CrossFit New Bedford – Exercise for everyone from the athlete to the family

Joe Silvia March 20, 2014 Business, Interesting People, New Bedford Guide Leave a comment

CrossFit New Bedford, 140 Rogers Street, Dartmouth, Massachusetts (774) 202-3110!

What the heck is CrossFit? It’s a place where freakish athletes, born with tons of natural ability, drink protein shakes, and ramp up on vast amounts of steroids gather to pick things up and put them down, right?

This is what I thought and boy, was I wrong.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

As someone who has been in athletics for three decades, and coaching for a dozen, I’ve seen my share of new health or fitness fads come and go. The mere mention of the latest one is guaranteed to get an eye roll. It’s now a default response for many of us. We’re burnt out on guerilla marketing, in your face promotion, and promises to have a new you with only 90 seconds a day- just get that credit card out.

While the name CrossFit is something new, the concepts and principles are ancient. Many of the methods, exercises and tools are ones that have been used for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Call it a resurgence, if you will.

The layperson's guide to the Charles W. Morgan — *CrossFit is an activity that the family can do together.*

I stopped by owner and head coach Brad Cardoza’s facility – or box as it is called in CrossFit lexicon – in South Dartmouth to gain some more insight. I have about 20 friends who train here and they are fanatical. Heck, I’ll just put it out there: they are pains in the arses about getting me to stop in!

What was to be a 15 minute visit turned into two and a half hours, demonstrating Brad’s passion. What he has here is something special. Not only is Brad an interesting, storied figure, but CrossFit New Bedford has all the right things in all the right places.

Throughout our discussion, Brad revisited the same things over and again. What he felt was incredibly important to convey: CrossFit is an “everyman’s or everywoman’s” activity – in fact, it is ideally suited for families. Is it for the elite athlete, or serious competitor? You bet it is, but that is a small portion of the membership at the Rogers Street facility. In fact, the majority of his members are women and children. Approximately 65% of his members are women alone!

Brad has been in the exercise business for decades. He has seen day in and day out, the benefits of what he coaches – improved health, physical strength, self-confidence, well-being – and wants to spread this positive service to the community. In fact, he’s pretty darn passionate about these three things: health, fitness and community. When he discusses it, there is a fire in his eyes. His posture changes. He’s 100% present. He’s not in the CrossFit business – he’s in the life-changing business.

So, what exactly is CrossFit?
Here is the Wikipedia definition: “CrossFit incorporates high-intensity interval training, olympic weightlifting, powerlifting, gymnastics, strongman exercises and other disciplines. The exercise program is practiced by members of approximately 7,000 affiliated gyms…” The term is a compound of CROSS-training FITness.

What Brad was wary about, is that people may think that each “box” teaches the same things. He felt it crucial that, people understand that each box, its coaches, its atmosphere, team, and instruction differ in terms of curriculum, methodology, technique and quality. Unfortunately, this means that there is no standard and that many folks open a box after a only few months of experience and dropping money over the course of a weekend to get a piece of paper that declares you an “expert.”

This has become an all too common trend. Being an inexperienced coach teaching a group of people to throw heavy weights around in close proximity is a recipe for disaster. There is substitute for experience – three decades in Brad’s case – no matter how fancy the piece of paper in its fancy frame hanging on the wall. The difference is not only night and day, but the difference between injury and none.

What is a CrossFit N.B. class like?
People are always curious about what a class consists of. There is a lot that is familiar to all of us: bodyweight exercises like chin-ups or pull-ups, push-ups, jumping jacks or crunches. There are medicine balls, Swiss balls, rope climbs, dumbbells. There are gymnast rings, tires of various sizes to flip, barbells and kettlebells. But it’s not these things that make CrossFit N.B. what it is, but the “how” – the order, amount of time, repetitions – that matters.

Each workout changes from day to day and is carefully crafted by Brad and his team of expert coaches to maximize results. This spontaneity keeps one’s interest and fends off boredom.

You don’t have to take my word for it, or Brad’s. There are 3,200 fans and 200 reviews on his Facebook timeline alone, he has a 4 1/2 out of 5 star rating in a world full of cynics, and there are hundreds of pictures of satisfied people from all walks of life – including young children and pregnant women.

There is a buzz, an excitement, about Brad’s facility, instruction, and curriculum that is contagious. The images showcasing the results bolster this idea and speak louder than anything I could say. There is a reason he is the premiere CrossFit box in New England, perhaps planet Earth.

Whether you are an individual or a family, an athlete or overweight, young old, male or female you have a home at CrossFit N.B. The genius behind Brad’s curriculum is that it integrates and fits anyone regardless of objectives. You compete with YOURSELF and others, not against yourself and others. Brad is laser-beam focused on integrating your objectives and goals in a carefully calculated and crafted progression – not pushing you into the deep end of the pool and telling you to kick your feet.

CrossFit New Bedford offers group classes, one-on-one personal training, CrossFit Kid’s Classes, Sport Specific Strength & Conditioning for teens and collegiate athletes. You get unlimited access to the classes for just $95 per month in an industry that typically charges $150 a month. For less than $25 a week you can have a life changing health & fitness experience with world class instruction in a friendly environment.

Training alongside people who are out-of-shape, pregnant or 8 years old will remove the intimidation factor and let you drop any barriers you may have had. Training alongside super athletes will spur you on and motivate you. More importantly, the group of genuine good folks will welcome you with open arms and treat like one of their own from the moment that you walk in, as Brad did with me.

In a nutshell, if you are looking to lose weight, improve your overall health and fitness levels, develop more strength and athleticism, or improve your performance in your chosen sport(s), there is a facility in greater New Bedford that offers world class instruction for affordable rates: CrossFit New Bedford.