Friendship and the CrossFit Community

Brian and me representing CFHK at CFID.

Years of therapy resulted in a profound and extremely overpriced revelation - I have trouble making friends. For various reasons, I just never learned how to make actual friends and I didn't have a clue how to meet new ones once I stopped going to school. And then I found CrossFit.

The CrossFit Community is my favorite thing about CrossFit. There are thousands (millions?) of CrossFitters around the globe and I love the feeling that I get from being a part of a community that is positive, welcoming, and up for a good time. I don't think I would have had the guts to get into my car and move to Atlanta without CrossFit. I knew I would find friends and a family at my new box and I am so thankful to call CrossFit Identity home.

My friend Brian from CrossFit Hell's Kitchen is back down south. He's been working in Mississippi and his wife lives and works here in Atlanta. Now that they're about to become parents (!!), Brian is going to be working remotely from Atlanta. Hopefully we can WOD together often.


I think it's important to point out that Brian and I rarely took the same class when we were in NY but have been able to become friends through the CFHK Facebook group. I think social media lends itself to CrossFit. I know that non-CrossFitters like to complain about how their newsfeeds are dominated by exercise-obsessed friends who post about every lift, meal, and CrossFit Buzzfeed quiz. This may be is true, but social media allows me to engage with other people who love the same things that I do even though they may go to different boxes or go to different class times. I just want to LIKE all their photos and videos and encourage them the same way I would if they were lifting or running or jumping right next to me. I just want to share the love.

CrossFit has taught me to greet everyone and to welcome new faces. It's taught me to think of others and to be helpful when I can. It's taught me to put myself out there and to stop assuming what others think. I'd rather be accused of being too friendly than to be perceived as closed off.

Brian and I teamed up with Danny for Saturday's team WOD. Danny was one of the first people to welcome me to Atlanta and I was psyched to see him. We rowed a 5K for time. The catch was that each person could only row 250m at a time. The second teammate performed 7 burpee box jumps during that row and the third teammate rested to get ready for the box jumps. It doesn't seem so grueling on paper but dang that ish was hard.

If you're looking to make new friends who want you to feel empowered to be the best version of you, walk into your local affiliate. If you'd like help choosing a local affiliate, please let me know because I absolutely love researching boxes.