly difficult test of strength and endurance: a one-mile run, followed by 100 handstand push-ups, 200 single-leg squats and 300 pull-ups. Then another one-mile run, all while wearing a weighted vest.
“I liked that workout,” she managed to say between staggering breaths as medical staff checked on her well-being.
This is both the appeal, and the confusion, of CrossFit. To disciples of the branded functional fitness regime, who train in more than 150,000 “boxes” all over the world, beating yourself mentally and physically to the point of exhaustion is the point of the sport. To outsiders, it appears to be madness, a fringe pastime where gym goers spend all day doing, or talking about, CrossFit.
The sport’s staying power has withstood the test of time. Started in 2000 in a California garage, it has been the scorn of fitness and sporting circles, and the mainstream press, who have labelled it ‘dangerous’ and ‘cultlike’. Its athletes, largely ignored by traditional sporting enthusiasts, have turned to social media where they have amassed impressive followings and subsequent sponsorship deals with heavyweights such as Nike and Reebok.