I get asked all the time by people who are moving away or friends in other areas how they should find a good CrossFit gym. I’ve heard horror stories about drop-ins and people signing up only to absolutely hate CrossFit a few weeks (or hours) later. I’ve also seen horribly run “successful” gyms that look like they have programming done by a 6 year old, which, if you didn‘t know any better, would think it was “CrossFit.” And you’ll always have the money hounds, too…. The boxes that try and nickel and dime you to death in the name of “fitness.” So I decided to write this to help not only those looking for a new box to join, but also to challenge those who are currently members somewhere to really evaluate if they’re getting their money’s worth.
The BIGGEST factor I always look at is programming. The WODs. I can usually base most of my decision on what kind of gym it is by looking at the workouts. (The coaches are another important factor, but you can't really base any decisions off of them until you've met them.)
Every Level 1 Coach is taught that the BEST workouts you can do are short to medium length (3-15 minutes) couplets and triplets. That’s where you get the most bang for your buck. (Training in your phosphagen and glycolitic pathways offer huge results to everything, including cardio, whereas solely training in your oxidative pathway only really helps your cardio while potentially harming everything else.) CrossFit IS 1) constantly varied 2) functional movement at 3) high intensity. (For those who forgot or want to read the basics, go to http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/CFJ-trial.pdf) Let’s remove the functional movement for a bit and talk about the other two…. I mean, if you see a box making people do one arm handstand walks while pulling a sled with their other arm, you can pretty well guess that that isn’t a good CrossFit box and is more likely Cirque de Soleil training. The other two are where you’ll see the good programming differentiate from the lazy programming.
Constantly varied- This was described to us as “planned chaos.” Just because it’s “varied” doesn’t mean completely random. It has to have some kind of structure. They give us a great format that we can use, but of course, each box can do whatever it wants. All CrossFit movements are divided into three groups- monostructural cardio (running, rowing, DU, bike, swim), gymnastics, and weightlifting. You SHOULD be doing each category equally. And here’s where you can notice the first sign of bad programming. It’s very common for lazy programmers to move away from movements that are more technical (read: require more coaching- Olympic lifts, mainly, which are some of the single best ways to improve your explosive power) and to movements that are easy and natural. Most of the time, this is signified by an abundance of running and burpees. It’s easy, coaches don’t have to watch this, and it “sucks.” It doesn’t require any equipment, and doesn’t require any coaching. It’s actually a fairly common issue, and is complained about in several CrossFit forums. And think about it, how does either of those movements really help improve your 10 fitness skills? They improve cardio, sure… But think back… What did you learn in your elements class about people who do cardio all the time? So look at your book, or the board- if you’re doing burpees and running both multiple times a week, then you should complain to whoever does your programming, because you’re getting ripped off. Lots of boxes leave out rowing because they don’t have enough machines… That’s a stupid excuse. Creative programming can ALWAYS make up for a shortage of equipment.
Another, broader thing to look for when looking for movement variance is if they’ve done a lot of the same movements over and over. Have you done air squats 20 times this month and only snatched once? Do you have burpees 3 times a week but haven’t flipped a tire in 6 months? Do you have HSPU skill work 3 times as often as any of the oly lifts? Did you do pull-ups, CTBs, TTBs all in the same week? (And if so, how are those calluses feeling?) These are all signs of lazy programming… There obviously isn’t a week-to-week plan, and it was all probably thrown together last minute. Don’t just assume your box’s programmer knows what they’re doing… Question it. You’re the one paying the premium price for CrossFit.
Other factors of “constant variance” are the time domain and structure of the workout. This ties in explicitly with the other component of actual CrossFit- “high intensity.” CFHQ recommends short to medium length duration workouts and to occasionally throw in a longer one. “Chippers,” while fun, don’t do much in terms of increasing your overall fitness. So after you’ve looked at the movement variations, look and see how long each workout took you/would take. Are you doing 15-30 minute workouts often? Then you’re getting ripped off… You should go find a boot camp that will give you the same experience for 1/5 the cost. Unless you’re Rich Froning, I seriously doubt you can keep up a HIGH INTENSITY for 20 minutes. And if most of your workouts are missing high intensity, then you aren’t really doing CrossFit… even though you’re paying a lot of money for it. Why do lots of boxes turn to these longer cardio-centric workouts? Well, think about it. If you do Fran one day, and most of the class is done in under 8 minutes, what are you going to do with the other 40? (Assuming class warm up and stretching after.) You don’t want to do another workout and sink everyone’s Fran time. This is a great time for in-class skill work. Empty barbell snatches, rope climbs, running/rowing technique, kip skill, etc. But this requires a lot of work from the coaches, so a lot of gyms just leave that out. So in order to fill up class time and make it “easier” for the coaches, they just program lots of long cardio-burner wods. (Or fill in the empty time with running and/or burpees if they’re REALLY lazy.) So look at the time domains of your wods… Are they giving you mostly short to medium length workouts where you can keep your intensity UP in true CrossFit fashion, or are most of your workouts filled up with long, cardio-intensive soul-drainers?
Skill work. There are TONS of CrossFit skills that are impossible to master while you’re slugging away at a wod. Form mastery is a huge part of developing your overall fitness (as well as a the main part of keeping yourself injury free, as well.) Does your gym offer skill development in class? Or do they avoid that and charge for it later? If you’re following the recommended CrossFit wod structure, then you have plenty of time each week to throw in some skill training (on top of strength workouts.) This is a great time to go over rowing techniques, Turkish get-ups, lighter form-focused oly lifts, mobility, rope climbs, HSPUs, tire flips, atlas stones…. This list could go on for pages. If you aren’t getting new skill work constantly… Why not? Skill and form is such a HUGE part of CrossFit, it doesn’t make sense for a box to not focus on it constantly. When you’re doing your lifts, does the coach watch you and give you pointers, or things to work on? Spealler said it best, and I'm paraphrasing… No one’s form is absolutely perfect. EVERYONE has something they can work on.
Strength training. Anyone with any basic knowledge of strength training knows that having a structured plan is PROVEN to give you the best results. There should be loading and deloading phases. Lighter weight for more reps and heavier weight for less. This is easy to check… Just look at the last few weeks and see if there is ANY kind of structure whatsoever. Are you just occasionally doing a few sets of 5 or 5 sets of 3? Did you only front squat once in the last month but back squatted 10 different days? A lot of boxes leave this out… Good ones have a plan. Some people believe that boxes knowingly leave this out of their programming in order to get people to pay extra for a strength-centric class. Don’t get me wrong… There are strength classes out there that are planned and programmed and good for some people. Personally though…. I’m pretty proud of my strength, it’s the best of my 10 fitness skills (by far...polar opposite of my running). And I’m constantly hitting new PRs still… but I’m not doing any extra strength training outside of our normal CrossFit programming. Strength isn’t built over night. And good strength programs are structured and easily allow you to measure your progress. AND can easily be built in to your normal CrossFit classes…. If you aren’t doing 20-30 minute cardio workouts every day.
Some gyms offer monthly benchmarks. I have mixed feelings about this…. If you do a wod for the first time, you don’t really know what to expect, so doing it a second time you’re already almost guaranteed a better time/score just from experience. So just posting benchmarks to "prove" you're improving is really misleading. However, it CAN help you stay focused and keep track. What is completely wrong, to me, is training for a benchmark. It removes the “constantly varied” requirement from the definition of CrossFit. If you just DO CROSSFIT, your “benchmark” should theoretically improve. If you train specifically for something, then.. Yes, your benchmark will improve, but every other skill will likely suffer. For example- if you spend an entire month trying to train for a 5k benchmark… Yes, your 5k time will improve, but what will happen to your overall strength? What about your Fran time? Specific benchmark training is lazy, and it’s easy to spot. If your benchmark has front squats, and you do a ton of front squats all month but then do them twice in the next 5 months… How much did that really help you? “We specialize in not specializing.” There’s a REASON that is one of the main CrossFit themes.
Other little things to look at- Do the coaches do the same wods as the clients? If not… Why not? I’m not saying they shouldn’t/can’t do other things as well, but why would the workouts that someone *hopefully* took a lot of time planning for the clients not be good enough for the coaches as well? Do they offer basic classes and then try to charge for every single other thing they do? Do they charge people for services that that person obviously isn’t ready for? How does everyone’s form look? Push-ups, air squats… those are very easy to watch on people. Do they look terrible, or dangerous, or is the athlete not going through full range of motion? That is usually a huge indicator that the coaches don’t really care. Or do the coaches harp on form the entire time you’re working out? However it might annoy you, it’s a good sign… It means your coach is watching and paying attention.
So, big things- Look at the programming. Lots of long, low intensity wods? That’s not good. Structured strength program? Constantly varied movements and time domains? Too much running and burpees? Boot camp style classes in order for you to pay more for what essentially is “real CrossFit?” Question it all. Demand excellence.
The BIGGEST factor I always look at is programming. The WODs. I can usually base most of my decision on what kind of gym it is by looking at the workouts. (The coaches are another important factor, but you can't really base any decisions off of them until you've met them.)
Every Level 1 Coach is taught that the BEST workouts you can do are short to medium length (3-15 minutes) couplets and triplets. That’s where you get the most bang for your buck. (Training in your phosphagen and glycolitic pathways offer huge results to everything, including cardio, whereas solely training in your oxidative pathway only really helps your cardio while potentially harming everything else.) CrossFit IS 1) constantly varied 2) functional movement at 3) high intensity. (For those who forgot or want to read the basics, go to http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/CFJ-trial.pdf) Let’s remove the functional movement for a bit and talk about the other two…. I mean, if you see a box making people do one arm handstand walks while pulling a sled with their other arm, you can pretty well guess that that isn’t a good CrossFit box and is more likely Cirque de Soleil training. The other two are where you’ll see the good programming differentiate from the lazy programming.
Constantly varied- This was described to us as “planned chaos.” Just because it’s “varied” doesn’t mean completely random. It has to have some kind of structure. They give us a great format that we can use, but of course, each box can do whatever it wants. All CrossFit movements are divided into three groups- monostructural cardio (running, rowing, DU, bike, swim), gymnastics, and weightlifting. You SHOULD be doing each category equally. And here’s where you can notice the first sign of bad programming. It’s very common for lazy programmers to move away from movements that are more technical (read: require more coaching- Olympic lifts, mainly, which are some of the single best ways to improve your explosive power) and to movements that are easy and natural. Most of the time, this is signified by an abundance of running and burpees. It’s easy, coaches don’t have to watch this, and it “sucks.” It doesn’t require any equipment, and doesn’t require any coaching. It’s actually a fairly common issue, and is complained about in several CrossFit forums. And think about it, how does either of those movements really help improve your 10 fitness skills? They improve cardio, sure… But think back… What did you learn in your elements class about people who do cardio all the time? So look at your book, or the board- if you’re doing burpees and running both multiple times a week, then you should complain to whoever does your programming, because you’re getting ripped off. Lots of boxes leave out rowing because they don’t have enough machines… That’s a stupid excuse. Creative programming can ALWAYS make up for a shortage of equipment.
Another, broader thing to look for when looking for movement variance is if they’ve done a lot of the same movements over and over. Have you done air squats 20 times this month and only snatched once? Do you have burpees 3 times a week but haven’t flipped a tire in 6 months? Do you have HSPU skill work 3 times as often as any of the oly lifts? Did you do pull-ups, CTBs, TTBs all in the same week? (And if so, how are those calluses feeling?) These are all signs of lazy programming… There obviously isn’t a week-to-week plan, and it was all probably thrown together last minute. Don’t just assume your box’s programmer knows what they’re doing… Question it. You’re the one paying the premium price for CrossFit.
Other factors of “constant variance” are the time domain and structure of the workout. This ties in explicitly with the other component of actual CrossFit- “high intensity.” CFHQ recommends short to medium length duration workouts and to occasionally throw in a longer one. “Chippers,” while fun, don’t do much in terms of increasing your overall fitness. So after you’ve looked at the movement variations, look and see how long each workout took you/would take. Are you doing 15-30 minute workouts often? Then you’re getting ripped off… You should go find a boot camp that will give you the same experience for 1/5 the cost. Unless you’re Rich Froning, I seriously doubt you can keep up a HIGH INTENSITY for 20 minutes. And if most of your workouts are missing high intensity, then you aren’t really doing CrossFit… even though you’re paying a lot of money for it. Why do lots of boxes turn to these longer cardio-centric workouts? Well, think about it. If you do Fran one day, and most of the class is done in under 8 minutes, what are you going to do with the other 40? (Assuming class warm up and stretching after.) You don’t want to do another workout and sink everyone’s Fran time. This is a great time for in-class skill work. Empty barbell snatches, rope climbs, running/rowing technique, kip skill, etc. But this requires a lot of work from the coaches, so a lot of gyms just leave that out. So in order to fill up class time and make it “easier” for the coaches, they just program lots of long cardio-burner wods. (Or fill in the empty time with running and/or burpees if they’re REALLY lazy.) So look at the time domains of your wods… Are they giving you mostly short to medium length workouts where you can keep your intensity UP in true CrossFit fashion, or are most of your workouts filled up with long, cardio-intensive soul-drainers?
Skill work. There are TONS of CrossFit skills that are impossible to master while you’re slugging away at a wod. Form mastery is a huge part of developing your overall fitness (as well as a the main part of keeping yourself injury free, as well.) Does your gym offer skill development in class? Or do they avoid that and charge for it later? If you’re following the recommended CrossFit wod structure, then you have plenty of time each week to throw in some skill training (on top of strength workouts.) This is a great time to go over rowing techniques, Turkish get-ups, lighter form-focused oly lifts, mobility, rope climbs, HSPUs, tire flips, atlas stones…. This list could go on for pages. If you aren’t getting new skill work constantly… Why not? Skill and form is such a HUGE part of CrossFit, it doesn’t make sense for a box to not focus on it constantly. When you’re doing your lifts, does the coach watch you and give you pointers, or things to work on? Spealler said it best, and I'm paraphrasing… No one’s form is absolutely perfect. EVERYONE has something they can work on.
Strength training. Anyone with any basic knowledge of strength training knows that having a structured plan is PROVEN to give you the best results. There should be loading and deloading phases. Lighter weight for more reps and heavier weight for less. This is easy to check… Just look at the last few weeks and see if there is ANY kind of structure whatsoever. Are you just occasionally doing a few sets of 5 or 5 sets of 3? Did you only front squat once in the last month but back squatted 10 different days? A lot of boxes leave this out… Good ones have a plan. Some people believe that boxes knowingly leave this out of their programming in order to get people to pay extra for a strength-centric class. Don’t get me wrong… There are strength classes out there that are planned and programmed and good for some people. Personally though…. I’m pretty proud of my strength, it’s the best of my 10 fitness skills (by far...polar opposite of my running). And I’m constantly hitting new PRs still… but I’m not doing any extra strength training outside of our normal CrossFit programming. Strength isn’t built over night. And good strength programs are structured and easily allow you to measure your progress. AND can easily be built in to your normal CrossFit classes…. If you aren’t doing 20-30 minute cardio workouts every day.
Some gyms offer monthly benchmarks. I have mixed feelings about this…. If you do a wod for the first time, you don’t really know what to expect, so doing it a second time you’re already almost guaranteed a better time/score just from experience. So just posting benchmarks to "prove" you're improving is really misleading. However, it CAN help you stay focused and keep track. What is completely wrong, to me, is training for a benchmark. It removes the “constantly varied” requirement from the definition of CrossFit. If you just DO CROSSFIT, your “benchmark” should theoretically improve. If you train specifically for something, then.. Yes, your benchmark will improve, but every other skill will likely suffer. For example- if you spend an entire month trying to train for a 5k benchmark… Yes, your 5k time will improve, but what will happen to your overall strength? What about your Fran time? Specific benchmark training is lazy, and it’s easy to spot. If your benchmark has front squats, and you do a ton of front squats all month but then do them twice in the next 5 months… How much did that really help you? “We specialize in not specializing.” There’s a REASON that is one of the main CrossFit themes.
Other little things to look at- Do the coaches do the same wods as the clients? If not… Why not? I’m not saying they shouldn’t/can’t do other things as well, but why would the workouts that someone *hopefully* took a lot of time planning for the clients not be good enough for the coaches as well? Do they offer basic classes and then try to charge for every single other thing they do? Do they charge people for services that that person obviously isn’t ready for? How does everyone’s form look? Push-ups, air squats… those are very easy to watch on people. Do they look terrible, or dangerous, or is the athlete not going through full range of motion? That is usually a huge indicator that the coaches don’t really care. Or do the coaches harp on form the entire time you’re working out? However it might annoy you, it’s a good sign… It means your coach is watching and paying attention.
So, big things- Look at the programming. Lots of long, low intensity wods? That’s not good. Structured strength program? Constantly varied movements and time domains? Too much running and burpees? Boot camp style classes in order for you to pay more for what essentially is “real CrossFit?” Question it all. Demand excellence.