John Wooley (Make WODs Great Again) on the essentialness of CrossFit gyms

Todd Nief's Show

I recently wrote a controversial oped for the Morning Chalk Up on why my CrossFit gym isn’t an essential business. John Wooley, from the regularly hysterical CrossFit satire account @makewodsgreatagain, wrote a thoughtful response disagreeing with my claim that CrossFit gyms are not essential. I figured it would be interesting to have a recorded conversation where we hash out where we agree and where we disagree. While John and I don’t completely agree on everything, I think this is a complicated, nuanced issue, and working it out in public is hopefully helpful to some people. You can check out the full conversation here.

Check out more from John, Make WODs Great Again and Make Pods Great Again here:

• Website: www.makewodsgreatagain.com
• Instagram: @makewodsgreatagain | @makepodsgreatagain
• Podcast: Make Pods Great Again

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Show Notes:

• [0:47] Quick summary of Todd’s op ed – and the ensuing controversy
• [3:29] John’s take on my article: What should and shouldn’t be considered an essential business? Also, John’s family’s background with CrossFit.
• [15:50] How are we defining “essential?” What are regulators thinking about when deciding what should and shouldn’t be considered “essential?”
• [27:30] How should we think about the trade-offs between the negative impacts of chronic disease vs the negative impacts of a spreading pandemic?
• [35:50] What do gym owners need to be thinking about as different states start to reopen? What is the potential downside risk of opening early? How can we prevent a second wave of infections and economic shutdowns?
• [45:49] What will be the role of ongoing government regulations? What will the regulatory burden be on smaller gyms?
• [54:20] How will members be thinking about getting back into the gym?
• [01:05:40] The social dynamics of getting roasted online

Links and Resources Mentioned

• Morning Chalk Up
• OpEd: One Box Owner’s Opinion, “My CrossFit Gym is Not an Essential Business” from the Morning Chalk Up
• At-Home Workout: Hops, Bent-Over Rows, Planks, Chair Dips from CrossFit
• Saxon Panchik
• Spencer Panchik
• CrossFit Cliffside
• Big Five personality traits
• Moral hazard
• “Endothelial cell infection and endotheliitis in COVID-19” from The Lancet
• Rethinking Our Assumptions During the COVID-19 Crisis with David Krakauer from the Santa Fe Institute
• “Bowling Alone” by Robert Putnam