Blog
Firing Clients at Your Gym
“Firing Clients” is a part of running a great community. If you don’t pull the weeds out of the garden, they will choke the harvest of awesome humans you are growing.
That said, it is never easy. Many times, these clients have many friends at the gym, and if you come at it the wrong way, it can turn ugly, fast (rumors, bad reviews online, etc.).
First and Foremost
This should always be a private one-on-one discussion in person. Email and phone may make it ‘easier’ for you, but it will almos…
What Programming Can and Can't Do for Class Experience Part 2
In Part 1, I talked about how the programming and the coaching come together to create the experience that the clients are signing up for. Here in Part 2, I give an example of how the same workout can be delivered in two different extremes.
Here is a workout first put out by CrossFit.com June 27, 2013 and performed by tens of thousands of athletes (and programmed by many gyms). Beyond the Whiteboard has roughly 5,500 entries on this workout, and that is just a small fraction of the people who…
What Programming Can and Can't Do for Class Experience Part 1
As more and more gyms start to realize that good programming takes time, we are starting to see many come around to the idea of hiring experts to provide the best results while saving the time and the headache of always worrying about the programming.
That said, I haven’t seen enough discussion on where the lines between good programming and good coaching cross, and what each can and can’t do.
To put it simply:
A great program administered poorly is just as bad as terrible programming with …
CrossFit Open 17.5 Breakdown, Tips, and Cardio in a Full Body Cast
Another week were just about everyone called it! I was really hoping we’d see ring muscle ups again and maybe some shuttle runs or ‘bootlegger burpees’. I guess we’ll have to wait until next year!
And if you are still struggling with stringing double unders together, maybe after you lacerate yourself 300+ times in this workout you will actually listen to your coach and start practicing them a few times per week.
Video Overview:
Overall
This workout will b…
CrossFit Open 17.4 Breakdown, Tips, and Shorties
Ah... we finally get the repeat!
I am going to post my recommendations from last year below. Here is a brief video with a couple updates:
This year's HSPU standard is slightly different with the box on the ground again. I am not really sure why they brought it back since we have the line on the wall! Personally (being 6' 4" or so), I liked being able to go a bit wider with my hands and not having to worry about the lines.
Looking back at my tips from la…
CrossFit Open 17.3 Breakdown and Tips -
Chest to bars? I feel bad for those people who tore their hands last week! Another great workout though. I love workouts that get progressively heavy/hard so that more people can participate, and the real ‘go getters’ have to work hard to separate from the pack. I also think it is pretty cool that you can have ‘friends’ load your next bar for!
(Notes on the pacing chart below)
Video:
Overview:
The workout may seem pretty confusing for some, so maybe I ca…
CrossFit Open 17.2 Breakdown, Farm Boys, Scale or Not, Not Letting Yourself Down
Open 17.2 is here!
I learned a long time ago that ‘farm boy’ strength meant a strong grip and a strong back (and there aren’t people that are more functionally strong than farm boys). This workout will really reward those people who have been doing workouts (like Thrivestry) that create strong grips and strong backs!
I do have to say that I am pretty happy with this workout. It is still ‘approachable’ for many people. The tie breakers will allow people who…
CrossFit Open 21.2 Breakdown, Tips, and Pacing Guide (17.1 Updated)
21.2 is a repeat of 17.1!
I've made a few updates to the original recommendations based upon what we saw in 2017. For the most part, the information holds up really well! (My video skills not so much. Haha).
Use the PDF pace charts to help you get your best score. Open 17.1 pacing chart A - Super Humans.pdf
Open 17.1 pacing chart B - Mortal Humans.pdf (if you know you won't make it until the end).
Open 17.1 pacing chart C - Complete Chart.pdf (hard to read, but it has it all)!
Enjoy! -jj
…Are you building as much community as you can without wasting time? Circle Questions and Ice Breakers
Hey Everyone!
(Read Time: 3:30)
Are you using ‘circle questions’ or ‘ice breakers’ in your classes?
Some gyms make it an everyday thing, others may make it more sporadic, but if you aren’t using them at all you are missing out on a huge opportunity!
Most people think of ice breakers when it comes to building bonds between strangers and avoiding the awkward invisible ‘ice’ that seems to keep people from getting to know each other. As we coaches get to know our members more intimately, and t…
2016 CrossFit Open Summary with Performance Data
The CrossFit Open is just about here! Here is a summary of the workouts to date:
The shaded workouts are ones that have been repeated (or very similar ones repeated as in the case of 12.2/3 and 13.1).
Every year they have repeated at least one workout. If I had to predict which workouts were likely to show up it would be:
- 2012: 12.3,
- 2013: 13.4, 13.5 (the ‘FranRap’)
- 2014: 14.3 (DL increasing and Box Jump), 14.4 (row, t2b, wb, p clean, mu)
- 2015: 15.1, 15.4, 15.5 (row thruster)
- 2016: 1…