Where do sneezers come from?

A tale of two workout techniques.

In today's Times (Getting Fit, Even if It Kills You - New York Times.) a story about crossfit.com. Here's the closing quote:

But for Mr. Glassman, dismissals of his extreme workouts merely help him weed out people he considers weak-willed. "If you find the notion of falling off the rings and breaking your neck so foreign to you, then we don't want you in our ranks," he said

His technique, apparently, is growing like crazy.

Compare this nutso approach with the practical vision of Fred Hahn. Fred wants you to lift weights once or perhaps twice a week, do it very very slowly and not hurt yourself. And it works.

So why does crossfit grow faster?

Because of cognitivie dissonance and because the stories are more fun to tell.

Because someone doing it needs to justify her behavior by talking about it.

Because the stories spread.

More often than not, ideaviruses start when the early adopters are dissatisfied with some element of the experience. Pleasing customers doesn't always lead to conversations. Delighting them, enraging them, hospitalizing them or surprising them--that's how sneezers are born.