Last week, CrossFit emailed us to let us know that we've been affiliated for 15 years. August 15th is our actual anniversary, but I couldn't believe it when I got the message. I went from 30 to almost 46 in the blink of an eye. So much has changed over the past 15 years, but my love for this community has been steadfast.
When I think of Shoreline CrossFit the past 15 years, I can’t help but think of the culture and programming changes. Looking at it from the Goodyear blimp, it was from simple to complex, and now it's somewhere in between.
When we first opened in 2009, things were simple, gritty, and honestly too dogmatic. At the time, we celebrated personal records daily, and much of the community was rooted in competition. We would do pull-ups until our hands ripped, and it was normal for people to throw up after a grueling workout. It was like stepping into a gladiator arena every day. The fitness industry needed a wake-up call, and this was it. The results were insane at first, but there was too much collateral damage.
Fast-forward to 2011, we were now in a larger space, and we separated our one program into three programs: Fitness, Performance, and Competition. The competitors had entirely different workouts and even trained in another room. That program took hours a day to write and another 2-3 hours to physically complete. At one point, our gym won the CrossFit open for the North East, which was an impressive feat. At the time, it seemed like the right thing to do, but in hindsight, i was just too much and complex and unsustainable.
We started to find our mojo again in 2016 when we moved into a 6,000 sq foot space and now had only two programmers: Conditioning and Symmetry. We even changed our name to Shoreline Athletics and left from Crossfit. We felt this was a sound move and gave us a slight advantage over our competition.
Then COVID hit in 2020, and boy, did it hit hard. At this point, the world needed to be simple again. So we went back to one program, and classes were 45 minutes long. When things got back to normal, we went back to hour-long classes and started to layer the program and add some complexity to the progressions. And here we are today with one program, 3 levels, and smarter.
In my opinion, we now have the best version of Shoreline CrossFit’s programming we've had over the last 15 years. It’s simple, complex, gritty, progressive, all-inclusive, and you all look amazing, healthy, and happy.
We now have a progressive model with three sets of eyes on the program to make sure I don’t screw this up. For the most part, all of the movements are functional, and coaching and movement quality have become important again. For longevity purposes, this is the secret recipe.
So, what does that mean for the community? For starters, we have a tighter-knit community than we've had in many years. Most of us know each other by first name or friends outside of the gym. Like most families, there's always some bickering amongst the siblings, but at the end of the day, we're all here for the right reasons and share a common bond: an unparalleled work ethic.
I won't go into every hardship, travesty, and triumph in this email, but in the spirit of the theme of simplicity, I will leave you with these last few thoughts.
First, what we're doing at Shoreline CrossFit is special, and the fact that each one of you is here right now makes you family.
Second, let's celebrate the people leading this community, the trainers and OGs. They're the most self-sacrificing humans you'll ever meet, and their intentions are honest and pure. They're not perfect, but they're amazing humans, and I’m personally grateful for every one of them.
Third, as with most things in life, this too shall change. However, know that every decision we make is always in the best interest of the community.
Thank you for supporting us over these last 15 years. We look forward to many more years of serving you all.
Happy anniversary, Shoreline CrossFit.
Coach DP
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