CrossFit Wall Street

I’ve been shopping around for the right gym since I moved to the financial district a few months ago and I’ve finally found it! Started at Crossfit Wall Street about two weeks ago with my boyfriend. Great emphasis on form. Awesome trainers. High rec!

I’ve been to a number of Crossfit boxes/​gyms and this one is fantastic. This was my home gym for a year until I had to move out of the city.
The personal attention from the two owners (Paul and Keith) is great as are all of the other members of the gym.
I HIGHLY recommend this to anyone that’s serious about trying CF or is looking for a new home gym.
P. S. — the 1-​star rating by Jennifer is entirely off base. These are criticisms of Crossfit in general (CF isn’t for her) and have zero reflection on this specific gym.

Visited this gym on a trip out from my Crossfit home base in San Francisco this month. Paul was welcoming, friendly, and extremely knowledgeable. He gave me some great coaching on my pull-​up form that I was able to apply right away. I will definitely be back next time I’m in New York!

I’ve had so many friends hop onto the xfit bandwagon and I’m happy to say I have as well! Joined up with Crossfit WS as my main box. I was happy to learn the basics from Paul and I was glad to see that he cared to ensure that his gym members knew what correct form was before handing them over to a real barbell. The class sizes are nice and small and you truly do get to know people that join up.
I’ll admit that the freebie trial class is a bit salesy, but that’s to be expected. I can honestly say that each workout will push you to the max and you’ll leave absolutely torn up, but satisfied!

Got a chance to observe a class and talk to the people that work there. Everyone is super nice and highly knowledgeable. This is not a place for the faint of heart or casual gym rat. It’s intense and requires a big commitment. My son has transformed his physique in five months and is in incredible shape. Vary small and personal classes.

i feel the need to un-​do the 1-​star rating. keith and paul are fantastic – they are knowledgable, patient, and attentive to form, as to prevent injury. all in all, crossfit is my favorite part of the day (even when my lungs are hating me).

I’ve been attending classes at crossfit Wall Street for four months now and highly recommend it for anyone looking to change their lifestyle and get in shape.
I think that it is wise to enter crossfit with the correct mindset, the idea is to find out where your physical limit is, and work past it. This provides an incredible experience and the atmosphere at Wall Street is very supportive as you push beyond your limitations.
Paul and Keith provide a great program that will keep you on your toes and your body guessing. Expect them to try to help you reach your limits similar to any athletic coach would, telling you to push more or try harder is just the way the support system is in crossfit.
It is true that pushing yourself this hard opens the door to injuries, that’s why the coaches stress form above all else. I’ve heard Paul say countless times «take weight off and do it right». Be careful and listen to these guys, you’ll love the results and find some great friends in the process.

I went to CrossFit Wall Street for about six weeks, during which time I spent $ 790 ($ 265 of which was refunded), injured myself in three places, and then was kicked out of the gym via email for having a «bad attitude,» which, from my perspective, involved my holding back on certain movements and workouts when I was worried I might seriously injure myself.
I am a 34 year old woman in pretty good shape for a regular person, which means terrible shape for a Crossfitter.
In Jan 2013, I went to a free beginner’s class with Keith, one of the two coaches. I didn’t particularly like being told to put my whole front down on a dirty gym floor, but I get it, we’re going to be hardcore. I signed up for Foundations (3 – 4 sessions of basics). At the end of our workout, the other coach, Paul, shouted something about how we weren’t really working out, because there wasn’t any «sweat on the floor.»
After Foundations, I joined regular classes. Keith said you needed to come three times a week, maybe four, to see results. I came four times a week for about three weeks. I now realize that recommending this to beginners is potentially very dangerous.
Classes with Keith were okay, except for when I ended up hurting myself. There was also a theme week called «The Nasty Girls of Crossfit.» To Keith’s credit, he said he’s not sure why they’re called girls, since they’re accomplished adult women. But, of course, calling something «Nasty Girls» just opens it up for all kinds of offhand jokes («I like nasty girls, heh heh,» etc.)
Paul was not encouraging to me at all. His tone was often mocking. But I kept coming and working hard.
I started getting injuries. I bought this kind of elastic brace for my elbow. My shoulder started to do weird stuff. One day, I did 250 squats (bodyweight only), where they put a medicine ball under you and your butt is supposed to touch the ball. After, my hip joint was on fire. I really hadn’t expected to feel that until I was maybe 70 years old (Oy vey, my hip!) But they really police you to make sure you go down far enough on your squats, so if you’re like, «Oh, that hurts, maybe I won’t go down quite as far,» you get a «Get your butt down on that ball!»
I made an appointment with a physical therapist to look at, now, the elbow, the shoulder, and the hip. I figured I’d take a few days off Crossfit, see what the physical therapist says, then get back into it.
I went to one more workout, on Friday March 1. We would be running outdoors and then squatting. My quads were still shot from the squatting we had done earlier in the week. We did some warmup sets, and I’m thinking, «Wow, just these warmup sets are kind of a lot. I’d better conserve my strength.» I sat one out.
This made Paul angry. He refused to acknowledge me for the rest of the workout.
The next day, I get an email saying they’ve terminated my membership and refunded my last payment. Whoa. And: mortifying!
I was in the neighborhood, so I walked over and asked why they kicked me out. Keith refused to tell me, but set up a meeting with Paul for Monday. When I arrived at the «meeting», Paul just gave me a blank staredown and didn’t say anything. So, they made me stand in the doorway and ask them questions.
Paul said he didn’t like my attitude (ironic!) I told him that I was frequently being asked to do things that were not possible for me or that were injuring me. I asked, «Don’t you think it’s reasonable for an adult to decide what to do with their own body, and to adapt whatever’s going on to avoid getting hurt?» Answer: That’s «not how we do it.»
So, wow. I thought people only got kicked out of gyms for threatening others or serious offenses. They kicked me out because it’s more important that I obey Paul than take care of my own body so I don’t get hurt? Really?
I was also accused of «giving dirty looks,» which I’m pretty sure is just the face I make when I’m trying to visualize and steel myself for doing a complicated multi-​step lift. What kind of business kicks you out because of your facial expressions?
My final crime was that I «complained about running.» Considering that it’s been about 30 degrees out, it seems likely that I did indeed complain about running outdoors (and did it anyway, just like everybody else). But, LOTS of dudes complain about the workout («Oh man, more squats!»), almost as a way of building camaraderie by acknowledging that we are all about to do something hard. I’m pretty sure the last guy who said, «Oh man, this is gonna suck!» didn’t get kicked out.
Finally, you know what really sucks? When you do an intense workout program, you’re letting people see you at your worst. There you are, sweaty and panting and in pain and trying to get those last few reps in and failing again and grunting and finally crumpling with exertion. So getting kicked out and told off by a coach after that is really having someone kick you when you’re down.