Hey man -- I'm pretty anti-gym (even though I loved bench-pressing and some assorted barbell work 30 years ago - cause I had time on my hands and there was no internet to waste it on LOL)... and I do think they're as much vanity as anything.

... but, common, almost all fitness people are in a hobby once they fit in normal size clothes for their height and can rake their lawn and carry a heavy bag of groceries.

I'm kinda aiming to look like Superman for a bit .. that's a hobby as much as the cross-fit guys.

I've gotta think the crossfit guys would be a fair bit better at real world stuff like filling sandbags building a dike for flood waters than the guys that don't do crossfit ... probably better at that than most body-builders ?

I mean.. filling and lugging and moving sandbags for 3 hours seems to me like the ultimate utlity fitness (or working a fireline with shovels .. or carrying a heavy load of crap moving camps for your tribe ... etc)

So... I've never done crossfit, but I bet they're actually building some sorts of endurance stregnth ... ... at least a type no worse than any other hobby.

I gotta think mountain bikers and rock climbers are a bit more cool if you want to go the more hipster way ... at least they're outside in beautiful places and using some real skill .. but hell some people like stamp collecting and some people are motor-head amateur drag racers .... all good with me