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About Us

William “Bill” Crawford –

2012 NFHOF Inductee

2023 NFHOF "Lifetime Achievement Award" Recipient

“Pioneer in Modern Fitness”

Born: September 3, 1953

Hometown: Ouray, Colorado

Website: www.BasicTrainingScottsdale.com






Bill Crawford has been a leader and visionary in fitness since 1977. In 2012, Bill was inducted into the National Fitness Hall of Fame for his lifelong contributions and was elected to chair the board in 2015. In 2016, Bill represented the NFHOF in Washington D.C. at the Surgeon General's Call to Action for the "Step it Up" Program in collaboration with the American College of Sports Medicine, ACE, MFA, and others. This historic event featured former US Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, the 18th Surgeon General of the United States, Vivek Murth, the 19th Surgeon General of the United States, along with leadership from Congress, the health care system, and the fitness industry.

Bill was trained for musculoskeletal evaluation and rehabilitation at the Exercise Science Center, University of Florida in Gainesville, and was personally trained by the late Arthur Jones, inventor of Nautilus and MedX. Over the past 39 years, Bill has provided fitness training for thousands, exercising muscles in isolation to muscle failure with equalized resistance through the full range of motion using a safe and effective protocol. You may have seen his national TV ads for the Resistance Chair, his features on CNN and Fox News, or read his stories in countless publications. Bill is a recognized fitness columnist, consultant, lecturer, and educator. His fitness program with the U.S. Navy led to the development of his iPhone app: Gym-To-Go and GymToGo.com, featured in Men’s Fitness magazine. Bill has trained major sports teams, athletes and Hollywood celebrities and developed careers of many fitness professionals.

Bill was born and raised in the rugged mountain town of Ouray, Colorado where being fit is incidental to the environment. He spent his youth competitive skiing, hiking and climbing fourteen thousand foot mountains. Bill has received numerous accolades as a longtime community leader in municipalities across the country investing valuable time serving in law enforcement, public safety, search and rescue, boards, committees, and volunteer organizations.

Bill has owned and developed fitness centers around the world. Since 1997, Basic Training has been located in Scottsdale, Arizona and is owned and operated by Bill and his wife Debbie.  Today the Crawford’s clients enjoy their dedication to personal service and state-of-the-art cardio and MedX equipment.  Their knowledge and motivational skills help people attain their fitness goals.  There is no substitute for decades of Bill’s practical experience and expertise.  Bill continues to promote fitness worldwide.

For more info visit: www.BasicTrainingScottsdale.com

William "Bill" Crawford

Basic Training MedX

4390 N. Miller Road, Ste C-107

Scottsdale, AZ 85251






Passport Required to Exercise? 

During this critical time in history, the fitness industry is once again challenged by overreaching officials.  Now we must stand up and defend our rights and the rights of our clients and members. Remember way back in the early days of fitness when the medical community fought hard against weight resistance exercise? They believed and warned that lifting weights would ruin your joints and you would become muscle bound. They said it would lead to heart damage and would compromise your overall health, which put high intensity exercise in a bad light. Do you remember how hard we worked to change the narrative and provide evidence to change the thinking of the medical community so the medical benefits of weight resistance exercise would be appreciated and endorsed by healthcare professionals? We succeeded to the point where not only was exercise accepted, but it was endorsed by presidents, doctors, healthcare providers, the CDC and the WHO. Health insurance companies and companies that self-insured went so far as to offer incentives and discounts to people who work out because fit populations require fewer medical procedures. We learned that fit people cost the healthcare systems less money. 

The sleeping anti-exercise giant has raised its ugly head again. We should be very concerned about the latest overreaching draconian selective attack on fitness. New York City will now require proof of vaccination to work out in a fitness center or gym. This panicked overreaction to a manageable problem is sure to spread across the nation. Alarmingly, this nonsensical, illogical effort punishing a person for their personal choice to medical care is targeting the segment of the population most likely to resist the shot. Keeping these health conscientious people out of fitness centers and gyms will deprive them of the valuable therapy of boosting their immune system and maintaining health and mobility through weight resistance exercise, which to them is critical. 

This is also a kill-shot to the fitness industry, still recovering from the consequences of the Covid-19 shut-downs of 2020. We, as an industry, must stop being a victim of ignorance and control and rise to leadership by asserting facts above ideology and politics.

Everyone in the healthcare profession knows the value of exercise and the devastating consequences of what happens when people don’t exercise. Deconditioned populations result in a cascade of negative physiological consequences including lowering the body’s resistance to viruses of all types including Covid-19. The thought of closing people’s access to the valuable medical benefits of exercise facilities is unthinkable. 

Unvaccinated does not mean infected. As with many other policies concerning this issue, closing fitness centers and gyms to people who choose alternative healthcare does not stand up to logic. We know better and our clients and members know better.  Collectively, the fitness industry can message millions. This is a fight worth fighting. 

~ Bill Crawford - National Fitness Hall of Fame Inductee 2012 

  • 45 Year Fitness Industry Leader, Fitness Center Owner, Operator and Trainer of Thousands
  • Former Chairman of the Board, National Fitness Hall of Fame
  • Resistance Exercise Conference Arthur Jones Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient 2019
  • Represented the NFHOF at the US Surgeons General’s “Step It Up” Fitness Program

Please let us know what you think about this. Send comments and concerns to nationalfitnesshalloffame@gmail.com



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