CrossFit Wylie is a place of community both inside the gym and through the Facebook community page. Most of the time when people walk through the doors of a new place to work out, there is much intimidation. Someone desiring to workout and have a change of lifestyle can be difficult when no one else around them participates. Crossfit Wylie does an awesome job initiating conversation and community from day one. After a person signs up for a monthly membership, they are automatically known as part of the community. With this status, the owner of Crossfit Wylie, Chris Coker, can then proceed to add the new member to the Crossfit Wylie Community closed Facebook group. As of right now, the page has 194 members. This number is always changing with members coming and going. Watching the time of year this number significantly grows can be detrimental for the involvement of current members. For example, around New Years when people commit to exercising as their New Year's resolution, CrossFit Wylie sees a dramatic increase in membership number. This is exciting because the community is open to new members and it is important for current members to be welcoming.
It is interesting for me to see how members communicate in the gym versus how they communicate via Facebook. I notice quieter members speaking their mind and being a bit louder with their encouragement through a screen. As a 19 year old, I am one of youngest members at the gym. Studying how a group of adults who are so passionate in their community navigate social media is very intriguing. I ran a poll on the page to see how often individuals check for status updates and engage with others. To the left, I included the results. I was not shocked with the results.  For myself, I tend to check the
 page multiple times a day. Since I have been in college I am unable to be in the gym communicating with fellow athletes; so the Facebook page still makes me feel part of the encouraging community even living an hour away.
So now to answer the big question, why does a fitness community need a Facebook page if people are just working out?
Crossfit Wylie embodies many different aspects apart from "workouts." They host multiple charity events throughout the year and Facebook is a great place for Coach Coker to post sign-up sheets and advertisements for these events. In this day in age, paper and pen seem to get lost in the chaos. Along with the sign-up, many member comment on the post to encourage fellow members to donate and workout for the cause. This alone builds friendships outside of the gym. To the right, is an upcoming event that Crossfit Wylie is hosting called CrossFit for Cystic Fibrosis (CF4CF). There are many members in the CrossFit Wylie Community that battle the terminal disease or have family members that battle the disease. It is very cool to see the community rally behind an event that takes time and effort to put on something so special. Within the past 6 years, Crossfit Wylie has been able to raise over $55,000. This money goes directly to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to find a cure [1].
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Picture screenshotted from the CrossFit for Cystic Fibrosis Facebook page
The community uses the page to post funny comments about the daily workout. Most of these comments are filled with jargon, but they always include a chain of funny comments that spark friendship and friendly rivals in the gym. Quite honestly, after not attending the gym in a while some members may start to feel left out of the group because it is hard to follow this page without being present at the gym. This in itself, is encouraging to attend the workouts and stay connected. To the right, are a few posts from members that include jargon. Workout jargon can sometimes sound like a whole different language. When reading workouts it is almost impossible to understand unless you are familiar with the movements and phrases [2]. Click here for a deeper look into the types of phrases used.  People who are not part of the group may find this confusing, but this is what makes a community special. 
Being a part of the Facebook community, means members will always receive a special shout out on their birthday. This is always rewarding and for me, it shows that people are really on top of keeping up with your life outside of the gym.
CrossFit Wylie's promise to their community is, "to offer an exciting and motivating environment and a knowledgeable staff dedicated to helping you reach your fitness goals. We promise to always challenge you so that you never get bored and a community that will inspire and motivate you." With this, it is not only the staff's job to live out this goal, but the current members to sustain the motivational community [3]. Member's are always posting pictures of family events at the gym, partner  
workouts, and inspirational accomplishments. It is important to be humble in such a competitive community, but a little Facebook brag can motivate other members to be even better for themselves. Above, is a collage of pictures that a member of the community created. This specific weekend, the gym was involved in a local weightlifting competition. We had members from ages 6-45 compete in this event and about 50 members from our gym came out to support the athletes. The pictures show relationships between athletes and coaches. The caption and comments hit exactly on the points of motivation, inspiration, and celebration of accomplishments.
CrossFit Wylie is a fitness home to many people. Members who are deployed, off to school, or in constant life changing situations, always have a place to come back to. In order for this community to continue to grow, it is important to include all members inside and outside of the gym. ​With the community Facebook page, everyone can keep up-to-date with events, engage in humorous conversations about workouts, and encourage others while celebrating each others accomplishments. 

References

1. https://www.facebook.com/events/1637065999707299/?active_tab=discussion (CrossFit for Cystic Fibrosis Facebook Page)
2. https://www.cleaneatz.com/Blog/192510/Gym-Talk-A-Glossary-of-Gym-Jargon (Gym Jargon)​
3. ​https://crossfitwylie.com/freetrial/ (CrossFit Wylie Homepage)