On Saturday, December 15, a group of longtime friends led by Regina Lograsso purchased the Railyard Crossfit building at 1354 Roanoke Boulevard in Salem.
By working approximately 12 hours a day over the next two weeks, a group of carpenters, painters and volunteers collectively renovated the inside of the building and changed the name.
During the grand opening of CrossFit Unwritten on January 5, the community was invited to participate in a free workout. Russell Prusak, known locally as DJ Flex, kept the energy level high by playing popular records such as J. Cole’s “Workout” and Beyonce’s “Get Me Bodied.”
“At CrossFit Unwritten, we achieve fitness through constantly varied functional movements performed with high intensity. We are a community built on supporting others and pursuing fitness without excuses,” owner and coach Regina Lograsso said. “We work hard in the gym every day, but never lose sight of having fun with fitness! Our members are at all levels with a mindset of achieving goals. We have members from age 15 to 70.”
As a competitive athlete, Lograsso partakes in both local and national competitions. She has qualified in the top 50 worldwide in her age group for the last two CrossFit Opens, an annual occasion sponsored by Reebok. Last year, approximately 400,000 people from all over the world participated in the event.
Some of the best advice CrossFit Unwritten co-owner Ryan Scharf ever received came when he was a teenager: Make time for health now, or you’ll have to make time for disease later.
“I want people to understand CrossFit truly is for anyone. I understand that it can be intimidating, but I often tell people to not let that scare them off from giving it a try,” Scharf said. “The hardest thing you’ll do in CrossFit is walk through the door for the very first time.”
When Scharf works out, he is usually accompanied by family and friends. When they join him, the workout usually lasts about an hour.
“Being healthy and having a form of exercise you actually love is priceless,” he said. “At CrossFit Unwritten, if you go several days without showing up, you can expect texts and phone calls from people checking on you. We make it a point to know each other’s name and their kid’s names, their husband’s name and their wife’s name.”
Regina wants to make a few things abundantly clear to the Salem community. “We just want the hour a day that you spend with us to be all about you. Forget the worries of the day, the kids and your job. Just come in, have fun and get a great workout in. We are also a tight community, we call this place our fit family,” she said.
As indicated on the website, “CrossFit is the principal strength and conditioning program for many police academies and tactical operations teams, military special operations units, champion martial artists and hundreds of other elite and professional athletes worldwide. Our program delivers a fitness that is, by design, broad, general and inclusive. Our specialty is not specializing.”
For more information, visit crossfitunwritten.com.
