CrossFit’s strength and conditioning program helps improve muscular strength, increase respiratory-cardio endurance, and enhance flexibility. CrossFit regularly changes the mix of gymnastics and body weight exercises, aerobics and weightlifting. A CrossFit literature descries its own program as “constantly varied functional movements executed at high intensity across broad modal and time domains.”
At the affiliated gyms CrossFit classes, typically called boxes, last for one hour. Members go through warm-ups, skill development and “workout of the day” (WOD) which are normally high intensity exercises, and individual or group stretching. In some boxes the members go through movements that focus on strength before the WOD. Each WOD performance is scored, graded and ranked to help the members track their progress.
CrossFit programs are used thousands of affiliated gyms, by many government offices like law enforcement agencies, fire departments, and military organizations, by US and Canadian schools and colleges and their sports teams and physical education classes, by the Royal Danish Life Guards, and by the Miami Marlins. Because of this wide reach, CrossFit has decentralized its programming to give more freedom to the affiliates to do what works for their particular group.
CrossFit earnings come from annual license fees paid by affiliated gyms. The company also certifies fitness trainers through its Level 1 Training Course. It also holds specialty seminars like gymnastics, weightlifting, powerlifting, running, endurance, rowing, mobility and recovery. CrossFit also handles specialized programs for special military operations, for seniors and for pregnant women.
With decentralization, CrossFit affiliates develop their own fitness program, instructional methods and pricing. Using the virtual community, CrossFit is able to share a number of common features using open source projects. This encourages the emergence of the best practices from a variety of different approaches available.