ENTER THE WORKOUT REVOLUTION. When veteran journalist T.J. Murphy joined a local CrossFit® gym, it wasn’t to chase a story. Hobbled and limping, the 47-year-old felt more like 100, with legs wrecked from years of running. Desperate to reclaim his fitness and strength, he signed up with nothing to lose. In Inside the Box, Murphy puts his body to the test to find out whether CrossFit really works. IS IT HEALTHY? IS IT EFFECTIVE? IS IT CRAZY? From humble roots in a California garage to more than 4,000 gyms today, CrossFit is the gritty grassroots fitness movement that is fast making converts across the globe. Forget chrome, video screens, and glitzy settings; CrossFit happens in rough-and-tumble spaces called boxes, with workouts forged from an eclectic mix of gymnastics, weight lifting, track and field, and plyometrics—pitting athletes against each other to earn the day’s top score. In this intense atmosphere where fitness is sport, Murphy discovers a surprisingly tight-knit crew—soldiers, soccer moms, police officers, adrenaline addicts—all striving to sweat, suffer, and see who can push themselves farthest. With ferocious dedication to training and diet, CrossFit’s devotees seem to be literally reshaping themselves from the inside out. But does CrossFit live up to the hype_ Inside the Box investigates the merits of this countercultural movement that is transforming lives as it takes the fitness world by storm.