CrossFit Is a Foundation, Not a Race

CrossFit Is a Foundation, Not a Race from CrossFit BC. Open sign-ups are down and HYROX is booming. Those charts measure events and licensing fees, not whether the training works. A Vancouver coach's take on…

Written by:: CrossFit BC Coaching Team
Section:: CrossFit
Reading time:: 9 min
Topics:: crossfit, hyrox, training philosophy, longevity, life athlete, vancouver
Published:: Saturday, August 8, 2026
Last updated:: Tuesday, September 8, 2026

This article is part of the CrossFit BC journal, written by the coaching staff who run our classes in Olympic Village, Vancouver. We publish what we teach on the floor: training decisions, recovery, nutrition, and the honest tradeoffs behind them.

Common questions

Is CrossFit actually dying?

The brand is contracting and the training method is not. Open entries fell sharply in 2025 and then rose again in 2026, and the affiliate count dropped after a licensing fee increase. Both of those track business decisions. Constantly varied functional training under a coach is more mainstream now than it has ever been.

Should I do CrossFit or HYROX?

For most people the honest answer is both, in that order. CrossFit builds the broad base: strength, gymnastics, aerobic capacity, positions. HYROX gives that base a date and a number to chase. We coach CrossFit seven days a week and run 15+ weekly HYROX classes for exactly this reason.

Do I need a CrossFit background to race HYROX?

No, and that is a large part of why the sport grew so fast. There are no muscle-ups or snatches in a race. You still need a base of strength, aerobic capacity and single-leg control if you want to finish well and come back uninjured, which is the part a general training practice provides.

What does treating CrossFit as a foundation actually look like week to week?

Three to five general sessions a week, most of the year, with a race or competition block layered on top when you have a goal. The general work never fully stops. It just makes room during a build phase and then comes back at a higher level afterwards.

How long does it take to build a real base?

Plan in years, not weeks. Meaningful strength and aerobic changes show up in three to six months. Connective tissue, movement quality and the kind of durability that keeps you racing into your fifties and sixties accumulate over seasons. That is the whole argument for treating it as a practice.

Where do I start at CrossFit BC?

Foundations. It is where we teach the 11 movements that everything else is built from, so that when you join classes you are loading positions you actually own. From there you can point the base at whatever goal you like, including a race.