Grunts Abound as CrossFit Finds a Home in Irvington

Unexpected sounds emanate from one quaint, glass-doored storefront on Main Street in Irvington.

It's the clinking of free weights, grunting of hard-working athletes and yelling of instructors, encouraging their clients to go for one more repetition or set before passersby can finally hear that unmistakable sigh of relief.   

This is a typical day at CrossFit 914, which is advertised as the elite strength and conditioning home of Westchester County.

CrossFit, a form of exercise tailor-cut for people in the military, fire department, and police department, is a high-pressue workout program featuring squats, pushups, pullups, deadlifting, and much more.  

Irvington has recently become the newest home for this specialized training program also located in areas such as Nyack and Stamford, Conn.  

 A significant portion of CrossFits 914's members live on or nearby Main Street, arriving for their sessions already limber from walking, jogging or biking to the gym.

What is it that makes the core strength and conditioning program appealing to Westchester's aspiring  fitness masters?

 "Camaraderie," says CrossFit 914 owner and head trainer Mike McKenna.  

"Camaraderie in CrossFit is different form anywhere else," McKenna said."You're all going through the same thing, so everyone feels the same pain. Nothing can push you like this, knowing the person next to you is pushing it as hard as they can. Everyone is here to push each other, to establish personal bests, to progress and cheer for each other in the process."  

McKenna, a chiseled and tattooed former amateur boxer, first learned about Crossfit while working out at the New Jersey-based Long Branch Boxing gym.

"The workouts my coach would put me through had similar philosophy as far as high intensity," recalls the 22-year-old McKenna.  

"Somebody asked me while I was doing a workout one day if I was into crossfit. So basically I was like, 'What on earth is crossfit?' I went home and looked it up, and I've been hooked ever since."    

McKenna hung up the gloves, instantly making CrossFit his new athletic addiction.  

"Functional movements is what we strive for," said Irvington native Nick Mahon, a Level-One trainer who developed a proclivity for challenging CrossFit workouts after his college days at RPI.

"The moves that we do are directly translated to moves that you do in everyday life. The short-duration, high-intensity workouts generate a level of stress that you learn to deal with on a daily basis. You raise your tolerance to stress and it makes the stress of everyday life seem trivial," Mahon said.    

Mahon, 26, says much emphasis is placed on being an encouraging figure and pushing athletes to the maximum of their abilities.    

Some believe Crossfit is potentially hazardous, with the looming threat of rhabdomyolysis, turning potential clients away from the program.

Rhabdomyolysis is defined by the Crossfit Journal as "potentially lethal systemic meltdown initiated by the kidneys in response to the presence of shed muscle-fiber debris and exhaust in the bloodstream."

Rhabdo is triggered by sufficient muscle breakdown which can "disable, maim, and even kill," the journal says.

"Much work is put into focusing on form to maintain safety," Mahon explained "The movements are inherently safe but can be dangerous if executed incorrectly."

The Crossfit Journal acknowledges these high-pressure workouts can be potentially harmful but maintains that most injuries happen to those who go unsupervised, push past their limit, or are "burned at the stake of ego or intensity."  

Trained and skilled athletes counter the argument that crossfit is unsafe.

"For a good athlete who wants to set goals for themselves, I think crossfit is a great program," said Irvington High graduate Casey DiCesare, who's now a pole vaulter on UCLA's track team.    

"One of my friends does cross fit, and it ended up helping her tremendously and she ended up winning regionals. I don't see anything unsafe about it. She actually had a heart defect before (joining crossfit) and she didn't encounter any problems while performing cross fit workouts. She's going to get back into the program. It challenges her and she enjoys it. I wouldn't say it's unsafe."    

To learn more about CrossFit 914 please visit www.CrossFit914.com or call 914-602-6432.