For nearly two years now, my friends have given me an earful about Crossfit at every opportunity they have had. Pretty much everyone had their own go-to joke they used when a friend would ask me what I squat or deadlift, snatch or clean and jerk, etc.

My favorite one was used daily by a baseball teammate of mine who, when referencing Crossfit would say, "It's a cult — I mean lifestyle," which actually comes from a video he showed us that mocked Crossfitters. (In his defense, the video was pretty humorous). Despite the lighthearted tone with which that line was usually uttered, he somewhat had a point.

A cult is defined by Merriam-Webster as "a small religious group that is not part of a larger and more accepted religion and that has beliefs regarded by many people as extreme or dangerous," and although pieces of this definition are fitting, a cult in its entirety doesn't do the Crossfit community justice. It simply isn't the right word.

There is no religious affiliation within Crossfit as most know, even though there are athletes that go to the box religiously. Instead of a cult, we are more of a family. Whether you go to a huge box or have your own garage gym, the sense of community is second to none in a world that is growing increasingly cold and developing an everyone for themselves mentality.

Not only are recreational athletes supportive of one another as they cheer each other on to finish the workout, but the elite athletes that compete on the sport's biggest stages, the Regionals and Games, also cheer each other on after they finish. When was the last time you a football player cheer for his opponents in the middle of the game or a golfer in the clubhouse hope that the rest of the field birdies the last three holes?

Cult does a further disservice to the Crossfit community by alluding to it being small: because it's anything but. Just take a gander at their Facebook page. It has over 2.5 million likes. In addition, over 300,000 athletes registered for the Crossfit Open this year, too. That's not that small. From this five weeks long competition, top performing individuals are able to qualify for Regionals, but in most boxes around the globe, the Open is an opportunity for the entire community to come together and suffer and rejoice while finishing Dave Castro's latest concoction of snatches and muscle ups or thrusters and burpees. At least this year he partook in the pain of the final workout after announcing it to the world.

In nearly two years of doing Crossfit, I have learned that fitness can unite all walks of life and that cardio can actually be fun. At the end of the day, it really isn't a cult, it's a family.