10 Years of Lessons Learned

Here are some lessons we have learned over the past ten years of operating a CrossFit affiliate, as an owner, as a coach, and as an athlete.

Have a philosophy.

You should already have one for your life, but you must have a framework on how you will run your business.  Have a framework for how you will run your affiliate.  Set the tone, and hold the tone.  You can learn from mistakes, evolve, and adjust your philosophy over the years; but if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.

Set boundaries.

It is one thing to be accessible, it is another to have clients intrude on your family life.  We have had past clients literally freak out and come to our house because they thought they were unfriended on Facebook when my wife turned her Facebook off.  How insane is that? Over a perceived slight, not even a real one.  So we advise only giving out your cell phone to a few people who have proven themselves not batshit crazy, as opposed to every new client you get at your facility.

You want to communicate? Setup Facebook groups for your gym.  Don’t answer work text messages, calls, or Facebook or Instagram messages during non-work hours.

Go through sexual harassment and racism training with your staff.  Make sure your clients know there is a line as well, and do not be afraid to terminate their membership if a line is crossed. The line is thinner in 2018, we all know Dave Chapelle is the funniest comedian on the planet, but Jeff Foxworthy can’t tell his jokes on stage.

“To thine own self be true.”-Socrates

You can be whatever type of affiliate you want.  All affiliates are businesses, and businesses must make money to stay open.  All liquor stores sell booze.  But the owner dictates the type of liquor store they become.  You can make all your money selling cigarettes, Keno, and Mad Dog 20/20 or Wild Irish Rose.  You can also make all your money being a fine spirits liquor store.  You can sell hard to find wines and whiskies.  Your staff can tell “novice” drinkers the difference between scotch and bourbon, as well what type of wine goes with which type of foods.

The same is true with an affiliate.  You control the culture.  You control whether or not you make all your money with cut rate prices and open gym all day, or you make money with structure, reason, and delivering on results.  Your staff can just start a clock and say “3,2,1, GO!” or your staff can expound on what and why you are doing a movement or what you are trying to achieve with said movement.

Learn the two most important “C’s”

Consistency & complacency.  Strive for consistency.  The compound effect is amazing.  You gotta sign up and show up to win.  Complacency kills.  Get complacent, get lazy, and you will soon see the terrible decline in whatever you are doing.

It’s a copycat league.

All the best books have already been written and all the best songs have already been sung.  Everything else is just a retelling and a revision of the same old stuff.

Imitation is the highest form of flattery.  Do you ever notice all the same themes and trends happening at the same time? You run a special, competitor runs a special.  You start CrossFit Kids, competitor starts CrossFit Kids.  You start a powerlifting/weightlifting team, competitor starts a powerlifting/weightlifting team.  You start offering Yoga, competitor starts offering Yoga.  You run a nutrition challenge, competitor runs a nutrition challenge.  You post on Instagram about seniors/moms/pregnant women/kids working out at your facility, competitor posts on Instagram about seniors/moms/pregnant women/kids working out at thier facility.

Don’t get butthurt, just run your stuff better.  Better classes, better coaches, better value, better Facebook page, better Instagram, better Twitter, better blog, better equipment, better facility, better community, better results.

Don’t chase trends.

We have been around for all the en vogue things.  Kelly Starrett was the mobility master before RomWod.  Again Faster used to be better than Rogue, now they are not in business.  Everyone wanted to train like Mikko Salo.  Progenex was the only supplement CrossFitters should take.  Our coaches were around and took courses when Mark Rippetoe, Robb Wolf, Jeff Martin, Greg Everett, and John Welbourne were CrossFit SME’s (subject matter experts); before they were kicked out or deaffiliated from CrossFit.

Trends are based on that they are the best, that they rule.  Percentage work rules.  Linear progression rules.  RPE rules.  Zone rules.  Paleo rules.  Carb backloading rules.  Having fun is better than having results.  Make sure a trend is sound before you throw all your weight behind it.

Keep what works for you, disregard the rest.  You can always revisit it.  What was old is new again.  Trends are circular.  The pendulum will swing back the other way given enough time.  Most of the time anyways, the real answer is somewhere in the middle.  If you are steadfast in your philosophy, you don’t have to pricematch everyone else, or copy everyone else, your goal should be the trend setter, not the trend follower.  

Excel at something.

Hang your hat on something.  If you are an affiliate, a coach, or an athlete, dominate something.  Know something in and out.  Be the smartest person in the room, and when you become the smartest person in the room, find a better room with smarter people and repeat the process.

The level 2 coaching guide grades coaches on: teaching, seeing, correcting, group management, presence and attitude, and demonstration.  So if you are a coach and you cannot teach a movement, you likely cannot demonstrate it well, and likely cannot see the faults or correct them, so you better be able to manage the hell out of your group, have your logistics locked down for the class, and have a banging presence and attitude.

I once asked my friend Jerry Hill how he became such a good coach.  His response was amazing.  He said “Do you know how they teach the FBI to catch counter-fitters? They study the mint for all the bills.  So they know what a perfect bill looks like.  And when they see something that doesn’t match the mint, they instantly know what the problem is and where it is located.”  That, my friends, is excelling at something.  Knowing absolute perfection.

If you are an athlete, there are several areas you can excel in CrossFit at: strength, motor, gymnastics, and mental toughness.  The most likely know which of those best fit you.  Then pick one aspect/movement of those four to dominate.  Let yourself shine in The Open or whatever local competition you go to.

Learn to love data.

You get data nonstop from your senses every waking hour.  If you know how to listen, and know what to look for, you can use it to make people better.  Since you know we all love data, here is Southern Maryland CrossFit by the numbers:

Total hours of CrossFit classes coached: 19,604 hrs.

Total current CrossFit affiliates worldwide: >5,000

Total unique workouts programmed (not counting individual scaling or modifications): 2,340 workouts

Total posts on this blog (to date): 1,025 posts

Total athletes who have ever had a paid membership here: 605

Total CrossFit affiliates worldwide in 2008: <500

Total coaches we have had: 12

Athletes who went on to a career in fitness after we impacted them: 9

Athletes qualified for USAPL Raw Nationals: 6

Total locations we have been in: 3

Athletes who have stood on a podium at USAPL Raw Nationals: 2

Maryland facilities with CrossFit affiliation, USAPL club, & USAW club: 1 (hint: it’s us)

Times we have wavered from our vision: 0

All of that data, 10 years of work, and yet we realize we are only good, not excellent.    That we have much more growth in us, that the best times are in front of us, not behind us.  We are confident, not cocky.  We are proud, yet humble. We believe in deeds not words.  To the next decade. . . . .