A quick guide to Brooklyn’s CrossFit hotspots

by matt Scanlon

After Jim Fixx released The Complete Book of Running, it very quickly sold a million copies and was almost credited as nearly singularly launching the American fascination with jogging. Richard Gere’s gravity boots in 1980’s American Gigolo inspired a brief infatuation with inversion calisthenics. Jane Fonda’s Workout series became the best-selling videos of the decade. Since then, we’ve toiled to Tony Little’s ubiquitous videos, Tae Bo, pole dancing, Buns of Steel, kettleball, Zoomba, and too many other waves and notions to calculate, most in pursuit of a quick and unsubstantiated dollar, and nearly all wishing they’d lasted as long as a pair of jeans.

When Lauren Jenai and Greg Glassman gazed upon the first year of the new millennium in one of the epicenters of national fitness mania, Santa Cruz, California, they saw an opportunity to establish something a little truer, and hopefully longer-lasting. In a 1,200-square-foot studio in the city, they branded the concept of CrossFit, a style that combined as many already established and effective fitness paradigms as possible into a multidisciplinary workout that emphasized camaraderie and support as essential ingredients. Components include kettleball lifting, gymnastics, pylometrics (jump training), powerlifting, and Olympic weightlifting, along with strongman-type exercises.

CrossFit Inc. is now a brand embraced by no fewer than 10,000 affiliated gyms worldwide, half of which are in the U.S. Its workouts are mostly gym-based, though the system also depends upon home application, as well as vigorous communication among members, typically in online communities.

In a comprehensive study by the U.S. Army over a six-week period in 2010, CrossFit workouts resulted in a power output increase of no less than 20%, when compared to the typically regimented WODs (workouts of the day). That same study revealed that dead lift weight increased by no less than 21.1%. Currently, there are nine CrossFit centers in Brooklyn, stretching from Greenpoint to Bay Ridge.

A guide to some highlights:
Crossfit South Brooklyn Boerum Hill
597 Degraw St. / 718.852.3725 / crossfitsouthbrooklyn.com
David Osorio, who started this early city outpost In 2007 out of St. Mary’s playground in Carroll Gardens, is a blur of both activity and positivity, while Margie Lampert, also a great instructor and motivator, quipped that currently she divides her time fairly equally between “barbells and farmers markets.” CrossFit participants are encouraged to complete a foundation cycle, and a great resource thereafter are group classes, of which there are no fewer than 58 per week.

CrossFit Virtuosity Greenpoint
98 Bayard St. / 917.720.6551 / crossfitvirtuosity.com
Lead coaches Elizabeth Wipff and Juan Blanco occupy spectral ends of CrossFit paradigms. Elizabeth is a movement and mobility specialist (with a particular expertise in yoga), while Juan is an Olympic weightlifting coach, and yes…opera singer. The two, along with a squad of fellow instructors, offer a unique dose of both fun and discipline to the structure. There’s also an emphasis here on training participants for national CrossFit competitions.

CrossFit 718 Park Slope
148 26th St. / 718.768.0090 / crossfit718.com
Co-owners and coaches Tammyli and Israel Gonzalez have been operating this South Slope gym since 2010. Israel has no fewer than 22 certifications, including CrossFit gymnastics and endurance qualifications as well as being a registered NASM Corrective Exercise Specialist. A variety of package options are available, from a small cluster of introductory classes with no obligation to full membership which entitles members to attend any of the typically nine daily classes.

Bay Ridge CrossFit Bay Ridge
8508 3rd Ave. / 347.560.6911 / bayridgecrossfit.com
Of the seven dudes coaching classes at this badly needed southern outpost (just off 85th St.), our favorite of the moment is Vinny Crupi. A longtime fitness enthusiast with a sleeve of qualifications, he was struck years ago by CrossFit’s ability to pack into one hour of workout what would otherwise require three or four. With an infectious demeanor and easy-going style, he makes the introductory process easy. Drop in prices are just $20, so there’s no intimidating membership required in order to sample the wares.