Backstage at the 2011 CrossFit Games, Coach Greg Glassman spoke with Fast Company about the origins of his approach to training and how it developed over time. As a teenage competitive gymnast, Greg discovered that incorporating barbells and dumbbells into his workouts made him stronger than other athletes in his sport. This experience shaped his belief in building broad, general physical capacity rather than specializing in a single discipline. Instead of striving to master just one activity, he embraced the idea of being “pretty damn good at everything,” arguing that well-rounded fitness prepares people better for the wide variety of physical challenges they might face.

Coach also described how his coaching practice evolved from one-on-one sessions into group training. While working as a trainer in Santa Cruz, he began pairing clients together to fit more people into his schedule while lowering the cost for participants. He soon found that small groups created better energy, interaction, and accountability, improving both motivation and performance. As the classes grew, the social atmosphere made workouts more engaging, and many of his most dedicated clients eventually became trainers themselves, helping expand the training community and the model he had developed.