It was 2016, and I was a coach at Reebok CrossFit ONE. Having started my coaching career in 2011 at CrossFit Southie, I was now a part-time coach putting in 12-15 hours a week while also working for the Boston Fire Department. I thoroughly enjoyed my coaching career, felt comfortable in my shoes, and felt confident on the gym floor and in my coaching abilities. Then came the atomic bomb from one of CrossFit’s most highly regarded coaches, Flowmaster and CF-L4 Denise Thomas:
“I have some hard feedback for you, and I’m not sure I can put it more mildly. Your classes just aren’t fun, and the members and coaches don’t want to take your class.”
I felt like I’d been kicked in the gut. And, I was confused. After all, my resume includes:
- Working as a Head Trainer for CrossFit’s Seminar Staff
- Coaching at Reebok CrossFit ONE
- Serving as a Head Judge at the CrossFit Games
- Competing on a team at the CrossFit Games
You’d think I would have had this whole coaching thing figured out. And that when it came to coaching, I would have been well on my way to mastering CrossFit’s six essential qualities of an effective trainer: teaching, seeing, correcting, group and gym management, demonstration, and presence and attitude.
As indicated by Denise’s feedback, the hard truth was that there was a big hole in my tool kit. My glaring weakness was a lack of competency in presence and attitude.
“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” —Winston Churchill
The Mortar
Teaching, seeing, correcting, group and gym management, and demonstration are the bricks that form an effective trainer’s foundation. Presence and attitude are the mortar that binds that foundation together.
Before Denise told me my classes were not fun, I thought my knowledge and expertise would take me as far as I wanted to go. I mean, given my resume and the fact that I could teach, see, correct, and demonstrate any movement, all while managing classes of 20 or more athletes, I thought I was doing pretty well. I’d spent years being coached, and when I flipped the dynamic and became a coach myself, I thought, “I’ve got this.” I didn’t have it quite as much as I thought.
Growing up, I played hockey in the greater Boston area (historically one of the most competitive regions in the U.S.). I played at an elite level beginning at age 8, and I played at one of the top high school programs in the country. Hockey is a demanding sport, and the coaching style followed suit. Not to take away from those I was lucky enough to play under because they cared for us a lot, but a rigid and militant coaching style was a standard part of the game. It wasn’t ever present, but it made an appearance often. The militant style of coaching mirrored what I experienced when I joined the Marine Corps in 2008, where the stakes for coached efforts were much higher.
I thought all this experience coaching would have given me a leg up. In some ways, it did. In others, it definitely didn’t. 
While my demeanor and style in group classes were well intentioned, I realized that just because one coaching style works at the highest levels of competition and in the military, it doesn’t equate to efficacy in training everyday athletes. What’s more, if no one wanted to take my class, a rebuttal that I coached in a particular style to help them reach their goals was a moot point.
This is not to say there is a right or wrong way to coach — different styles have value within different applications. The tough-love approach at the upper echelons of sport and warfare are needed because the margins of victory demand them. More importantly, the individuals at that level need every edge they can get to win, so they often accept that style of instruction. However, in the CrossFit affiliate setting, where we are looking to increase fitness throughout the years of our clients’ lives, those tactics do not build the same trust. We aim to build lifelong health and fitness in the affiliate, including allowing athletes to make substantial progress while having fun with friends in their community. Our coaching must set an example for this.
Once I identified the gaps I needed to fill, it was clear my competency in the other five areas was useless if I didn’t have the presence and attitude to hold them together.
Presence and attitude boil down to how we carry ourselves on the gym floor and connect with our athletes. Members instantly get a feel from a coach about whether that person cares for their well-being and values their efforts. Many coaches will initially connect with athletes via their presence and attitude to build the trust needed for athletes to accept their coaching in the more technical aspects of CrossFit.
We must use our presence and attitude to amplify our skills in the other five areas of teaching, seeing, correcting, managing, and demonstrating. We must be able to connect with everyone who walks through our doors, regardless of their background, so they will keep coming to class. Keeping our athletes in class is how we show them there is a pathway to greater fitness, health, performance, and fun!
Making Better Mortar
Once I started implementing my new and improved presence and attitude, I could tell my athletes felt the change because they smiled, laughed, and interacted with me more. The more fun I was, and the more fun I was having, the more people wanted to chat it up and interact with me. When I acted militant and stand-offish, that was what I got in return. But better than just feeling like it was working, I started to receive feedback such as, “Hey, thanks so much. That was awesome today,” “Great class,” “Fun class today, Joe. Thanks!” I don’t remember receiving feedback like that as often before working on my delivery in class.
If you are struggling to master one of the six areas of effective training, here are some of the steps I took to make the change.
1. Seek Feedback
1. Find another coach in your gym or the community who excels in the area you want to improve and have them assess you while you’re coaching a class.
2. If you don’t have access to a higher-skilled coach, video your class and watch it afterward. It will be incredibly uncomfortable but very eye opening. Your habits and how you interact with your athletes will be immediately evident.
3. Lastly, ask a member you trust for their honest (and private) feedback. This is a great way to get perspective and input from the people who are taking your class. It also models for your athletes your own goals for performance.
Using one of these three starting points is a great way to get insight into what you can’t see. I didn’t know my classes weren’t fun until Denise told me. What’s more, I didn’t know how to be fun while coaching class.
2. Prepare to be Aware
Be prepared with a lesson plan for class and practice your whiteboard brief ahead of time. This will allow you to worry less about what is coming next and pay more attention to what matters most: your athletes. Building in the time to be aware goes a very long way. At the end of class, ask the hard question, “Would I want to take my own class?” Think about it: If you wouldn’t want to be in a rigid and uninspiring class, why would you want to run your classes that way? Take a few notes after class on whether you met your goals, and if not, prepare and plan how you will meet them during the next one.
3. Be a Bigger You
When I figured out why I coached the way I did, I told Denise and asked her, “How can I change this?”
The immediate and actionable feedback she gave was this:
“Be the ‘fun’ Joe in the office who tells jokes, and everyone wants to be around. If you coach that way and watch your tone when delivering your material, it will make a big difference.”
It did just that.
Don’t be disingenuous but make a point to amplify the traits that make others want to be around you. If you are louder (like me), be loud but with a fun and inviting tone rather than a harsh, militant one. If you are better one on one, then make sure you give every athlete in your class that great one-on-one interaction during class where you share a joke, fist bump, or a smile.
4. Smile and Laugh
I definitely fell so far into the trap of being professional that I forgot to be me. It’s possible to be professional and fun at the same time. As CrossFit trainers, we are often hardest on ourselves, but if we make a mistake and forget a piece of a progression, fumble our words, or mess up a demo, who cares? Laugh. Make fun of yourself. Move on. We’re all human, and jabbing a little fun at yourself will take the pressure off not only you but all your athletes.
5. Follow and Model
I credit my transformation to Denise, Austin Malleolo, and James Hobart; all mentors of mine at Reebok CrossFit ONE. I watched them be loud, engaging, fun, inviting, and inspiring all in one class. So I tried to steal a little of their confidence to be more like myself every time I stepped on the floor. In our communities, there are many different ways we can do this:
- Watch another coach at your gym who has excellent presence and attitude.
- Visit a local affiliate that has a master coach on their schedule and ask if you can watch their class.
- Check out CrossFit’s YouTube Essentials playlist. There’s an extensive video library of Seminar Staff coaching athletes of all levels. Take what you like from their style, but be sure to make it your own!
Always “On”
To this day, I still have to think about and be aware of how I sound. I ask myself all the time, “Is this fun?” This awareness is a learned skill and habit that I sometimes still do not get right, but I keep at it.
As trainers, we always need to be “on” — tuned into how we sound and how our members are responding to our coaching. Our goal is to inspire, educate, and entertain, but we cannot entertain without a strong grasp of the impact our presence and attitude have on our athletes. Working to master this training area will help strengthen the other five and, most importantly, strengthen our relationship with the athletes we coach!
So for your next class, bring the fire: Smile, laugh, and have fun!
About the Author
Joe Masley is a Certified CrossFit Training (CF-L3) and has served on the CrossFit Seminar Staff Team since 2013, teaching Level 1 and Level 2 trainer courses. Additionally, he is the co-owner and head coach of CrossFit Marshfield in Marshfield, MA, where he is responsible for developing their coaching staff, programming, and running daily operations. Outside of coaching CrossFit, he serves as a full-time Fire Lieutenant in the Boston Fire Department. Joe has been coaching CrossFit since 2011 and training via the CrossFit methodology since 2008.
“Your Classes Just Aren’t Fun”