America Peals

So as the whole CrossFit world knows, esteemed Paleo nutrition guru, Robb Wolf was fired by CrossFit Head Quarters. I will defer you to the Wolf’s statement on his blog entitled, The Black Box Summit Or How I Got Fired From the CrossFit Nutrition Certification.

Upon initial glance the recounting of the Black Box Summit appears that a bunch of passionate men got all riled up and acted with less aplomb than they probably would have hoped in front of their audience of 70 people. However, after reading many  posts and talking with CrossFit coaches around the country, I think the firing of Robb Wolf is far more significant as regards the future of CrossFit.

Of course, I remain a consumer and an avid consumer of CrossFit as a business, as a training module, a nutritional resource and most importantly as a life changing path should you choose to follow it. But, an expert I am not. I know know one outside the blogosphere and what I read about CrossFit. All I offer is my opinion as an outsider looking in.

From what I have gathered, the epistle penned by GreySkull Elite got the party started. GreySkull purported forcefully that the legacy of CrossFit was diluting its integrity and with the matriculation of “fat people” and “emaciated faux hawked nerds.”

OK. Scheaffer dishes strong opinions. His cause for concern regarding training certification makes me skeptical on a global scale but not at all for CrossFit New England coaches and the repsective box. What irks me and I fully offer the disclosure, I am a consumer of CrossFit New England not an CF expert, is the attitude presented in that post is not that of excellence or what I would expect from an elite athlete. Rather, the Greyskull posts celebrates an exclusivity that makes the writer look snobbish and quite honestly, way too angry.

I absolutely appreciate Greyskull’s commitment to the purity of strength training, excellent form and comprehensively trained coaches.

Moreover, the beef seeming to be more prevalent in the GreySkull post is that to the author, CrossFit is no longer “an underground subculture of badassness.”  To which I respond, a badass doesn’t take the time to trash talk and articulate reductive sweeping generalities of a culture that he is but one player in.  A badass works hard and never refers to himself as badass. Kind of like FightClub.

Difference though between Greyskulls and FightClub is that an “emaciated pussified faux hawked nerd” who shops at IKEA can join FightClub and make soap.

But back to Who is Afraid of Robb Wolf? My neophyte observations (based on working on Wall Street) is that a major rift is beginning to manifest at CrossFit Head Quarters. In my estimation, a rift is neither good or bad. In fact, it suggests evolution, progression and adaptaption which are all biological determinants within each of us. On the macro level, you have multiple groups all hammering to define CrossFit. In one arena, you have advocates who endorse the strength component of CF as paramount. In another arena, another group purports Paleo nutrition in the purist sense as the first and most important key to unlocking the body’s uber athlete. You have those who are wildly concerned with the purity and professionalism of affiliates (ironic given the activity and consequences of Wolf’s post).

And, the list continues…

The point is that pronounced dissension which has made its way to my terminal  as well as you , does not inspire confidence with leadership across the board at CrossFit. Which actually, leads me to believe that it is the local Boxes that we must look to for guidance, training and nutrition. Kind of like separating the Federal government from the States. Maybe that is too severe. It probably is. However, in the spirit of CrossFit where we train to constantly keep our muscles guessing and adding profound variety to workouts, it would seem that HQ and the powers that be, would recognize that variety, dynamism and questioning and rethinking older practices is integral.

I think abolitionist Frederick Douglass said it best:

Let me give you a word of the philosophy of reform. The whole history of the progress of human liberty shows that all concessions yet made to her august claims have been born of earnest struggle. The conflict has been exciting, agitating, all-absorbing, and for the time being, putting all other tumults to silence. It must do this or it does nothing. If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops without plowing up the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters.