The 2011 Crossfit Games are coming up next weekend, July 29 - 30, and as soon as that live stream is up and running, I’ll be watching. You should watch too. Why? I’ll give you 5 reasons:

Reason 1: find out what Crossfit is all about

Not all weight lifting is for body building. Not all running is for marathons. And not all “gym time” should be spent on jogging, bicep curls and situps. Crossfit is about fitness - general, all encompassing, life-long fitness. Take some time and learn why people do Crossfit, the workouts, and the training philosophy.

Reason 2: the element of surprise

Crossfit is about training for the unknown: the athletes must develop all aspects of fitness and be ready for anything. In fact, the actual workouts in the Crossfit Games are kept a complete secret. For example, in 2010, the first few workouts were announced only a couple days before the event; the final workouts were only announced a few *seconds *before the athletes had to start doing them. All sorts of surprises are possible, from workouts with sledgehammers, to handling sandbags and wheelbarrows, to burpee wall jumps.

Reason 3: root for the underdog

Open workouts

Thousands of athletes from all over the world participated in the Open Competition to qualify for the Games. Even I tried to qualify back in 2010. It doesn’t matter if you work out in a tiny garage gym in the middle of nowhere: if you posted a video with a solid time, you could qualify. Crossfit is not a sport of millionaire athletes, at least not yet; you have real underdogs—people that seem to come out of nowhere—to root for.

Reason 4: community

Community

The Games is one of the rare competitions where competitors will cheer each other on. You will not hear trash talk. You will not hear fans booing. The athletes are not there for the money. Most of spectators are Crossfitters themselves: they know how the competitors train, what they are going through, and why they do it. The lack of fierce rivalries and fan bickering is surprisingly refreshing, allowing you to cheer for everyone and truly appreciate the incredible feats of fitness.

Reason 5: motivation

There is no shortage of inspiring and amazing Crossfit videos: 100lb Kallista doing 30 C&J @ 135lbs, Josh Everett does King Kong, Nicole does 15 bodyweight overhead squats, Turkish Get Up with Wife, and more. Watch them. Watch the games. Let them inspire you. Who knows, maybe you’ll get up off the couch and start training.

What a disgrace it would be for a man to grow old without ever seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.

Socrates