In this episode I talk to writer J. C. Herz about her book, Learning to Breathe Fire: The Rise of CrossFit and the Primal Future of Fitness. Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard about CrossFit. I'll admit that before I read Learning to Breathe Fire, I had just a vague idea of how CrossFit worked, and was honestly pretty skeptical of it. My only interaction with the program has been giving the CrossFitters (or "fire breathers" as they sometimes call themselves) at my gym the stink eye for taking all the barbells from the squat racks so they could do their hang cleans. So it was interesting to read a book that goes into the history, philosophy, and even anthropology of CrossFit, and why it has become so popular so quickly. While the book didn't turn me into a full-on convert, it did really broaden my perspective of the program, and I even tried my first CrossFit workout after reading it.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.