Twenty Years. Five Gyms. Zero Community.
Twenty Years. Five Gyms.
Zero Community.
Miriam tried boxing, spinning, big chain gyms, and online workouts. What finally stuck was not just fitness. It was community.
Last updated: May 2026 · Reading time: 6 minutes
Boxing didn’t stick.
Spinning didn’t stick.
The big chain gyms didn’t stick either.
Then Covid happened, and Miriam did what a lot of us did. She bought some kit, subscribed to an online fitness programme, and pressed play.
For a while, it worked.
Then it didn’t.
The Problem With Watching Fitness on a Screen
Here’s what nobody tells you about online workouts.
The screen doesn’t care.
It doesn’t notice when you’re phoning it in.
It doesn’t walk over and quietly tell you that you’ve got more.
It doesn’t celebrate when you achieve something difficult.
It can’t.
A screen can show you what to do.
It can’t make you do it.
Miriam knew she was stuck. The honest part — the part most people won’t admit — is that she said it out loud.
“It’s hard to push yourself when you’re looking at a video.”
She’s right.
The Chiropractor
The recommendation came sideways, the way the best recommendations usually do.
Not from an advert.
Not from a sales funnel.
From her chiropractor, a long-time CrossFit fan, mentioning it in passing during an appointment.
That same day, she Googled CrossFit.
She found CrossFit 1864.
She sent a message.
Notice the speed.
The window opened, and she walked through it.
Most people don’t.
Most people add it to a list.
They think about it next month.
They wait until they’re “ready.”
Miriam didn’t wait.
You do not need to wait until you feel ready.
Book a free intro chat with a CrossFit 1864 coach and take the first step into a gym where people actually know your name.
Book Your Intro Chat“The Coaches Were Mad”
On day one, she was given a goal:
Lift your bodyweight.
A standard CrossFit milestone.
Every coach knows it’s achievable.
Every new member hears it and thinks exactly the same thing:
“Not me.”
Especially when you're in your fifties, juggling children, work, school runs, and everything else life throws at you.
Miriam’s reaction?
“I thought the coaches were mad. I would never get there.”
She’s well beyond that goal now.
That’s how progress usually looks from the inside.
The goal sounds impossible on Tuesday.
Six months later, you’re wondering what comes next.
Twenty Years
Here’s the line that should make every gym owner stop and think.
Miriam has lived in this area for nearly twenty years.
During that time, she belonged to several large gyms.
Yet in two decades of memberships, she never felt part of a community.
Until CrossFit 1864.
Twenty years. Multiple gyms. Zero community.
That isn’t a Miriam problem.
It’s an industry problem.
Most gyms are designed to sell access to equipment.
Very few are designed to create belonging.
Humans need both.
Most only get one.
Twelve Days
When we asked Miriam about a standout memory, she didn’t mention a personal best.
She talked about Christmas Crackers.
Twelve benchmark workouts in twelve days.
School plays.
Work deadlines.
Family commitments.
The busiest time of year.
She showed up anyway.
Every day.
All twelve benchmarks.
“Physically exhausting but so rewarding.”
The workouts matter.
But they’re not really the point.
The point is the story you tell yourself afterwards.
I did that. So what else am I capable of?
6am
A typical week for Miriam starts before most people are awake.
The 6am class.
Monday to Friday.
Then home.
Then the school run.
Then work.
Weekends are spent ferrying children between activities, including CrossFit Kids.
Then rest.
She doesn’t train because she has loads of spare time.
She trains because that one hour at 6am is hers.
Most beginners imagine fit people have more time. They don’t. They simply protect the time they have.
Her Advice
We asked Miriam what she would say to someone sitting on the fence.
Someone who keeps thinking about starting but never quite gets around to it.
Her answer:
“You don’t have to be mega fit to join CrossFit. You really don’t. It caters to all levels. Just do it. Or as I’d say professionally, JFDI.”
“He hee,” she added afterwards.
Honestly, that's probably the most honest sales pitch you'll ever hear.
Your Turn
There’s nothing extraordinary about Miriam’s story.
That’s exactly why it matters.
She tried different gyms.
She got bored.
She got stuck.
She received a recommendation.
She walked through the door.
The only variable is how long you wait.
CrossFit 1864 is a coached small-group training gym in Poplar, East London — around 15 minutes from Canary Wharf. We help busy adults build strength, confidence, fitness, and community through expert coaching and structured small-group training.
