Community; “a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals.”
Prior to Crossfit I had a gym membership at Snap Fitness, LifeTime Fitness, Power House, the Troy Community Center, and several other one off local gyms. I have zero association between these facilities and the word community. I know we’re all unique snowflakes, so it is possible someone else’s experience varies from my own. However, if I were a betting man, I’d bet most feel the same.
Crossfit gyms aren’t typically revered for their facilities. They’re small family owned business that were started out of savings accounts. The owners typically can be seen daily in the facilities cleaning, assembling, working out, and investing time into general improvement. A good Crossfit facility has adequate space for functional movements, good equipment respective to its use, a relatively loud speaker system, and bathrooms, but not much else. Any profit produced gets invested back into the facility and or continued education for the coaching staff.
The transformative power of CrossFit gyms lies in the bonds formed, more accurately forged, between the people. We sweat, work, celebrate, hurt, fight, and party together. We know each other’s names, nicknames, spouses, and kids names. We accept our differences and invest in our similarities. When you join Maven, you’re not joining a gym, you’re joining a family.