For around 5 years now I have been witness to a fitness meme (see memetics) quickly gaining more and more popularity, and thus more and more market share.
Anybody looking for a serious exercise program could subscribe to various local bootcamps, usually held outdoors or in a privately owned gym. There also have been a few trend workout fads that have come and gone, such as P90X. But Crossfit has taken on a wave of it's own and brought with it a large profitable business eco-system.
Crossfit was founded by a former gymnast, Greg Glassman in 1995 in Santa Cruz California. Crossfit utilizes a spectrum of exercises with the help of medicine balls, Olympic lifting, russian kettlbells, specialized running techniques, suspended rings, pull up bars, and complex movements such as burpees, single legged pistons and other gymnastic oriented movements. Great for triathletes, professional athletes, or just anybody wanting to reach their own pinnacle of fitness.
The workouts are called WOD's (Work out of the Day) and are usually timed or measured so you can compared that daily WOD to a previously done WOD to measure progress.
This type of timed competition with ones self brings out furious competitors that often dig deep enough to see their previous meal splashed at the bottom of bucket while they gasp to catch their next breath. Fun indeed.
Crossfit as defined on its website is:
CrossFit is the principal strength and conditioning program for many police academies and tactical operations teams, military special operations units, champion martial artists, and hundreds of other elite and professional athletes worldwide.
Our program delivers a fitness that is, by design, broad, general, and inclusive. Our specialty is not specializing... The CrossFit program is designed for universal scalability making it the perfect application for any committed individual regardless of experience.
Crossfit is a franchise and offers their own instructor education courses which you can progress through, level by level, and if you so desire eventually own your own gym.
The Crossfit gyms range in price, some charge about $150/month for a 10 class card, or about $500 for three months unlimited.
Seems steep for a "gym" membership but it really isn't a "gym" membership...You're joining a cult, and I use that term in the best way possible.
Now back to the business side of things. This past weekend the Crossfit 2010 Games was held, and streamed live from their website. International competitors from both sides of the globe came together to compete at the transformed Home Depot Center in Carson California (Home to the LA Galaxy). The entrance to the games was wide open beginning with sectional competitions, then regionals, and lastly grandiose Games.
It's evident that the Crossfit Games is in its infantile stages (only in it's 4th year), however the sponsors were in full force, most of them fitness oriented brands such as Under Armour and Adidas.
Adidas Crossfit Commercial
And why wouldn't they be Crossfit consumer base is huge and growing. Crossfits contenders are both male and female with age groups ranging from 18-50 (50 being the masters division), and despite not being in the games this year, there is also a rowing "Crossfit kids" following. One of the main sponsors Progenex awarded the winner, who earned the title "Fittest Man (or Woman) Alive" a check for $25,000 dollars.
Needless to say Crossfit athletes are in shape, and bring along plenty of sex appeal for this event to be broadcast on a major network.
Highlights of the 2010 Crossfit Games
ESPN, Spike, Versus, or some other network will undoubtedly be picking up the Crossfit games in the future. They'd be dumb not to. This will spike popularity even more, so a franchise owner who is a few years in on ownership (assuming they get in after this article), would be enjoying busy days.
How has the business been up to date you ask?
The number of affiliated gyms grew from 18 in 2005 to almost 1,700 in 2010. A 9,444% increase in just 5 years.
Interested?
Join a crossfit, get certified, then test market by investing in some equipment and holding a two week long Crossfit bootcamp followed by an enrollment special.
Or bootleg it by opening up a small garage space with basic equipment, start small with a few clients, and if it cash flows expand into a bigger space.
Sources used in this article and for further exploration:
"The Crossfit Games" , SportMoney, By Patrick Rishe sportswriter and Prof. of Econ
Crossfit.com
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