Synopses & Reviews
ENTER THE WORKOUT REVOLUTION. When veteran journalist T.J. Murphy joined a local CrossFit® gym, it wasn’t to chase a story. Hobbled and limping, the 47-year-old felt more like 100, with legs wrecked from years of running. Desperate to reclaim his fitness and strength, he signed up with nothing to lose. In
Inside the Box, Murphy puts his body to the test to find out whether CrossFit really works. IS IT HEALTHY? IS IT EFFECTIVE? IS IT CRAZY? From humble roots in a California garage to more than 4,000 gyms today, CrossFit is the gritty grassroots fitness movement that is fast making converts across the globe. Forget chrome, video screens, and glitzy settings; CrossFit happens in rough-and-tumble spaces called boxes, with workouts forged from an eclectic mix of gymnastics, weight lifting, track and field, and plyometrics—pitting athletes against each other to earn the day’s top score. In this intense atmosphere where fitness is sport, Murphy discovers a surprisingly tight-knit crew—soldiers, soccer moms, police officers, adrenaline addicts—all striving to sweat, suffer, and see who can push themselves farthest. With ferocious dedication to training and diet, CrossFit’s devotees seem to be literally reshaping themselves from the inside out. But does CrossFit live up to the hype_
Inside the Box investigates the merits of this countercultural movement that is transforming lives as it takes the fitness world by storm.
T.J. MURPHY is a writer, veteran endurance athlete, and CrossFitter and the former editorial director of
Triathlete,
Inside Triathlon, and
Competitor magazines. His work has also appeared in
Runner’s World and
Outside magazines.
Review
“Murphy's experience [in
Inside the Box] is one that will be lived thousands of times in the coming years. It is an awakening not only of the physical but of consciousness to one’s ability and what is possible. He eloquently takes you on the ride of finding community and bringing purpose back into one’s own life.” —
Brian MacKenzie, founder of CrossFit EnduranceReview
“For me, Inside the Box was like a walk down memory lane. I highly recommend it to anyone who has been considering starting CrossFit but just hasn't been sure if it's right for them.” — Greg Amundson, the original CrossFit Firebreather, former SWAT officer, and founder of the CrossFit Goal Setting Course “Murphy's experience [in Inside the Box] is one that will be lived thousands of times in the coming years. It is an awakening not only of the physical but of consciousness to one’s ability and what is possible. He eloquently takes you on the ride of finding community and bringing purpose back into one’s own life.” — Brian MacKenzie, founder of CrossFit Endurance
Review
“Laced with self-deprecation and sharp observation, [
Inside the Box] reads as a CrossFit origin story. Throughout the book Murphy is most compelling as a cultural guide. With uncanny “noticings” and clever descriptions he pulls you into the CrossFit community, its people and its ethos. As a forceful diary,
Inside The Box speaks to those merely curious about CrossFit and to the fire breathing monsters hooked on its potent thrill. Vibrant and life-affirming, Murphy urges the reader on.” —
WOD Talk magazine
“For me, Inside the Box was like a walk down memory lane. I highly recommend it to anyone who has been considering starting CrossFit but just hasnt been sure if its right for them.” — Greg Amundson, the original CrossFit Firebreather, former SWAT officer, and founder of the CrossFit Goal Setting Course
“Murphys experience [in Inside the Box] is one that will be lived thousands of times in the coming years. It is an awakening not only of the physical but of consciousness to ones ability and what is possible. He eloquently takes you on the ride of finding community and bringing purpose back into ones own life.” — Brian MacKenzie, founder of CrossFit Endurance
“Inside the Box made me very nostalgic of my own beginning with CrossFit. And it really made me proud of this community that I am involved in. CrossFit is unique as a sport, but even more special because of the community it has created. Inside the Box is a wonderful representation of why and how we are all so dedicated to our own fitness, but more importantly, to the success of our peers.” — Annie Sakamoto, CrossFit trainer and elite athlete
“In his book Inside the Box, journalist T.J. Murphy goes deep into the high-intensity, gut-testing world of CrossFit.” — ESPN.com
“Interwoven with [Murphys] personal journey is the backstory on CrossFit and its evolution, along with the tales of other CrossFitters he met along the way…For anyone who hasnt experienced CrossFit, its hard to understand what goes on inside the gym, but this book does a good job explaining it.” — Duathlon.com
“In his book, Murphy also does an effective job of explaining what a typical CrossFit “box” (an actual gym) looks like, what a CrossFit experience is bound to be like for the first-timer (humbling and exhausting, and, depending on the first-timers nature, either utterly addictive or completely off-putting), and the importance of community in contributing to CrossFits popularity.” — BreakingMuscle.com
Synopsis
From humble roots in the garage of fitness guru Greg Glassman to over 3,000 rough-and-tumble gym spaces today, CrossFit is a gritty, grassroots fitness phenomenon, with an open-source exercise platform, dedicated to improving lives by improving fitness. Its fervent practitioners, known as CrossFitters, are as competitive as they are sweaty, striving for the pride of marking their time atop the list of the day’s top performers.
CrossFit’s “boxes” are brick-walled industrial warehouses, gyms, and garages floored with rubber mats and chock full of kettlebells, free weights, ropes, medicine balls, truck tires, jump ropes, and bags of chalk. CrossFitters race to complete the day’s prescribed workout, many named after fallen war heroes, with exercises that include burpees, box jumps, clean and jerks, and pull-ups—as many times as they can in a designated time period. Workouts are intense, leaving spent athletes dripping with sweat and glowing with endorphin-fueled satisfaction.
In a departure from sterile mainstream gyms, it is camaraderie that keeps CrossFitters coming back week after week for their hour of high-intensity suffering—that and the promise of weight loss and a sculpted physique. Its practitioners know well that CrossFit has changed lives, forming biggest losers into lean, mean evangelists.
Author and veteran CrossFitter T.J. Murphy goes inside the box to shed light on the extraordinary community of CrossFit and why this fast-growing fitness movement is coming soon to a garage near you.
Synopsis
Inside the Box is a pulse-pounding exploration of the gritty, high-intensity sport of CrossFit®, the fast-growing fitness revolution that is turning the traditional gym workout upside down. Every day in thousands of CrossFit boxes around the country, a motley crew of fitness seekers, endurance athletes, soccer moms, biggest losers, and military personnel race to complete short, grueling workouts. They see big results in little time, shedding pounds and carving out a new physique. CrossFit’s intense atmosphere of camaraderie and competition converts its faithful into super-fit devotees to the “sport of fitness.” In Inside the Box, veteran journalist T.J. Murphy takes up CrossFit to find out why it works, how it feels, and whether it can fix his broken-down body. In the process, Murphy discovers a fascinating fitness phenomenon with a culture all its own.
Synopsis
In
Inside the Box, veteran journalist and marathoner T.J. Murphy goes all in to expose the gritty, high-intensity sport of CrossFit®. Murphy faced a future with a permanent limp from one too many marathons. Desperate to reclaim his fitness and strength, the 47-year-old signed up for his first CrossFit® workout with nothing to lose. Anaerobically blasted by each workout of the day, Murphy discovered a sweat-soaked fitness revolution that’s transforming bodies and lives. CrossFit is the sport of fitness, a radical new approach to exercise that is turning the traditional gym workout upside down. Every day at thousands of CrossFit gyms across America, fitness seekers of all shapes and sizes flex their inner athlete by racing to finish fast-paced workouts. Each workout mixes weight lifting and gymnastics into an explosively effective and addictive new way to lose weight and carve out a new physique.
Inside the Box is Murphy’s journey through CrossFit. From staggering newcomer to evangelist, Murphy finds out how it feels, why it’s so popular, whether it can fix his broken body.
About the Author
T.J. Murphy is a veteran endurance athlete, CrossFitter, and former editorial director of Triathlete, Inside Triathlon, and Competitor magazines. He is author of Triathlete Magazine’s Guide to Finishing Your First Triathlon and contributor to Start to Finish: 24 Weeks to an Endurance Triathlon.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Breaking Down: My personal journey into CrossFit
The Unknown and the Unknowable: What is CrossFit and how does it work?
The Supple Leopard: Kelly Starrett and his approach to movement
The Unified Field Theory of Sports: CrossFit’s dialog with other sports
Nasty Girls: How everyone falls in love with CrossFit
No Fear, or The story of Irene: How CrossFit can predict your health in 20 years
The Challenge: CrossFit nutrition
Getting Comfortable with the Uncomfortable: Falling in love with suffering
Science Power: Daily measurements, competition, and how peer pressure creates community
My Date with Fran: Reporting on the experience of a Crossfit goal
The Athlete Within: CrossFit’s benefit to other sports
Index
About the Author