The Whiteboard.

It’s a thing.

It’s an old-school, strength and conditioning gym, original CrossFit, community building “thing”. And, alas, a lot of gyms have gone away from it. We, however, are hanging in. Why don’t we switch to a screen and cast from an app? We change things – we make notes that may help in organization, we misspell things 😂. Plus, old people (ourselves included) can’t remember what we see the first time so we have three whiteboards in the gym so no matter where you are, you know what you’re doing – and we’re too cheap to buy three TVs big enough y’all can see them!

Back to the purpose – it’s much bigger than what we’re doing, whose birthday it is and what the announcements are for the week. It’s a time when, right before we launch into the one hour of the day where you are supposed to be 100% focused on you, getting stronger and fitter, you are looking at, thinking about and planning your attack on the workout. You’re seeing how the warm up applies to the workout. We’re demo’ing the good, and the bad. You should be asking yourself…”do I do that?”. If you’re aware of what can be done wrong (as well as right)…you may think harder about your movements or load/equipment selection.

We’re reviewing the stimulus, the purpose, the layout, the clock, and the timelines for the class. We’re providing guidelines for what we are, and aren’t, going to do.

Maybe you think you’re special, a “unique snowflake” as we call them, and that what we’re saying doesn’t always apply to you because, well, maybe you’re “special”. Special? Yea! Like…maybe….

  • you’re a coach
  • you’re already a “good” athlete (we love this one 🙄)
  • you’re so good that you need to be outside the circle “pre-warming up” and standing with everyone else is beneath you?
  • you’re a “professional” (PT/OT/MD/DC/LMT) so you already know…
  • you’re an OG (original gangster – you’ve been here since we started so you know EVERYTHING)
  • you’re late to class 😳 so you missed it
  • you’re one of “those” who, as soon as we say “bring it in”, you have to pee…so you were in the bathroom

We get it. Life can be hard.

But being at the whiteboard is a sign of…well, a lot of things. It’s

  • a show of respect to your coaches
  • a commitment to your workout for the day
  • a sign you give a sh#t and are willing to understand how the class needs to run so you can contribute
  • necessary if you’re new or are going to need assistance from the coaches
    • because we are getting close to REFUSING to tell you if don’t pay attention at the whiteboard!

Let me tell you…having owned a gym for going on 15 years now, having CrossFitted for almost 20, I will never be “one of those” who’s too good to be at the board at the start of class. I always had respect for the coaches I had at Rebels, for the ones I have now at CF Clearwater, and I’d be too embarrassed to be “one of those”. I often have questions after the whiteboard briefing as to how I’ll scale it, or what loads I should do to keep up with the pace of the class – I ask my coach and off I go. Even some of the times I’ve jumped into our 5:30pm class here at GMRx, I’m attentive at the whiteboard.

Guys, this starts our day. This sets the expectations. Ed is almost always the coach launching the workout and he’s always motivating – and brutally honest…not something you get much in this world anymore. Be respectful. Show up. Pay attention. It will not only benefit you but you may have a better workout if you’ve listened and plan your class based on what you heard.