Our gym originally started as an in home garage gym during the mid to late 80s for long time competitive weightlifters Dr. Roger Poppen (aka Rocky) and his wife Li.  Roger and Li both hold national and international titles in Olympic lifting (see their bio page here) and used their gym to prepare for competitions. Though still training, lifting and coaching at the age of 69 Roger has since retired from competition. In April of 2008 Rocky’s Gym was moved from Roger’s home in Cobden Illinois to its’ current location on Cedar Creek Rd just outside of Carbondale, Illinois about 4 miles from Southern Illinois University campus where it has been resurrected as CrossFit Carbondale, a world class strength and conditioning facility teaching the CrossFit method of fitness along with Olympic weightlifting.
 

Crossfit Carbondale is a 900 square foot garage gym; a strength and conditioning facility equipped for world-class training, in large part to provide refuge for our more athletic programming, which couldn’t find quarter in the established commercial gyms here in our area. We, as CrossFitters, want to fuel a revolution in fitness that advocates the pursuit of function by performing varied multi-joint movements at high intensity. We have rings, bumper plates, kettle bells and much more here at CrossFit Carbondale. All  the elements that are needed for any CrossFit workout. We teach you how to move your body not a machine .                                 

We believe that where you train is less important than how you train and that who you train with is what matters more than what gear you have. Our garage is as good an environment as any for forging elite fitness and our atmosphere is one of encouragement and camaraderie where becoming "crossfit" is earned.