Patience or Performance…
In: Blog
7 Apr 2009You all know that i have been to many Crossfits across the country. To say the least they are different in many ways while being very similar as well. I have noticed a specific distinction and would like to discuss it today.
The biggest difference i noticed between gyms was not what was in it. I noticed a bigger distinction by listening to the trainer talk about their clients. There were two catagories:
The one that talked about their beasts and fire breathers. These gyms had a much more competitive feel and had the potential to be intimidating for the less timid. The emphasis was placed on performance. I saw more of a break down in form because of the ceompetitive nature of the gym. People seemed to only care about winning.
The other one talked about the clients they are most proud of. For example the 75 year old guy that trains 3 days a week with CJ at Crossfit Invictus. I find that there is a more accepting and free atmosphere at these gyms. There is much more team work and support for everyone that walks in the door. I get a good vibe from the atmosphere and really dig the community in these gyms.
I think a gym is sent in a certain direction by its leader. Have you created a nurturing, fun community?
Post to comments what you see in your Crossfit community.
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8 Responses to Patience or Performance…
Syn
April 7th, 2009 at 11:40 am
Good question. I know because my team is based on sweat equity I base my group on the willingness to try and try again. My motto is “if you show no matter what the workout is I will make it worth your time”.
My Team loves each other we joke do outings and I take a lot of time to encourage when necessary and push when I feel its necessary.
What has sparked me to comment was I have had the hardest time starting a beginner team ad I know its because I have set a high standard and now sometimes I feel like I have crated this competitive monster Team that’s all they want is to see fear in others eyes and blood on the floor. So I will steer the ship into one of inviting atmosphere.
dutch
April 7th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Syn,
I loved your crew and really had a blast with them. After hearing them talk, i echo your sentiment about getting newbies into the group. I don’t think you have anything to worry about. Whoever does join you will surely stick with ya’ll for the long term.
Amie
April 7th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
Yesterday, I got to experience CrossFit Gone Bad, and it was my own fault. I bit off more than I could chew, trying to stick to the main site WOD. The pullups nearly broke me. I was so incredibly frustrated and mad, and I hit a certain point where I wanted to quit, but I had gotten too far in, and quitting just wasn’t an option. I got so mad, I started crying in the middle of the 12-round of pullups because I was so frustrated and tired. I snapped at Ryan, who was trying to help, and I was so beat down at that point, there wasn’t anything he could say that would have made me feel better. Dutch tried to help me debrief afterwards of what would have made it better, and I cried again (and I’ve never gotten that frustrated with a WOD that it made me cry!). Once I walked around the block a couple of times, I was able to debrief with Dutch and learned quite a bit in those few minutes we talked (thank you Dutch!).
Point is, I know I’ve found a good box when the guys tried to rally me to keep going, and they don’t give me a hard time about being a “girl” about any of it. It’s cool to have an environment where it’s ok to fail, because when you make mistakes and fail at anything is the opportunity to learn the most (that’s how I set up my classroom!). Even though I felt so defeated from that WOD, I think I learned more yesterday than I have in a long time, and it’s thanks to Dutch, Ryan and Erik.
(PRd shoulder press today at 90#, so that felt good to come back
dutch
April 7th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
Anytime Girl!!
Syn
April 8th, 2009 at 10:20 am
Thanks for that comment Dutch. It means a lot!
The team all gave me a hard time when they saw the trailer for the movie and saw you were in it and they were like “why didn’t you tell us” and I said “you didn’t even ask me who he was”?
I thought it was kinda cool that they didn’t try to impress you, they just treated you like you were part of the team.
I am glad you had a blast.
Chad Cilli
April 13th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
I like this blog. Good topic, good question. I think we have both in our gym.
We have a couple guys fighting for the top spot who are willing to do anything to gain an edge, and I see form break down repeatedly. They are interesting to watch. Always trying to one up each other and sometimes overly competitive. At first, they appear supportive of one another, but I’d say they are definitely jealous and have left the gym rather hastily upon finishing with a less than competitive time.
We have a couple guys who are super strict on form, but bring an intensity above all others. They are willing to die during a wod, and they actually tend to hold our gym records. There is a great deal of respect among these individuals, and almost a certain level of disdain towards the “time obsessed form optional” group.
And then we have alot of what I call recreational Crossfitters. They choose this as their fitness program, but aren’t obsessed with getting top scores or competing with others. They are extremely supportive of one another, and they celebrate others’ successes. They do a great job, and I love to tell everyone about how much progress they have made. Case in point, one young lady has doubled her back squat from 50 to 100, another one of our girls lost 10 pounds and is doing full pushups, and one of my guys PR’d on every lift in his CFT today.
It’s almost an experiment in sociology to see how they interact as well. My wanna be firebreathers stick together, my super stricts are each other’s biggest fans, and my recreational CFers are all friends. It’s almost like I’m coaching 3 different classes at once.
dutch
April 14th, 2009 at 7:42 am
That is very interesting Chad. Do you ever do team workouts and mix the groups? That could be interesting to watch.
Thanks for checking out the blog.
Chad Cilli
April 15th, 2009 at 9:04 am
We have a few team wods here and there, and the groups do get mixed up on occassion when attendance is lacking, but when we have a full gym, the groups form up again. It’s not like high school or something where they all stay to themselves, but you can quickly see the friendships between the different groups when people are hanging out before and after a wod.
We would eventually like to offer more class times and actually have them separated by ability level. I think the more “intense” and aggressive athletes intimidate the recreational CFers once in a while, and for some of our members we don’t even keep time because simply completing a series of movements is such a challenge to them, that we’re measuring their progress by how many reps they are doing and with what modifications.
We just started training a minor pro football team this week, so it should be very interesting to see how they play into the mix.