Fit Beyond Expectation
Diablo CrossFit is one of the most recognized names in the CrossFit affiliate world. Founded in 2005, we have focused on our mission: “make our clients fit beyond expectation.” The result is an amazing gym with beautiful facilities, programs for beginners and experts, talented Coaches, a heritage of competition success, and most importantly, a fun, welcoming community of members.
We thrive on the amazing physical transformations of our every-day members who come to us to lose weight, get strong, train for an event, or simply improve their health, including first-time exercisers, weekend warriors, grandparents, stay-at-home parents, and students. And, we celebrate and learn from the incredible achievements of the many competitive athletes who also train with us.
CrossFit
Crossfit is a type of training that will make you stronger, fitter, tougher, more toned and build muscle across a wide range of different exercises. It uses varying degrees of intensity and timing in order to test your body in different ways. Crossfit is perfect for individuals who love a challenge, get bored by traditional routines, and enjoy learning new skills and want to look good, feel great and take pride in their health and fitness.
CrossFit uses functional full body exercises from weightlifting and gymnastics, along with running and other bodyweight movements. It is designed for universal scalability making it the perfect application for any committed individual regardless of fitness level, experience, age or ability.
Classes
Diablo offers more than 100 classes per week – far more than most other gyms. We also offer a variety of classes each day. Our locations are Open 7 days a week, including Sat 7AM – 1PM and Sun 8AM – 1PM in Pleasant Hill.
CrossFit
Our CrossFit classes always begin with a dynamic warm-up created by our experienced class coach. The warm-up is designed to gradually prepare you for the day’s workout. We included mobility exercises – targeted stretches – to help improve your range of motion prior to your workout. A CrossFit class at Diablo often includes strength or gymnastic training that is progressive each week. As your strength and fitness skills improve, you gain the ability to do more, aka, increased work capacity. Finally, our CrossFit classes always include a fun and challenging CrossFit workout (“metcon”) that will leave you feeling spent, and accomplished.
F!T
Diablo F!T is our high-intensity interval training (HIIT), bootcamp-style class. F!T is a cardo-style class with no barbells and no complex gymnastics. This class begins with a dynamic warm-up and mobility work and a longer conditioning workout that usually includes dumbbells or kettlebells, bodyweight exercises, rowing or stationary bike, and occasionally, some running. Your coach can substitute or scale any movement based upon ability, experience or physical limitations. This class is an impressive, calorie-burning, low-impact and high-heart rate, sweaty, fun experience.
Core & Accessory
Diablo C&A is an intense, 30-minute, core-strength training class that includes bodybuilding accessory work. C&A is a great complimentary class to Diablo’s F!T class. You’ll be doing planks, sit-ups, V-Ups, knee raises, bridge lifts, tricep extensions & bicep curls and a lot more. Diablo F!T class will help you tighten your core area and build strength in all the right places.
STRONG
Strong is our Olympic Lifting Class. Diablo has a dedicated Olympic Lifting area with 10 lifting platforms and professional equipment including Eleiko barbells and competition bumper plates. Our Strong Coaches are USAW Certified Olympic Lifting Coaches. Strong class is available on Tuesdays & Thursdays in the early morning, mid-morning and evening and on Saturday mornings. Diablo Strong class programming is scheduled in 6 week cycles, but members may start at any point in the cycle. of lifters with a willingness to commit to the process are welcome! #diablostrong
RX+
Diablo’s RX+ class is a 90 minute combination of strength training, advanced CrossFit and competition skill work. RX+ is ideal for athletes who want a little bit more than a standard CrossFit class. Expect to be challenged! Participants should have at least 2 years of CrossFit experience and be capable of completing all competition-standard movements – or know how to appropriately scale.
Teen Strong
Diablo’s Teen Strong class is a progressive, CrossFit-based, 6-week strength & conditioning program for 12 – 16 year-olds. This 3-days-a-week program is appropriate for boys and girls of all athletic and fitness abilities who are motivated to improve their general physical fitness, especially strength, speed, and endurance. Teen Strong is only scheduled in 6-week sessions. Athletes must register in advance and plan to attend all 18 classes.
On Your Own - Open Gym
Diablo has dedicated facilities – indoor & outdoor – and equipment for all of your open gym needs, including: CrossFit equipment, Spartan training, Strongman gear, stones, soft stones, jerk blocks, climbing ropes, sleds, and more. We offer Open Gym access 7 days a week for your accessory & strength training needs: Mon-Thu 5AM – 8:30PM, Fri 5AM – 7:30PM, SAT 8AM – 6PM and Sun 8AM – 4PM.
Facilities
12,000 Square Feet of Fitness in Pleasant Hill, including a large CrossFit main room, a weightlifting room with Eleiko barbells and an dedicated Open Gym training area. We have 4 showers, changing areas, lockers and a cool Pro Shop.
OPEN GYM ALL DAY! Access is crucial to maintaining any fitness program! Diablo’s facilities are open 7 days a week from early morning to late evening most days. Combined, we have more classes on our schedule than any other CrossFit in California.
TONS OF CLASSES! Variety and quantity of classes are the key to keeping fitness interesting and fun. Diablo offers more than 150 classes a week beginning at 5:00 am and ending at 9:00 pm during the week. Our locations are open on Saturdays & Sundays as well.
Programming
Fitness equals wellness. If you are injured, excessively sore or overly tired as a result of your exercise regime, then you are not “fit.”
The design of the Daily Workout is the MOST important difference between CrossFit boxes. CrossFit works, fast. But, more CrossFit does not equal better CrossFit. Excessive repetitive movements, improper scaling, or complex exercises under fatigue can leave people sore and possibly injured.
Diablo has been programming & tracking CrossFit workouts for clients since 2005. We have collected tens of thousands of results from members. Those results, along with ongoing client & Coach feedback has helped Diablo create incredibly effective workout programming for ALL of our clients, including our beginning members, our masters, our teens and top athletes.
Each month Diablo introduces new “progressions” for strength and gymnastic skills in addition to our CrossFit workouts. These progressions are programmed into our daily programming along with our CrossFit workouts for the month. By following progressions, our members improve – in strength and skill and CrossFit. Those improvements are reflected in the physical and fitness transformations of our members.
The quality of our workout programming is measured by the amazing results of our members. We encourage you to come in and talk to them – they enjoy sharing their success.
Coaches
Here, our coaches practice what they preach. Every single coach on our staff, including the owners, were doing CrossFit on their own before becoming a coach with Diablo. Our coaches know what the customer experience is like because they were all clients. They are passionate about fitness, nutrition and the CrossFit methodology. They constantly devour information, videos, books, and blogs on everything related to fitness, nutrition and CrossFit. They pursue new Certifications every year. They compete regularly in CrossFit competitions, triathlons, 10ks, marathons, and more. Learn more about our coaches on our Team page
Community
CrossFit is known for its supportive, welcoming and generous community. Attend any CrossFit event or visit a CrossFit affiliate anywhere in the world and you’ll find like-minded people eager to welcome you to CrossFit and share their experiences. Likewise, at Diablo, our community is incredibly welcoming and supportive – always willing to offer advice, coaching and encouragement. The Diablo community has become legendary at CrossFit events, dominating the crowds with chants of support for Diablo athletes.
History
Diablo CrossFit is a family owned business founded in 2005 and the 47th CrossFit Affiliate in the world (out of 14,000+). Owners Craig and Yvonne Howard have been married 33 years and are passionate about family, fitness, nutrition and CrossFit. They are deeply involved in the business and maintain competitive-level fitness – both have competed in the CrossFit Games multiple times as Masters Athletes, including a 1st place finish for Craig in 2013 (M50-54) and 7 Games qualifications for Yvonne in 2009 (Team), 2012, ’13, ’17, ’18, 22 & ’23!
Diablo began with 3 friends in a backyard in 2005 and moved to a small mechanic’s shed in Walnut Creek in ’06. We kept a “Karma Jar” on a shelf to help cover expenses and posted a blog with our daily workouts. And, when Diablo members started sharing their fitness and love for CrossFit, we grew – fast. We our members committed to us, we committed to them – their fitness, nutrition and health.
In 2009, Diablo CrossFit moved to a warehouse in Pleasant Hill, expanding rapidly with showers, a fully stocked Pro Shop, meal services, a dedicated Open Gym and Olympic Lifting area and, of course, more room to CrossFit.
Diablo’s amazing community grew from our “frontier” spirit: we ventured past the boundaries of traditional fitness gyms into the exciting wilderness of CrossFit and functional fitness. And, as the CrossFit world expanded and offered competitions to test fitness, many of our member athletes participated: and excelled. Many Diablo athletes and teams have participated in the CrossFit Games almost every year since its inception in 2017. Diablo CrossFit is a well-known name in the global CrossFit community as a result of the performance of our top athletes.
Most of our coaches began as members of Diablo CrossFit, converting their passion for fitness into coaching and leadership roles. They continually pursue excellence and practice what they preach.
Today, with chronic diseases overwhelming our Country and the world, CrossFit has dedicated itself to being the “lifeboat” – a cure for chronic disease. At Diablo, we intend to lead the way, by investing our knowledge, experience, and passion into an amazing CrossFit gym where lives are changed through fitness and nutrition.
