Learning to Breathe Fire: The Rise of Crossfit and the Primal Future of Fitness

I started CrossFit one year ago after losing a bet to a work colleague-my punishment was to attend a free beginners class at his "Box" (CrossFit gym) where he had been training for a couple of years, and he constantly raved about it.I was overweight, wasn't doing any exercise at all, and my diet was horrendous (I logged a Chicago Town Pizza for breakfast on the My Fitness Pal app, to give you a flavour of my diet at the time!) Fast-forward to January 2019, I've lost two stone in weight, exercise regularly, and I've overhauled my diet. CrossFit has completely transformed my life so as you'll appreciate, this review is very biased.It was the same work colleague who recommended this book to me, and it's the best book recommendation I have ever received.Putting CrossFit to one side for the moment, I've read hundreds of books over the years (I have four bookcases in my bedroom and regularly donate books to charity shops to make space for new ones), and this is one of the most well-written books I've ever read, and certainly won't be getting donated-it's a keeper!The author does CrossFit herself which is the "difference that makes the difference" to coin an NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) term-her passion for CrossFit oozes from the pages and I love the way she describes things-I was constantly highlighting turns of phrase and descriptions she used. To give an example:"The CrossFit rationale is that, ultimately, this is what matters in real life: the sudden dash to keep a child from running into the street, the ability to help a friend move heavy furniture into a walk-up apartment, or the lung power and stamina to enjoy a hiking vacation.....every CrossFitter secretly believes that the people in their box will be the ones to survive the zombie apocalypse."The book covers everything you could possibly want to know about CrossFit, which is a combination of weightlifting, gymnastics and metabolic conditioning (cardio). Bruce Lee revolutionised martial arts by combining the best elements of different martial arts to create his own (Jeet Kune Do), and that's exactly what Greg Glassman (CrossFit founder) did in the world of fitness.I ran a couple of full marathons and half-marathons in 2010 but nothing has ever shifted body fat from me, like CrossFit has-my body is getting back to the shape it was in when I was 16-years-old. On average I did 2-3 CrossFit classes per week in 2018 (each class is one hour long) and made some positive changes to my diet, but still ate a lot of junk food, and I lost two stone. This year I'm increasing it to 5 classes per week and I'm working with a nutritionist at the moment to completely change my diet for the better.If you're already doing CrossFit, you'll be familiar with lots of things in this book, but I guarantee you will learn something new, because it covers everything: the history of gyms, the origins of CrossFit, the CrossFit games, tales from Crossfit athletes and so much more. I loved every minute of reading it and will keep coming back to the highlighted sections for reference. I've already purchased the book for someone as a Christmas present and will be buying it for my friend's birthday.'Ultramarathon man' by Dean Karnazes was previously the most inspirational fitness-related book I've ever read (it inspired me to run my first 26.2 mile marathon), but 'Learning to Breathe Fire' (LTBF) has blown it out of the water. (Incidentally Dean Karnazes states in the inside cover that LTBF is a must-read book).CrossFit is the most effective training programme I've ever come across-it's not just the physical benefits but the psychological and social benefits too. It's a real community, and for a Lone Wolf like me to still be turning up to classes one year later, is testament to its power.The five steps of well-being are learning something new, connecting with others, being active, taking notice, and giving, and CrossFit ticks every single one of those boxes. It prepares you for "The unknown and unknowable" as every class is constantly varied and you never know what you're going to face-just like life. In these dark times where statistics for obesity, heart disease, diabetes and mental health problems are on the rise, we all need to learn how to breathe fire. If this book doesn't inspire you, nothing will.

As someone who has started Crossfit in the last year, I found this a fascinating history of the sport. Gave me a lot of useful background and was a good, entertaining read. However, it is probably overly positive and biased. As a simple example, if you read online, Glassman's wife had a role in founding Crossfit and a significant share of the business. But she is air-brushed out of the book (presumably as the divorce was supposedly unpleasant). As long as you bear this in mind, I would recommend this book.

An excellent read if you are into CrossFit. Really digs deep into the beginnings and ethos, quite inspiring.

Fantastic book...l recommend it to anyone interested in keeping healthy.

If you like crossfit, read this book! It's un-put-downable, really. When it turned up, it looked like some weighty historical novel and the intro, something about a pack of gazelles, nearly made me give it away. So pleased I didn't. It's a great read, good pace and fascinating.

Absolutely brilliant book, it covers everything you could want to know about crossfit and it's origins. As a newbie to crossfit, this satisfied my thirst for knowledge about the sport.

Such a good read for starting your Crossfit journey, it'll help you get it and understand the madness and succeed. It's the type of book you can read multiple times as well.

Incredible book and kept me engrossed throughout. Worth a read if your an avid fitness enthusiast.