CrossFit & Peloton: powerful fitness subcultures
Some brands don’t find a subculture; they invent one. Calvin Ross Carl shows how CrossFit and Peloton built theirs on shared vernacular, shared suffering, and a place to gather.
Summary
Calvin Ross Carl points to CrossFit and Peloton as brands that invented their own subcultures rather than borrowing one. Both built shared vernacular. CrossFit made shared suffering part of its culture and anchored it in a physical gathering place, while Peloton, whose name means squad, created a digital community where people lock in for shared suffering and shared achievement.
Highlights
- CrossFit and Peloton invented their own subcultures.
- Shared suffering bonds both communities.
- A gathering place can be physical or digital.
Key insights
Shared struggle builds belonging
Suffering through the same workout gives members something real in common.
Every subculture needs a place
CrossFit’s gyms and Peloton’s digital classes both give the group somewhere to meet.
Detailed analysis
These examples show that a brand without an existing subculture can still build one. The ingredients are the same ones Calvin uses to define any subculture: vernacular, rituals, aesthetics, beliefs, and a place where the group shows up together.
Conclusion
If no subculture fits your brand, build one around a shared experience and a place to have it.
I think CrossFit and Peloton have done really, really incredible jobs at inventing their own subcultures, and they’ve all done it in ways where they have shared vernacular. CrossFit especially has made shared suffering a part of their culture. CrossFit is really about defining a physical gathering place where you have that shared suffering.
And Peloton did it in a way where its name is squad. It’s all digital community, but it gives you a place digitally where you can lock in and have that shared suffering and that shared achievement with others. They also create their own aesthetics, their own beliefs, through all of those things.