Dear CFR Family,
We here at CFR pride ourselves to be a family and community oriented gym. Our members love and give as hard as they WOD. It’s the dream we had when we opened our doors, to have a place that you come to kick back from a long day of work all while kicking ass in your WOD.
Maybe you all have heard about Groupon, we have run it before and it came to my attention that it was great but I was also told by one person that he wasn’t happy about it. That one person is no longer with us but left me wondering if it was a mistake. He obviously never understood the purpose of the deal. This is what we envisioned when we chose to run the Groupon:
A student, any person who is intimidated by CrossFit, the one who is on the fence about CrossFit, these are all people I had in mind, to give them a chance to try and decide for themselves if CrossFit is worth it. The one person’s concerns stuck with me and I thought maybe we shouldn’t run a Groupon again but I have been convinced otherwise and I hope you too will see how we all worked together to expand our community and how Groupon played a huge role.
Our members were very accommodating, understanding, patient and extremely generous.Thank you all for your support. Our Groupon visitors felt the support and love in our community. Those who couldn’t stay with us stopped by to tell us how friendly our people were. We couldn’t have done it without you. Each and every one of you contributed hugely in making our visitors feel at home and those visitors went on to stay with us and those who couldn’t still remembers us fondly.
-Joyce
Here are some voices of the former Grouponers. If you wish to tell us your story ( Grouponer or not) please feel free to email it us and I will post it on the site.
I was introduced to Crossfit Renaissance by a few of my basketball teammates. They had bought a Groupon for Crossfit classes at a really low price and wanted me to join them. I had some doubts about my ability to do it, since I heard Crossfit was really intense. After some thinking, I realized that I was always huffing and puffing during games I wanted to see how training really hard with Crossfit could help me in endurance and strength. Crossfit seems really intimidating, especially for females, but the trainers at Crossfit Renaissance work hard to accommodate all levels. They get to know everyone and provide individual support during the class with guidance on how to scale each workout and really just want to see you doing your personal best.
Now, 6 months later, I’m so much stronger than I have ever been in my entire life. I know that I can really push for an entire 35 minute game and still play in the next 3. I would recommend to everyone to give Crossfit Renaissance a try, especially with the great deal on Groupon. It’s definitely changed my life for the better. My outlook on physical fitness has changed so much- I am motivated to push myself to the limits, physically and mentally, each and every time I come to the gym. And who knew that pushing yourself to the limit could be so much fun? The workouts change daily, so it's always a new challenge and I can see it paying off every week. There is nothing like the feeling you get when you finish a workout you thought would not be possible, or lift more weight than you've ever lifted before. You just have to give it a try. It's a wonderful feeling.
Crystal
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I had only recently heard of CrossFit last summer, and after doing some research into other local CrossFit gyms I had decided that while I wanted to check out CrossFit at some point, it was too expensive for me at the moment. It seemed interesting, and I was bored with my current routine of going to the gym and lifting weights, but I couldn't see myself spending so much money for what I thought would be just another gym membership. Along came the Groupon for CFR, and I happily jumped at the chance, thinking that the 20 classes I bought would be a great way to sample CrossFit and whet my appetite until I could join a CrossFit gym for real later. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, and when my 20 classes were up, I knew that I had to keep CrossFitting and I've been at CFR ever since. I hate to use this phrase ,and I don't use it lightly, but getting into CrossFit has truly been a life-changing experience for me. I didn't know it at the time, but buying that Groupon meant that I was joining an incredibly diverse and supportive community of people that made "going to the gym" fun for me again. That Groupon was literally one of the best purchases that I have ever made, and I'm thankful to be here because of it.
danny
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Let me tell you about the Groupon that may very well have saved my life.
I've always loved food and relaxation and in my 25 short years on this Earth I had
managed to pack a lumpy 210 pounds onto my 5'7" frame. I was certainly not athletic and my girlfriend was worried about my health.
I had lost about 20-30lbs a few years ago but I had also succeeded in gaining it all back. I didn't really feel bad about how my body looked but I knew that inactivity would catch up to me eventually. My mother had recently survived a heart attack at 50 and I'd surely be at risk as well. Still, with all of this danger staring me in the face, I hesitated in coming to CrossFit Renaissance. I was worried I wouldn't be able to do it. Wasn't CrossFit incredibly difficult? I finally decided that being sore for a few days was not nearly as difficult as recovering from a heart-attack and I went to the Intro class.
It was tough. I didn't pace myself and I couldn't make it through the first workout. I felt disappointed but the coaches encouraged me and never let me give up on myself. The trainers always make you feel capable and confident that you are doing the workouts correctly. They are great athletes that somehow manage not to be intimidating in the slightest. Advice from the coaches never feels condescending because you know that they genuinely want to see you succeed.
From the Intro I learned my first life lesson at CrossFit Renaissance: Do your best. Find the right scale for yourself. This would not be the last lesson.
I learned that I'm capable of so much more than I ever imagined. I learned that eating real food is always better than processed and it's totally worth the prep time. I learned that soreness can can be experienced as a quiet, personal badge of honor. It's a sign you're becoming stronger!
Now, six months later, I'm a member. I'm also 30 pounds lighter and getting stronger every day. My girlfriend and I go few times a week and cheer each other on. I'm feeling like my body has become unshackled. Every time I try something that would have wiped me out before I find that it's a cake walk. I fell halfway through a mile run and still finished in 6:30. I got my name up on the leader board for a workout.
I am no longer someone on the path to heart attacks and diabetes. My girlfriend doesn't worry so much about my health anymore. I've taken control of my health. Thanks to the Groupon and CrossFit Renaissance the future is just a little less uncertain and that feels good.
Ed
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