HELP ME HELP YOU: CLASS SIGN-UPS IN ADVANCE
“If everyone did what I’m about to do would the system work?”
For most of you this blog post does not apply, and for that overwhelming majority of folks I encourage you to simply scroll down to the bottom and check the WOD for Friday's classes. Oh, and thank you for doing what you do. I'm talking about the small percentage of folks who regularly don't sign-up for class ahead of time - and I'm here to say, quite frankly, you're killing me, Smalls.
I get it, life happens and you're busy... and signing-up for CrossFit class ahead of time is one of the last things on your mind. Your job is crazy demanding - yes but that's the case for everyone else here too (and the other 95% of the people in the gym still signed-up in advance). You have a kid and you just can't get around to it (well, half of the people in this class have kids too and they're signed-up days ahead of time). I travel every week and my schedule is all over the place (yeah but the thing is there's at least 3 or 4 people in this class right now who travel more than you do, and they've all pre-registered for class). What I'm trying to say is that your situation is not as much of a special exemption as you might think it is, and I'm simply asking you to please try and find the strength within you to open a different app, or browser tab, once within your day and click on the little button that makes my life (and the experience of other athletes at your gym) a whole lot easier. I think we can all agree that's doable.
I know seems like a pain but believe it or not it's largely for your benefit and not mine (more on that below). And to we try to make it as easy as possible for you with three basic options:
Sign-up through our website
Bookmark the Schedule page and add it to your phone’s home screen (3 clicks and you’re signed-up for class)
Sign-up through the free "Mindbody" app on your mobile device
Open registration for classes starts one week in advance of the class date & time! So if you're trying to schedule your week in advance then sign-up for the days and class times you plan on attending over the next seven days, and simply cancel ASAP if you realize later that you can't make it for whatever reason. We don't charge you or penalize you for cancelling - believe it or not many gyms charge a cancellation fee (and a no show fee), but we don't - it's not intended to be a source of stress or a revenue stream for us, we're simply trying to create and maintain a culture of accountability, integrity, and respect... and a gym environment that provides consistent and attentive high-level coaching. Some of those things can become challenging during classes when the minority of folks who don't respect the general system throw things for a loop.
Don't like signing-up in advance and think it's dumb? There are plenty of gyms that don't make you do it, and I would encourage you to try dropping-in to a class during a peak time and see if you like the sort of class structure that system (or lack thereof) creates. You may experience something very different than what you're accustomed to - many of the complaints I hear from our members about their experience when dropping-in somewhere else is likely due to the programming and logistics restraints that particular gym has to work around due to the "free-for-all" nature of having everyone just show up, leaving the coaches and staff scrambling to "make it work" and somehow preserve the intended stimulus of the day's training (usually not something that's possible when the group is simply too large, or if a chunk of that group was simply not expected during that hour).
When you don't sign up in advance you leave the coach who is leading the class to guess who is not accounted for in the group. You throw a wrench into our logistical class plan and possibly affect the set-up and execution of the workouts, thus altering the experience for everyone else in the class. Because we intentionally keep a capped overall membership AND cap each individual class - and generally have more intimate classes than most other CrossFit gyms - class overflow is not usually an issue. But every now and then it's a real pain, and if you have an aloof attitude about it it makes me feel like you basically don't give a shit about other people in the gym. And that makes me sad because I hope it's not actually true.
If for some reason you are not signed-up for a class PLEASE TELL THE COACH WHEN YOU ARRIVE so we can add you to the roster if there is space in the class, and then start planning any accommodations we may need to make. If it's a one-off sort of thing and you're usually on top of it when it comes to signing-up it's totally cool - don't sweat it and don't be shy about telling us you're not signed-up, we understand that it's not your usual mode of operation. In some VERY RARE cases we may need to ask you to wait until the next class.
If for some reason the Mindbody system does not allow you to sign-up for class then please let us know that as well. It may mean your account needs attention (expired membership, billing issue, system glitch, etc.) and we want to help resolve the matter as soon as possible. If, however, you tried to sign-up for class moments before it started and are not able to it's likely because the registration window closed - sort of like walking into a restaurant at 4:59pm and telling the host or hostess, "Um yeah, I tried to make a reservation for 5:00pm and it wouldn't let me." I think we can all agree that a reservation not occurring in actual advance is, in fact, not a reservation (this concludes the Seinfeld-esque portion of the blog post).
If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask. If you have feedback please don't hesitate to send it over to us. But either way please make sure you're doing your part to make the system work, and that you're not simply taking advantage of the fact that 95% of the other members contribute to a working structure that you can't be bothered to care about using.
Thank you for your attention, I appreciate it.
WOD For 10-05-18:
EMOM For 20 Rounds (20 Minutes):
5 Burpees
1 Clean
*Start at approximately 70% of your 1RM and then work up HAP (“Heavy As Possible”) with good technique
*Both power and full (AKA “squat”) cleans are allowed
(Workout courtesy of HyperFit)