"We just want to create a really good community where people can get the results they want so they can live long, happy lives."
CrossFit Victoria was established in 2007. That year, two-time Games champions Rich Froning Jr. and Annie Thorisdottir weren’t yet community celebrities. In fact, Froning wasn’t legally allowed to drink alcohol and Thorisdottir was still in school, dreaming of becoming an Olympic pole-vaulter.
The box was the third affiliate registered in Australia. The year founder Adam Stanecki opened the gym’s doors was the first year of the CrossFit Games.
Back then CrossFit “wasn’t even a sport” and gym owners had fewer ways of finding information, particularly in Australia, Stanecki says.
“The only info you could get was the few workouts that were on the Web page — with a small FAQ — but there was no one around doing it,” he says.
At the time, local competitions were few and far between. For the most part, those who took part in CrossFit did it solely for the physical and mental benefits.
Today, with more than 4,500 affiliates around the world, it is hard to find a weekend where a local CrossFit event is not taking place.
“When I got involved with it, it was more for health, fitness and longevity, and whenever something becomes a sport, then health, fitness and longevity (take) second place,” Stanecki says.
Likewise, he says he ensures his members understand the difference between training for Games-level competition and general health.
“Otherwise, you start seeing people get injuries as they would if they were playing Australian Rules Football or netball because they are chasing performance,” Stanecki says. “They are chasing results in terms of placing in a competition, rather than chasing health (or) fitness for the sake of living a great and happy life.”
Scott Waugh, CrossFit Victoria co-owner and Stanecki’s business partner, has witnessed the CrossFit community in Australia expand.
“Everybody who got into it back then was either from a fighting background or from a military background,” he says.
Now people from all walks of life to take part — something Stanecki is quick to note.
“Back in the day it was 90 percent guys, whereas now it’s popular for just about everyone,” he says. “There is no defining demographic who comes and trains with us. We have the older population — from the 50 and 60-plus — to students, lawyers and now even doctors.”
Over the years, Stanecki and Waugh have grown the small Victorian box into a well respected, and successful box in the Region.
The duo has done so through a strategic training regime that not only caters to groups, but also focuses on individual success. For them, it’s all about doing what they love most: training people.
“My goal has always been to have CrossFit Victoria recognized as one of the premier strength-and-conditioning gyms in Australia,” Stanecki says. “And to me that's not necessarily about placing in competitions. It’s about people individually achieving what they want to do in their lives.”
Stanecki and Waugh say they knew early on that for CrossFit Victoria to flourish, it was as much about delivering exceptional coaching as it was about fostering a community.
“We’re not interested in fame and fortune,” Stanecki says. “We just want to create a really good community where people can get the results they want so they can live long, happy lives.”
