A balance beam, juggling balls and a full-size gymnastics floor—that’s Valley CrossFit.
The focus is on fun at the 10,000-square-foot facility that’s home to four female CrossFit Games competitors, says affiliate owner Michael Latch. The box was the 27th affiliate to open.
“I always operate with the saying, ‘People will pay more to be entertained than they will to be taught,’” he says. “We’re trying to educate people and get ’em fit, but we have fun while we’re doing it.”
Even when Valley CrossFit athletes are training for the Games, the mood isn’t serious, he says.
“Everybody’s laughing and having fun, and they go out and they do well in the Games. I kind of think the proof is in the pudding.”
Latch started training people in a park, then moved his business into a 2,300-square-foot space before finding the current one. Without a loan or investors to help him start up, he acquired a piece of equipment whenever he got paid, becoming known as a “craigslist junkie.” It’s there he finds things like balance beams.
“I want them to be exposed to a lot of different things. ... It’s the definition of CrossFit,” he says.
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Additional reading: Get With the Program by Monique Ames, published Feb. 14, 2010.