A Family Thing

“All of our business is from word of mouth. I haven’t advertised once, and all 125 clients that we have are all from word of mouth,” says Chris Isernio, owner of CrossFit Old Bethpage/CrossFit Central Long Island in Farmingdale, N.Y. “We don’t even have fliers. I’m what you call the worst businessman ever.”

Businessman or not, Isernio is finding success through CrossFit. CrossFit Old Bethpage is growing and has just moved into a larger space. The athletes share their own success stories.

CrossFitter Phil Calderone says he is in the best shape of his life and can perform athletic feats he couldn’t even in his youth.

“I’m 49 years old now, and I could climb a rope, get almost anything done,” he says. “It’s fantastic. I love it.”

Like many other athletes there, CrossFit has become a family thing. For the Gemmill family, CrossFit has bonded together not only their immediate family but also their brothers and sisters in other states.

Charlie Wagner, a retired firefighter joined his son at CrossFit Old Bethpage.

“I’ve found nothing, nothing, in all my years of going to the gym, that would even come close to this,” he says.

10min 24sec

Additional video: “Push Yourself Beyond Limits” by Jennifer Hunter and Hector Delgado, published April 18, 2011.