The Cult of Crossfit: Christianity and the American Exercise Phenomenon (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781479831814)

Reveals the Christian foundations of CrossFit

CrossFit in the United States has become increasingly popular, around which a fascinating culture has developed which shapes everyday life for the people devoted to it. CrossFit claims to be many things: a business, a brand, a tremendously difficult fitness regimen, a community, a way to gain salvation, and a method to survive the apocalypse. In The Cult of CrossFit, Katie Rose Hejtmanek examines how this exercise program is shaped by American Christian values and practices, connecting American religious ideologies to secular institutions in contemporary American culture.

Drawing upon years of immersing herself in CrossFit gyms in the United States and across six continents, this book illustrates how US CrossFit operates using distinctly American codes, ranging from its intensity and patriarchal militarism to its emphasis on (white) salvation and the adoration of the hero and vigilante. Despite presenting itself as a secular space, Hejtmanek argues that CrossFit is both heavily influenced by and deeply intertwined with American Christian values. She makes the case that the Christianity that shapes CrossFit is the Christianity that shapes much of America, usually in ways we do not even notice. Offering a new cross-cultural perspective for understanding a popular workout, The Cult of CrossFit provides a window into a particularly American rendition of a Christian plotline, lived out one workout at a time.

Author: Katie Rose Hejtmanek
ISBN-10: 1479831816
ISBN-13: 9781479831814
Publisher: New York University Press
Language: English
Published: 03/11/2025
Pages: 240
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 8.90h x 5.90w x 0.90d

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 01/27/2025