The sport and fitness regimen of CrossFit is the fastest growing workout trend in the world. The first CrossFit box (box = gym) was opened in Santa Cruz, California in the year 2000. In 16 years, the CrossFit box affiliation has exploded to somewhere around 13,000. One of the fastest growing boxes in the CrossFit brand is located right here in Valdosta, GA.

CrossFit Winnersville, located on 3974 Inner Perimeter Road, is an anomaly in the CrossFit community due to its unusually fast pace of growth. To better understand the growth and the reasons behind it, I sat down with the owner/operator Kelly Barcol to get a peek behind the scenes at CF Winnersville.

CrossFit is defined as “constantly varied, functional movements operated at high intensity.” Basically, what that means is that your workouts will be more functional and practical than your typical Globo-Gym workout. Rather than your typical 3 sets of bench followed by 3 sets of curls, you may find yourself doing 3 sets of rope climbs followed by a mile run. At CrossFit Winnersville this is all done to optimize physical performance across the 10 recognized fitness domains (cardio, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance and accuracy). These 10 domains are constantly varied each day to provide the best results.

One thing that has been emphasized by the entire CrossFit community and something that Kelly reiterated to me was the “scalability” of workouts. Kelly often hears of people who are afraid of trying CrossFit because they have seen the CrossFit Games on television and think that is what they’ll be doing. That is just simply not the case, CrossFit Winnersville offers their clients a chance to scale the workload to a weight or a function that is suitable to their needs. Not only that but they also have 10 certified CrossFit trainers on staff to make sure that you are performing the workouts correctly which significantly reduces the risk of injury.

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Crossfit Winnersville not only provides a safe and challenging fitness regimen but they also provide a positive atmosphere. While you are working out you will often have coaches, spectators or other athletes cheering you on. This is what separates the CrossFit community from all others in the industry, the family like atmosphere. While training here, people will challenge you, encourage you and push you to be the best athlete you can be.

CrossFit Winnersville is also directly involved in the community as well. During the school year they provide the Josh Sullivan After School Program which allows students to train while also receiving tutoring, homework help and a mentor to help guide them. In addition, CF Winnersville also donates to the Pine’s Family Campus which is a rehab facility for mothers. This year, CF Winnersville donated 35 Thanksgiving meals and will be donating Christmas gifts to over 75 kids in the area.

As for Kelly, he loves what he does and after many years of traveling and ministry work, he has decided to make Valdosta his permanent home. He still travels from time to time on speaking tours but he says the love he has experienced here in Valdosta has made him decide this is where he’ll plant his roots. He also recently released a book titled “One Man One Time” about his journey to faith and he is hopeful that his book will be able to reach others that he could not.

With the challenging workouts, rewarding results and family atmosphere, it is easy to see how CrossFit Winnersville has expanded to nearly 300 members since its inception 3 years ago. Kelly hopes to soon have an approval from the City of Valdosta to break ground on the new Winnersville Community Center which will be located near J.L. Newbern Middle School. This facility will provide two workout rooms while also providing classrooms and auxiliary rooms for the students.

I wish CF Winnersville and Kelly the best of luck moving forward. I know that with their humble hearts and desire for greatness that they will serve the community of Valdosta very admirably for years to come.

HealthLife | January 2017

Crossfit Winnersville #MoreThanJustABox

Written by: Zach Pine

Photography by: Liliahna Rayne Photography