CROSSFIT IS BLEEDING

Those of you who follow my very famous career as a blogger, know I have had this stance on CrossFit for quite some time. But now, it's time to revisit.

Years and years ago, when Greg Glassman first came up with the program, CrossFit was all about getting fit. Then, over the course of 5-7 year BOOM in the industry, people started flocking to gyms like a religious awakening. To me, although I am an avid CrossFit guy who believes in the program, I felt it was a fad. Many people jump to whatever is the hot new thing, and CrossFit was the hottest newest thing for a while.

Now, numbers are lower than they have been in quite a few years. The registration numbers for the open are now official, and the data confirms what I have thought for a while. Crossfit is bleeding. Interest in running low. In the public eye, it is disappearing altogether. Courtesy of our friends at the Morning Chalk Up, take a look at their data of Open registrations through the years below:

• 2019/2020 – 239,106

• 2019 – 357,000

• 2018 – 416,000

• 2017 – 380,000

• 2016 – 324,307

• 2015 – 273,257

• 2014 – 209,948

• 2013 – 140,000

• 2012 – 70,000

• 2011 – 26,000

WOOF. No good. Numbers are down as low as they have been since 2014, back when this thing really started booming. In my eyes, this is a total return to relative irrelevance in the public arena. People are just moving on.

Listen, as a CrossFitter myself, I will still do CrossFit for the rest of my days because it's effective. But I am apparently in the minority here. Many people are moving on. Something to keep an eye on moving forward.

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