NBC's Strong Is Great For CrossFit
NBC's Strong Is Great For CrossFit
Sylvester Stallone's intro to NBC's new show, Strong, says it all: "There has been a shift in the world of health and fitness, where skinny is no longer the
Sylvester Stallone's intro to NBC's new show, Strong, says it all: "There has been a shift in the world of health and fitness, where skinny is no longer the goal. Today it's all about being fit, getting healthy and feeling strong."
NBC successfully launched and maintained popular fitness competition shows like The Biggest Loser and American Ninja Warrior, which have inspired elements of the Strong series. In the program, 10 male trainers pair up with 10 female trainees who compete against each other as dual teams in various physical challenges. At the end of each episode, two teams go head-to-head in an obstacle course that looks like something out of American Ninja Warrior and the losing team is eliminated.
There are a few things I absolutely love about this. First, it's a show about women getting strong instead of getting skinny. From a cultural standpoint, this is a pretty big shift. Not too long ago, it was practically impossible to see the mainstream media supporting the idea that women should care about how they perform and how fit they are instead of what their waist size is.
Second, this show will bring CrossFit into the mainstream even more. The trailer includes Dan Wells mentioning his CrossFit Games finish! Just like Bob Harper brought CrossFit to The Biggest Loser, we'll see CrossFit show up in Strong, and that's pretty cool. On top of that, the gym they're training in has a rig, bars and Eleiko weights. They climb, push sleds, crawl, squat, and more, so it's cool to see this type of training show up on a big network show.
Lastly, the fact that NBC is even building a show like this means they've seen obstacle/fitness competition can be entertaining television. They've already nailed the formula with American Ninja Warrior, and these team-based challenges will definitely be just as fun to watch. CrossFit can learn something from how these events are designed, constructed and presented, because right now, the CrossFit Games are really only interesting for people who have had experience with CrossFit.
So what do you think?
[polldaddy poll="9360749"]
NBC successfully launched and maintained popular fitness competition shows like The Biggest Loser and American Ninja Warrior, which have inspired elements of the Strong series. In the program, 10 male trainers pair up with 10 female trainees who compete against each other as dual teams in various physical challenges. At the end of each episode, two teams go head-to-head in an obstacle course that looks like something out of American Ninja Warrior and the losing team is eliminated.
There are a few things I absolutely love about this. First, it's a show about women getting strong instead of getting skinny. From a cultural standpoint, this is a pretty big shift. Not too long ago, it was practically impossible to see the mainstream media supporting the idea that women should care about how they perform and how fit they are instead of what their waist size is.
Second, this show will bring CrossFit into the mainstream even more. The trailer includes Dan Wells mentioning his CrossFit Games finish! Just like Bob Harper brought CrossFit to The Biggest Loser, we'll see CrossFit show up in Strong, and that's pretty cool. On top of that, the gym they're training in has a rig, bars and Eleiko weights. They climb, push sleds, crawl, squat, and more, so it's cool to see this type of training show up on a big network show.
Lastly, the fact that NBC is even building a show like this means they've seen obstacle/fitness competition can be entertaining television. They've already nailed the formula with American Ninja Warrior, and these team-based challenges will definitely be just as fun to watch. CrossFit can learn something from how these events are designed, constructed and presented, because right now, the CrossFit Games are really only interesting for people who have had experience with CrossFit.
So what do you think?
[polldaddy poll="9360749"]