“Perfection is unattainable, but if we pursue perfection we can catch excellence.” That’s a motto of Crossfit POP, the new gym on North Avenue featuring the aggressively popular Crossfit workout.

As someone who is always looking for new workout ideas, I had to check it out. After being fully intimidated by the pictures and videos of “Crossfitters” which circulate the Internet, I decided to attend the beginner class.

Upon entering the “box” (the Crossfit equivalent of a studio) I was immediately greeted by Co-Owner and Coach Nick Schoonmaker, who was eager to learn about my fitness history and my reasons for trying out Crossfit. As I progressed through the introductory lesson with two other beginners, Schoonmaker, assisted by Head Coach Robert Gorvetzian, corrected form and explained the concept of Crossfit to us.

“The workout changes every day,” Gorvetzian explained. “We won’t release the daily workout until that morning, so you can never really know what to expect.”

In the next week, I started attending true Crossfit classes. Every day consists of some variation of Olympic weightlifting, gymnastics, strength training, cardio, and calisthenics. The workout of the day, or WOD, features a combination of exercises and rest periods intended to push you to your limits. The focus is on endurance, power, and personal improvement. At the end of each workout, the coaches encourage attendees to record their numbers somewhere for comparison later.

A few days into the program, I was humbled, exhausted, and sore, but I was also kind of addicted. The thrill of accomplishing a challenging workout while being supported and motivated by fellow participants, made me actually want to work out.

Schoonmaker cites this as one of the main benefits of attending Crossfit classes rather than working out in a gym.

“If you’re working out with ten people doing the same thing, you feed off each other’s energy,” said Schoonmaker. “You get that partnership and camaraderie with the people around you rather than being in a conventional gym, plugged away in your headphones.”

Gorvetzian added, “Looking to that person to your left or right and seeing them push just a little bit more is really going to help your mental state so you can try to get to their level.”

The Crossfit POP team is especially concerned with getting Iona students involved in the program.

“Everybody I’ve trained with between ages 23-40 says ‘I wish I’d had this in college; I wish I’d started this earlier,’” Gorvetzian said.

Membership doesn’t stop with the workouts, however. Gorvetzian claims that there are multiple other benefits of being involved in a Crossfit community.

“We talk about nutrition every day,” said Gortvetzian. “We’ll talk about what to eat when it’s late at night and you’re super hungry, or what to eat when you’re studying—we talk about all of that. We’ll teach you how to avoid the freshman fifteen.”

Co-Owner Philip Censoprano created a special pricing plan specifically for Iona students to get that early start into Crossfit. With packages starting at just $100 for monthly membership, it seems a worthy investment for any fitness-conscious Gael.

“I’ve seen a lot of students who haven’t developed their own fitness plan,” said Schoonmaker. “In college you can develop those programs and ideologies, especially before it’s too late.”