Since its inception, CrossFit has advertised itself as an alternative fitness modality based on community, accountability, and empirical results. Like other forms of sport that are seen by outsiders as “extreme,” such as ultra-marathon running, competitive bodybuilding, and Ashtanga yoga, many of its practitioners experience CrossFit as a form of healing from trauma and complex post-traumatic stress disorder. This propensity for healing on the physiological and affective levels can be explained by the work of authoritative trauma researchers such as Stephen W. Porges and Bessel van der Kolk. While specialized empirical evidence for its efficacy or lack thereof is still lacking, narrative first-person accountsindicate that regular CrossFit practice can be both healing and harmful, constructive and addictive, building up the body and self and breaking them down. Expressing itself in oppositions such as inclusive/exclusive, feminist/misogynist, and self-healing/self-harm, CrossFit remains a polarizing and contested physical practice that can be experienced both ways, sometimes simultaneously.