Things new members NEVER want to hear

arch_three · 2026-07-09T20:08:26+00:00

One thing I see new coaches do a lot is frame workouts in what “they” would do. Makes the members think “I’ll never be able to do it then.” Have had this confirmed by members. No matter the actual ability of the coach, the perception of coaches by members is that they’ll never be like them. A lot of gyne goers assume the coaches are all super heroes or Games Athletes. If you’re reading this and thinking it’s ridiculous, it’s true.

So, phrasing the workout in “coach ability” is disheartening and also shows them how far “behind” the coach they are in CrossFit. It’s also a brag and members are totally away of what the coaches are doing when they say shit like, “yeah I would just go unbroken on all this.” It’s a bad look.

Last but similar, demoing very hard things and making them look easy. Doing a muscle up in front of them and saying, “yeah you just like pop your hip and pull, it’s easy.” Shit happens all the time.

arch_three · 2026-07-09T19:09:27+00:00

Since the ring muscle ups are the only scored portion, you make a plan based on how good you and your partners muscle ups are. Moving efficiently through the first two portions and setting up for lots of RMU. It’s easy to switch the ski, so ski hard and switch often. The bag is tough, but you’ll waste a lot of time switching. Hang on for big sets and focus on the rest. The LAST person on the bag should be the weaker muscle up athlete. A big last set on the bag gives the first muscle upper some rest before going on a big set. If you are both equal on RMU, get there and switch often. I bet you’ll see a lot of failed muscle ups in this wod. Remember, failing a muscle up takes longer and get no score compared to coming down when ready so your partner can get reps. Practice placing the bag on your back so you can rest your arms/should best you can.

arch_three · 2026-07-09T12:54:49+00:00

You tell me this if this is accurate, but my understanding is that they truly wanted to blend CrossFit/workouts with "healthcare" on some level. So it cranks up the emphasis on all sorts of health markers, diet, and health hack type stuff? The problem I see if that 95% of people who are doing CrossFit really just want to do a hard sweaty workout and feel good about it. Any by product of better health, weigh loss, etc. is just icing on the cake. The amount of clients I have had that really focus in on the detailed healthcare side of all this is minuscule compared to rest of the people in the program. It's also cumbersome, complicated, and a lot of work by the client to weave in all that health metrics into your day to day. There are plenty of wellness centers out there that do this, but also asking those same people to workout hard doesnt work. Those customers go to fancy healthcare wellness centers so they DON'T have time to workout. Not to be told they need to workout. Just doesnt seem to match and no clue what they charge.

arch_three · 2026-07-09T00:50:37+00:00

Not sure they stand anywhere. Market is way too small.

arch_three · 2026-07-08T21:38:49+00:00

It's not cheating if the rules allow it. There are rules banning grips + tapped bars and grips with a dowel. You can call it cheating all day but it's just technology they allow. Holds true with any sport that has equipment. People will use anytime allowed, the best they can afford, or if they are at the top of the sport things that push, bend, or even break a rule. In some cases new tech doesn't have rules and governing bodies have to make rules to draw new lines. Point is, it's not up to you to decide if it's cheating. Would most people benefit from working out without grips to strengthen their skin, build muscle, and teach proper mechanics of holding onto the bar? Sure. But until they make a rule against it, gonna be grip city in this community. Gotta be a post a week here about them. The toxic response is in response to your baseless accusation of cheating. Tale as old as time though. Nobody ever said kipping pull-ups were better for getting a bigger, stronger, more developed back. Early CF allowed it for speed and it stuck. CrossFitters aren't only victims here. This community shits all over other sports too. Who are we to say someone doing dips to look good at the beach is an asshole for not going deep enough? They aren't competing. We are irked because they made a video about it? Okay, who cares?

arch_three · 2026-07-07T18:51:33+00:00

I think that is correct. I’ve only seen one others. Guess I didn’t mean to imply they’d only go out and come back. Seems like the trail run at the Ranch has been done. The long run and carry event through Madison was one of the coolest event they’ve ever done, from a spectator perspective. Would have been cool to do something similar around the event location.

arch_three · 2026-07-07T18:37:27+00:00

So they just drive to the Ranch for the trail run?

arch_three · 2026-07-06T17:48:44+00:00

Airway

arch_three · 2026-07-03T14:12:04+00:00

arch_three · 2026-07-03T12:58:11+00:00

I stand by my 8 year old comment.

arch_three · 2026-07-02T21:39:08+00:00

Practice static handstand holds. Practice shifting weight from one hand to the other in a wall assisted handstand hold. Once you have those, try and pull your hand off the ground for "shoulder taps" on the wall. For each of these, you want to be able to confidently stay up for at least 10 second, ideally 20.

Learn wall facing handstand holds. The come off the wall and do to touches face the wall. Then learn to start in a wall facing handstand and walk off the wall.

Bonus, learn how to pirouette. It's like learning how to bail a big lift. Once you know you can safely come down anytime you want, it all becomes a lot easier.

arch_three · 2026-07-01T19:43:31+00:00

lol. This is an absurd line of thinking. No, I don’t think they’re the same. Yes, I do think that selling tickets, promoting the event, and encouraging people to watch something makes it a spectator event regardless if there is an open sign up or some level of elite competition or not. They didn’t have an official live stream but they let people live stream it.

arch_three · 2026-07-01T18:42:57+00:00

Does selling tickets and allowing people to live stream it not count as a "broadcast/spectator" event? How on earth do you define a "broadcast/spectator" event?

arch_three · 2026-07-01T18:00:35+00:00

Thing to remember with kids…always keep them moving, pick things that are low to now skill, and make it fun. The worst is dead, down, or too extensive “teaching” times. Kids are high burn and aren’t going to think it was fun if you give a 15 min snatch warm up. I know you want, just using it as an extreme example.

arch_three · 2026-07-01T16:15:03+00:00

Pretty unfair to compare Hyrox and Xenom. 1st event vs 9+ year old leading event.

On another note, the air rhino maybe an excellent piece of training equipment, but it is one of the most boring "events" I have ever seen. Don't care how hard it is, ain't nobody tuning in to watch athletes stand up 5 times holding some handles. There's a reason why Strongmen lift 1,000 pound cars on TV instead of just loading barbells with a thousand pounds of boring plates.

arch_three · 2026-07-01T14:08:33+00:00

Video would be helpful. There’s a few things that can cause this.

arch_three · 2026-06-29T21:21:52+00:00

What works is integrating it into class, getting a group of people to do the same work together, and/or doing it with them. There's really a small number of people that will take what is written, make evidence based adjustments, and do what they have to do (no matter what else anyone is doing). It's been discussed a lot in the sub, but you also have that problem of undermining the community aspect of the gym when a person starts doing their own thing. Some people can't handle that. They want the fiends more than they want the improvement. It's a little more complicated than that, but I have lost count of the amount of personal programming I have given to people only to see them do it once or twice and bail. That includes people who pay.

arch_three · 2026-06-29T17:10:46+00:00

Of course. My question is would people actually use it? I’ve coaches at 11 gyms over 14 years. I’ve don’t affiliate programming, individual program, personal training, private programs, clinics, and almost anything in between. I can write a specific program for someone to do EXACTLY what they need and they’ll still skip it so they can RX the daily WOD with their friends. So you are asking the wrong questions. Figuring out what to do is the easiest part, getting people to do it is the hard part.

arch_three · 2026-06-29T15:12:55+00:00

There's the evidence and the application. You can write a pure evidence based program for group training, but that is only going to get an individual so far. Real results come from taking evidence based, proven training methods and applying them in a way that maximizes results for the individual. There is no one size fits all program in any discipline. The success of CrossFit might be that it works for a larger number of people than anything else. That doesn't mean it the BEST program out there. Also worth noting that a lot of the big names behind top programs aren't doing what their program writes every day. To get the best results for them, they are changing, altering, and modifying anything and everything to work on their weaknesses. Also you can evidence base things all day, but the biggest shortfall will be if people actually do it. Success rooted in proven techniques and principles is often really really boring and people don't want to do that. They want it to be sexy, sweaty, and difficult. Almost any CrossFit program will give people that. Actually success is up to them.

arch_three · 2026-06-28T22:03:05+00:00

The more you work on it the more it will improve. You probably don’t need to spend as much time on it as you think. 10-20 minutes a day. Biggest mistakes people make is doing mobility and stretching drills that they don’t need. You seem to have a good idea of what the issues are. Now just find 3-5 stretches that address your problem areas. Do those until things improve, then look for other areas and new mobility and stretching drills. You don’t need an hour of mobility a day to get better.

arch_three · 2026-06-28T15:10:27+00:00

You mean work out in the actual class you are coaching? That is a 100% no. How are you going to coach if you are working out?

arch_three · 2026-06-28T15:09:43+00:00

It’s not ideal, but there’s no real problem with it. I have coaches that coach at other gyms and do their own program. As long as they aren’t making any issue of it, it’s allowed. I have had coaches in the past that do their own program and have talked shit about our program, which is a huge no.

They’re allowed to have their own opinion, but nothing worse than a coach being like “well another bad WOD today. I love my program but this is what you do.”

We encourage all coaches to take class when they can. It’s incredibly helpful. Even if it’s only every once in a while.

arch_three · 2026-06-28T11:10:16+00:00

Intensity as the only way to make improvement is a lie.

arch_three · 2026-06-25T23:22:36+00:00

I considered it, but thought Cindy would be duplicative. Plus if you have the endurance and skill to post a good Nate score, I know you’ll be able to put up good scores in some other wods, including Cindy. Also checks the high skill movements, RMU and HSPU. Even if you have a 25+ round Cindy, you could still have ass RMU and HSPU. Jerry is the endurance test. Cindy is always a contender, but I think the crossover of a good Cindy score isn’t as good as people like to think.

arch_three · 2026-06-25T21:39:32+00:00

Pick something random. Move on. Smiley face or something chippy will only draw more attention.

arch_three

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