Old School CrossFit and My Work with Exclusive Coaching

It’s funny to me, as the sport of CrossFit continues to evolve in mainstream media and public awareness of what exactly it is all about, how I have seemingly become part of a history lesson.

As you can see in this article by Box Rox, I made #12 on the list of the “18 Things Only Old School CrossFit Athletes Will Remember.”

Like an ‘old timer’ (i.e. dinosaur), my claim to fame as the victor of the first ever CrossFit Games in 2007, is now included in the schooling of others joining this coming-age of fitness.

Know who I am or not, there’s no denying that CrossFit in and of itself has changed and evolved tremendously over the past decade that I have been involved, directly and inadvertently, in the sport and community.

Anyone remember…

– Chatting on the .com blog as we refreshed and waited for the post to come up to see what was in store for the next day?

– These names? – kellymoore, dammit, Sue Ady, gaucoin, bret_NYC, mrjling, Bridges, max, Mike G, bingo, Jesse Woody, tree lizard, sailocrew?…if not, it shows your age in the sport

– The impact Mark Rippetoe had on the strength bias work that support everyone within the training?…don’t know him, you are a “newbie”

– The people that have come and gone – Mark Twight, Dan John, Rippetoe, Robb Wolf….?

– The 20% of the posts on Fran day where people would just post “oh shit”…or “aaahhhhhhhhh”…etc…before anyone ever posted a score…pain before the pain

…And there was more

Not only these fun little facts and quirky memories that made CrossFit what it was at the time, but also, back then, CrossFit really was about fitness—or rather, more well-rounded fitness tests.

Not for show.

Since the affiliate models were still very new at the time I started (2005), programming for the group model was often based on the dot-com workouts of the day, or some sort of basic fitness-style circuit, that many would probably consider to be more of a ‘warm up’ today.

Many people were even just training in their own garages, home gyms or globo gyms—incorporating methodologies of functional, high intensity, varied workouts for their personal progress and individual training programs…and with much less ‘sexiness’ or show than is typical of many of today’s programmed workouts.

For example, out of the research I have conducted on the training posts when I was training on .com in most months, out of the 21 workouts that were posted, at least half of them were CP based alone (i.e. DL – 3,3,2,2,2,1,1,1,1 or the infamous Press – 5,5,5, PP – 3,3,3, Jerk – 1,1,1 or the well known Pull Up – 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1)…the other 25% were short pain like Fran or Diane and the other 25% were things like a 5K Run, longer row, or longer chipper or met con…quite balanced. After January 2008, things changed when I eventually left the .com blog into 80% of all monthly workouts being long chippers and consistent longer tests…

Despite any such changes or evolution, however, I do feel a DEEP personal connection to the clients, athletes, coaches and gym owners involved within CrossFit.

Over the past 10 years, it has been both a privilege and a mission to be a contributor in helping individuals truly succeed and discover what it means to be the very best they can be in their field of play (whether that is competing at the Stub Hub Center, earning their ticket to the Regional-level competition, keeping up with their kids, or leading a business of 200 members).

After all, I myself was a CrossFit competitor, an athlete, who had the opportunity to ‘play’ on the field; and if anything, my life’s work is to pay it forward, raising up such impeccable athletes, clients and coaches within the realm of fitness.

OPEX coaches CrossFitters well because, essentially, we ‘get’ CrossFitters—just as much as we ‘get’ hockey players, golfers, tennis players, mountain bikers, football players, weightlifters, yoga moms, former-highschool-athletes-gone-corporate, etc.

We coach CrossFitters, and other athletes, well because we take a unique, individualized approach to helping uncover the ‘nitty gritty’ aspects of a person’s game—the areas where they need improvement, addressing weaknesses, while also playing to (and building upon) strengths.

OPEX’s Exclusive Coaching was initially, specifically designed for the individuals who love fitness, want to get better, know the value of hard work, and whom, understand the immense possibilities possible when they allow another coach to be their guide.

Every person on this planet can benefit from a coach in some capacity (business, parenting, CrossFit, fitness, education, etc.)…

OPEX’s Exclusive Coaching model brings just that to the ‘old time’ CrossFitters and newbies alike, who, by this time, should recognize that, in order to play to your peak potential…you need to work on your own game (not one intended for the masses).
-James FitzGerald