10 years in CrossFit

Honestly, I have started and stopped this particular blog about 6 times in roughly two years.  I have revamped it, and reworded it, trashed it all, restarted it, and repeated that again.  But the time has come to put it out there.  This summer will mark 10 years in CrossFit for myself and Lonnie.  We were introduced to it in 2006, shaped and molded by it so much so that 2 years later in 2008 we started this affiliate, and two years after that in 2010 left steady paychecks and benefits to purse and spread the brand of fitness that literally changed our lives.

This is my homage to Welbourn’s yearly “Lessons Learned.”  I have a great deal to be thankful for; and many reasons for happiness; but that doesn’t mean I cannot get pissed about things, and it certainly doesn’t mean I plan on stopping learning anytime soon.  I have been so affected by the right words at the right time over my life that a few powerful phrases changed my philosophy on whole topics.  That is how much of an impact well written words delivered when you needed them most can have.  Maybe as an owner, a coach, or an athlete some of these can change your mind as well.

I know the secret program to CrossFit success.

That program is not written by Outlaw, Invictus, MisFits, CompTrain, Power & Grace, BrUte Strength, Barbell WOD, or anyone else famous, it is written by YOU. It is called consistency.  3-5 times per week, 48 weeks out of a year, for years on end.  Consistency is the king.  Use consistency to master the basics, build higher skills, bring up weaknesses, and make strengths into wheelhouses.

Let’s look at the math.  A typical non-consistent adult trains twice a week, every other week.  So if you trained 2 times per week, for 30 weeks our of the year, that is 60 training sessions.  60 one hour training sessions out of 365 days available to you.  The vast majority of these people will see little to no results in indicators of health and dismiss exercise as not working for them.

A hard training consistent adult however, trains 5 times per week, taking off one week each of the four seasons.  That 5 times per week, over 48 weeks is 240 training sessions per year.  Over the course of 3 years that is 720 training sessions.

A box is not a coin.

It does NOT have be heads or tails.  Lately I have seen either boxes are promoted or grouped into either “community based” or “results based.”  Fucking stop it.  Community based boxes are stereotyped as having zero “competitors” and just regular people.  It only has den mother cheerleading style owners and coaches that program “classic CrossFit” and focus on the basics. No fancy olympic lifts or heavy days.  Results based boxes are stereotyped as having zero regular people and only “competitors.”  It has only hardcore owners that give zero compliments and zero fucks about you unless you already snatch 225 and have double digit muscle ups.

Just like life, there is a middle ground.  You can run, coach at, or attend a box that is driven by real results, holds the standard for things like range of motion, and still uses  training as the fire that forges your community.  As a coach or a owner you have the opportunity to both be relentless on holding your athletes to a standard that is universally taught at Level 1, 2, 3, & 4 CrossFit certs and AT THE same time give positive reinforcement to adults with praise.  It does NOT have to be one OR the other.

To steal a quote from Jacob Tsypkin  you can have an “Athlete at a low level of relative performance (that is to say they do not perform well against their peers in competition), but still be at a high level of personal development (that is to say that they have trained hard & smart for an extended period.”  So you can praise they work an athlete has done and celebrate each accomplishment along they way, and they can still not be very good at the sport of CrossFit (as measured by the Open or any local competitions).  Well I want to develop BOTH in my athletes.  I want everyone who comes in to have high levels of BOTH.  I want them to be able to perform well against their peers (open/masters/teens/male/female/weight class) and have a great deal of personal development while here with us.

 

Do what you expect from your athletes.

Stop being lazy.  If you expect your athletes to not skip their weaknesses in their fitness why do you avoid your weaknesses as a coach or a programmer?  Afraid to teach the snatch? Go out and learn how to do it and teach it.  Suck at teaching gymnastics? Reach out to a local gymnastics teach.  Don’t know why your people aren’t getting better? Mine your data, learn how to do it.  You have to embrace your weaknesses to get better.  Isn’t that what you preach to your athletes? Well then lead from the front hoss.  There is a reason why CrossFit has so many specialty certs, it is so you can shore up your weaknesses as a coach and programmer.  You have be willing to spend the money to get better and be around those who know more than you.

Stop taking the lazy way out, both stereotypes mentioned above.  If you feel you are more results based, try to reach more regular people.  Be more empathetic to new athletes.  Feel their plight about not finishing in the time cap (you put time caps on things right?).  Don’t be afraid to scale someone mid workout if they are struggling more than they should.

Don’t pretend you are an online programmer for Regionals/Games athletes if you aren’t one.  You are running a one hour class for 10-30 people, not setting up 5 hours of training for the Fittest on Earth.  Program stuff your affiliate athletes can do.  Stop trying out upgraded Regionals workouts on people who can’t do Fran Rx’d in 15 min.  Know the power of the stimulus you program, and don’t deliver such a powerful dose to people who can’t handle it.  Understand that not all people who want to compete move well, and not all people who move well want to compete.

If you feel you are more community based, hold the standard for the basics you program.  Make sure air squats hit depth, make pullups be CHIN above the bar, make chest to bar pullups or toes to bar have a PHYSICAL touch not to said bar not just “be close”.  Stop playing that stupid waiter game or tic tac toe or some other “fun” warmup and start doing a real warmup that goes from general to specific and serves a real purpose.  Stop people pleasing and letting people self scale, change or even skip movements they don’t like.  You are the coach, act like it.  They pay for your advice, expertise, and COACHING.  

Which do you ask of your athletes?

Blurred lines.

Just as we tell people not familiar with what we do that CrossFit blurs the line between strength and cardio, as a CrossFit coach or owner, CrossFit blurs the line between business and friendship.

As a coach if you look at the above math for consistent training, you have worked with an athlete for up to 240 out of 365 days.  So as a coach you have 60 more days with your athletes than public school teachers do with their students.

During that time you are not just giving them fitness instruction but building a bond with that person.  Just knowing a person’s name and where they work is not building a bond.  When people come to workout, they want to let out stress.  So they will talk, all you have to do is listen and hear.

You are finding out about not just their job, but listening to who they hate that their job and the things they hate about that job.  You will find out what taste in music they have, and what shows they like.  You will joke, you will laugh.  You will find out favorite sports teams, you can learn how they learn.  What they best respond too in terms of your own tone and instruction.

You will work with all types of people as coach.  We have worked with kids from age 10 to grandmothers and grandfathers in their late 60s.  We have had introverts and extroverts.  We have had people dealing with substance abuse, we have had people dealing with mental illness.  We have had people going through relationship issues.  Marriage, divorce, remarriage, dating, cheating.

We have seen all the issues with children as well.  From ADHD to chronic misbehavior issues, to grown children in their 20s and 30s dealing with many of the issues listed above.  We have seen it all & heard it all.  I cannot tell you how many times I have sat and listened to peoples problems long after classes were over and we were supposed to be closed.  I cannot even recount the number of phone conversations and text conversations about how to solve these problems or address those issues.

It is borderline impossible to deal with all of those things; and to be so intertwined in people’s lives and not forge real relationships and often real friendships with them.  I have made some of my best friends in our box.  I have also been more deeply wounded by those friends than any of my friends who I made in high school or college.  This is a business, and people leave.  This is the hard part though, at least for the owner or the coach.

It is unbearably hard to stay professional while everyone else is putting written verbal diarrhea all over Facebook/Instagram/Twitter about how this is why they are leaving and literally talking shit about you and your business to anyone and everyone who will listen.  Meanwhile, in the wake of the shit storm, that person probably never put half as much effort into bringing in friends or colleagues into your box as they did bashing it on the way out.

Everyone has shit going on.

Even though we try to treat everyone the same regardless of age, sex, and ability level and hold them to the same high standard we hold our selves too; people want to be treated special.  They want to believe that they are the apple of your eye, and that they are entitled to the most attention.  The truth is they are special, at least more special than someone in the general population.  To stay consistent with any fitness program for a consistent extended period of time (6-12 months) does make you special.  But if you try to please every single person, you end up pleasing no one.

People do not want to hear that everyone has shit going on.  That everyone is not the highlight reel you see on Facebook and Instagram.  That everyone has personal, financial, and spiritual struggles.  They want to believe that they are the only ones who are juggling 50+ hour work weeks, marriage/significant others, 2+children, commutes, parents in failing health, an animal who is sick/dying/has died, AND still find time to “get it in” at the gym.  They are, however,  not a special and unique snowflake.

You control the culture.

You cannot control the people who walk through your doors.  You can control however the people who stay in your doors.  All we really want from those who walk in the door is three things. Afford.  Commit. Care.

Afford.  Can they afford it? You are running a business after all.  If you want to keep that affiliate open, you need people who can keep the doors open.  Charge what you think you are worth, then ask yourself would you hire you? Would you train at your box?  If you eliminate FREE from your boxes vocabulary, you will see higher profit margins.

Commit.  Do you want to rent a person for a day? How about a month? How can you possibly impart all the knowledge that you want them to have in such a short amount of time? Especially if they are as inconsistent as we first talked about at the beginning of this blog.  I want athletes that are going to be here for a week as a trial, not a day.  I want an athlete that will be here for 3 or 6 months, not just one.  I want an athlete that will be here for 5 years, not one.  Clearly you have to lay the groundwork and deliver on your end to keep them committed, but you want repeat customers who are your best advertising.

Care.  Do they care? When is the last time they asked about how YOU were doing? If every conversation centers around them, their WOD, their training, their diet, their weaknesses, their personal problems, I’m going to go out on a limb and say they don’t care about YOU.

Do they care about your box? Have they ever referred a friend? A family member? Do they rep your brand? Praise the help you have given them to reach fitness goals?  If so good, that is the athlete I want.  I don’t want the athlete who pisses on the bathroom floor or leaves shit unflushed in the toilet.  Are they on time or habitually late?  If they don’t value my time, or the time of the other athletes who can show up on time, do you think they really care?

Do they care about your equipment?  Do they put equipment back in the proper place?  Or do they leave bars loaded on the floor post WOD along with boxes and wallballs strewn everywhere?  Do they leave pullup bands hanging for you to clean up after them like their mom did for them when they were little?

Do they drop empty barbells? If so do YOU have repercussions for them? We make everyone but the person who dropped the bar do 8 minutes of burpees.  We let the ire of the rest of the class teach them not to do that again.  Some places adults shouldn’t have any punishments for tardiness, equipment misuse, disrespect of coaches, or anything else.  Well I would guess those places have a lack of discipline in their athletes or a fear of instilling discipline from the owners and coaches.

Who stays in your box is a reflection the box culture.  What is cultivated in a box is how the majority of the athletes are.  If you cultivate and allow rep shavers, high squatters, non-overhead lockout-ers, whiteboard chasers, multiple Scaled competition winners (when you and they both know they are really Rx athletes), fake Open score enterers, and folks that always take the easy way out, then those people will populate your box.  Your athletes are a reflection of your box, your coaching, your programming.

You control who stays after they walk in your doors.  If they value the culture you offer, they will stay. A culture you created bit by bit, day by day, week by week, month by month year by year.  But if  you value hard workers, adults and youth willing to learn in your fitness classroom, people who log their training, take both direct coaching and praise, then you have to cultivate those things in your culture.  Your culture is dictated by deeds not words.  You cannot wish a culture into existence, it takes action from the coaches and owners first, trickles down to the athlete leaders, and permeates into the life blood of your affiliate.