Let's call this a slightly organized rambling of thoughts on CrossFit as a whole, as well as the death of Lazar Djukic on Thursday, August 8th during Event 1 of the CF Games.
First and foremost, a human being lost their lives. That should and will always be the main focus. A family is lessened by 1 and they have to deal with the emotions that come with that. There is no right response, only whatever those closest to Lazar need in these moments. There is a gofundme that will go to his family if you feel so inclined here.
Lazar was competing in Event 1 of the CrossFit Games where he ran 3.5 miles on the road and then did an open water swim of 800m. About 50m from the finish line and clearly visible on the broadcast, he started to show all the standard actions of drowning: bobbing up and down and grasping for air before he inevitably went under the water where life guards either did not notice or did not act. Those were his last moments alive. At 28 years old, a man is dead.
My name is Travis Vanderberg. I am an affiliate owner and CrossFit(CF) coach. These are solely my opinions.
I have long held the belief that CF can be broken into three different silo's under the umbrella term that is CF. I will start with the positive:
CrossFit Education and Methodology
I believe so whole-heartedly in the methodology of CrossFit that I have staked my livelihood on it. If CF methods don't work, don't change lives, don't get people results, my child will not eat. The necessity of movement in our lives can be done safely and forever through CF and scaling the movements into the most basic of human needs. We squat, we hinge, we push, we pull, we carry. We move. We mix these things up through weights, conditioning, and gymnastics so we stay engaged and we don't miss the things our body NEEDS that we don't enjoy doing. We build community through shared trials. I work out with my mom and my son. I have seen people lose HUNDREDS of pounds. I have seen athletes get off medication. I have seen clients run their first adult mile. This is life changing, life saving stuff and it is deathly important. EVERYONE can and should be doing CrossFit, quite literally it is life and death. I have a heart for older athletes that are now or still fit enough to play with their grandkids, because my son is missing a grandpa. At 36 years old I am my healthiest self. I move better than I ever have, I have more energy than I ever have, and I can do more things than I have ever been able to do. That is because of CF and the education of right body movements, correct scaling, and appropriate levels of intensity to cause change. I believe CF affiliates save more lives than doctors (probably getting a little worked up here). Go. Do. CrossFit.
CrossFit Head Quarters (CFHQ) aka the owners and leaders of the corporation that is CF
CFHQ has no effing clue what they're are doing. They are disorganized, silent, uncommunicative, and if I ran my affiliate anything like they run their organization I would be out of business incredibly quickly. They change leadership routinely. They fire people, then a year later re-hire them to the same position. There is no vision, there is no leadership. To paraphrase Stanley Hudson "You are a [company] I do not respect. The things you say, your actions, your methods and style, everything you do, I would do it the opposite way." When CFHQ talks, I listen for the sole purpose to make sure I don't mimic them. They are professional idiots.
Specific Examples: This last year, with less than a month's notice, they raised everyone's yearly affiliate fees from $3000 to $4500, a 150% increase. Anyone with any business knowledge whatsoever knows you keep price increases at 15% or less. You also justify cost increases by providing more value first, then raises costs by showing what those costs are covering. As an affiliate, I have absolutely no clue where my money is going.
Why stay with CF then? It's pretty simple really: 1) CrossFit Methodology coached correctly saves the lives of people in my community. I do this in spite of CFHQ, not because of them. 2) It makes financial sense. I need to keep my gym open to save lives, so I need to run a company...one that is organized, vocal, and communicative. I make more than the $4500/yr it costs to be a CF affiliate by being a CF affiliate. As soon as that is untrue, I will de-affiliate and continue to run my gym in the exact same way I do now without the word "CrossFit".
Let me be very clear: Due to the structure and leadership of CFHQ, an athlete died. They have blood on their hands and people should be fired and likely be in jail.
The CrossFit Games (CFG)
I do not care about the CFG. I think they are neat, I have attended, the athletes are AMAZING, but like... I don't care. The CFG affects me in no way. Because the CFG are run by CFHQ, they are disorganized and change every single year to the point that no one really understands them.
How does someone qualify? Changes every year.
Where are they held? Well currently we're at location #4 in the last 9 years, so...
What are the standards? hahaha so you're new here? They are generally made up, not adhered to, implemented by volunteers with no consequences for getting them wrong. However, CF does hold the authority to change athletes scores without justification or an appeal process effectively ending a professional athletes season and primary source of making money with no explanation.
The CFG workouts are programmed in secret by 1 person who has ultimate authority. It is not a sport, it is a weird dictatorship with no true governing body. For instance, DON'T PROGRAM AN OPEN WATER SWIM AFTER LITERALLY ANYTHING BECAUSE YOU COULD KILL SOMEONE THAT WAY. Especially if your "sport" is known for lack of organization and continuity and you can't guarantee you have a qualified safety team in place.
Lazar Djukic is dead because of the negligence of an organization. He was more fit than literally any person you have met in your entire life. He was let down by a sport he loved and was put directly in an unsafe environment. The organization did not provide adequate safety measures and was knowingly and intentionally put in harms way. While CFG claims to "find the fittest man/woman on Earth", it has slowly evolved into punishing human beings physically until they can no longer function. While this is the first death, it is nowhere near the first instance of avoidably putting the worlds best athletes in unsafe conditions under the guise of "fittest on Earth".
I believe the CFG could be something great, but nothing ran by CFHQ will ever be great until they look in the mirror and figure out what the heck they even are.
So in reflection: I am pissed. CrossFit sucks. But CrossFit saves lives. But CrossFit killed someone. But CrossFit isn't dangerous.
The entity in which I run my gym under is making it harder than ever to be great because I am constantly combating their foolishness, and now they have killed someone.
I promise you Kansas City. I care about you. I love you. I will provide a safe environment that is well-coached, well-structured, and will save your life. You will never have to worry about your safety in my hands. I vow to be vocal, I vow to look out for you, I vow to be everything that CF isn't... by doing CF.
Confused yet? Let me buy you a cup of coffee and talk about it, and show you how to squat.
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