Is "Turning Sevens into Tens" What CrossFit is Really About? Why I'm Worried...

It's wrong. It's all wrong. I couldn't believe my eyes when, for the first of several times during the 2012 CrossFit Games, a Reebok commercial with the tagline "turning 7s into 10s" aired. The commercial features shots of women in shorts and sports bras doing various lifts and movements from various angles in Reebok CrossFit gear, the tagline, and a parting shot of a girl's ass. The idea, of course, is that if you do CrossFit, you'll go from being an average looking woman to a perfect 10. (The only version I can find of it online is here.)

How on Earth is this the kind of image CrossFit HQ deemed appropriate and true for the sport? Since when are women supposed to start doing CrossFit for the sole purpose of looking good?

I was infuriated at the Games, and the more I hear about others' opinions of the commercial, the more angry it makes me and the more disappointed I feel. One of the things that drew me to CrossFit in the first place was a statement from my coach at CrossFit Love about how aesthetics don't matter in the slightest. We'd talked about a figure competition I did a few years ago, (not the best decision, and I'll never do it again), and I told him I couldn't deal with how despite the fact that I was getting stronger, it was how that strength looked that mattered the most. It's not healthy, and it's not productive. It's not a way to live.

It's also not reflective of the women who do and should take part in the sport, nor is it reflective of any CrossFit box I've ever been to. Where I WOD, no one cares how you look, they just care about how hard you push and what you can do. That's how it should be. How does a commercial emphasizing the importance of visible abs in CrossFit make the sport accessible to everyone? Isn't Crossfit about optimizing competence in cardiovascular and respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy? Where does "optimizing the appearance of your ass in booty shorts" fit in?

The title of the video is incredibly misleading. It's not about how fit the crowd is, it's about how many ladies
with six packs and nice derrieres were walking around. Since when is this what the sport is about? Not cool, HQ, not cool.

I'd guess most of us, including ladies like Iceland Annie, don't do CrossFit to look good in booty shorts. We do it because we love what it feels like to throw heavy weights over our heads, and what it feels like to be around people who applaud you for pushing out of your first muscle up, not what your abs look like. This post on Trap Door Athletics sums it up perfectly - my work ethic went from a 7 to a 10, my body image went from a 5 to an 8, maybe a 9, and the sport has transformed how I look at the value of strength.

It's about values, and between that Reebok commercial and this gem from the Games site (pictured right), I'm beginning to think all the growth CrossFit has experienced lately is beginning to dilute the values that drew me to the sport in the first place. I get that sex sells, I just hoped that desperate attempt at attracting fans by objectifying women wouldn't apply to such a purely fitness-related pursuit.

It's so incredibly disappointing. As I watched the fittest women on the planet compete, I couldn't help but wonder how they felt about HQ's recent moves to promote aesthetics over fitness. It's as if in the matter of the 25 seconds it took this commercial to run, the sport took a gargantuan leap backwards. It took me so long to stop looking at my body in the mirror with a critical eye and start looking at it with admiration because of what it can do. I don't come home from the box talking about how great my abs look; I come home talking about my new deadlift PR, how fast I can get 100 pushups done, and how proud I am of the men and women I worked out with. And I want to keep it that way because that's healthy.

I really, really hope the recent emphasis on how women's bodies look doing CrossFit doesn't continue, and doesn't dissuade women who don't fit that mold from trying it. That would be a tragedy. (And seriously, HQ, if you're going to put a "fittest crowd on earth" video up, show some of the masters athletes and spectators. They ROCKED.)