Kevin Ogar’s Business Success Goes Back to CrossFit’s Beginnings

Kevin Ogar shares two stories that illustrate the reason for his success in business and life. 

-Hilary Achauer

Kevin Ogar began doing CrossFit in 2007, the year of the first CrossFit Games at Dave Castro’s family ranch in Aromas, California.

Now, 17 years later, Kevin is the owner and head coach at CrossFit WatchTower in Englewood, Colorado and the co-owner, head coach, head judge, and competition director at WheelWOD, which offers adaptive programming for gyms, individuals, and adaptive competitions. He’s also on the CrossFit Level 1 Seminar Staff and works as an affiliate rep for CrossFit, helping CrossFit gym owners run successful businesses. 

In the almost 10 years he’s owned CrossFit WatchTower, Kevin has learned that while advertising and marketing can be helpful, the most important thing he’s done to keep his business thriving is focus on what CrossFit founder Greg Glassman said were the keys to success: the CrossFit methodology and the community.

Methodology
+
Community
=
Success

Kevin’s absolute focus on the methodology of CrossFit comes from personal experience. Not only his own story of becoming paralyzed from the waist down in 2014 and continuing to coach and compete in CrossFit, but also stories from his friends in the adaptive community.

One of these stories comes from Chris Stoutenburg — a Paralympic champion, owner of CrossFit Indestri, and the founder of WheelWOD. 

Chris has been in a wheelchair for 25 years. One of the challenges of suffering a spinal cord injury is the bone loss and osteoporosis that results from years in a wheelchair. After his injury, the doctors told Chris that within 10 years he was going to become osteoporotic with weak, brittle bones. 

In early 2024 Chris broke his femur after a spasm caused his leg to get stuck between the bed and the ground. When he was in the hospital the doctors checked his bone density and found that after 25 years in a wheelchair his bone density in his legs is still five to 10 percent higher than average. 

“We can credit that 100 percent to CrossFit putting weights on our laps and making ourselves move and lift weights,” Kevin said.

Usually, when someone in a wheelchair gets a spiral fracture like Chris experienced, they have to amputate because the bones are so brittle they can’t repair the leg. However, even after more than two decades in a chair, the doctors were able to operate on Chris’ leg and fix the break. 

“He had surgery last week,” Kevin said, “and he was back on the SkiErg yesterday. I think that speaks to the power of the methodology.”

As for the power of community, the WheelWOD Games team told Kevin about an athlete who came to them with an astonishing story. 

This year a young man came to the WheelWOD Games with a plan to commit suicide when he got home. He felt alone and without purpose and didn’t know anybody else in a wheelchair. He didn’t know there were people who loved fitness and competing as much as he did. 

“He had it all planned,” Kevin said, “he was ready to go.”

Then, after competing in the Games and seeing hundreds of other athletes like himself, he changed his mind. 

“I'm not going through with it,” the young man told the WheelWOD Games team member. “I found my community,” he said. “I didn't know I was looking for CrossFit, but this is what I was looking for and it just saved my life.”

These two stories are examples of what Kevin focuses on when he puts energy into his gym and the adaptive community. 

“The two big things that CrossFit provides are the methodology and the community,” he said, “and I don't think you can find two better examples than stories.”

About Author, Hilary Achauer

Hilary is a renowned fitness business writer, marketing content writer, and journalist. She’s written content for start-ups, entrepreneurs, executive coaches, wellness providers, gyms, and CrossFit. Her focus is always on telling the best story with a clear, compelling style and being able to engage readers, bring in new customers, or build an audience.