50 Fun Facts About CrossFit

Who founded CrossFit, incorporating the company in 2000 with Lauren Jenai?

Glassman, a former gymnast, is said to have invented his first CrossFit-style workout at 16 by adding weights to gymnastics.

In which California city did Glassman and Jenai open their first gym in 2001?

Posting the workouts online is what turned a local gym into a worldwide method.

What is a CrossFit-affiliated gym commonly called?

The first one, CrossFit North, opened in Seattle in 2002.

What does WOD stand for?

CrossFit has posted a free daily WOD for the public since 2001.

The benchmark WOD Fran combines pull-ups with which movement, in rounds of 21, 15 and 9 reps?

A thruster is a front squat flowing straight into a push press.

Benchmark workouts such as Fran, Grace and Helen belong to which named group?

Murph, by contrast, is one of the Hero workouts named for fallen service members.

When a WOD is done exactly as written, without scaling, what is it called?

Reducing reps, weights or swapping movements to fit the athlete is known as scaling.

Which momentum-based pull-up technique is common in CrossFit and controversial outside it?

The three CrossFit modalities are metabolic conditioning, weightlifting and gymnastics.

The three CrossFit modalities are gymnastics, barbell lifting and what?

Metcon covers running, rowing, cycling and double-unders.

Until 2024, which two-day certificate was the minimum to open a CrossFit affiliate?

Level 2 became the minimum in 2024; Level 3 requires 1,500 hours of coaching, and Level 4 is the highest the company recognises.

Roughly how many affiliated CrossFit gyms were there worldwide as of 2025?

The peak was more than 13,000 in 2016 before the pandemic and controversies thinned the ranks.

How many affiliated gyms did CrossFit have in 2005?

By 2013 that number had reached 8,000.

To whom did CrossFit's founder sell the company in 2020 after his George Floyd comments?

Roza stepped down as CEO in 2022 and Don Faul took over.

Which dangerous muscle-breakdown condition has the press long linked to CrossFit's intensity?

The company once used a cartoon clown called 'Uncle Rhabdo' in its own materials.

A 2014 statistical analysis found what gender balance among CrossFit participants?

The Games have always paid equal prize money to the men's and women's winners.

The Hero WOD Murph honours a Navy SEAL killed in 2005 in which country?

Michael Murphy received the Medal of Honor for his actions during Operation Red Wings.

Murph is a mile run, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, how many air squats and another mile?

Murphy called his original version 'Body Armor' and did it in the 16.4 lb vest he wore on deployment.

On what date was Murph first posted as the WOD, shortly after Murphy's death?

It is now done by boxes worldwide on Memorial Day.

Which actor played Michael Murphy in the 2013 film Lone Survivor?

A documentary, Murph: The Protector, came out the same year.

In what year were the first CrossFit Games held?

For the first two years anyone who turned up could compete.

The first CrossFit Games took place at a ranch in which California town?

The Games returned to the ranch in 2020 when the pandemic ruled out spectators.

What title does the CrossFit Games champion receive?

The 2007 winners took home $500 each; by 2019 first place paid $300,000.

How much prize money did the winners of the inaugural 2007 Games receive?

Reebok's arrival as sponsor in 2011 jumped first prize to $250,000 overnight.

Which sportswear brand sponsored the CrossFit Games from 2011 to 2020?

Because of the deal, athletes were banned from wearing Nike shoes at the 2015 Games.

From 2010 to 2016 the Games were held at the Home Depot Center in which California city?

In 2017 the event moved to the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin.

Which city hosted the 2024 CrossFit Games?

The event was overshadowed by the death of Serbian athlete Lazar Đukić in the opening swim.

The Open, the Games' first qualifying stage, was introduced in which year?

26,000 athletes signed up in its first year.

How many athletes signed up for the Open at its 2018 peak?

One new workout is released each week over the five-week Open.

Who created and directed the CrossFit Games until being dismissed in 2022?

He returned in 2023 as leader of the sport team.

Which man was the first to win the Games four times, taking the title from 2011 to 2014?

He then switched to the team event and led CrossFit Mayhem to six more titles.

Froning's gym, CrossFit Mayhem, is in which Tennessee town?

He worked for the Cookeville Fire Department before a professor introduced him to CrossFit in 2009.

How many individual Games titles did Mat Fraser win?

He retired unbeaten after his fifth straight win in 2020.

Tia-Clair Toomey, the most decorated Games athlete, competes for which country?

She was runner-up in 2015 and 2016 before winning in 2017.

Toomey also competed at the 2016 Rio Olympics in which sport?

She won Commonwealth Games gold in the same weight class in 2018 and later tried out as a bobsleigh brakewoman.

Which Icelander was the first woman to win the Games twice, in 2011 and 2012?

She had trained as a gymnast, ballet dancer and pole vaulter before finding CrossFit in 2009.

Which Icelandic athlete, coached by Ben Bergeron, won back-to-back titles in 2015 and 2016?

She missed qualifying in 2014 and has called that failure the turning point of her career.

English firefighter Samantha Briggs, nicknamed 'The Engine', won the Games in which year?

She rowed a half-marathon on a Concept2 at those Games in just under an hour and a half.

Which Hungarian won the women's title in 2023?

She had been Rookie of the Year and runner-up on her 2018 debut.

Justin Medeiros, champion in 2021 and 2022, started CrossFit at what age?

He was a wrestler first and won the teen division at Wodapalooza in 2017.

What name did 2008 champion Jason Khalipa's gym company take after NorCal CrossFit?

It began life as CrossFit Santa Clara, then NorCal CrossFit, before dropping the CrossFit name.

The kettlebell descends from the Russian girya, traditionally weighed in which unit of about 16.4 kg?

The girya was originally a market weight for crops in the 18th century.

The burpee is named after Royal H. Burpee, who invented it in 1939 as part of what?

His original version was a four-count movement without the push-up or jump.

After the 2020 sale, CrossFit leased a new headquarters in which Colorado city?

The company also became an LLC at the end of that year under new owner Eric Roza.

Who took over as CrossFit CEO in August 2022 after Eric Roza stepped down?

He held the role until stepping down in March 2026.

Which trainer credential became the minimum for owning a CrossFit affiliate in 2024?

The two-day Level 1 course had long been the entry requirement; Level 3 and Level 4 assessments also exist.

Which investment firm partnered with Eric Roza to buy CrossFit from Greg Glassman in 2020?

Roza, a former CEO of Datalogix, became CEO himself once the sale closed in July.

Which cartoon clown on dialysis drew criticism of CrossFit's attitude to rhabdomyolysis?

Critics called the company's attitude 'cavalier'; the character shows the clown's kidneys and intestines on the floor.

Which brand, banned from athletes' feet at the 2015 Games, answered with 'Don't ban our shoe, beat our shoe'?

The exclusivity came from CrossFit's Reebok partnership, which also barred Nike from labelling Metcon shoes as for CrossFit.

Which brand was title sponsor of the CrossFit Games from 2021 to 2023?

Reebok had held the sponsorship from 2011 to 2020, when prize money for first place jumped to $250,000.

Which Serbian athlete drowned during the first event of the 2024 Games in Fort Worth?

Several athletes withdrew afterwards, including both 2023 champions Laura Horvath and Jeffrey Adler.