Dear Hardwired Family,

As you may or may not have heard, CrossFit HQ has been under intense scrutiny this past weekend after a scathing email from Greg Glassman to an affiliate in Seattle as well as insensitive remarks made on Twitter. First and foremost, these attitudes do NOT in any way reflect our values as people or as a business. We are appalled and disappointed by the lack of unifying leadership from a brand that our gym has affiliated with under various names since 2013. One of our core values as a family, and as a business, is humility- a willingness to be open-minded while continually learning and improving in all ways possible. Greg Glassman’s comments, as well as CrossFit’s general lack of response and leadership in light of recent events, are the antithesis of that value.

For us, the mission and vision of Electric City Athletics/CrossFit Hardwired has always been rooted in providing life-changing fitness solutions to every individual striving to become their own best version. While we embrace the methodology and community-building aspects of CrossFit, we have never witnessed significant value from using the CrossFit name as an affiliate. The affiliation has been a recurring topic of conversation for us over the past couple of years and we have been ruminating over the advantages and disadvantages of affiliation even back before we took over ownership of the business. The truth is we have been considering de-affiliating for a while and now feels like the right time to completely sever ties with a company that continues to struggle in defining its identity, offers little to no support for affiliates and has severe character flaws with respect to equality, inclusiveness and exercising good moral judgement.

The annual cost of an affiliation is substantial for a small business and while we appreciate being able to operate our affiliate with very little oversight from CrossFit HQ, we have often felt it unnecessary to pay so much to be associated with a name that can at times intimidate and confuse the very people we are trying to reach. That being said, our current affiliation expires at the end of July, and we will not be renewing at that time. We strongly believe the methods of functional fitness and corrective exercise, taken together, offer the best framework to help people improve their fitness, get out of pain and live long, healthy lives. These are the principles and methods that form the foundation of our gym and we don’t feel we need to be “CrossFit Hardwired” in order to pursue our mission and continue serving our community to the best of our ability. The $3,000 we will be saving in affiliation fees will instead be allocated to pay for continuing education for our coaches. We will also be donating a portion to the Equal Justice Initiative.

We want to be clear that this decision has nothing to do with politics. We have, and always will have, great respect and appreciation for diverse point of view and opinions. This decision has everything to do with being true to ourselves as a brand, as a family, and our moral obligation to uphold our values of integrity, inclusion and humility.

What does this change mean for you all as members? Not much, at least for the foreseeable future. Nearly everything will stay the same for now; although we will be changing our name slightly, again (stay tuned). The programming, class schedule, culture, etc. will remain the same because that is something that has always been unique to our Hardwired community. You will still be Hardwired for Hard Work!

While change can be uncomfortable, we know from personal experience that new chapters offer exciting opportunities to grow, develop and increase our potential. We want you to take comfort in knowing that we view this transition as timely and see it aligning well with our future plans for the gym.

We understand that all of this might be coming as a big shock to some of you. Please, if you have any concerns or questions, do not hesitate to reach out to us. We cannot thank you enough for your loyalty to the Hardwired brand during this time of transition.

Best,
Matt, Jenna and the Hardwired Team