General Physical Preparedness or GPP

CrossFit specializes in not specializing. There are ten recognized general domains of fitness- cardiovascular/respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy. We seek to produce clients who are competent in all these areas, and thus can deal with the unknown challenges of daily life, no matter what the obstacle. It does the Marine no good if he is strong as an ox but does not have the endurance to walk one hundred feet without getting out of breath. Similarly, if the soccer mom is extremely flexible but too weak to carry groceries what good is that? Thus, we do not adhere to the mainstream misconception that the "fittest" people on the planet are long-distance endurance athletes (i.e., marathoners or triathletes). These people, while possessing astounding cardiovascular endurance, have so over-trained that domain to the complete detriment of the others. They generally possess below-average flexibility, minimal agility and experience profound muscle mass wasting with extreme losses in strength. Here at CrossFit Elysium you can forget about having your time wasted for hours on a treadmill or stationary bike- it's not going to happen. We seek to produce balanced athletes, competent in all ten domains and able to handle anything life may throw at them. We achieve this through multiple modalities- weightlifting, bodyweight movements such as gymnastics, rowing, and so much more.

Functionality

Functionality simply means our clients move their bodies in the way nature and anatomy intended them to move. True gains in fitness can only be achieved when the body moves in a functional manner. What this means is- THOSE MACHINES IN ALL THE MAJOR GYMS DON'T WORK. It's sad, but true. Here at CrossFit Elysium you will run, jump, squat and move your body along anatomically sound principles. All your major muscle groups will work in harmony with each other as they were meant to- not in isolation from one another. If you were to pick something heavy up at home you would use your legs, hips, back and arms together. So, why would you train for "fitness" on machines which ISOLATE muscles from one another??? As another example, when would you EVER find yourself lying on a weird ball, off-balance, trying to do some version of a sit-up? Yet, you can see this sight in any cookie-cutter gym around the country. THIS STUFF DOESN'T WORK. We know- we used to train people this way until we saw the light.

Functional movements produce the biggest gains in fitness, period. By moving in an anatomically sound way our clients also ward off injury. Time and again clients report that old injuries improve or completely resolve after CrossFit. By contrast, non-functional machines and movements PRODUCE injury by making the body move in ways it was never intended to. It makes too much sense. Yet, mainstream fitness has yet to catch on.

Intensity

Once our clients learn the functional movements and develop competence in the ten domains of fitness, intensity is the ingredient where the true magic happens. Adaptation and gains are most completely and quickly achieved by intensity. We see this in life all the time. Exposure to brighter sunlight will produce a stronger tan. Pushing harder on a run will make you that much better a runner. Results are achieved from intensity of effort, not duration of effort.

What does this mean for our clients? Simply put- you will learn to work hard. You will grow to love it. You will FINISH your workouts while others in a mainstream gym are still warming up and talking on their cellphones! And, you will achieve more results than you ever thought possible, in the quickest amount of time.

What makes CrossFit Elysium different from other CrossFit gyms?

While most CrossFit gyms are founded on similar principles, each one has its own unique flavor. We encourage any potential client to evaluate many CrossFit affiliates and choose the one with the best fit. We think we're special for the following reasons-

- our community: our members have made many genuine friendships with each other. We regularly hang out and interact with each other socially outside of the gym (parties, get-togethers, etc). How many gyms have you been to where you can say that?
- individual attention: our business model and philosophy is founded on the small group class. We cap our class sizes to ensure you receive individual attention and we will never deviate from this. Many other CrossFit affiliates have larger class sizes and cannot offer this.
- focus on development: the easiest thing in the world is to design a long "cardio" workout, put on some loud music, and let the clients go. Depressingly, this is what you may find at other CrossFit gyms. We don't operate this way. Every day you come in we will be working on specialized skills and strength which require know-how and individual coaching. Sure, we've got the "cardio" as well, but our main focus is on developing your athleticism and helping you reach your fitness goals.
- know-how: simply put, we know what we're doing. The owners have long experience training and coaching, including modalities outside of CrossFit (eg, youth soccer, swimming) and have multiple degrees which add to the CrossFit Elysium experience (MD, PhD). We also know what we DON'T know, and we'll be honest with you about that as well.

For more information, visit our "about" or "getting started" tabs, contact us or visit www.crossfit.com to learn more.

Portions adapted from and courtesy of CrossFit.