A common running joke around CrossFit is that it's akin to a cult, with members often being portrayed as being unable to talk about anything else. The sport is thriving largely thanks to its community-style exercise, holistic approach to life and varied movements.
The CrossFit community
Rather than simply visiting the gym, CrossFit encourages participants to adopt a lifestyle: its members socialise outside of training – often to watch videos of athletes competing at dedicated CrossFit events – and buy allocated apparel and gear.
Due to the varied nature of the workouts, CrossFit enthusiasts and athletes regularly purchase merchandise to help with Olympic-style lifting – weights belts, lifter shoes, wrist wraps – as well as speciality shoes, grips for gymnastic movements to protect their hands, heart-rate monitors, adhesive tape, knee guards and chalk for the hands, to name a few. It can certainly add up, particularly given CrossFit-affiliated gyms in the UAE charge an average of Dh1,000 per month. And yet the group keeps on growing.
Luca Spinelli, who trains regularly at JLT Dubai's Vogue Fitness, says he spends approximately Dh4,000 per year on CrossFit goods – from supplements to equipment and clothes. That's on top of the Dh12,000 he pays for the annual gym membership. Spinelli says it's the inclusive community he seeks out, and therefore is willing to spend the money. It's an investment, he explains.
“The money I spend on CrossFit is recycled from the budget of previous bad habits, so I would say I save money while I get fit. A CrossFit box is a social place, a safe mental haven, a place where I get better every day. To me, it’s like a place where, all at once, I get to see my friends, get fitter, get therapy, feed my competitiveness and stay away from the phone. It is affordable compared to the benefits I get.”
It’s no surprise, then, that sports brands are jumping on to the lucrative bandwagon. CrossFit has become a key pillar of Reebok’s merchandise over the past decade, with heavy sponsorship and regular new releases, including the Nano shoes created especially for the combination of weightlifting, cardiovascular exercise and gymnastics. Nike, although a later investor, is also tapping into the CrossFit merchandise market, with its MetCon shoes, durable clothing, and weights belts and other specific equipment.
HIIT in the spotlight
Now Reebok is attempting to go one step further and create the same furore around high-intensity interval training (HIIT). Following the launch of its TR shoes, the brand is looking beyond traditional marketing to start a community movement within the HIIT speciality.
"The success of CrossFit is down to the passion and involvement of the community. The accessibility of the workouts, the ease of setting up a CrossFit gym, and the independent growth of the brand that allowed large communities to take the mantle and spread it out as they see fit have also been key," says Vicki Fitzsimons, Reebok's brand director for the GCC. "The CrossFit fan base is also very active and loyal with millions of enthusiasts across the world – competitions have helped cultivate their loyalty, where the whole community is pursuing the same workouts that the professionals are doing.
“With HIIT, we sought to address a consumer need and gap in the market, and partnered with local gyms and instructors to raise awareness on the benefits of the workout and equip people with the right gear to excel in their training,” Fitzsimons adds.
Indeed, HIIT workouts are booming, appealing to the time-poor, with the likes of Fitness First, F45, Joe Wicks and Circuit Factory all adopting the strategy – that is, explosive movements at short intervals to get the heart rate rapidly up and then back down. It's proven to be quick and efficient, and enables people to burn a significant number of calories in a shorter amount of time. Wicks came to Dubai last year for the Dubai Fitness Challenge and attempted to break his own world record by holding the biggest HIIT class. Although he didn't succeed, the class did top numbers for the region.
HIIT vs CrossFit
But will Reebok’s attempt to create a HIIT community work? After all, the CrossFit following is not one that is easily replicated. For one, the sport has its own annual event, the CrossFit Games, with elite athletes competing at the highest level each year in the US.
The Games aside, CrossFit coach Jamie Greene attributes its cult-like following to the people. "Not only do you get a workout, which makes you feel good, but you do it alongside a bunch of people who actually socialise, help each other out and offer support. That's what's different to your usual gym," she says. "Even different to your HIIT or F45 gym, you actually have time to learn about other people while learning skills."
Greene is an elite trainer from Abu Dhabi's CrossFit Yas. She's a coach, and last year placed third in the international CrossFit Games – a global competition to find the fittest people possible. In that sense, she has first-hand experience of the community spirit, working with gym-goers internationally and seeing first-hand the effect CrossFit has on people's lives.
When quizzed whether she thinks the same lifestyle could apply to HIIT, Greene is sceptical, saying that it's difficult to replicate the bonding experience and the suffering in strength component of workouts together in classes.
“Together in a CrossFit gym, when you’re sharing a barbell with someone trying to master a squat snatch, that’s when you truly interact with someone and learn about them. I don’t believe the same can be done in a HIIT-only class; how can you truly meet someone if you’re just bouncing around next to them trying to yell over the loud music? Although, of course, there is a time and place for this, and I do believe you need both.”
Spinelli agrees, saying that the variety and elements of competition keep him going back for more. “CrossFit offers coached classes that are constantly varied – based on cycles of strength, cardio, gymnastics, all things I would not get from a classic gym. Every class is a competition: me versus me and me versus the rest.
“Dubai has plenty of great boxes and the community is extremely friendly,” he adds. “We know each other and we support each other even when we are competing against each another.”
Whether the same will come of HIIT remains to be seen.
