CrossFit in Chicago, the Way It Should Be

What CrossFit is, and why it works

CrossFit is constantly varied functional movement performed at high intensity: barbells, gymnastics, running, rowing and jumping, combined into one-hour classes that never repeat the same day twice. Instead of isolating muscles on machines, you train the movements your body was built for (squatting, pressing, pulling, hinging, carrying), and you do it with a coach running the room, a clock creating urgency, and a group of people pushing alongside you.

The results are hard to argue with. CrossFit builds strength and lean muscle, cardiovascular endurance, bone density, mobility and coordination at the same time. That's the ten fitness domains in one program. And because every single workout scales, the same class serves a first-day beginner and a ten-year athlete: same movements, adjusted load and volume. You don't need to get in shape to start. Starting is how you get in shape.

Chicago Strength is a registered CrossFit affiliate, affiliated under the names Atlas CrossFit and CrossFit Logan, and CrossFit has been the backbone of our gyms since 2009, almost two decades of coaching Chicago athletes. Every class is led by a certified coach who teaches the movement, checks your form, and scales the day to where you are.

Programming written in-house

We don't buy generic workouts off the shelf. Every training cycle is written in-house by a coach holding a graduate degree in exercise physiology, a CrossFit Level 2 certification, and a CSCS from the NSCA. The methodology is classic periodization done properly: strength blocks built on the published programs they are named after, run the way their authors wrote them, plus dedicated speed, skill and Olympic lifting days, and conditioning that complements (never competes with) the day's strength work, with time domains and intensities varied across the week. Some cycles run on percentages of your tested maxes and some are autoregulated, where you find the right weight for the day you are actually having. You'll always know what the cycle is building toward, and you'll retest at the end to prove it worked.