OxFit Grant Park — Local services in Atlanta

I can’t recommend this place enough if you are looking for a CrossFit gym! I joined after being what I can only describe myself as a “Planet Fitness Nightcrawler” for six months and prior to that someone who received a decent foundation from a year under a personal trainer and an occasional SoulCycle spin class. Yes, I was intimidated for a period of time from seeing CrossFit exhaustion horror story videos, but over time I really missed my personal trainer’s organized program and I was slowly getting unmotivated lifting on my own. I was also in need of a membership that was cost effective and I’m not currently making the amount of wealth for what a personal trainer cost in Atlanta or in general.

OXFIT SOLVED ALL THESE ISSUES OUT AND THEN GAVE ME MORE! I messaged the gym and Savannah, Lauren, and Carlos all responded back to me. There were three trainers willing to clear a solid portion of the day to assess my concerns and interest, show me the location without interrupting or imposing on a class, generate a great conversation about fitness goals, and show me financial membership transparency. Carlos was inviting and we planned to drop into a complimentary class before committing to a membership. He knew a trainer who lived near me teaching a class, Nikki, and she assured me and broke down how to get into a CrossFit class safely and how Oxfit can set a course for shreds, gains, or recomp goals. Coaches that teach other classes were taking a class along with me, and there was a really cool culture of getting to know people without this comparison. It was a great exercise of just being in the moment. The timing wasn’t right for signing up for membership, and Carlos offered a free drop in week to relieve any financial pressure. This gym is very helpful and I loved that they work with you.

The next couple of days I got rushed by all of the coaches and Ant Oxley’s family (including the dog). They all wanted me to check out their class, they all are positive and hilarious badasses, and there was just a surge of cool, earnest new friends. I honestly can’t tell who’s my favorite, because I’ve taken almost all of their classes and it’s true AFTER YOU TAKE ANY OF THEIR CLASSES IT’S YOUR FAVORITE. It’s really cool that there’s attention to improve your form and exercise correctly, patience for you to lock it in and push yourself, fellow members are really motivating even when it gets exhausting, and everyone is humbled and amazed that accomplishing something physically demanding CAN BE DONE. I also find the gym’s YouTube resource very helpful because Coach Savannah gives you a great forecast of the week and displays movements to keep in mind. I still considered myself inexperienced so it’s cool there’s someone assigned to help me study better form and apply it when it comes up in the next class. This place works really hard to help me “keep a big picture” on my fitness journey. There’s amazing, EFEECTIVE yoga recovery sessions too and theme workout nights and dinner meet-ups and ridiculous weekend socials if you want to get weird or goofy. Also S/O Caitlin and Savannah and Lauren for Paleo-Bowl!

Now, three months are about done and I’ve been involved in a Lift-Off where I have been amazed what my fellow new friends, coaches, and what I could lift. I posted amazing PR’s at every EVERY strength and endurance retest, AND IT HASNT BEEN EVEN 90 DAYS! I haven’t even fully tapped what this gym fully has to offer from their Ox-Fit athlete training but I’m embraced as an equal and raw potential. I’m really excited to see what can be accomplished by staying consistent and teachable. Oxfit Grant Park or EAV has made CrossFit an ambitious part of my life but they successfully remove all the fear I thought came with it. They really help you exist with a challenge, help you get out of any failure, and coaches get SO HYPED when you achieve.

Even if you invest the base amount of membership in this gym there’s a massive, energetic, hardworking, positive interest in you. Try it out if you...

Bitter disappointment is what my experience with this organization has left me with.

From a young age, I've often been put in the role of outcast, viciously teased by peers in elementary school and left with deep anxiety about reaching out to others and trying to make connections. While not particularly athletic before college, at college I joined the rowing team and pursued an interest in other athletics including martial arts.

At 18 I had my first seizure and was diagnosed with epilepsy. Others followed and they left me with shortcomings in my memory. Drugs to treat epilepsy often have profound psychological side-effects leaving me unmotivated, with a flat affect, and prone to moods. They also sometimes leave one with physical effects and after leaving college I gained a great deal of weight.

In 2009, I re-discovered a passion for fitness via crossfit and pursued it with zeal. I acquired several certifications in Crossfit as an instructor and pursued training in coaching in other areas of weightlifting. As time passed, i moved gyms a couple of times but continued to pursue high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and added a passion for competitive powerlifting. About a year ago, several blood clots in my right leg left me hospitalized and unable to work-out.

Once the pain subsided enough for me to workout, I tried to regain some lost fitness. I rowed at home, but was recently delighted to discover Grant Street Crossfit so close to my house. I was eager to workout here, even though I struggled still with my pain in my leg.

After completing some preliminary one-on-one workshops, I attended my first group class today. I was optimistic about regaining the level of fitness I onced enjoy when doing HIIT. The class was a struggle, as pain in my leg that had become infrequent flared up. But I stayed the course and was happy with my performance.

That wasn't enough for the owners at Grant Street. After my class was done, Ant pulled me aside and informed me I was insufficiently friendly to be part of his community. My awkwardness, my lack of affect, the anxiety I have around others who already know each other well: Ant Oxley and his wife Lauren didn't want it in their gym. He let me know he didn't want me there and made it clear my time was over.

Maybe you'll be one of the lucky ones that get to be part of the clique that is being built at Crossfit Grant Street. The Ubermensch as it were... but if you are like me, part of the 'bungled and the botched' there is probably no place for you here. There is only disdain for those who don't fit in.

You'll find reasonably informed but not particularly exceptional coaching in HIIT if you do venture here. For me the primary motivator was proximity, as I know that Atlanta has many phenomenal coaches in HIIT. Those coaches are distant and Grant Street was close. Equipment is adequate but sparse for a gym that has been around for a year. However, that won't matter if you don't fit in right from the start. The philosophy here is to build a wall around the gym and try to keep the "bad" people out rather than taking on the challenge of building a community that is accepting and...

Two and a half years ago, I was training for half marathons, didn’t know the first thing about “lifting”, and had no aspirations whatsoever of being a CrossFit athlete. I did, though, want to change up what had become my routine, so I decided to give OxFit a try — I remember a conversation with one of the owners that I didn’t want to become one of those “scary women” who lift heavy. I was afraid of a lot of things and didn’t think I would be able to complete the more challenging workouts.

What I found at OxFit was an encouraging, no-b.s. group of coaches who met me where I was in my fitness (good & bad) and taught me how to safely improve in all areas. When I had difficulty, they encouraged me to approach things slowly, not worrying about how much weight was on the bar & making sure I was doing things the right way. They focus on you giving your best, whatever that is!

I wasn’t looking for a gym to be more than a room with weights in it — I couldn’t have imagined how much the community of coaches and athletes at OxFit would challenge and change me! I still don’t see myself as a heavy lifter, but I am so proud of the things that I can do (like pull ups! back squatting my body weight!) that my yoga-loving, distance-running self never thought would...