At a recent Affiliate Town Hall, I shared a message about the transformative impact of excellent coaching, emphasizing that it’s the most valuable service an affiliate can offer. This is a summary of that message, designed to motivate and guide you in your coaching journey.
I’ve been part of CrossFit since 2004 — first as an athlete, then as an affiliate owner, and now as a Seminar Staff educator. CrossFit isn’t just a workout; it’s a way of life. Like many of you, I’ve dedicated my life to this community because it profoundly changed my path. Talk to any of the coaches or members in your gym and they likely have a notable before and after finding CrossFit story. Think for a moment about your story.
- What inspired you to become a coach? Was it the desire to empower others, or the fulfillment you get from seeing your athletes achieve their goals?
- Did you have a coach who made you want to do more, better, and things you never thought possible?
- Were there trainers you looked up to because you saw the impact they were having?
Great coaches are difference makers dedicated to their class, tribe, and community, and their coaching is what sets CrossFit apart from other fitness experiences and profoundly impacts members.
The Importance of Effective Coaching
At CrossFit Level 1 and Level 2 Seminars, we emphasize the importance of programming as the practical application of our fitness theories. However, programming is secondary to effective coaching and scaling. You may have great programming, but if a coach is ill-equipped, the programming won’t be effective, and your clients will be at more risk of injury. To prioritize effective coaching, consider these critical questions:
- Service Quality: What level of service do you envision yourself providing? Are you aiming for good, great, or excellent? Whether you are a part-time or full-time coach, you should prioritize improving your quality of service every time you take the floor.
- Current State: Do you coach at a gym that meets your standards and vision for it and yourself? Recognize this is a journey of development, learning, and adjustment that may involve numerous conversations with the other coaches around you. It may involve changing gyms to be in the best environment for you to grow as a coach.
- Path Forward: What can you do to help yourself and potentially others around you achieve the level of service you envision? What’s holding you back from delivering the product and experience you desire?
Establish the Culture You Want
As a coach or gym owner, you set the tone for the culture you want at your gym. If you think you’re not meeting the standards, it’s your responsibility to seek feedback, assess for specific areas of improvement, and potentially voice your concerns to your peer coaches or affiliate owner. Here’s how:
- Evaluate Programming: Assess if the volume of session elements can be effectively taught within an hour, considering your athletes and trainers. Consider if the class plan allows you to coach and teach each section of the class effectively. If you often find yourself being a “class manager” and constantly feel rushed through multiple sections of a class, you may want to adjust your programming or voice your concerns to those responsible for the programming. Strive for a mindset of quality over quantity in your daily workouts.
- Coaching Expertise: Does the programming implementation match your coaching ability while consistently challenging yourself to improve? It’s easy to limit your programming to low-complex movements because of the ease of implementation, but this does not allow your athletes to maximize their results and will also limit your ability to develop as a coach. Ensure you are equipped to deliver excellent coaching, seek out education, and potentially seek out a mentor to aid your development for movements that are troublesome for you to coach.
Experiment for Further Development
While it’s common to rely on programming platforms for a complete class plan, such as the CrossFit Affiliate Program, we encourage you to occasionally create your own plans. This not only aids in your development but also allows you to tailor the plan to the needs of your athletes. Experimentation is key to growth. Here’s why:
- Individualized Coaching: This approach allows for personalized coaching in a group setting, making each member feel valued and important.
- Critical Thinking: Encourages you to evaluate programming more critically, ask and assess if your programming genuinely works for your members, and keeps you in a growth mindset.
- Athlete-Centric Approach: Prioritizes the needs and abilities of the athletes by targeting your plans to those attending your classes.
- Professional Development: Promotes personal growth and ownership in your service.
Practical Adjustments
To help deliver exceptional coaching, consider these adjustments:
- Reduce Volume: When necessary, reduce the volume of elements in class plans to allow for adequate coaching and practice time.
- Streamline Sessions: Include specific timestamps for set-up, transitions, and cool-downs when creating lesson plans.
- Adjust Warm-ups: To manage your time most effectively, replace some volume in general warm-ups with specific progressions for challenging movements.
- Post-Workout Reflection: Allow time for stretching, discussions, and addressing challenges. This practice will aid with recovery and community building.
Implementing these adjustments may be difficult at first, but you will likely notice your quality improves, and feedback from your members will be positive.
Evaluating Success
Your measurable workout benchmarks and measurable health markers are necessary objective measures to evaluate whether your program is effective. However, we also want to assess our athletes’ success by evaluating their quality of movement, skill improvement, recovery, and overall general sense of well-being over time.
The Path to Longevity
The long-term success of your gym hinges on the quality of coaching. By making time for coaching, building relationships, and applying knowledge effectively, you can ensure you deliver exceptional experiences. This combination of effective programming and excellent service sets your gym apart in the fitness industry. It’s not just about the workouts, but also about the relationships you build with your members and the impact you have on their lives.
Embrace this journey of development. The stronger your team, the more significant the impact on your community. Let’s elevate our standards and deliver the life-changing results our members deserve.
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aBOUT THE AUTHOR
Lisa Ray (CF-L4) found CrossFit in 2004 and never looked back. She and her husband, Mike Ray, opened CrossFit Flagstaff in Arizona in 2006, and both joined CrossFit’s Seminar Staff the same year. Lisa is a Level 1 and Level 2 Flowmaster and Mentor and a judge for the CrossFit Games. After 16 years of affiliate ownership, Lisa sold CrossFit Flagstaff in March 2022 to turn her attention more fully to teaching seminars and sharing her affiliate and coaching experience to help others.
Comments on The Most Important Service in Any CrossFit Affiliate
I highly appreciated the messages in this article, in particular the following:
"1. Evaluate Programming: Assess if the volume of session elements can be effectively taught within an hour..."
I am a passionate part-time level 2 coach at an affiliate that predominantly uses the CAP. My observation throughout the last couple of months is that the CAP hours get fuller and fuller: 10 minutes of lifting a 4-element complex and another 14 minutes of metcon adding even more movements... I've been rushing through this and similar formats both in the coach role and as a participant in my fellow coaches' classes who struggled the same as I would have. So I hope the CAP programmers read this article, too, and conclude that less could be more sometimes 😉
Constructive feedback is what I'm aiming at.
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The Most Important Service in Any CrossFit Affiliate
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