Town Athletics (Tacoma CrossFit)

About

Tacoma's premier CrossFit and Weightlifting gym. Rooted in Strength. Learn more at townathletics.com.

Story

Rooted

We have been told by some that a slogan like "Rooted in Strength" may be intimidating to new members or members who have never experienced Weightlifting, CrossFit, or a group exercise environment - that it may come off as, "if you are not already strong, then you need not apply." This could not be farther from the truth, however, because this line of thinking assumes that "Strength" in this instance means how much weight you can move. For us at Town, though, it means much more than that.

It means being rooted in the strength of our communities.

First and foremost, we are rooted in our gym community. When you come to Town, you are joining a family. Our workouts are completed as a group, because there are few things more motivating than having other like-minded and supportive individuals surround and encourage you. Group workouts aren't about being the best, or the first one done. Watch any CrossFit competition and you'll see that the person that gets the loudest, most enthusiastic encouragement is usually the person coming in last. That is what is so great about a community workout: It's not about where you place; it’s about motivating you to do the best that you are capable of, and it's on us as coaches to help guide you to your maximum potential. Whether your goal is to lose a few pounds while working out with friends or to perform at a competitive level, we will guide you and our community will support you. This is why one of our expectations at Town is to introduce yourself to other new members. Does this mean you will be best friends with everyone at the gym? Probably not, but it does mean that we are all in this together, and just like a family, we will be dysfunctionally functional. You will love some of us, and others maybe not so much. We can ensure one thing, though: We will foster a supportive environment.

Beyond our gym community, we are also rooted in the strength of our local community. We at Town not only work in Tacoma but live here as well. We support small, locally-owned businesses and collaborate with other locally-owned gyms. While they may be competition, by definition they are not "the" competition because we share the same mission - to help people realize that they can move and feel better than they thought possible, and that their athletic potential didn't end when they left high school. But this can't be done while watching TV and walking on a treadmill; it needs to be a calculated, thoughtful progression. Just as you didn’t start your career without any training, you won't start your path towards fitness, strength, competition, or otherwise without training. Luckily, that is where we come in.

This brings us to our second strength: We are rooted in the strength of our coaching. We at Town treat coaching as a profession. We are all nationally certified in one form of coaching or personal training or another. You might be saying, "yeah but anyone can take a class and get a certificate," and you are correct. However, none of us are content with simply framing a piece of paper. We tirelessly work towards and study to become better coaches and teachers, because in the end, that’s what we’re doing: Teaching. We not only understand how the movements break down, but we also understand how to motivate the end user. It is because of this that we have written into our business plan a yearly, mandatory education stipend. We never want to become content or assume we have all the answers, because I promise you, we don’t - but we will continue to work to that end because we are passionate about it.

Passion: This is our third and final strength in which we are rooted. Town is a passion product - one of many months, or rather years, of planning and work. None of us are involved with this to get rich. Don't get me wrong - we still want to run a successful business - but we didn’t put in the work, sweat, and tears because we needed a job. We did it because we love it and we live it. One of the most rewarding things we get to experience is watching a member do something they never thought possible, or to watch a community grow from the simple shared desire to be healthier and perform better.

Are we Rooted in Strength of the muscle variety? Of course, and I think our programming proves this. Without a solid foundation of muscle strength, body awareness and movement are not optimized and all activities beyond the walls of the gym become more difficult. Will you get stronger training with us? Absolutely. Will your level of confidence improve? Definitely. Just remember: You don't have to come in the door with a theoretical level of strength. Just trust in the process and we will get you there.

So again, why "Rooted in Strength"? Because being rooted in the strength of these building blocks are who we are as a gym, and everyone is invited.