First off, thank you so much for all of your feedback and input, it is greatly appreciated and will all be taken into consideration. We are here to try and best meet the needs of each and every member of this gym from all areas, crossfit, yoga, group fitness, and recreational lifters alike, after all we are all part of the lifetime community. One thing i have gathered from this great discussion is the sentiment that there is separation between the "crossfitters" and the other club members, which quite frankly i hate too see, because of the fact that we are all members at lifetime to exercise. Although we do believe in the system of crossfit, and enjoy crossfit as a sport, there are many other opinions, goals, levels, and philosophies to which even if i disagree, everyone is free to per sue their fitness in whatever way they want. There for I see no reason to judge anyone or think lesser of them for playing basketball, doing curls, yoga, zumba, or even just not competing in crossfit, and that is something that i would never encourage and would hope that our great coaches and members wouldn't either.
One major thing that has come up is the idea of dividing into level 1 or level 2 classes to help decrease class size and make classes less intimidation or competitive. I can honestly say that we have discussed this multiple times but continually come back to the same conclusion. First off, how would we separate people into classes, after all, who am i to judge someone's fitness and goals? Second, crossfit is defined as inclusive, meaning anyone at any fitness level can do the same workout. For instance i could workout next to my grandma and do the same workout, its just a question of how much we scale, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with scaling. If we divide into beginner and advance, we eliminate this concept. Lastly, one of the greatest things about crossfit is the aspect of community and how it can help everyone grow. By dividing classes, we would just be dividing the community and eliminating the growth from beginners learning and getting challenged by the advanced, and the more advanced, getting better from having to learn the basics in more depth with the beginners. Instead of looking at the intimidation, we should try to see the opportunity in training with athletes that challenge us, after all, that in itself will feed improvement. So i encourage everyone to take that perspective and help one another out , further growing the great community we have.
The next topic that has shown up consistently is the cleanliness of the box. I am in complete agreement, although ill admit i have left things out unintentionally, that we should all take ownership of the great space we have, and clean up after ourselves, keep chalk in the buckets (not on the floor, j-hooks, walls, ect...), and throw away our trash. As you may know, this has been a constant struggle for use so if you see someone leaving equipment out , help them put it away, or possible help a coach clean it up. I will also speak to coaches and make sure we are reminding all the classes to clean up.
The last topic to respond to is the topic of individuals working out on their own, using equipment, competitiveness, and attitude or ego. I'll admit i have been avoiding this subject but it is apparent that it must be addressed. On the first section of this, the use of equipment and individuals working out on their own, I will say that class has first priority on equipment and space, however if they are not using a piece of equipment or space, it is completely acceptable for someone to workout on their own and use equipment as long as they meet the above criteria, are not disrupting class, and clean up their mess. After all, everyone pays their dues, and crossfit is just another part of the entire lifetime community, everyone has the right to use equipment that is not being used, and to workout whenever, however, and with whomever they would like as long as they aren't disrupting someone else, even if i disagree with their training, attitude or even personality. In regards to the competitiveness and attitude concerns I'll say that i agree that there are people with egos and attitudes that care about nothing but competing, however that is something that unfortunately we as trainers have little to no control over. Although egos should be left at the door, there will always be those who do not do that. With regards to the competitiveness, although mechanics and technique should be the number one concern across the board, competition does drive improvement so in that aspect it is a great thing. With that in mind, it is up to the individual how competitive they would like to get, to what level they wish to aspire, as well as their individual responsibility to make positive corrections when a coach gives advice. If someone does not wish to be competitive that is also their choice. However, i do not encourage lax mechanics or cheating in workouts as a means to a greater score and never will, our concern at the 307 is to offer people the chance at health and fitness.
In Conclusion, I would like to reverberate that I greatly appreciate all feedback and will give my best effort at fixing these issues that are under my control. We will also be releasing some information on our system of programming, how we program, and why we do it a certain way to help answer any questions regarding that. If anyone has any comments or concerns feel free to come see Leah, Jeremy, or myself we would be happy to talk.