"I like to think of the space as a base camp for exploring Cape Ann," says Jon Conant, the owner-operator of Gloucester's recently opened CrossFit — a 2,000-square-foot facility in a Parker Street property formerly occupied by Mike Parisi's Three Lanterns Marine Supplies.
The new businesses spotlights the spirit of Spartan physicality unique to the "CrossFit" national brand.
"Mike used it as a warehouse," Conant says of Parisi, who still owns the prime Head of the Harbor waterfront property. "When he showed it to me, it was pretty much just a big, raw, empty expanse."
That (and a lifetime dedicated to multi-disciplined athletic training) "was pretty much all he needed," says the 32-year-old elite fitness professional. Within weeks of signing the lease last September, and with minimal renovations, Conant's new CrossFit Gloucester was open for action.
Action is what CrossFit is all about. This is not your father's gym; or your mother's, for that matter.
If you're looking for rows of gleaming body building equipment, look elsewhere — because here, says, Conant, your body is your equipment. And the goal is not to transform it into a gym-built product of Nautilus technology, but something more along the lines of a Navy SEAL.
Its workouts and philosophies have been culled from multiple influences, including the military, martial arts, team sports, Olympic training techniques, and eastern methodologies, Conant says. Founded by professional gymnasts in Santa Cruz, Calif., in 1995, it has, in the 15 years since, grown from and through a coast-to-coast internet grassroots fitness community into a brick and mortar national network of member training centers.
"It's not a franchise," Conant says of the CrossFit brand, "but an affiliation of certified trainer operators."
Conant won his certification here in Massachusetts, and worked for a year at a CrossFit affiliate in Beverly before moving forward with his plans of opening in Gloucester. The Manchester native — a seasoned surfer, skier, runner, rock and mountain climber — says he "wanted to bring CrossFit to Gloucester ever since I started doing daily workouts from Crossfit's website at the Middle Street YMCA."
He was, says Conant, "all by myself, down in this room under the swimming pool."
And every day, he says, "these workouts changed and challenged me in different ways. I was never bored."
"I began to think of Cape Ann, and how this kind of training equipped you to explore its unique physical land and seascapes, and that's when I came up with this concept of making my brand of 'CrossFit' a base camp for Cape Ann, and Gloucester its location," he added.
By the time he opened his "base camp" Conant had "done so much planning and homework in my head" that the business end of launching a startup not only went off without a hitch, but, says Conant, "was a breeze."
The upfront costs of starting a traditional "equipment stoked" gym were, thanks to Crossfit's "your body is your equipment" philosophy, a non-issue for Conant, who credits SCORE — Cape Ann's retired executive mentor volunteers — with "contributing hugely in terms of crunching numbers and ideas and guidance."
Conant also credits his wife, Karen, a graphic artist who designed and integrated all the branding and logo elements.
"She understood my vision and translated it perfectly across the board, into our website, interior workout space, and, basically, all our materials," he says.
This isn't the couple's first business venture in Gloucester. And Karen isn't the only artist in the family. Before turning his sites on a full-time fitness career, Jon Conant's focus had been pretty much on sculpting, which — unofficially, along with rock and mountain climbing — he'd majored in at Colorado College.
"Even with sculpting," he says, "I was totally into the physicality of it, the tactile involvement of carving of wood was 'it' for me."
Together, the couple founded "The Hive." Originally a collective of "artist-friends in Rockport sharing studio space, ideas and energy," the Conants moved it over to Gloucester through their involvement in Art Haven, the Main Street nonprofit creative kids' program where it occupies gallery retail space.
The two endeavours may, on the face of it, may seem to have nothing in common. But, if you look at their websites, the commonalities of themes are clear: community building, energy generating, gross-pollination of ideas, and creating new mediums for promoting Cape Ann — including its new "base camp" at CrossFit.
Joann Mackenzie can be reached at 978-283-7000, x3447, or at jomackenzie@gloucestertimes.com.
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