I’m not one to shy away from a good read, but after flipping through a few CrossFit athlete biographies (to include Mat Fraser’s Hard Work Pays Off book), I’d kind of lost faith that I would find any that were actually interesting.
Don’t get me wrong; these people’s accomplishments are incredibly impressive and their athletic feats are nothing short of extraordinary. However, a lot of the backgrounds and how these books are written…man…it’s like if you asked ChatGPT to write an autobiography…about itself!
(if you didn’t quite catch that, I’m implying that these books are incredibly robotic sounding)
If you’ve ever heard Rich Froning talk, I wouldn’t fault you for assuming that he falls into this mold, as well. There is something more human to this guy, though…reading his old, old book (2013!!!) proved that to me. Let me tell you all about my impression of his book.
Table of Contents
Why I Decided to Read First: What it Takes to Win/the Rich Froning Book
For the longest time, I wasn’t the biggest Rich Froning fan.
To be fair, I didn’t have anything against him (like, at all); I just never really paid much attention to him or found him to be overly interesting.
Froning was the champ when I was first dabbling in “CrossFit-style workouts” and by the time I was actually paying attention to the sport (and performing the workouts at least somewhat properly), he was competing on the Mayhem team. As such, I wasn’t really around during the “Froning obsession years”
Having seen and heard him more when he has appeared on podcasts and other shows, I’ve warmed up to him quite a bit, although I wouldn’t say I was a yuge fan of his.
…until I started reading his book.
Interestingly enough, I’ve kind of had my fill with CrossFit athlete books lately and still don’t understand how there is a market for these biographies. I had no intention on purchasing Froning’s book (I don’t even think I knew it existed) and was actually given the book by a friend at the gym (actually, she randomly gave my wife the Tia Toomey book and the Rich Froning book one day to read…because…why not?)
With the book in my possession, I didn’t really have a reason not to read it, especially since I honestly didn’t know much about a man who is/was so important within the CrossFit space. I write about this stuff a lot; may as well get to know one of the OGs a bit better…
Length/Layout
At 264 pages (plus some end material), Froning’s book isn’t very long and due to the easy-to-read writing style, it seems even shorter than it is.
Like many books of its ilk, it largely follows a linear, biographical structure. Froning discusses his upbringing, early adult life, early CrossFit “life”, and his journey as an elite athlete. The initial portions are straight biography, but once he gets to the CrossFit stuff, he begins to sprinkle in sections at the end of ~every other chapter like “Key CrossFit Terminology” (a list of things like “AMRAP”, “Thruster”, and “EMOM”) and “CrossFit Hero Workouts“.
The “directory” portions, or similar “practical use” portions, are common in these books; I guess Froning set the tone with his.
Near the end, there are a few chapters that discuss more specific topics that don’t follow the linear, biographical timeline nature, but these are kind of one-offs.
Another related item to note as that from roughly the ~1/3 mark of the book, pretty much every chapter includes portions where he kind of pauses the story for a second to discuss how a specific event relates to Bible verse or some other aspect of his Christian faith. These range from a sentence or two to an entire page.
If you’re into CrossFit, you’ll skip right past the “lists” at the end of later chapters (you know this stuff already), but otherwise, the book assumes a pretty predictable, albeit appropriate, layout.
Main “Objectives”/Message
Having read a few other CrossFit athlete biographies, I now kind of expect them all to follow some similar patterns.
Of course, the whole “I worked hard to get here and so can you!” message is expected (and Froning delivers!) as well as a pretty heavy emphasis on discussing individual workouts (Froning takes things a step further here, going into three of his individual CrossFit Games competition events, and even some regional events, in very specific detail). It honestly wouldn’t be a CrossFit book without these elements.
Discussions about overcoming adversity are to be expected as well and Froning has certainly experienced a number of ups and downs in his life (unlike many of the others, though, none of the “downs” seem to be at all related to his own mistakes; they’re more of things that just happened to him).
However, the main “objectives” (or points, messages, takeaways, or whatever) that stood out to me also happen to be what sets Froning’s bio apart from others:
- He comes across as being a lot more normal than others
- Discussions about his faith (both as it is “now” (circa 2013 when the book was written) and as it grew over time) are in focus and are constant
To the first point, Froning’s parents (his whole nuclear and extended family, really) are described as “salt of the Earth” kinds of people. Nothing spectacular or otherwise “special”; just good, hard-working, family-focused people. A lot of time goes into discussing these people in some manner or another throughout the book.
Froning had a normal, if not overly impressive, high school sports career and worked normal, blue-collar jobs before CrossFit. Reading his story made me feel like I was having a conversation with any number of the guys I played high school sports with who stayed in town after graduation and got settled into a normal, family life.
Maybe other people are more interested in reading about the more exotic (or, in many cases, more eccentric) upbringings and lifestyles of other athletes, but for me, Froning’s anecdotes were a breath of fresh air.
To the second point, it’s also refreshing to read/see how effortlessly Froning is able to connect so many larger aspects of (as well as individual moments in) his life with his strong Christian faith. I’m an observant, practicing Catholic so I don’t identify with his more Evangelical tendencies, but I can appreciate them (and even understand them) for what they are…
…and in Froning’s case, I think they’re completely legit and focused on reaching as many people, largely through his CrossFit celebrity, as possible.
It’s nice to see that over 10 years later, he hasn’t wavered, even as naysayers and people criticizing him (and how CrossFit Mayhem/Mayhem programming is structured) have relentlessly come at him for this.
The only thing I can really fault is the borderline comical, “scared straight” type of message near the end of the book in the chapter Keeping Our Sport Clean where he discusses PEDs.
I can totally understand wanting to ensure that proper drug testing protocol is in place, but there are some comments about the dangers of steroids and other gear that would lead one to believe that everyone on ‘roids is about to die. I’m not into gear, but I’m also not into rehashing the whole circus of Mark McGwire testifying before Congress, performance-enhancing drugs hysteria.
Personal Results
I don’t know why I still include this section when I’m discussing bios like Froning’s. There isn’t really a call to action in the book and any of the more “practical” aspects (ex. the aforementioned “Common CrossFit terms” and WODs sections) are more suited for those with little-to-no existing knowledge of CrossFit.
With that being said, I have become more of a Froning fan after reading First: What it Takes to Win. I also am lamenting not being into CrossFit back then…the workouts, times, and weights he describes were much more manageable than they are today!
Conclusion/My Take
After reading his book, it’s pretty hard not to like Froning, especially in the current age of CrossFit where many of the loudest voices seem to think they’ll get a prize for complaining the most.
He comes off as a seriously normal guy who just wants to work out, spend time with his family (crazy that he hadn’t had any kids yet when this book came out), and spread the Gospel. He doesn’t make any type of political or social statements and it’s really hard to detect any kind of ego in the man.
I enjoyed it more than Fraser’s Hard Work Pays Off and after reading, I’m solidly in team Froning for GOAT…who cares about most ever CrossFit Games wins, anyways? Not Fred!
Also, if you just want to know what it really takes to win, you can skip to the last page (well, to page 264) to find out. I agree with you, Rich!
