Monday, May 6, 2013

WORDS TO LIVE BY IN THE BOX


  • Be early.  If you’re not early, you’re late. Give yourself enough time to sign in, change, and warm-up before class starts.  Those of you with smaller bladders (ahem-Juan) may also want to reserve some time for a bathroom trip. Most likely that means showing up at least 10 minutes prior to class.
  • Check your ego at the door. Somewhere a high school kid is warming up with your PR.
  • Clean up.  Put away your toys. Clean up after yourself.  If you sweat, bleed, or vomit on it you need to clean.  There are specific gym wipes all over the gym.  Grab one and wipe it down.  Don’t chew gum during class.  If you come in with it dispose of it properly.  Keep food to the refrigerator, front benches, or lobby. Pick up your used tape, pens, notebooks, scrap papers, chalk, band-aids, water bottles and sweaty clothes.  Put away all the equipment you used back where it belongs.  Stack the boxes neatly, put the bars in the racks, stack the plates in order, hang up your jump ropes.
  • Chalk stays in the chalk bucket.  Don’t take it on a field trip around the gym, don’t use it to write on the floor.  While we’re on the subject, don’t write on anything except pen-on-paper or the small white boards.  Use only the amount of chalk you actually need.  We are not a fan of the chalk monster.  If there is a giant dust pile around where you were working you have abused your right to chalk.  Chalk is a privilege not a right.
  • Respect our equipment.  Drop as a last resort. Put things down gently.  Dropping weight should be a necessity, not a convenience.  Bumpers are designed for emergency dropping, not dropping every rep of Fran.  ALWAYS keep your weight under control.  NEVER drop an empty barbell.  NEVER drop a kettlebell or dumbbell.  Our equipment was expensive, and the more we have to replace it, the more we’re going to have to charge you.
  • Bring things to our attention. If you notice that equipment is broken, lights are out, there’s no toilet paper, bring it to our attention so we can do something about it.
  • Try hard.  Effort earns respect. Work hard.  Don’t drag people down with a bad attitude.  Be optimistic, have fun and push yourself and those around you to do better.
  • Strive For Continual Growth.  Each time you walk into the box challenge yourself.  Always strive to have better technique, work harder at the WOD’s, and to become stronger than you were the day before.  Never say, “I can’t” instead work hard to make it happen.  Push your limits.  Think about setting goals and moving yourself forward closer to it each day.  Work hard each day to become more proficient, faster, and stronger with each workout.
  • Don’t cheat.  No one cares what your score was.  Everyone cares if you cheated. Be honest with everyone else, and be honest with yourself.  You know what full range of motion is, so there’s no excuse for bad reps.  The do not count and can lead to an injury.  We give you standards for a reason!  FOLLOW THEM!  If someone calls you out for doing something wrong, listen to them.  The person standing around watching you work out has a much better perspective on what you’re doing than you do.  You’re biased, trust us.
  • Learn how to count. If you lose count, the next number is always 1.  If you know you have trouble keeping count, ask someone to count for you.  If you want to get on a leaderboard, you MUST have someone count for you.  If no one saw it, it didn’t happen.
  • Come to class. For newbies, make sure you’re staying consistent.  For old hands, don’t start thinking that it’s okay to just do your own thing whenever you want to.  There’s a myriad of reasons we have class — for starters, you’re less likely to bias yourself towards the things you’re good at; you’ll get some competition; and no matter how experienced you are, you still need coaching and you can still stand to work on the basics.  If you have extra things you’re working on, there are special times right before or after class to work on them.  The gym is not open except during the times posted on the schedule.
  • Take ownership. Be responsible and respectful and take pride in your gym.  Don’t let others get away with things that are bad for them or bad for the gym.  Remind people to take their clothes with them and pick up their water bottles.  If you see someone doing something that you’re pretty sure will hurt them, tell them to cut it out.  We don’t care who it is — if any of the coaches are missing movement standards or lifting incorrectly, call them out!  Safety first!

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