HAVEN'T heard of CrossFit? You must have been living under a rock. The fitness empire has exploded to become one of the biggest brands in the industry and gained a cult-like status among followers, renowned for its ridiculously tough workouts and take-no-prisoners attitude.
The brand is expected to rake in more than $100 million in revenue this year, with more than 10,000 CrossFit gyms, known as 'boxes' in the US alone.
But for all the slavish devotion, little is known about the man behind the fitness machine - a 56 year old named Greg Glassman.
Glassman is the son of a scientist and stay-at-home mum who grew up in California, partaking in all sorts of sports from weightlifting to gymnastics, according to a recent Inc profile.
He started personal training but was booted from various gyms for unorthodox techniques, eventually landing a job training police officers in Santa Cruz.
Word of his notoriously tough sessions spread, and he began posting one workout of the day online. CrossFit was born.
Watch an interview with Greg Glassman
Greg Glassman
While CrossFit had gained a huge following, Glassman wanted to do things his own way.
"I'm not going to be told what to do" he said in an interview with Reason TV, adding they "broke free of norms both as a physiological model and as a business model and struck out on our own."
Glassman is the sole owner of the company which has no board of directors. Anyone can start up a CrossFit 'box' with a two-day course to become a certified instructor and an annual affiliation payment.
The boss, known as "Coach" has turned down other sources of revenue in favour of this simplicity and the company makes money from their affiliation deals, training new instructors and registration at the CrossFit games, Inc reports.
The logo is a clown called Uncle Pukie - a regular visitor after tough sessions.
"We're rough edged and authentic and yeah you might puke and we have a clown that pukes and we're putting him on the side of our plane became it makes us laugh," Mr Glassman said.
"It's an active, running, sweating breeding community. The cult of the caveman."
CrossFit has gained a huge following in Australia.
But while it sounds free and easy, Glassman also has a reputation for being fiercely protective of the brand.
There are between 12 and 20 legal firms on alert to pursue cases on behalf of the company, with a database of about 5000 potential infringements on the books, according to Inc .
They also have a take-no-prisoners social media policy which has involved swiftly cutting off a parody Twitter account that made distasteful jokes about the Boston bombing and mobilising supporters when Glassman's ex-wife wanted to sell part of the company to a venture capitalist.
The extreme workouts and two-day training has also come under fire, something Glassman said is part of the deal with CrossFit.
"If you find the notion of falling off the rings and breaking your neck so foreign to you, then we don't want you in our ranks," he reportedly said.
He also doesn't do the workouts himself - something devotees have questioned on the CrossFit message boards.
"Not saying he should be a top level competitor or anything but if you swear by something one would think that you would at least drink your own koolaid," wrote one user.
Despite the criticisms, the juggernaut rolls on.
Peter Hoang runs a CrossFit in Sydney's West and said their members can't get enough.
"I just love everything. It's fun, it's a community, everyone knows each other ... We train as a community and help each other. We don't have mirrors, we don't have anything like that. We just have results."
Meet Greg Glassman, the man behind the CrossFit machine | News.com.au
The brand is expected to rake in more than $100 million in revenue this year, with more than 10,000 CrossFit gyms, known as 'boxes' in the US alone.
But for all the slavish devotion, little is known about the man behind the fitness machine - a 56 year old named Greg Glassman.
Glassman is the son of a scientist and stay-at-home mum who grew up in California, partaking in all sorts of sports from weightlifting to gymnastics, according to a recent Inc profile.
He started personal training but was booted from various gyms for unorthodox techniques, eventually landing a job training police officers in Santa Cruz.
Word of his notoriously tough sessions spread, and he began posting one workout of the day online. CrossFit was born.
Watch an interview with Greg Glassman
Greg Glassman
While CrossFit had gained a huge following, Glassman wanted to do things his own way.
"I'm not going to be told what to do" he said in an interview with Reason TV, adding they "broke free of norms both as a physiological model and as a business model and struck out on our own."
Glassman is the sole owner of the company which has no board of directors. Anyone can start up a CrossFit 'box' with a two-day course to become a certified instructor and an annual affiliation payment.
The boss, known as "Coach" has turned down other sources of revenue in favour of this simplicity and the company makes money from their affiliation deals, training new instructors and registration at the CrossFit games, Inc reports.
The logo is a clown called Uncle Pukie - a regular visitor after tough sessions.
"We're rough edged and authentic and yeah you might puke and we have a clown that pukes and we're putting him on the side of our plane became it makes us laugh," Mr Glassman said.
"It's an active, running, sweating breeding community. The cult of the caveman."
CrossFit has gained a huge following in Australia.
But while it sounds free and easy, Glassman also has a reputation for being fiercely protective of the brand.
There are between 12 and 20 legal firms on alert to pursue cases on behalf of the company, with a database of about 5000 potential infringements on the books, according to Inc .
They also have a take-no-prisoners social media policy which has involved swiftly cutting off a parody Twitter account that made distasteful jokes about the Boston bombing and mobilising supporters when Glassman's ex-wife wanted to sell part of the company to a venture capitalist.
The extreme workouts and two-day training has also come under fire, something Glassman said is part of the deal with CrossFit.
"If you find the notion of falling off the rings and breaking your neck so foreign to you, then we don't want you in our ranks," he reportedly said.
He also doesn't do the workouts himself - something devotees have questioned on the CrossFit message boards.
"Not saying he should be a top level competitor or anything but if you swear by something one would think that you would at least drink your own koolaid," wrote one user.
Despite the criticisms, the juggernaut rolls on.
Peter Hoang runs a CrossFit in Sydney's West and said their members can't get enough.
"I just love everything. It's fun, it's a community, everyone knows each other ... We train as a community and help each other. We don't have mirrors, we don't have anything like that. We just have results."
Meet Greg Glassman, the man behind the CrossFit machine | News.com.au
