Every time you walk through our door you will be guided by one of our coaches, who will lead you through our WOD “Workout of the Day”. Unlike most gyms we provide direction, supervision and motivation enabling you to work safely at your full potential – all you need to do is show up. If you can do this we will GUARANTEE RESULTS.

We are a “minimalist program” and this is reflected by the functionality and limited number of our exercises and the simplicity of the equipment we use compared to most commercial gyms.

An Olympic weight set and a place to do pull-ups and dips is essential to doing CrossFit. Gymnastics rings and parallettes, plyometrics boxes, a Dynamax medicine ball, dumbbells, kettlebells, climbing rope, and rowers fill our gym.

The CrossFit exercises can be done anywhere. There are CrossFit affiliates worldwide. The concept was created in the 1970s by Greg Glassman of California, a former gymnast. He used what he knew from gymnastics and what he observed from bodybuilding to devise a program anyone can follow to reap benefits.

There is not a weekly or monthly routine. The constant variations challenge your body and keep you from getting accustomed to or mastering a specific workout. You’ll never get bored.

It is ok to keep your goals to yourself, but communicating them to other people can be a positive force in helping you to stick to your plans.

Whether you tell all your friends, start a blog or post your goals on facebook, it doesn’t matter.

Once this becomes public knowledge within your circle, you will have people regularly following your progress.

Our staff along with our members care about your progress. We are all on the same journey to being healthy, fast, & strong.

“Zeke, yesterday when I had finished deadlifting 315 lbs. 3×3 you commented that a few months ago, that was my max.  I just wanted to add, a few months before that, back in June, my blood pressure was around 150/90.  Today my BP averages 127/77 and my resting pulse 62.  Who says you need drugs……a monthly membership to Crossfit is a heck of a lot cheaper than a regimen of blood pressure medicine, not to mention everything else an exercise program helps………..DTrain….aka…..Randy…..aka… Dwight Cowart, PharmD”

“Zeke, this was a great work out.  I improved my box jump by 10 inches from when I first started last summer.  Thanks to you, Hunter, Sam, and Lidia, for everything all of you do.”

“Zeke, I got an early Christmas gift, my sore left arm no longer hurts.  I have not taken any Advil for 5 days.  Thanks for modifying some of the exercises part of the time for me.  It only goes to show, no matter what your injury, what you should not do is stop going to Crossfit Coastal. 

“All a person needs to do, is to notify your instructors, listen to your body, and let the healing process run its course.  Also, I prayed a lot, too, I don’t want to leave the big guy out.  Thanks again.”
~Dwight

“What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters as to what lies within us.  Today my gluts, my thighs, my groin, my calf’s, were hurting because I gave it everything I had in the workout and wind sprints yesterday.  A little voice inside me said, lay out today you deserve it, then something my dad always said came to mind, some where some one is practicing while you aren’t.  I really wish I could forget that stuff he told me 40 years ago”……………Dwight

“When Pilsbury found out I had signed on with Crossfit Coastal, they fired me, put out a contract on Zeke, and signed on another doughboy. Now, I have to support my family solely in the health care field.  Thank goodness everything was finally resolved peacefully.  This June 15th, I will have been at Crossfit for one year.

June 15, 2008                           Now
Belt size 42                                  36
Blood pressure 150/100                  128/78
Box jump 20 in.                             30 in.
Dead Lift 275 lb.                            350 lb.
Shoulder press 125 lb.                    165 lb.
Age 52                                         53
Thanks Zeke, you guys do deliver on your promises.”

“Crossfit is a direct reflection of how we live our life.  If we quit or “cheat” at crossfit, we will quit and cheat in life.  If we push ourselves to the brink and don’t finish within the alloted time or lift or squat some particular weight, then as someone said long ago, some goals are so worthy, there is nobility even in failure.”

“Yesterday, I had a headache, felt like I was going to throw up, was sleepy, was tired, over worked, hectic day, everyone was bitchy or dropped the ball and felt I was obligated to cover for them, my muscles ached, my left forearm hurt from lifting my mom’s concrete bird feeder 20 feet to a “better place” in her back yard. ”

“I thought, I think I’ll go home and watch MASH and eat a bag of Dorito’s.  Instead, I went to Crossfit, worked out, felt better, and increased a PR to 190 lbs. on the Jerk (I think I could have done more, only I wanted to be sure to beat Zeke).”

“Trying to stay in shape in the world today takes everything you’ve got.  Taking a break from all your worries and working out at Crossfit Coastal sure does help a lot.  Wouldn’t you like to get away? (and do 50 burpees as a warm up)”

“Everybody knows your name and they’re always glad you came (especially Zeke, Sam, Lidia, Hunter, and that old dude that puts stuff together and washes cars).  You wanna be where you can see – we all sweat the same. ”

“You wanna go where people know, the workouts for everyone are the same, you wanna go to Crossfit Coastal where everybody knows your name.”

“I will be at Crossfit, unless I can’t tie my black work out shoes.”

Click here to read more compelling success stories.

CrossFit helped me feel a lot healthier and helped me feel good about myself. I love being able to show up, do my best, and give it all I’ve got. I really enjoy how challenging the workouts are and how accomplished I feel when it’s all over.

CrossFit Coastal is an amazing place to work out. They have great instructors who are always ready to work one on one with you on a very personal level. It is worth every bit of time and money. Anyone who has the goal of being really fit should just try out one workout – you’ll understand.

~Morgan Long

View more success stories here.

I want to share with you just a couple of the many, many ways joining CrossFit Coastal has helped me in my everyday life.  These are in addition to the obvious ways of feeling stronger, eating better, and looking better.

First, I work from home and am alone at home in my office in front of my computer all the live-long day.  I especially face long stretches of time alone while my husband is deployed, which he is now.  So that I don’t feel like a total hermit, I like to get out of the house during lunchtime and run errands or go to lunch with a friend or work out.  I have done the “normal” gym thing before but I am not really a gym person.  I have found that CrossFit Coastal is the perfect interlude during my work day because I get a wonderful physical workout and mental break, and the camaraderie I experience with my fellow CrossFitters is unparalleled.  It is so rewarding and dare I say fun, in that sick and twisted CrossFit sort of way, of course.  ; )

Second, to get myself all the way through many of the tough CrossFit workouts, I play little mental games with myself to break down the high numbers of reps or rounds.  Recently I have noticed that this is also helping me break down the long deployment into more manageable chunks of time and this, my hubby’s fourth deployment, seems to be moving more quickly than any of his preceding ones.  CrossFit has also helped me keep my mood higher and my outlook brighter; I feel less likely to fall into those dreaded deployment funks that seemed to permeate the three previous deployments.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for having such positive influences on my life!

All the best,

Elizabeth

Profession: Plastic Surgeon

Occupation: Real Estate Agent

Brooke says, “Wow, that was the hardest workout I’ve ever done. I pushed harder during that one then when I had my twin boys.” (In reference to the workout Tabata This!)

About: Brooke, like many of our other ladies, found out about us through our Women’s Only Bootcamp Program, where we introduce CrossFit exercises to local Wilmington professional women in a fun, upscale environment.

Brooke’s upbeat attitude meshes well with the atmosphere at CrossFit Coastal and we love having her here! It’s awesome to see our ladies progressing so fast!

Visit her website at www.BrookeRichardson.com

From Brooke:
Wow….what a year it has been.  I cannot believe that on August 1, I will have been doing crossfit with you all for a full year.  I remember walking in the door to take my first foundations class with Zeke on July 1.  I found the gym on the internet and I really had no idea what I was in for.  When I joined I was feeling tired, lazy, pudgy, and just down right drab.

Well, it is one of the best things I have ever discovered.  After doing crossfit for about 6 months, I talked my husband into coming along for one of the intro sessions. He joined me on a cold rainy day where we meet Sam at Hugh McRae Park and he kicked him into gear.  Pam and Bridgite were there.  On that cold, wet and rainy day he had us down on our hands and knees doing bear crawls and sledgehammer swings through the park.   Jeff was immediately hooked.  Who isn’t?  It can be addictive.

Jeff and I are both self employed and work from home and with the troubling economy business was down and we were feeling the stress.  With not much control over the crumbling economy we decided to take control over what we COULD change and that was our physical fitness and health.  I notice a huge difference in Jeff since starting crossfit in January.  He has not only dropped a couple pant sizes but it has brought us so much closer as it is a fun thing that we can do together and helps control the stress in our lives.  We always feel so good, strong and energized after a WOD.

Since joining your program I have made some great friends and I am honored to be a part of your team.  The crossfit staff has an amazing work ethic and is always challenging us with new workouts, different locations, celebrations where we can show off our achievements and they always feed us well.

I feel proud of my achievements.  I remember my first box jump in august of last year.  I was terrified to jump up on the on the small box.  I remember I literally had to hold Zeke’s hand for the first few. Now I am on the 20inch box and can place several black weights on top with no problem.

I remember watching Heidi, Jen, Thera, Sam, and all the other amazing ladies crank out those kipping pull-ups.  Damn, I thought, “the’re hardcore.”  In June of this year after working with the different colored bands I decided to give a pullup a try and I cranked out 3 in a row. I feel confident that by fall I will be able to do a solid 5-10 in a row.

Some of my other achievements have included
2k Row time down from 8:53 to 8:34
Dead lift when up from 135lbs to 156 lbs

Lidia taught me the technique to do my first rope climb in June and I was able to make it to the top on my first try. She also always helps to keep me motivated to stretch at the end of the workout.
I can now overhead squat 65 lbs and push jerk 95 lbs.
I have been enjoying 5 k local races and have knocked my time down by several minutes.
I brought by 1.5 mile run down to 12:20 from 15:55

When I started I was creeping in to a size 10 and now I am back to a 6 and feeling so much better. The diet changes you suggested have really made the biggest difference.  I used to drink 2-3 diet sodas a day. I have switched to seltzer water and haven’t missed it a bit.

Another thing that has made a huge difference is replacing of my morning smoothie with 2 hard boiled eggs and some almonds. It is not the most pleasant breakfast but it keeps me fueled for the morning.  Zeke told me to think of food as fuel, not enjoyment and ot works.J I used to be starving when I left the gym after my 9:15 workout and now I don’t even think about food until after noon because of the extra protein and nuts.

Tell Thera she is right.  First thing I do in the morning is check the website to see the WOD and to see my fellow crossfitter friends amazing photos and achievements from the day before.  I also buy Fish Oil and nuts at Costco and boil eggs by the dozen.  The amazing tips and training you have provided me with have helped me to loose over 10 lbs and get back into my pre Twin clothes.  Finally!!!  They are almost 3.  It was about time I found something to do the trick. J

Hardest workout-2008-2009 a year in review.  On Jan 1, 2009
It was supposed to be 9 rounds but at 30 minutes you cut us off.  I think we all looked like we were going to die!
9 pushups
9 pull ups
9 airsquats
9kb swings
9-45 lb push press
9hp snatch
9 ring jumps/dips
9 k to e
I got 5.4 rounds in 30 minutes.  It was a killer.

I love that I never know what to expect when I come in the door.  I do know that I can always expect to see everyone work hard, encourage me, and that is will kick my ass.
I enjoy waking up and the first thing I do is read your daily website blog.  I love to read the articles and accomplishments about my friends.  I am also honored to be able to workout with the men and women that serve our county and their beautiful wives and girlfriends.  They all inspire me every time I walk in the door.

I want to thank you all for everything you do.  You have made an impact on my and Jeff’s life that I will never forget.

Liz says… “My 1 year anniversary of CF is weeks away. It hasnt always been pretty, which I can assure you the members working out beside me can testify to, a great deal of sweat, along with a little bit of blood and tears!  Practicing and believing in yourself that you CAN and WILL conquere your weakness’s is something I’ve struggled with.

It took me 1 full year of hanging on that bar, countless hours on the bands, then finally I was able to complete my first benchmark workout RX’d with pull ups last week. I climb ropes now, swing 1.5 pood KB’s, broke 205 DL, 50 DU’s, and with a little fear jump the 24′ box (most of the time!). Point blank, I love Crossfit, not only because of the level of fitness it gives us all and the community that supports us, but having goals, working towards them, and then accomplishing them is something no one can take from us. I’m doing it and so are you. ”

by Liz Gentile, CrossFit Coastal member a.k.a breakfast club firebreather.