I AM CROSSFIT

Holy warehouse Batman!!!  Very few boxes cause me to pause when I walk in, that's not the case with the 20,000+ sq ft I AM CROSSFIT.  The place is so ridiculously big it short circuited my brain.  And it’s not just a huge undeveloped open warehouse space, it's totally painted and has plenty of gear throughout.  One section known simply as "Eastside" is 4000sq ft and is a complete box in and of itself.  This area is used by members more as an open gym space where they can do their own wod/ programming (Outlaw, Wendler, etc..), separate from the daily wods.  One unique feature in Eastside is a full size boxing ring. 

A lot of props to Coach Danny and Coach DJ, they went out of their way to make me feel welcome in their house.  I note this because unfortunately it's not a common occurrence at quite a few of the gyms I have visited.  Affiliates, CrossFit is a worldwide community, not just in your neighborhood. 

IACF is located a convenient 10 minutes south of Miami International Airport, in the Doral neighborhood.  They have been in their current location for just a year and have built a membership of over 500 athletes.  Make sure you confirm the address before you head there as I found two separate addresses online. 

I Am CrossFit is part of a 5 gym network of boxes in the greater Miami area.  Those gyms are I Am CrossFit, Gables CrossFit, CrossFit Vida Brickell (currently 6th in the SouthEast Regionals), CrossFit South Miami, and CrossFit Coconut Grove.  Most of the gyms have a specialty offering as well, South Miami has CrossFit Kids, I Am CrossFit has boxing, Gables has yoga, etc.  $150 buys you a monthly unlimited at one gym or $175 gets you into any one in the group.  Heck of a deal.  Programming is done by one person and wods are consistent across the network.  A cool thing to keep the group of boxes connected is their annual Civil War Games.  A Games like competition of individual throw downs and a team finals competition.  The winning box takes home The Golden Hammer which is currently held by I Am CrossFit.

The wod today consisted of a 1 mile run (warm up) then 3X1 Front Squats followed by the metcon "Longhorn"; 5 rounds of 1 minute Max KB swings, 1 minute Max burpees, 1 minute rest.  I swear I did enough burpees in 3 wods in FL to last me a couple months.   Good wod.  Tons of encouragement doled out by the coaches as well as the athletes.  This place had a great "family" vibe and supports Coach Danny's opinion that the coolest thing about IACF is the athletes.

HUGE

"Eastside"

 

Every CrossFit gym should have this sign on their front door.