At CrossFit Fever in Pembroke Pines, Fla., there is a strong connection to the U.S. military. Co-owner Jorge Vega served with the Marines, and coach Natalia Martinez served as an Army officer. Many of their members hail from similar backgrounds. Likewise, the two try to instill military values in their community.
Still, Martinez says her job doesn’t feel like a job at all.
“Seeing people, for example, do a pull-up on a green band and see their frustration that they can only do two, three reps, and then seeing their progression with three, four months and doing kipping or doing dead-hang, it’s an amazing feeling,” she says. “And to know you had something to do with that is even better.”
CrossFit, Martinez says, provides something no Globo Gym can.
“At a normal gym, you’re on the treadmill, you’re doing isolation movements and thinking about your bills, you’re thinking about your responsibilities,” she continues. “Here, you just think about the next rep. And that is a moment of clarity, a moment of just you and yourself that you don’t get anywhere else but during the WOD.”
Video by Mike Koslap.
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Additional reading: My Tribe by Jeremy Striffler, published Feb. 16, 2012.