Learning to Breathe Fire: The Rise of CrossFit and the Primal Future of Fitness

As described.

I’m a martial artist and dance sport athlete and now past the half century mark. I’ve been around training communities. I haven’t done CrossFit, but watch the games and am a fan of the system. The book reminds me of those best times and great training communities. The test of a book like this is if an outsider like me will read past page 10. J.C. Herz to the rescue. She has an accessible voice in the writing and a fluid use of language, which opens the door for success. These elements mixed with a talent for telling the story, in this case the CrossFit story until about 2014, makes for an enjoyable read. If you are an athlete and enjoy books like “Born to Run”… you should enjoy this book you’ll find yourself way past page 10 and all the way to the end.

I'm still in the middle of reading it, but I like it!

"Everyone in a Crossfit gym secretly believes that their friends would be the ones to survive the zombie apocalypse." Well I make no secret about that but does everyone here think so? I called out to the trainer on duty who was non-committal but she allowed that it sounded like something another one of the guys might say. On reflection it seems to me that since zombies just keep coming it would be the fast ultra-marathoners who would survive. Surely in 96 miles you would find shelter. So it wouldn't be us. We would be the ones sprinting with a baseball bat, stopping in a group to knock heads, then sprinting again. Good cinema but we would go down in a few hours. SEALS do Crossfit because they have air evacuation on call. I was reading the book in the gym with time and oxygen to think this through because I am not doing many Crossfit workouts lately. It seems to me that I am one of many over 50 who cannot recover from heavy lifting fast enough to lift more each week if I am also doing high-intensity intervals. Once I max out to where I can increase weight only once a month no matter what I will return to our thrilling WODs. One thing Crossfit offers is association and identification with men and women who started the sport with advanced achievement. We all do the same workouts and compete together. This is part of the kool-aid which this book reports on very well. Everyone needs some kool-aid. Our flavor helps a slice of the population get up and do what you need to do to be quick and strong and tough, harder to kill:

I laughed. I cried. OK, I cried WAY more than I laughed as I read this book. The book has many touching moments of individual triumph against long odds.This is not just the story of the elite athletes that make up CrossFit but also the story of ordinary people who turn their lives around with CrossFit. Did the book make me think I could go out and be an elite athlete? No way. Those people are still supermen and superwomen to me. But the book did inspire me to enter a newbie competition in the Spring and I guess that's how these things start - with a small beginning.I also liked the historical perspective with the rise of Rogue Fitness and the other elements like the games which are around CrossFit but which don't have much explanation unless you've been in it for a long time. As a newbie to CrossFit it filled in those gaps.The only bad thing about this book was that it ended. But I guess the story goes on with those who embrace the challenge of CrossFit.

I wanted something light and entertaining to read, and this fit the bill. Along with highlighting a few people who play recurring roles throughout, we learn about the origins of the company, Rogue fitness, and the CrossFit Games. The book also paints a CrossFit that turns anyone into the superhuman version of themselves, ushers unshakeable community into their life, etc.I was actually relatively satisfied with it until I got to the acknowledgements, where Dave Castro is described as being, "open and eager to talk about points of controversy and contention in an even-handed way." Now that sounds interesting. And it sounds like the story-telling could have had more dimension. What are these points of controversy? Does CrossFit really create a new and improved world for everyone?Exploring some of these things could have added a lot more depth to a book that now, honestly, just seems like a big circle jerk.I took issue with the second chapter. The author went pretty far beyond her scope as she tackled, "The Science of Maximum Effort". I skipped through most of it, but then saw in the notes section that the vast majority of the references were from The CrossFit Journal, obviously a non peer-reviewed and heavily biased source. I have a feeling the chapter was an editorial demand.Overall, I enjoyed reading it. The action sequences were fantastic, and she did a great job humanizing all of the characters. Broadening the story-line would have added much more depth, and I wish she would've stuck with the journalism and let go of Ch. 2.

If you're a Crossfitter and want to learn more about the origins of your favorite cult, read this book.If you're not a Crossfitter and you want to understand what the hell we Crossfitters are up to, don't read this book, go start crossfitting and then come back later and read this book to shake the mosaic pieces into place.Either way you probably won't be able to put it down. JC mixes history, science, and participant narratives into a great read that makes you want to set it down only long enough to go hit your next WOD even harder.I love the description of the experience o fa WOD from page 16 (of the hardback): "By round five, the depletion of every metabolic pathway, muscle fiber, and neural circuit has all internal diagnostics on the blink. There isn't even an abstract notion of heroic effort, or any abstract notion -- the part of your brain that tells stories is off line. There is only the raw impetus to finish somehow…"This book is destined to find its way into every Crossfitter's library, and perhaps some cultural anthropologist's reading lists too.

I started CrossFit one year ago after losing a bet to a work colleague-my punishment was to attend a free beginners class at his "Box" (CrossFit gym) where he had been training for a couple of years, and he constantly raved about it.I was overweight, wasn't doing any exercise at all, and my diet was horrendous (I logged a Chicago Town Pizza for breakfast on the My Fitness Pal app, to give you a flavour of my diet at the time!) Fast-forward to January 2019, I've lost two stone in weight, exercise regularly, and I've overhauled my diet. CrossFit has completely transformed my life so as you'll appreciate, this review is very biased.It was the same work colleague who recommended this book to me, and it's the best book recommendation I have ever received.Putting CrossFit to one side for the moment, I've read hundreds of books over the years (I have four bookcases in my bedroom and regularly donate books to charity shops to make space for new ones), and this is one of the most well-written books I've ever read, and certainly won't be getting donated-it's a keeper!The author does CrossFit herself which is the "difference that makes the difference" to coin an NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) term-her passion for CrossFit oozes from the pages and I love the way she describes things-I was constantly highlighting turns of phrase and descriptions she used. To give an example:"The CrossFit rationale is that, ultimately, this is what matters in real life: the sudden dash to keep a child from running into the street, the ability to help a friend move heavy furniture into a walk-up apartment, or the lung power and stamina to enjoy a hiking vacation.....every CrossFitter secretly believes that the people in their box will be the ones to survive the zombie apocalypse."The book covers everything you could possibly want to know about CrossFit, which is a combination of weightlifting, gymnastics and metabolic conditioning (cardio). Bruce Lee revolutionised martial arts by combining the best elements of different martial arts to create his own (Jeet Kune Do), and that's exactly what Greg Glassman (CrossFit founder) did in the world of fitness.I ran a couple of full marathons and half-marathons in 2010 but nothing has ever shifted body fat from me, like CrossFit has-my body is getting back to the shape it was in when I was 16-years-old. On average I did 2-3 CrossFit classes per week in 2018 (each class is one hour long) and made some positive changes to my diet, but still ate a lot of junk food, and I lost two stone. This year I'm increasing it to 5 classes per week and I'm working with a nutritionist at the moment to completely change my diet for the better.If you're already doing CrossFit, you'll be familiar with lots of things in this book, but I guarantee you will learn something new, because it covers everything: the history of gyms, the origins of CrossFit, the CrossFit games, tales from Crossfit athletes and so much more. I loved every minute of reading it and will keep coming back to the highlighted sections for reference. I've already purchased the book for someone as a Christmas present and will be buying it for my friend's birthday.'Ultramarathon man' by Dean Karnazes was previously the most inspirational fitness-related book I've ever read (it inspired me to run my first 26.2 mile marathon), but 'Learning to Breathe Fire' (LTBF) has blown it out of the water. (Incidentally Dean Karnazes states in the inside cover that LTBF is a must-read book).CrossFit is the most effective training programme I've ever come across-it's not just the physical benefits but the psychological and social benefits too. It's a real community, and for a Lone Wolf like me to still be turning up to classes one year later, is testament to its power.The five steps of well-being are learning something new, connecting with others, being active, taking notice, and giving, and CrossFit ticks every single one of those boxes. It prepares you for "The unknown and unknowable" as every class is constantly varied and you never know what you're going to face-just like life. In these dark times where statistics for obesity, heart disease, diabetes and mental health problems are on the rise, we all need to learn how to breathe fire. If this book doesn't inspire you, nothing will.

As someone who has started Crossfit in the last year, I found this a fascinating history of the sport. Gave me a lot of useful background and was a good, entertaining read. However, it is probably overly positive and biased. As a simple example, if you read online, Glassman's wife had a role in founding Crossfit and a significant share of the business. But she is air-brushed out of the book (presumably as the divorce was supposedly unpleasant). As long as you bear this in mind, I would recommend this book.

An excellent read if you are into CrossFit. Really digs deep into the beginnings and ethos, quite inspiring.

If you like crossfit, read this book! It's un-put-downable, really. When it turned up, it looked like some weighty historical novel and the intro, something about a pack of gazelles, nearly made me give it away. So pleased I didn't. It's a great read, good pace and fascinating.

Absolutely brilliant book, it covers everything you could want to know about crossfit and it's origins. As a newbie to crossfit, this satisfied my thirst for knowledge about the sport.