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Cheating reps, fixed mindset, and ego. (Read time: 6:44)

Members shaving or cheating reps is always going to be a factor when recording scores. But why? Why is it that some people are known to ‘fudge’ and others don’t seem to care at all?  What does it say about someone that doesn’t like to record their numbers?

Fixed Mindset vs Growth Mindset

As educators and coaches we should be intimately familiar with the growth mindset. We know that if we put in the effort at the gym, we will get bette…

We all know that client reviews and testimonials can be an important part of growing the business, but leaving an awesome review isn’t generally at the front of a client’s mind when they have been with you for months or years. (Read time 2:37)

When I get a nice note or comment from a member I'll say "Thank You! Actually, do you know what would be a huge favor? If you could leave a review on Yelp or google or whatever. We want to let the world know how much we helped you!"  (or something to th…

"Iron sharpens iron." (Read Time 4:11 plus an optional 12:00 video)

How do we leverage our enthusiastic competitors to make each other better and create community chemistry that benefits the gym?

(Photo From Thrivestry Gym: Ascendence)

Great training partners can go a long way in people's progress and long term motivation.  In many cases, having people to train beside and push you on a 'good' program will surpass a lonely individual on a 'great' program that was custom designed for them.

Ano…

(Read Time: 2:44)

The CrossFit Journal Interviewed a couple of you about programming and made an article out of it! ! Click here for the PDF

Emily actually interviewed me as well, but since it made me a contributor (and she has quoted me in articles in the past), she didn’t want this to look like an ad for Thrivestry.

Jan does a great job of talking about the benefits of outsourcing the programming, but more interestingly is Josh who hadn’t pulled the trigger on the programming yet.  Fai…

(Read Time: 3:48)

I was on a forum for gym owners recently and the subject of ‘corporal punishment’ came up for people coming late or leaving equipment out, i.e. making people do burpees as penance. The replies were pretty split down the middle, but it definitely seemed like the more veteran owners had figured out that shaming people and punishing them isn’t usually the best strategy. I thought it was a good point of discussion for what the difference between being an adult’s Coach/Mentor/Ins…

Now that the dust has settled and the some of the torn hands have healed, I figured it is a good time to do a 'round up' post of a lot of the coaching that went into the CrossFit Open this year.  If you guys were following along week to week, none of the below stuff will be new (other than a few comments here at the top).

(Summary of the Open Workouts above)

As in previous years, I'll be programming throughout the year for we've found is best for long term retention, coach-ability, relations…

As coaches of group based fitness, we will always have large audience to please. One of the most vocal groups seems to be the people who always seem to want 'longer metcons'.

The longer workout debate with clients will always be an issue as long as the prevailing wisdom is ‘longer is better’ and ‘no pain, no gain.’ (Read more about “Exersubmissives” here). Hopefully some of the stuff I talk about below will help arm you all as coaches as you encounter this, and help clients get the most out o…

I am always surprised by how many “life” lessons can be applied to work and business. I am sure that this correlates directly to the fact that businesses and customers are generally comprised of actual humans… but I do think there are some principles that represent this more than others. 

A great article that came up on my feed was one from Lifehacker about  “The Biggest Wastes of Time We Regret When We Get Older”.  As I worked my way through it, it struck me that these ideas are VERY true fo…