CrossFit at home in New Zealand

Rihari Huriwai competes in the Mount CrossFit National Teams Competition held at ASB Arena over Labour Weekend. Photo / Joel Ford

It was not that long ago your friendly neighbourhood cult kept more or less to fawning in forests under the cover of night.

Those days were fine and simple, but they are gone.

A new "functional movement" has advanced and spread like wildfire through chapters called "boxes" dotting the full length and breadth of the land.

It works the way these things always have. A respective recruit goes once, is enchanted and begins behaving differently.

Then you never see them again.

Followers, ripped to shreds with perfect posture and marching under a banner of something called CrossFit, have again converged on Mount Maunganui for the Mount CrossFit Team Nationals.

Event director Tim Paton-Tapsell said it was too late to stop the movement and put no restrictions on how pervasive its influence could become.

"It's very addictive. They seem to have found the magic formula, in that it seems to fit the Kiwi physique of really going to extremes and pushing yourself really hard," said Paton-Tapsell.

"In the last two years it's really gone crazy.

"It started here about five years ago, but last year when we took it to this level there were 40 boxes in New Zealand and now there are over 90.

"There are now more boxes in Auckland than there is in Sydney - even though the sport has been in Australia for longer."

The numbers back up his claims. Team numbers are up on last year's 70 by almost 20 per cent, with devotees travelling from Australia and Thailand to take part.

Paton-Tapsell believed there were many reasons for the continued surge in interest.

"It's all in group classes, so while you're pushing yourself individually there is the whole dynamic of virtually dying on a daily basis with a group of people and you seem to form really close bonds.

"The culture of it is really special and the results ... anyone will tell you who has done CrossFit that they are getting better results physically, mentally and in terms of overall enjoyment.

"It's very open - anyone can do it. Some people when they see the elite guys can become a little bit scared of it, but you can scale everything that is done in a CrossFit box - absolutely anyone can do CrossFit."