Rockin’More Than Reeboks

Rockin’More Than Reeboks
Building A Box to Knock Your Sox Off
By Stephanie Kewin

There’s something special about walking into the box you call home. That perfect amalgamation of pumping bass, chalk-stained rigs, and the familiar smell of rubber and sweat can make every muscle hum in anticipation of the day’s WOD. This exclusively CrossFit experience is what it is because of great box owners. These owners know how to make us crave the hour spent at the gym, so much so that we might even feel we’re missing a piece of ourselves when we miss a day.

So, what sets a great box owner apart from a good one? Sweat RX decided to chat with a few of the most ambitious Reebok CrossFit box affiliate owners in Southern Ontario and get to the bottom of it. Among them are Chris and Steve Cristini of Reebok CrossFit East Woodbridge and CrossFit Markham and Nic Martin and Jordan Symonds of Reebok CrossFit Liberty Village. Here’s a little about why they love CrossFit and what makes their gyms aspirational.

Sweat RX: How did you each start out in CrossFit?

Nic, RCFLV. I started CrossFit in the early days in 2007. I was rehabbing from a severe leg injury and a friend said there were these crazy workouts posted online. I went to CrossFit.com and tried Fran, getting through the first 18 thrusters before being crushed. My training regimen would never be the same.

Jordan, RCFLV. I began CrossFit in early 2011 because a lot of the trainers I was managing at the gym I was working at were CF certified, and I wanted to learn more about it to understand where they were coming from. I took the Level 1 course and absolutely fell in love. I began training this way 100 percent of the time and had a life-changing experience with [the change in] my own fitness levels, having already been in the industry for seven years.

Steve, RCFEW. I started CrossFit after my brother Chris tried a workout at CrossFit Toronto; he was so excited to explain this crazy workout to me. We watched videos for a few weeks, including one of Josh Everett doing King Kong in 2007. The idea of a 225lb clean was nuts! Eventually, Chris convinced me to try some workout called Fran. For the next few weeks, I tried a half-assed version of it. After the first attempt I was ruined, but I loved it.

SRX. What made you want to open a Reebok CrossFit affiliate box?

Nic& Jordan, RCFLV. It was an opportunity to partner with a great brand that was being built by and for crossfitters. It allowed us to market ourselves through Reebok and their CrossFit initiatives; at the same time we got to bring more awareness of the Reebok CrossFit brand at the grass roots level. It’s been a great relationship and we’ve had to the opportunity to work with some awesome people and athletes.

Chris & Steve, RCFEW. We started CrossFit way before it was “cool” or known, and way before Reebok came into the picture. When they got on board, we had the opportunity to meet the then-Reebok rep for CrossFit in Canada and after talking realized this partnership would be amazing for the sport. Soon after came the Reebok CrossFit gyms; we immediately knew we wanted one, one day.

SRX. What was it like getting the box up and running?

Steve, RCFEW. The Woodbridge gym was our first big gym. There were a lot of headaches getting it up and running. In all honesty, it wasn’t a pleasant experience, especially because both Chris and I were still in school. I’d go to Woodbridge for 6am to meet with contractors, sit around, go to school, then come back and continue to work on the gym until 2am! This was my life for a few months.

Nic& Jordan, RCFLV. It was a challenge getting things up and running in the sense that there so many little things to do to get the business and box ready to go. It really was a round-the-clock endeavour. Also it was a big risk for us to leave our jobs and personally finance the gym. Being an entrepreneur is extremely satisfying and nerve wracking at the same time.

SRX. What makes your Reebok affiliate box stand out?

Steve, RCFEW. Our gym is built on professionalism; we only hire professional coaches. For our trainers, this is their life. They’re not part-time coaches working for a free membership. We’ve also managed to transform our clientele to community members, and we pride ourselves on the incredible sense of teamwork and cohesion of our facility. We emphasize accessibility and cleanliness in our gym, since it’s a reflection of the effort we put in. At the end of the day, we’re a family business; so when someone joins our gym, they become an extended member of the Cristini family.

Jordan, RCFLV. The level of structure during classes is something we strive for; we aim to pack mobility, strength, and a WOD into most hour-long classes and to have instruction throughout. We also look to offer a wide range of classes on top of the regular classes at no additional cost to our members. This includes an Olympic lifting class, a mobility class, a gymnastics skills class, and during certain times of the year, a running class. We also have classes for beginners and intermediate crossfitters (Foundations and Foundations 2). We hold three in-house competitions a year for members only. By keeping it within the box we aim to involve members who may not normally compete and to build our box community overall.

SRX. Any secrets for attracting amazing coaches to your box?

Jordan, RCFLV. We’ve had the best luck in promoting our members to coaches; we get to see who is really passionate about CrossFitand about helping people. We’ve developed all our trainers this way andwe offer some of the best coaching in the city. We have very high expectations for our coaches and how they run classes. We start everyone off just shadowing Nic or I, then we might have them run one small segment of a class while giving them lots of feedback and finally have them coach their own classes—if we feel they’re ready.

Chris & Steve, RCFEW. We just find amazing trainers! We recently hired an awesome athlete, Sacha, who was a coach on the East coast. I knew her from before she moved to Ontario. When I found out she was moving here, I contacted her. We personally handpick all our coaches.

SRX. Can you share plans for the future of your box?

Chris & Steve, RCFEW. We’re going to continue with the momentum we’ve got right now. Optimally, we want classes to run every hour on the hour with a large amount of people in each class. We want to create Regionals teams from both our gyms. We want to see people succeed and be happier with their newfound fitness.

Nic& Jordan, RCFLV. We have looked at a couple different avenues such as opening a second location or offering a kids program. We want to make sure that whatever we do is the right move for us and for our amazing member base. CrossFit is here to stay, so it’s important to keep moving towards making it as mainstream as possible. In our opinion, it’s the best way for people to get fit and have fun doing it.