By Shaina Hayutin, Coach at CrossFit Newtown

Community. We hear this word thrown around all the time in the CrossFit space. Owners proclaim theirs to be the best, and long-term members seem to stick around because of it.  But what does it really mean? Is it truly a powerful force, or is it simply an overused term? 

Human beings were made to live in tribes, to connect with others in a way that bonds folks best: struggling together. In the beginning, this mostly looked like survival. That meant, working together with the people who happened to also be living on the same plot of land in order to provide food and shelter. Turns out, foraging, hunting, and building are all made easier when you collaborate with others. 

As society evolved since the beginning of time, and here in first world countries like America, it has become much easier to get those basic needs met. Here in the US, 86% of households have consistent access to food and shelter, and I would wager that percentage only increases when looking specifically at the paying CrossFit membership population. So, if most CrossFitters, most of the time, are getting their basic physiological needs met prior to stepping foot inside of a box, what exactly are they looking for next?

This moves us up on the hierarchy of needs pyramid [Maslow]–  as CrossFitters, we love a good pyramid– from physiological [food and shelter] to safety and security. A huge factor of that second tier is your state of health. Turns out, fitness plays a huge role there. Shocking, I know. When we step into an environment that actively promotes healthy nutrition and above average fitness, we feel a sense of security. That’s because, when we take care of our bodies and minds, our health markers move in the right direction. And when our health is secure, our sense of safety as living, breathing humans here on planet earth feels stable. 

As we move up the pyramid, we discover that a sense of belonging comes next: insert the cliched term “community.” As we dig deep, we discover that this “buzzword” is not a meaningless piece of jargon. Turns out, we hear it so often because it is indeed, incredibly powerful. “Community,” is utilized in the CrossFit space on a daily basis in boxes across the nation and world. It’s heard on repeat because of its innate ability to connect human beings, and therefore, meet the needs of this third tier.  

In James Maskell’s book, “The Community Cure: Transforming Health Outcomes Together,” he discusses how to bring group settings to the forefront of healthcare in order to provide a higher and more effective level of support. The root cause in this model’s success was in connecting human beings with similar struggles: 

“‘The preliminary findings definitely demonstrate that this model of care truly improves our patients’ health-related quality of life.’ The success is attributed to both the functional medicine approach and the ‘social connection that happens between patients.’”

This is why the CrossFit community provides the ideal support system. It creates an influential social bond that connects fellow athletes. Your gym buddies will hold you accountable to healthy lifestyle behavior changes and validate these changes every single time you step through that garage door. And that natural desire for human connection is only becoming more vital.  

In a world where our technological revolution is moving at its fastest pace in history, and the robots seem to be taking over much sooner than even Elon could have predicted, there is a heightened, and urgent need for human beings to connect with one another. 

Maskell says, “We need more connection, more empathy, more social connectivity, and less loneliness, less social isolation. In a culture and society that emphasizes or prioritizes privacy, we’re inadvertently contributing to the very epidemic we’re trying to solve.” 

CrossFit was created to solve, as its founder Greg Glassman stated, “the world’s most vexing problem.” Back in 2001, this meant chronic diseases like obesity, hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease, and so on. As time continues, humans are proving that mental health needs to be added to this list of chronic conditions. 

This is why the CrossFit Community offers a solution. Affiliates provide the ideal outlet to potentially cure loneliness, create a sense of belonging, and tap into that third human need of building and sustaining deep, meaningful relationships. 

The CrossFit community has tapped into something we’ve seen in other areas that create unshakable bonds. Other spaces like the military, sports, AA groups, religious institutions, and support groups of any kind really. Whenever you place human beings in the same space as others who have experienced similar trauma or struggle, lifelong connections are made most sound.

We struggle together.

We do hard things together.

We are like-minded individuals who believe in prioritizing our health and fitness. 

We spend our most precious asset [time] showing up to the gym amongst our busy lives.

We spend another valuable asset [money] on our memberships. 

We hold each other accountable. 

We embrace the process. 

So you tell me, is “community” cliche or is it truly life changing? 

‍Shaina Hayutin is a CrossFit Coach and Content writer at CrossFit Newtown in Newtown, PA. With a Degree in Journalism, a Level 2 CrossFit Coach, a Healthy Steps Nutrition Coach, and over a decade of experience in the fitness industry, she emphasizes the critical role that community plays in achieving optimal fitness results while maintaining long-term health and wellness.