The Evolution of CrossFit, and Finding Space for Everyone in Fitness with Will Lanier, Founder of The Out Foundation — Muscle Maven Radio Episode #5
Barbell Shrugged
Doug Larson
4.7 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 7 March 2019
⏱️ 75 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Will Lanier (@truebluewill) has worked for the past decade as a CrossFit Coach and general manager for Brick New York, and has spent time working for other fitness organizations like Barry's Bootcamp and 24 Hour Fitness. He's now the founder of The Out Foundation, a non-profit organization that works to remove the barriers that block LGBTQ+ individuals access and participation in health, wellness and fitness to ensure their success through fun, inclusive fundraising events like OUTWOD and by providing health and fitness-related scholarships to LGBTQ youth.
Today is a fun walk down CrossFit memory lane, as well as peering into the future of the sport: Ashleigh chats with fellow CrossFit NYC OG Will Lanier about the early days of CrossFit in New York City, his work as a trainer who helped bring the Brick fitness franchise to the city, his experience as a gay man in CrossFit, and his current work as founder of The Out Foundation/ OUTWOD fundraising events, with a goal to increase inclusiveness and access to CrossFit for everyone including those in the LGBTQ community. We talk about transgender competitors in CrossFit and other sports, and why CrossFit is so unique in its ability to bring people together.
Enjoy!
-Ashleigh
Minute Breakdown:
0 - 26 Intro to Will's background at CrossFit NYC, becoming a trainer, the growth of CrossFit in New York and worldwide
26 - 44 How he came to start his foundation and what it's about, what OUTWOD is, about the fun and learning that comes with creating your own community; why inclusiveness is important for everyone and why it doesn't have to be political; what he learned working all the different types of fitness organizations from CrossFit to a more globo-gym environment
44 – A discussion on trans athletes competing in different sports from CrossFit to MMA, the complexity of the regulations, and why testosterone levels shouldn't be the main determinant for who can compete in women's categories
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Show notes: http://www.shruggedcollective.com/mmr-lanier
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Shrugged Collective is a network of fitness, health and performance shows that help people achieve their physical and mental health goals. Usually in the gym, but outside as well. In 2012 they posted their first Barbell Shrugged podcast and have been putting out weekly free videos and podcasts ever since.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey everybody, you're listening to Muscle Maven Radio. I am your host, the Muscle Maven, |
| 0:07.0 | aka Ashley Van Halton. Both of those names are weird, I know, so let's just go with it. |
| 0:12.6 | Anyway, today I am talking to a CrossFit person because I'm told that a lot of you listeners |
| 0:17.6 | are CrossFit people and you'd be into that. And I'm just, I'm here to please. So I actually |
| 0:23.0 | used to be a CrossFit person myself. I got into it pretty early days and about 2008 I used |
| 0:28.2 | to go to what I think was the first CrossFit gym in New York. It was called the Black Box |
| 0:33.4 | on 26th Street and it was pretty grimy but it was super fun. I remember when I moved to New |
| 0:40.1 | York from Bermuda in my kind of early-ish 20s and I didn't know a soul and I was just |
| 0:46.0 | getting into CrossFit. I joined, that was the first thing I did, was joined the CrossFit |
| 0:50.0 | gym and I immediately had a group of friends, a social group, people to talk to, to go out |
| 0:55.5 | with, to work out with, people who were into the same things I was into and it was awesome. |
| 0:59.8 | It made my life in New York at the very beginning way less scary, way more fun. I got my first |
| 1:05.0 | muscle up there and it helped me get super strong. I still obviously incorporate CrossFit into |
| 1:10.0 | a lot of my own workout programming. I still love to watch the games and be a part of it |
| 1:14.6 | and I don't know, it's just been really fun to see how the sport is growing and I wrote |
| 1:20.4 | my master's thesis on the CrossFit game so like I was pretty into it and I just love |
| 1:24.9 | to see how it evolves and my guest today is actually a part of that evolution. Will Lanier, |
| 1:30.9 | he was a coach at the Black Box in 2010. He helped develop and open the brick New York CrossFit |
| 1:37.9 | gyms which I think kind of paved the way for a nicer, cleaner, almost more boutique version |
| 1:44.4 | of CrossFit in the city because before that, you know, the boxes were classic boxes. |
| 1:50.4 | They were pretty gross and grimy and these ones were actually like, you know, they had |
| 1:54.8 | nice showers so that was kind of a big deal. And then he moved on and started his own nonprofit |
... |
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