Katie Rose Hejtmanek, a cultural and psychological anthropologist, discusses her book on CrossFit's intersection with American Christianity. She delves into how CrossFit embodies themes of redemption and apocalyptic imagery, shaping its community culture. Hejtmanek highlights CrossFit's unique affiliate model that fosters personal empowerment while critiquing traditional fitness norms. She also addresses evolving hero archetypes, gender roles, and the impact of social media on women's health, linking these issues to broader American cultural narratives.
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Cultural Christianity in CrossFit
CrossFit incorporates 'cultural Christianity,' embedding Christian values in a secular fitness space.
These values permeate American culture subtly, influencing CrossFit's ethos beyond overt religious practice.
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CrossFit's Redemption Narrative
CrossFit's transformative experience mirrors Christian redemption narratives with themes of suffering and salvation.
Participants describe themselves as converts, even if they do not practice religion.
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Who Does CrossFit Attract?
CrossFit participants in the U.S. are predominantly white, affluent, and educated.
It attracts veterans and police but remains largely an elite white fitness culture.
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Matthew Avery Sutton's *American Apocalypse* provides a detailed exploration of modern American evangelicalism, highlighting the role of premillennialism and apocalyptic thought in shaping the movement's engagement with culture and politics. The book spans from the late 19th century to the present, examining how evangelicals have linked major societal issues to apocalyptic narratives, thereby influencing American culture and foreign policy.
The suffering self
Judith Perkins
Fit Nation
Fit Nation
Natalie Portozella
The Cult of CrossFit, Christianity and the American Exercise Phenomenon
The Cult of CrossFit, Christianity and the American Exercise Phenomenon
Christianity and the American Exercise Phenomenon
Katie Rose Hejtmanek
In "The Cult of CrossFit," Katie Rose Hejtmanek delves into the cultural phenomenon of CrossFit, exploring its surprising connections to American Christianity. Hejtmanek's anthropological research reveals how CrossFit's intense workouts and community resonate with themes of salvation, sacrifice, and the American frontier spirit. The book examines the ways in which CrossFit's values and practices are intertwined with broader cultural and religious ideologies in the United States. Hejtmanek's analysis challenges conventional understandings of secular fitness culture, highlighting the often-unacknowledged influence of religious narratives on seemingly secular spaces. The book offers a unique perspective on the intersection of religion, culture, and physical fitness in contemporary America.
Sacred Pain
Sacred Pain
Ariel Guckman
CrossFit in the United States has become increasingly popular, around which a fascinating culture has developed which shapes everyday life for the people devoted to it. CrossFit claims to be many things: a business, a brand, a tremendously difficult fitness regimen, a community, a way to gain salvation, and a method to survive the apocalypse. In The Cult of CrossFit: Christianity and the American Exercise Phenomenon (NYU Press, 2025), Dr. Katie Rose Hejtmanek examines how this exercise program is shaped by American Christian values and practices, connecting American religious ideologies to secular institutions in contemporary American culture.
Drawing upon years of immersing herself in CrossFit gyms in the United States and across six continents, this book illustrates how US CrossFit operates using distinctly American codes, ranging from its intensity and patriarchal militarism to its emphasis on (white) salvation and the adoration of the hero and vigilante. Despite presenting itself as a secular space, Dr. Hejtmanek argues that CrossFit is both heavily influenced by and deeply intertwined with American Christian values. She makes the case that the Christianity that shapes CrossFit is the Christianity that shapes much of America, usually in ways we do not even notice. Offering a new cross-cultural perspective for understanding a popular workout, The Cult of CrossFit provides a window into a particularly American rendition of a Christian plotline, lived out one workout at a time.
This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda’s episodes on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts.
New Books in Sociology 
