CrossFit Athletic Group

One of the common sayings other affiliate owners have shared with me (both local and at the Games) is that their goal is to make their class, "the best hour of the client's day."

I honestly could not care less if this is the best hour of your day.

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I have enough of my dad in me that allows me to prioritize athletics and obsess over a goal that will never be attainable, and I have enough of my mom in me that allows me to marry someone like Murley and be a Harry Potter fan. I think about it all the time, and it seems like the absolute best combination I could hope for as a coach; it's the reason why Jacob and Fry can coexist in the same session.

The thing is, both are on extreme ends of the Chris Can Tolerate This Person spectrum. I really have to be conscious of my tone when I coach Fry - which is difficult considering the athletic environment I grew up in. Coaching Jacob is like getting a 200-lb. order of plain white meat chicken breast with a 3-month expiration date; it sounds like a great deal at first, but there are only so many recipes that can get you through 2 pounds of chicken every day. The other thing is, they are both great people to have as part of the Champions Club. So how do I find balance? Simple, I set limits.

I can tolerate 1... maybe 2 Ashley Frys at a time (depending on Shakes's mood). I can tolerate 1 Jacob. We had 3 Jacobs at the start of Summer 2015 and it just...

... yeah... tons of fun to reminisce about (oh, the Nickleback era). Tons of self dong punching to coach. By July only 1 Jacob didn't quit (Alex Faust stuck it out and ended up getting Athlete of the Fall).

The reason why this works is because of our core. There is no limit to the amount of Jay Junkins or Mrs. Careys I could tolerate, and I'll take almost any middle school/high school kid because they are easily moldable. We are absolutely stacked to the brim with low-maintenance, form-focused people and that allows me to spend some extra energy on the Frys and Jacobs and Woordens and David Saporitos of the gym. They're definitely worth it.

Another common saying in CrossFit is, "every gym takes on the personality of its owner." I definitely believe this, and I also think this gets extended down to the coaches, who can share the same general values while adding in their own personality biases. If Shannon or Murley or Coach T still coached here on the regular then the Spectrum of Tolerance might be more broad. But for now, you're stuck with me. The good thing about this is you get the best CrossFit coach in Michigan every time you walk through the door. The bad thing about this is you get someone who thinks there's such a thing as "the best CrossFit coach in Michigan" every time you walk through the door. The same attitude that will force Mrs. Bennis to climb the rope before the end of Summer is the same attitude that all-of-a-sudden thinks wearing Fit Bits is a capitol offense.

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Since 2012 I started wondering what it would be like if I was in a position to make cuts at the Champions Club. Like the standard "get in a line, yep, yep, nope, nope, nope, yep, yep," sports team cuts. Or the Kuzco classic:

It would be cool... for me... for about 10 minutes. Then it would suck when I am left with an empty gym because I cut everyone who can't recite both the Pokemon Theme Song and La Di Da Di by heart. So then I stopped thinking about the glory of crushing someone's dreams and instead thought about what it would look like to be truly "at capacity."

According to every affiliate owner and social group-leader person I have heard speak on the matter, there is a pretty weird/accurate cutoff at the 150-person mark; that is, one person can develop relationships and operate with 150 people before the quality deteriorates.

We have 130 people this Summer. I would not call us being "at capacity," but, I mean, we've gotta be kind of close, right? I definitely missed some things and messed up in places where I probably would not have in our Summer 2017 crowd, and the overall form was not to our usual standard. We didn't have the normal (or any) forms of Bubs, Murley, Shannon, David Sap, Elizabeth, Kroll, Mr. Auggie, or Mr. Z his Summer, and we set attendance records. I want to stay big enough where this happens, but small enough where we still feel their absence. I'll always find room for another Josh Howey or Mrs. Bennis, but I can really do my diligence to make sure anyone that comes in - or who's with us now - really fits us. 

In other words, I don't want to get too much bigger. Maybe that qualifies for "at capacity."

The good news, or bad news, I guess, is fall is two weeks away and that 130 number should be cut down quite a bit. How much, exactly? I have no freaking idea, honestly. We have some of the best recruiters in the country on the trail as we speak: Shannon, Coach T, the Benlussi family, Cecilia's mom... hopefully that will give me enough to bring back the 3:30 pm session. We shall see.

Either way, I got a pretty good dose of a packed house for the past 3 months and, as you can imagine, it has my confidence riding pretty high at the moment. Last time I felt like this it came to a spectacular end in the form of myself and Saporito and Ryan and Jason getting arrested for taking that big tire we use in the 80s workout. I am fairly confident those No Trouble No Trouble No Trouble WHAT ARE YOU DOING CHRIS!?!?!?! days are behind me. But still, The Tire Incident keeps my coaching self humble in the same way that a date with Fran or Kelly keeps my athlete self humble.

With that being said... I FEEL KINDA FREEEEEEEEEEE! Looking at like 64 names on the whiteboard every day this Summer and seeing the potential fall roster lined up just gives me the juice I was hoping it would back in 2012. It makes all confrontations so much easier knowing the sheer depth we have, and the recruiting roots that support this place. Things like "no," and "you'll be fine, Dylan" and "do it again," and "leave your phone in the car" don't have the same pressure attached to them like they used to. Though it might not seem like it (especially in the moment of confrontation), this is the healthiest position for any program to be in. Plus, the thing our program is selling is CrossFit. There is a lot of leverage knowing that we have a unique, elegant, and possibly optimal solution to both athletic training and metabolic disease; either you're going to see me now, or you're going to see me later when you're in really bad shape.

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Here's where I'm at now: you guys need to know that you are part of a special thing. There is no metric we will ever be able to use to claim that we're the best CrossFit gym... but we're really freaking dope. Katie Bromm (whose opinion I really value) thinks we've turned the corner in that direction for good. I think we'll see a few more slumps but she might be right. Having a setting where Cecilia Steinwascher, JT Nevarez, Barry Brunke, Sammy Butcher, and Dakota Jones can all coexist at the same time is really, really difficult to do. Bishop Foley and Brand X have both said it can't happen. One Summer 2019 later...

The Champions Club is not for everyone. That is perfectly okay. Neither is football, The Great Gatsby, or Banana Now-and-Laters. It will not always be the best hour of your day. Shoot... it might not even be an hour, by the time we actually get started. My goal is to find the most important standards to set, then find people who will hold themselves to those standards. If you happen to be one of those people, then Whoa Nelly... this is going to be a fun ride!