A friend and fellow affiliate owner recently relayed the following to me…and as obvious as it might be to you all that this is not the way to coach a class, this DOES happen….PLEASE don’t run your classes like this!
A few clients wanted to leave said friends affiliate and go train at another affiliate across town as they were offering unlimited classes for something absurd like $75/month. So, the clients switch gyms only to learn the truth in the lesson “you get what you pay for.” There were about 15 folks in the class. The workout of the day was 500M Row 5 muscle ups 10 handstand pushups rounds in 20 min. The trainer wrote the workout on the board, said 3-2-1 GO, and then cranked up the music. A couple of the clients were like “what if we can’t do muscle ups?” and the trainer responded by saying “just keep trying and do the best that you can.” The trainer then went to the corner to chat with the other trainers while the 20 minutes ticked away.
Excuse my language, but WTF? No coaching was given whatsoever! No modifications explained! Apparently there were folks in the class that didn’t even have pullups and dips…and they prescribe muscle ups with no explanation of appropriate scaling. When I hear stuff like this it makes me cringe!
The clients have since migrated back to said friend’s gym as they instantly recognized the value of the coaching and progression they were getting, as well as the interest in their development as athletes. COACHING…this is the service we provide as solid affiliates. It’s really the only thing…well that and a fun, solid community.
I suspect the reason these folks discounted their unlimited rate is the fact that their coaching is so shitty they can’t keep clients in their gym otherwise. If they don’t clean up their act…well, let’s just say people seek out quality.
Don’t you wish you could gently toss a firebomb into places like that?
The problem really becomes when people aren’t able to discern quality, or everyone is assumed to be of the same quality.
This is a double edged sword in my opinion because those who know the potential benefits of CF will search out the best trainers; if that’s you then you’ve got nothing to worry about. It throws a Darwinian result into CF. But for those who don’t know what a program like CF can provide it fuels the fire that we don’t know what we are doing, our certs are weak and we are not trained professional (all untrue). I think it can hurt and help. I’ve had people come to our gym and say “dude I checked out that other CF and they suck compared to you!” So it can reestablish the value of our product and training.
I actually say the same thing when I visit Nicki and Robb for training. I always come back and say, “damn I suck compared to them!”
That sounds remarkably familiar.
I agree with Ken, it is a problem when people assume that all CrossFit affiliates are the same quality when they have only tried one gym out. If said gym is like the gym you referenced that didn’t provide any coaching, it makes other affiliates in an area appear to be charging an absurd amount of money, when in reality they may be charging a more-than-fair price.
We charge an “absurd like $75/month” for unlimited classes at our box due to the $40,000/year avg household income in our area. Not everyone lives in Cali, Nicki.
By increasing our rates we’d put a burden on our clients who are already making extreme financial sacrifices. The price has little to do with the quality of coaching and I’m disappointed something like this made it on your blog.
Why don’t you come visit Kennesaw and change your perspective about price vs quality. We are happy to welcome everyone and not just the 7-series Beamer crowd, blue-collar people still need elite fitness.
Hi James,
Thanks for calling me out…your comment brings up some good points I want to make so I’m tackling this as a blog post…will be up today☺
I came accross an interesting blog today by a record artist, re:marketing. I think it gives another example of how GREAT coaching is what we need to be striving for daily (from a financial/business POV as well as passion/fitness POV). The status quo just won’t due.
It’s easy to see why some affiliates are thriving in the current economic climate. Excellence = results = experience of percieved value.
(one F* word, other than that is w/f safe) http://outlandosmusic.com/2009/04/13/the-new-free/
This happens all the time in FL. I get calls and visits from people from other affiliates in the state. Some travel hours to get to us for training. Most of the time I hear about the lack of coaching and it pisses me off every time.
Non-crossfitters always tell me “I thought you were all the same”.
In response to that, I added content to our website that addresses the “Crossfit Evolution Difference” here: http://www.crossfitevolution.com/start/ and a definition of “professional coaching” here: http://www.crossfitevolution.com/classes/ and a cool FAQ here: http://www.crossfitevolution.com/faq/ that answers: why are prices not listed, are all crossfit gyms the same, etc.
Thanks for space to vent.
I agree with posts above that many people don’t know a good gym from a bad one, they only know that it’s different from globo. I just focus on distinguishing ourselves from the bad ones by providing that high quality of coaching, programming, and community. Thankfully, we are doing very well and are too busy training and working on the business to worry too much about the “others”.
First post but I’ve read almost all of this blog and Nicki it is so very helpful. You are obviously an amazing coach. I’ve been a full-time trainer for 3 yrs and CF cert L1 for 5 months. I believe quality control is the largest problem in CF today.
When Coach goes up on the main site and says that dead lifting with a flexed spine is ok and a trainer who has his elderly client do such is a good trainer, that hurts the reputation of CF as a whole. I am constantly trying to spread the word that CF is the best way to train and I am constantly telling people to check the main site and now I feel like a fool b/c the message in Coach’s video is irresponsible and makes my training at my gym seem dangerous to prospective clients.
We need more quality control as a whole.
Hey Danny,
This is why it’s critical for all of us to build solid reputations within our communities. Like Michael Rutherford said, “people will quit a program quicker than they’ll quit a relationship.” If we strive to deliver the best in our respective boxes that will show. Sub standard training happens in all gyms…not just CF. Be sure to build your own name in addition to your CF name.
while I do sort of understand where Danny is coming from, I am afraid he/she may have missed the big picture in that particular discussion.
Also, I think that’s not totally responsible of HQ to post what I would assume is more ‘in confidence’… it’s the affiliate gathering for pete’s sake!