Crossfit Fuse, Redmond, WA (USA) -redux
Crossfit Fuse was opened by Troy back in 2011. I was, (we think) athlete #12. Now it has hundreds of people walk through the door.
I recently went back to Seattle for a visit and, of course, after 2 years of travels, I had to drop in on my old box. I felt like I was going home after being away at college for a year. Some familiar faces mixed with new- but all the expressions were the same: Glee, Bliss, Accomplishment.
The decor has changed slightly. There are more achievement-based plaques on the wall (Murph times, Cindy reps, etc) There are more racks for pullups. But the environment is still the same and the community is stronger than ever.
Troy actually does a bunch of really interesting things to build up the Fuse Community that I’m going to list in no-particular order:
1) He has special training class for aspiring coaches. Essentially, after you get your level 1 cert (1 weekend, 16 hours, 1000$USD) you are “certified to teach crossfit”. But anyone who has been to a GREAT crossfit vs a BAD one know that the coaches need to have more experience than just this weekend class. The things you need to know and see are athlete’s bodies. How they move, how they respond to cues, etc. Basically- you need experience. And that level 1 cert doesn’t give you that. Troy figured this out early and has an amazing solution to the problem that doesn’t involve unpaid internships.
2)I remembered the “monthly challenge” board where you put your name on a magnet and counted how many double-unders you did in the month. (10,000 was the goal). If you reached the goal, your name got put into a hat for a prize. The actual prizes weren’t nearly as awesome as the bragging rights you had when your name was at the top. 🙂 This still exists.
4) Fuse Throwdowns. (competition within fuse that is scaled and handicapped so everyone gets a fair shot).
5) Baseball/softball league signups
6) Paleo facebook pages. (to keep you accountable, people can post pictures of their food and encouragements. Changing your diet is WAY EASIER if you have a bunch of encouraging things on your FB feed- rather than pictures of drunk chicks.)
7) a PR (personal record) board (otherwise known as “the Brag Board”). A place where you can write down your personal achievements that you’re proud of.
8) The “Fuse Open”. During the Crossfit Open he divides everyone who has signed up for the open and divides them into 4 groups. The groups pick team names and colors, set up facebook pages and then a page of ‘how to earn points’. Teams can earn points in various ways:
a) showing up to class
b) wearing your team color
c) taking pictures of your paleo food
d) guessing what the open wod will be. (couplet, chipper, the moves, how many reps, etc.)
e) achieving 100 kettlebell swings = 1 point.
f) having friends come and do a workout.
g) having friends swing kettlebells with you (you need to get this on tape).
h) challenging other people in the gym to do crazy stuff. (like jump into Lake Washington… In March.)
There are heaps of ways to build community within your box and I may be biased, but I think Fuse does the best job of all the boxes I’ve been to so far.
I showed up on a Saturday and asked if we could do my favorite WOD of all time:
The Zombie Apocalypse team-wod
-divide group into 2
-everyone runs 200 meters. Slowest member’s group (zombies) needs to push a 400lb sled 200m first while faster group (humans) does “work”. Once the zombies are back, the group switches. Keep repeating until one group finishes.
WORK:
300-wallball (brain toss)
300 pullups (blood on the bars)
300 doubleunders (suppression fire)
600lb sandbag drag (50m) (injured buddy)
300 box jumps (jump high or die)
600lb “dead-body move” 200m (with or without sled).
(Note: It’s easier the more people you have in your group. You also have to pace yourself. With 8 people per group it took 32min. With 5 people per group it took 45 min.)
With all this said: I had someone ask me “You went to Fuse- but that was ages ago! Would you go back?” And the answer is a resounding “YES!”. If you want to be trained by athletes who LOVE what they do and are passionate about making you comfortable, stronger and better- then go check out Fuse.