An Investigation of Motivational Variables in CrossFit Facilities

Abstract

CrossFit is a growing fitness trend in the United States; however, little systematic research has addressed specific motivational principles within this unique exercise environment. The purpose of the study was to explore the influence of gender and membership time on perceptions of motivational climate and goals within the CrossFit environment. Specifically, people may set goals related to self-improvement (i.e., mastery) or focus on their performance in comparison to others (i.e., performance). Motivational climate refers to an individual's perception of being encouraged to focus on either mastery or performance goals from CrossFit trainers. A total of 144 members (88 females; 56 males) completed questionnaires to assess participants' perceptions of CrossFit goal structures and perceptions of the motivational climate encouraged by the trainer within their CrossFit box. Results indicated a significant main effect for gender on preferred goals (p ≤ 0.05), with males reporting higher levels of performance approach goals and females reporting higher levels of master avoidance goals. Participants who reported shorter membership times were found to have significantly higher mastery-related goals than individuals who reported longer membership times (p ≤ 0.05). The results from the study suggest that practitioners should consider how perceptions of the motivational climate and goals in group-based exercise settings such as CrossFit may vary based on demographic variables, and that these differences may impact how to most effectively motivate, encourage, and instruct group members, particularly with regard to helping members set goals that most effectively address their approach to the CrossFit regimen.

Gender representation in theCrossFit Journal: a content analysis

“…As noted before, this research is not attempting to determine gender equity but rather explore the ways in which gender is given meaning through the images used in the journal. Previous research conducted by Partridge, Knapp, and Massengale (2014) found that the coed nature of participation in CrossFit may have a positive affect in terms of decreasing perceived gender differences which is another reason for including the coed photographs in this current research study. The analysis will be concerned with not only the amount of coverage but also the messages about sex differences that are encoded within the images.…”

The role of social capital and community belongingness for exercise adherence: An exploratory study of the CrossFit gym model

“…Traditional gym-based exercise is the primary method used to increase exercise levels through exercise referral schemes in the UK. The present study examines a novel gym environment, CrossFit, which is fast growing in popularity (Partridge et al, 2014). CrossFit began as a training regime originally founded by Greg Glassman in California, United States of America in the mid-nineties.…”

Kinetic and Kinematic Changes during a 30-Repetition Bout of the Barbell Clean

“…Overall, there was moderate between participant variation in the maximum strength of the participants; however, there was a large range in the self-reported 1RM's (85 -150 kg) and this led to the time to complete the protocol ranging extensively from 62 seconds (strongest athlete) to 520 seconds (weakest athlete). In many extreme conditioning programs that combine technical resistance exercises and highly fatiguing routines there is the potential to scale the program to an athlete's ability by manipulating the exercise, load or other relevant factors [18]. However, in many cases there will exist a large range in strength between athletes using the same resistance and the results from this study highlight a potential difficulty in training prescription of a system that frequently uses absolute loads.…”