Why are millennials so into Crossfit and triathlons?

I think it's because the sport gets a lot more of the general public's attention than running does. And Millennials love when people are looking at them or talking about them because it strokes their egos.

Asker of many important thing wrote:

It seems like millennials are obsessed with both Crossfit and triathlons. What gives? Why can't they appreciate the deeper joys of running?

It's trendy. They're seen as 'better' than JUST weightlifting, JUST powerlifting, JUST running, etc.

Jogging became a trend in the '70s.

Crossfit will go by the wayside in 2-3 more years. It's not sustainable.

Tri's will forever be around for the elitists that have to put themselves above the individual sports that comprise the tri.

Because it's less competitive, and a lot more people can do it and see quick results.

Seriously, take an average hobby jogger for instance. They are slow, weak, and no matter how hard they train, their slowness is pretty much exposed on display for the whole world to see.

So, why would a millennial spend hours each week running ALONE, just to show everyone how slow they are come race day? Duh. They wouldn't.

At least Cross Fit, you're doing that in a group and there's some hotties there, and the triathlon is sort of like a fun adventure, and is certainly less competitive than pure running is.

You also don't need to starve yourself like running.

Asker of many important thing wrote:

It seems like millennials are obsessed with both Crossfit and triathlons. What gives? Why can't they appreciate the deeper joys of running?

They probably want more well-rounded fitness.

Coach Foo wrote:

Asker of many important thing wrote:

It seems like millennials are obsessed with both Crossfit and triathlons. What gives? Why can't they appreciate the deeper joys of running?

It's trendy. They're seen as 'better' than JUST weightlifting, JUST powerlifting, JUST running, etc.

Jogging became a trend in the '70s.

Crossfit will go by the wayside in 2-3 more years. It's not sustainable.

Tri's will forever be around for the elitists that have to put themselves above the individual sports that comprise the tri.

The problem is that it's already been around since 2000. It's the number one way a personal trainer has to open up his own business. It will likely never go away, but will likely shrink as some point due to the growing popularity of 24 hour card entry facilities.

Alan

To quote a friend:

"CrossFit is for people who weren't good at sports."

Because they have tons of disposable income; they know Bernie will wipe out their student debt.

It all traces back to stone age.

Evolution.

Women want STRONG/BUFF guys. Always have, always will. Smart millennials have discovered this and are using it to their advantage.

While in the 90's there was basically one guy for every girl, things have changed dramatically with Tinder. Now, the top 5% of guys get 80% of the women. Short things, yes, meaningless sex, yes, but so what?

Who's left are the SKINNY guys, they won't find women. And they can't go to China either to find a woman there because they're running low on them because of 1 child policy and forced abortions.

The only choice a runner has these days is to stop running and BUFF up.

NoSeaLevelAllowed wrote:

To quote a friend:

"CrossFit is for people who weren't good at sports."

I've heard the same joke about runners.

What's with all the elitism?

No Way wrote:

NoSeaLevelAllowed wrote:

To quote a friend:

"CrossFit is for people who weren't good at sports."

I've heard the same joke about runners.

What's with all the elitism?

Cross-fit is stupid. Let me explain.

"Professional Cross-Fitters" on TV... don't do cross-fit. They train in powerlifting, strong-man, and olympic weightlifting.

"Cross-fit Coaches" drop a couple grand to get certified in a weekend. That's it.

Participants drop a significant chunk of change to BADLY perform complex movements for AMRAP sets. This is just silly. Cross-fitters are hurt constantly.

Even if you are GOOD at cross-fit, it just means that you are a good gym rat. That's all.

It will go by the wayside to be replaced by something else.

Asker of many important thing wrote:

It seems like millennials are obsessed with both Crossfit and triathlons. What gives? Why can't they appreciate the deeper joys of running?

One could easily ask why someone would run 100 mpw, resulting in a sickly appearance and reduced testosterone, inhibiting the ability to do the most productive evolutionary activity, getting laid. I could all but guarantee that cross-fitters are more productive from an evolutionary standpoint.

Damn, you boomers are so short sighted.

Asker of many important thing wrote:

It seems like millennials are obsessed with both Crossfit and triathlons. What gives? Why can't they appreciate the deeper joys of running?

Where in running will you have a group of people cheering and giving you a round of applause every time you hit a split faster than the previous one?

I've seen videos of crossfit groups on the internet where they announce that such person is going to try to lift heavier this time or this person is going to try to finish 15 pull ups when his/her previous PR was 14. When they do it everybody in the room starts screaming and giving them high fives, etc.

It's instant gratification. Running is a solo sport where instant gratification doesn't play a part of it. You put in hard work for many months or years to finally be able to accomplish your goal, and that's if all the factors come into play.

salserorunner wrote:

Where in running will you have a group of people cheering and giving you a round of applause every time you hit a split faster than the previous one?

It's called a Track or XC team. OR a road running group.

I don't believe in cheering at practice, though.

That kind of 'hyper intensity' every day leads to adrenal fatigue, and the cases of rhabdo that almost kill people.

Sometimes the grind is the grind, and the cheering is saved for competition.

Coach Foo wrote:

No Way wrote:

I've heard the same joke about runners.

What's with all the elitism?

Cross-fit is stupid. Let me explain.

"Professional Cross-Fitters" on TV... don't do cross-fit. They train in powerlifting, strong-man, and olympic weightlifting.

"Cross-fit Coaches" drop a couple grand to get certified in a weekend. That's it.

Participants drop a significant chunk of change to BADLY perform complex movements for AMRAP sets. This is just silly. Cross-fitters are hurt constantly.

Even if you are GOOD at cross-fit, it just means that you are a good gym rat. That's all.

It will go by the wayside to be replaced by something else.

I understand everything you're saying and don't understand how it is different from running. Coaches may or may not be certified. Runners are constantly injured from performing the same exercise over and over again. Even if you're a good runner, you're only good at running.

I agree that it will likely be replaced by something else, but this elitist attitude that LRC has towards CrossFit or anything that isn't running is stupid.

Crossfit may very well disappear in a few years. More likely, it will settle back into a more sustainable number of boxes. What the insecure running community has to ask itself is why do we care? There's a very good reason most people don't want to admit. Distance running is a loner sport for the most part. Sure there are groups and clubs, but as a sweeping generality distance runners are loners that aren't that great socially. Crossfit is as much about the social interaction as it is the fitness. For the uber competitive, you can throw down against equally fit people every day. Can't do that in running. Women enjoy being able to workout and dress sexy. May sound stupid to some, but it's true. This obviously draws hoards of men to the gym and vice versa. There are a few distance runner men and women who look sexy, but it's rare. The muscled body looks better to 99% of the world.

There are a lot of reasons somebody would want to hang out at a Crossfit gym. To a dedicated distance runner it's unfamiliar, intimidating and therefore stupid. Break out of your shell and try it, or ignore it. It's not worth your time or energy to continually trash it on a message board. While you're doing this crossfitters are doing their thing and not giving you a second thought.

Crossfit is for people who want to post workout selfies letting everyone know they just exercised, but know that if they do they'll look like a tool.

Crossfit was wise enough to subcontract that job; taking the picture/video for you, then posting it and tagging you. They document every single workout and make sure you get social media cred for it. That way all your friends know how awesome you are without you posting it yourself and feeling like a social media attention whore. An added perk is it's generally accepted that crossfitters workout with no shirt, so they can show off the body without shame.

The "team" component is also a great idea. It creates an easier environment for meeting new people (preferably of the opposite sex that are half clothed). It creates a competitive atmosphere and gives you a chance to show off in front of everyone (which is why they tend to work harder than your average gym goer).

Really it's all excellent marketing. I give crossfit full credit for recognizing our narcissism and need for attention and capitalizing on it. If they had a workout philosophy I agreed with and more reasonable prices, then I would probably hop on the bandwagon as well.

salserorunner wrote:

It's instant gratification. Running is a solo sport where instant gratification doesn't play a part of it. You put in hard work for many months or years to finally be able to accomplish your goal, and that's if all the factors come into play.

Feels pretty good when things do come together and you cross that finish line though.

They are into running too, but they call it yogging. it's a soft "j".

Aa apple wrote:

Crossfit is for people who want to post workout selfies

What you don't understand bro is that it's the other way around.

Runners don't post selfies because they're ashamed of their bodies.

People doing CrossFit Elite Training get BUFF/SHREDDED and then want to post it.

The last time I posted a shirtless picture of myself on instagram, it went viral and ended up having 250 likes. Must be all the popular hashtags I used.

Btw, 90% women that liked my picture, but also some men, which were MIRIN I assume.