Glassman on D.C. Licensure: “They Want to Control You”

In late July, CrossFit Founder and CEO Greg Glassman traveled to Washington, D.C., to discuss licensure regulations for personal trainers in the District. He met with city-council representatives and others regarding Omnibus Health Regulation Amendment Act directives, which are still to be determined.

The law, which came into effect in March 2014, made D.C. the country’s first municipality to require licensure of personal trainers. Enforcement is currently on hold while the details of the law are clarified.

While interviewed on local show “News Talk,” Glassman said it’s important CrossFit is part of the conversations about regulation.

“We’re the world’s leader in fitness, we’ve got 13,000 gyms around the world, and we open a new one every two hours and 24 minutes, and while we’ve been out training people, they’ve been crafting legislation—let’s see what it looks like,” he said to host Bruce DePuyt. “We’ve had fantastic meetings with the city council and the deputy mayor for health, and I’m convinced the District is going to do the right thing.”

Glassman also held a town-hall meeting at District CrossFit to discuss the licensure bill with affiliate owners and trainers.

“They don’t know how to squat,” Glassman told attendees, referring to the National Strength and Conditioning Association and American College of Sports Medicine, two organizations that want to set the regulations of the law. “They want oversight. They want to control you, license you, regulate you, and it would take you seven years to get them to have the understanding that you have.”

For Glassman, it’s about protecting CrossFit affiliates and trainers and making sure the right message is out there.

“God bless you for what you’re doing,” he said to those at the meeting. “It’s unprecedented. It’s unparalleled. It’s the most beautiful thing happening in the world today. … Tell me something that’s this good, this positive, this healthy. There is nothing else.

“And I’ll fight anybody that thinks they’re gonna take it down. Anybody.”

Go to WeBuiltThisBox.com for more information and to find a direct line to D.C. council members.

Video by Mike Koslap.

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Additional reading: “D.C. Personal-Trainer Licensure on Hold—For Now” by Andréa Maria Cecil, published Feb. 17, 2015.