What a cool event! Thank you so much for inviting me, Reebok and Fitfluential!
Last Thursday, I had the pleasure of attending the opening of Reebok‘s new Fit Hub concept store in New York City. The Fit Hub was designed to inspire people to move, train, get fit and have fun while doing it.
The Reebok store is located right above CrossFit Fifth Ave, a 10,000 square foot CrossFit box. (Just to give you an idea how big that is, my box back home is 2,500 square feet.)
Having a Crossfit box located right under the store is really awesome because you can get your WOD on and then find everything you need for CrossFit right there. Plus, the Fit Hub is staffed with fitness, nutrition, and product experts who can help you find the right gear for your workout and also guide (and motivate!) you towards better health and performance. Basically, it’s one-stop shopping for all things CrossFit.
When I arrived at the event, I was immediately greeted by the folks from Reebok and then given a brief tour of the boxāāeverything was brand new and some of it wasn’t even finished yet!
The pull-up rig at CrossFit 5th Avenue is the second longest in the worldāāthe longest being at the CrossFit Games.
I loved that everything was so colorful! Most of the boxes I’ve visited had a lot of black and gray equipment, but CrossFit 5th Ave had tons of brightly-colored gear. So fun!
Once I had a quick look at the box, I received a bag of goodies from Reebok. Inside was a pair of sneakers and workout gear to wear for the event.
In the locker room, I bumped into Meredith and Katelyn, who also received new gear. Check out our sweet Reebok outfits! Fun, right?!?
I love, love, love my new teal and lime green Nanos! I’m totally obsessed.
Once we were dressed, we mixed and mingled in the box for a little while and then headed upstairs to the Reebok store.
There, we heard from Uli Becker, the President & CEO of Reebok.
Once he finished speaking, we heard from Chris Spealler, Rich Froning, and Annie Thorisdottir.
Spealler talked about how far CrossFit has come since he started in 2006 as well as what drives CrossFit (around minute 3:00), which is my favorite part of what he says.
Once Chris finished, he did a brief Q & A with Rich and Annie. He asked them how they got into CrossFit and what they’d tell someone who says they’re not fit enough to do CrossFit.
During the talks, the Fitfluential ambassadors were hard at work! Tweet, tweet, tweet!
Up next was the WOD!
Chris Spealler kicked it off with a brief summary of CrossFit (Constantly Varied High Intensity Functional Movement) and then went right into explaining the WOD.
Rich and Annie helped him demonstrate the exercises. So cool!
Once we knew how to do all of the exercises, we were broken up into groups of four. There were four stations, each with a different exercise assigned to it, so we each started at one station, did as many reps as possible of the assigned exercise in 60 seconds, and then rotated to the next station. We did this for all four stations and then repeated the cycle two more times for a total of three rounds.
During the workout, Chris, Annie, and Rich coached us on our form and gave us pointers for the exercises. At one point during the WOD, Chris came by and told me to use my arms for momentum on the air squats. Annie also told me I didn’t need to bend my knees so much for the kettlebell swings. Whoa, personal coaching from elite CrossFit athletes! How cool is that!? You know I will never ever forget those tips when I do air squats or kettlebell swings for as long as I live!
Post-WOD with Annie! She was so friendly and sweet!
Chris Spealler is the nicest guy ever. I chatted with him for a good 10 minutes about coaching and certificationsāāmore for Mal, but I was also curious.
After the WOD, Katelyn, Meredith, and I headed upstairs to the Reebok store to do a little shopping. Reebok gave each of us a gift card as a thank you for coming to the event.
The store was bumping with people wanting to see Rich, Annie, and Chris! Holy moly!
Check out the line around the building!
I’m pretty sure I have the best job on earth. What an amazing experience! A HUGE thank you to Reebok and Fitfluential!!!!!
63 Comments
That is quite possibly the coolest store I have ever seen!!! I wonder how much that box costs for a workout….crazy!
It’s pretty cool! I work next door to this box and see it every day! The cost is $250 one-time-registration and ~$250 monthly, depending on your plan. Here you can read more about their prices: http://www.reebokcrossfit5thave.com/index.php/getting-started/services-a-pricing
Holy.shit.
Haha!
Tina, this looks so amazing!!! Is that a pink kettlebell in one of your pictures? That is so cute. Next time I am in NYC I will definitely be stopping by this store. Argh I want to try CrossFit so badly, it is just so pricey. I’m still keeping it on my bucket list though š
Wow what a cool opportunity!
What a fun event!! š
That’s so cool that the store is right above the box! Haha perfect!
I’m so jealous! What an incredible opportunity. Reebok had a conference here in Phoenix back in March, but my parents were visiting, so I only managed to creepily hang out by the front door of my box while Annie, Rich, Spencer, and Austin worked out. Annie Sakamoto was there too, and I got to talk to her. They’re all so nice and just great people. They even coached one of our classes while they were in town. They were doing crossfit workouts at the hotel for the conference too, and some of our coaches were asked to coach those and play ultimate frisbee with them in a nearby park. Incredible experience.
And that store looks awesome.
Can I have your job!? Haha, it is always an amazing experience to travel and meet professionals in your field of interest. So inspiring.
Wow that looks like an amazing day! Love the Reebok gear, we have nothing like that here in Ireland, must look in to buying some online!
I think it’s great that Reebok included such a great CrossFit workout facility in their store. The bright colors are definitely inspiring to get you motivated to get moving!
Reebok gear sure has come a long way from the ’80s – pink, velcro high-tops!
What a cool experience!! Love the shoes btw
I don’t think that I would have been able to string two words together in front of any of them!! At least not right off the bat … What an amazing experience!!
Haha! Ditto! They were all super nice though! š
Wow what an amazing day!!! Such an awesome experience! It is so exciting to see such a growth in the few years since I’ve started CrossFitting! When I began no one had ever heard of crossfit when I told them what I did and now everyone knows about! Chris Spealler is awesome! He was one of the coaches at my level 1 cert and he was so nice! I love the new nanos! Dying to get a pair of them!
quite cool…those were Travis’ words when I MADE him read this post. š
You really do have the greatest job in the world. That is just awesome for you!!!!!
That is so freaking cool! It is funny how Crossfit has grown over the years. I remember when I first heard of it in 2008 when it had become HUGE at the Ramstein Air Force Base. However, back then because it was so new, people were injuring themselves A LOT! Level 1 Certs didn’t seem to care about form (it may have just been those individuals), and it pissed me off as form driven cycling instructor. It actually got so bad that the base threatened to shut it down. Yikes! I got a bad taste in my mouth from that until the last year or so. Since then, I many of my friends have become wonderful knowledgable instructors who actually care about the form equaling less injuries. I need to actually try a WOD now!
@Nicole @ Geek Turned Athlete: And apparently I cannot type properly this morning either! haha
You should try it! It sounds like that one was just a bad box.
Looks like you had a lot of fun! š
What an awesome experience!!! Thanks for sharing it and letting us “live” it through you!
What are awesome event to attend! Love the bright colored sneakers!!!
OMG! I love all the colorfulness in this post! So cute and makes me happy š
I love the brightly coloured equipment – I’ve never been to a box, but most of the pictures I see look warehouse-y and dark. Neon is the way to go š
You’re so lucky to have met them!! I’m really interested in CrossFit and i think when my gym membership ends in November i’m going to visit my local box. Thanks for sharing and the video clips were great!
ive been watching youtube videos of rich’s daily training, its insane. and um, to watch him bc, yeah.
That looks like such a fun event! lovelovelove all of the bright colored shoes!
You seriously have an amazing life! Glad you had a great time!
~Ang
wow! i’m so jealous! glad you had such a great time š
Fabulous video content. I too loved how Chris said the community (not elite) is what drives the sport. I seriously could listen to Annie all day! Both she and Rich are outstanding ambassadors.
Love the shoes!!
Such a cool box!
that is SO awesome. i am officially jealous. what a great weekend!
What do you think the best type of shoe/tread is for CrossFit? From what I’ve seen, it seems like the more flexible the better! P.S. your arms are out of this world!
I love the Nanos!
I am so happy for you!!! What a wonderful experience!
What a cool opportunity–and I love that they outfitted you in clothes & that the box has so much color. Very neat!
Tina- thought today would be a good day to reach out and say thanks š Your blog inspired me (after months and months) to join a box nearby (in Watertown!). I did my Elements this morning and am really excited to jump in. They were confused about how I already knew so much about CF workouts! Your 6-pack on the about me page sealed the deal. Will report back. š
everything is so so so colorful and lively! Looks like such a blast~I have a crossfit place near my home and I’m really curious to check it out–at least just to peek in? š
Yes, you do!! š
Wow. What a cool box!
Great, great recap! Ah, just like re-living it š What a wonderful day. Love the video with the Q&A. I learned so much that day and look forward to continuing to… #GETAFTERIT ! We’ll see how hooked I get once I try out the Box some more
What an amazing experience! I would be SOOOOO nervous to hit up a WOD with them watching! Did you ask Rich to take his shirt off at any moment? haha! Fun stuff! š
I loved the lime green and blue nanos when I saw them at HLS and they look great on you! Way jealous. Seeing your amaaaazing arms at the cocktail party has made me seriously resolve to do Crossfit again soon. There’s a box in my town!
Reebok opening looks like it was a blast. This is totally unrelated, but I saw it and thought of you… Starbucks is using a Facebook game to decide which city gets their Pumpkin Spice Latte first. On your mark, get set, GO: http://on.mash.to/NSWwskhttp://on.mash.to/NSWwsk š
Ha! Nice! š
I love your neon colored shoes! Looks like you had a great time in New York City! Thats store looks wicked awesome. I miss New York so much. I sort of want to move there or Washington D.C. when Im done with school. Have a great Monday š
This event looked like so much fun! I also love your grey workout capris!
SO cool!!
I had to pop back to this post and comment (first time commenter, haaaaay) that the tips that you got regarding KB swings and squats? TOTALLY stuck in my mind and this morning when I had to do both with my PT she commented how my form was spot on. Even though I was tired (the squats and swings were paired with another exercise so for example I did squats,run,squats,run,squats,run 40 secs each ugh!) my form felt pretty darn good. So thank you for posting that! Ellen from NZ š
That’s awesome! š
What an AWESOME experience! So great that you were able to train with Annie and Rich. Are you thinking about getting Crossfit L1 certified? I’m taking the course at the end of Septemeber. Hoping it will give me new perspective on Crossfit…
Wow is all I can say! What an experience that you will never forget. Love your gray capris also! Where are they from?
Reebok! š
That looks like such a blast! I can only imagine how much fun it was!!
I wish they’d open a store here in STL! š
Holy cow!! That looks like a really awesome and fun experience!! Great pictures too!