"It will become a revolution, an evolution of the way people exercise. Fitness will never again be the same."
From Coach Glassman’s concept to more than 4,500 affiliates worldwide, growth has been a central characteristic of CrossFit from the beginning.
And it is the same in Guatemala, which went from zero to four CrossFit affiliates in less than one year. The CrossFit community in Latin America is still taking off and the number of affiliates in the entire region of the Caribbean, Central America and South America is less than the number of boxes in Southern California or South Florida.
CrossFit in Guatemala began around February 2011 with Pedro Moreno. He worked in a gym using kettlebells in Guatemala City, Guatemala. This was the only unconventional gym in the area. While searching the Web for more information on kettlebells, Moreno came across a video of the 2010 CrossFit Games and the famous, Every Second Counts.
He began incorporating CrossFit into his training and posting anything he found about CrossFit on his Facebook page. “I thought to myself, ‘CrossFit will change many lives in Guatemala, not only ours,’” Moreno says. “It will become a revolution, an evolution of the way people exercise. Fitness will never again be the same.”
Simultaneously and coincidentally, Ricky Rossal and Jose Echevarria were also tremendously inspired when they ran across the CrossFit concept on the Web and also began posting CrossFit material online with the same ideas in mind, usually after their workout sessions in their basement. “This is the time to do this, Guatemala needs CrossFit now,” Rossal says.
Their friendship turned into a much stronger bond. CrossFit 502 opened its doors in Guatemala City in November 2011 without any guarantees. They had not trained people at a garage, nor had they done any publicity. They simply had a dream and believed in their concept. They left it to fate and faith that what they had to offer would help many people.
Their passion for training and the way they spoke about it inspired others to do CrossFit. It fueled their marketing strategy – which was only to use word-of-mouth – to the point where after only two months of operation, they had to stop doing the on-ramp course after they peaked capacity at 200 regular members.
Demand did not seem to slow down, so they concluded they would be foolish not to open a second box. In May 2012, Sense CrossFit became the second box in the country, only about three-and-a-half kilometers from CrossFit 502. They hoped to bring CrossFit to many of the two million people living in Guatemala City, plus the other two million who commute in. Those on the waiting list from CrossFit 502 did not have to wait any longer, and after a little transmigration as clients gravitated to the box closest to work or home, Sense CrossFit quickly had to cap off at 200 members, as well.
Both boxes regularly offer 13 classes per day beginning at 5 a.m. and ending with the last class at 8:30 p.m. They offer three additional classes on Saturdays. The clientele is mixed, ranging from firebreathers to older adults. “There are even more women than men,” Echeverria says about CrossFit 502.
The impact on the community has been tremendous. “We had 30 people sign up for the Open after only three months of opening our doors … and the curiosity and adaptation of our lifestyle and paleo/zone diet has also steadily been increasing,” Moreno says. “We attribute much of our success to the carefully set-up on-ramp courses, but we have been forced to limit our class size because we want our clients to be comfortable. We close the class with the first 15 people that either show up or call ahead to confirm.”
The team is planning to get attend a CrossFit Kids seminar to bring a kids program to Guatemala soon, as well.
CrossFit D6 also was born in Guatemala City in early August of this year by another group of passionate CrossFitters, bringing the number of affiliates in Guatemala to three after only eight months.
“We want to let people know how good CrossFit can be for them,” Rossal says.
Apparently the concept is catching on. The group who had to cap its first two boxes at 200 members just opened their third box in Guatemala City on Sept. 3, the fourth affiliate in Guatemala in only 10 months.