Why Raincity Athletics is no longer a CrossFit® Affiliate

As you may have noticed over the past few months the name of some of our programs / classes has been changing. This is not something we've been trying to hide or do discreetly, but also didn't want to make the official announcement until we'd sorted out the new class / program names etc:

The CrossFit Pacific Central decal came off our wall over a year ago, and the front entrance sign is in the process of being replaced.

Raincity Athletics is no longer crossfit pacific central.

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WHY not? 

Many don't know this, but CrossFit® is not a workout, or a sport, or governing body, or even a franchise; it's a company, aka a brand. A brand that gyms pay $500-$3,000 USD to be able to use the name of, and that’s it:

From CrossFit.com’s ‘About Affiliation’
WHAT IS INCLUDED IN BEING A CROSSFIT AFFILIATE?

• Legal use of the CrossFit name, logo, and promotional materials
• Legal use of the CrossFit Kids name
• Promotion from CrossFit.com
• Support from CrossFit, Inc. on specific and general issues. CrossFit vigorously protects its brand and those licensed to use the CrossFit name.

read more: www.crossfit.com/affiliate

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this year we put 4 coaches through the crossfit level 2 certificate course.

Coaches Katie, Rebecca, and Scotty all completed (and passed) their CrossFit Level 2 Certificate course as well as Simon who re-upped his certificate.

Why would do you care about your coaches being completing CrossFit courses if you are no longer an Affiliate?

We will still proudly pay & support CrossFit® for any courses, certificates, or training that we see value in for our members and community; but use of the CrossFit® name is no longer on that list.

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WHAT DOES THIS CHANGE? 

For our members & community?
Essentially nothing.

We opened Raincity Athletics as just that (and not CrossFit® Pacific Central) because we knew a day would come that we may want to take our brand in another direction. We never set out with the goal of being ‘the best CrossFit gym,’ or to make our members better at ‘CrossFit®’ (though we’re pretty good at that having sent multiple athletes to Regionals as well as masters to the CrossFit® Games) - it’s to hold people accountable to achieving a higher level of fitness, which may include performance at CrossFit® events.

Our un-affiliation means the renaming of our higher skill based ‘Functional’ Strength & Conditioning Program - which is now simply titled '[FF] Functional Fitness’ to work alongside our lower skill based [SC] Strength & Conditioning Program.

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OUR PROGRAMS

We’ve always offered much more than just ‘CrossFit’ classes. New name, same incredible community, classes, and workouts. Book your free [SC] class now!

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What about the programming / WODs?

As we mentioned above, CrossFit® had no part in our group class programming. Contrary to popular belief, our method to program is NOT what is recommended by CrossFit®.

As a matter of fact, almost no CrossFit Affiliate in Vancouver follows the CrossFit prescription for programming. As our coaches were reminded during our CrossFit Level 2 Certificate Course, a ‘heavy day’ program would be: Back Squat 5 x 5…. that’s it. They teach that if you need more than that in your workout, you’re not hitting those squats with enough intensity… The typical model of strength work & a ‘sweat’ is NOT endorsed or promoted by CrossFit, but as we have said, there are many parts we do embrace.

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The things we embrace

As we mentioned above, there are many parts of the CrossFit ideology that we embrace and support; but these are universally accepted things that have nothing to do with the direct affiliation with the brand.

Functional Movements

We define functional movements not only as full body compound movements you already do everyday (like a deadlift, squat, clean & press, etc) but we also embrace the accessory work that compliments these movements. As Marcus Filly likes to put it: ‘Functional Bodybuilding’. By properly applying functional accessory work we can help you achieve more personal records (PRs) with less fatigue of your nervous system, because contrary to popular belief: more does not = better.

Read more about why ‘Functional Fitness’ on our [FF] program page.

“The best program is not the one with the most stuff, but actually the one with the least stuff, the provides the most results. ”

— Smart Coaches

Measurable RESULTS

Similar to CrossFit - our goal is to increase your ‘work capacity’. This is your ability to do anything, and everything you want or need to do in your daily life. The only way to guarantee improvement is to track your results. This is why we utilize a software that allows us to track your daily score so that we can repeat benchmark workouts (aka #RaincityBenchmark) so that we can guarantee you are progressing in strength, skill, and capacity. The idea of tracking results is neither new nor revolutionary - any Weightlifting, Strength and Conditioning, or Endurance coach will tell you this. As a matter of fact, our 10 week program cycles allow us to track your results even more accurately than a typical affiliate’s prescription.

COMMUNITY BASED

We always say, Raincity Athletics is less of a gym, and more of a space & community you want to spend time with - that’s also going to hold your accountable to achieving your fitness goals.

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So now what?

That’s about it!

Nothing is going to change other than the names of our programs, and the fact that we can no longer validate your CrossFit Open scores without a video - but as our athletes know; we have encouraged our athletes to do the #RaincityOpen every year rather than registering for, and being forced to do, the (not so well thought out) scaled variations of the CrossFit Open workouts anyways.

What are we then?

Raincity Athletics is a registered Weightlifting Club and is in the process of becoming a registered Powerlifting Club, and Kettlebell Club, as well as lined up to be the first Functional Fitness Club in British Columbia.

We are a community of people that share a common interest in improving their health and fitness…

…. and dogs & ice cream.

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If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or thoughts about Raincity Athletics and it’s un-affiliation; don’t hesitate to reach out to us via the CONTACT US button below.

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CrossFit® is a registered trademark of CrossFit, Inc. Raincity Athletics’s uses of the CrossFit® mark are not endorsed by nor approved by CrossFit, Inc., and Raincity Athletics is in no way affiliated with nor endorsed by CrossFit, Inc.