I get asked from time to time “Why Individual On Ramps?”
Why we have always been and will continue to do our intro program as one on ones is a loaded question. It’s for so many reasons, so brace yourself for a long answer.
Prepare for class! Learn technical movements in a controlled setting. One on one. Build a foundation to continue to improve.
Rapport
Gyms can be scary. To your everyday person who hasn’t done much since high school P.E. Class. It can cause a rush of emotions, anxiety and fear. Not everyone gets giddy and excited like myself and all lifelong jocks.
Why? Because it’s hard. It’s hard to knowingly walk in to a place where you are vulnerable. To walk into a place that you know you don’t excel. To enter a world where you are asking for help. But what most people outside the CrossFit community don’t know is how welcoming our community is.
When we start new members it’s one on one with a coach. Someone to hold their hand during those nervous few days of walking in the gym. It’s reassurance that they aren’t just a number or another person being added to the herd. The coach and athlete build trust in one another. The new member trust in the coach to keep them safe physically and emotionally. The coach trust in the athlete to be open and honest so that we can help them as much as possible.
Now after a few personal sessions that athlete enters class. It might as well be a jungle. But now the new member has a friend and familiar face in the coach!
Quality
There’s no argument that personal training is the highest level of quality in physical training. Unfortunately for most people, it’s too expensive in the long term. Group training is highly effective and financially sustainable for you average household. BUT, (that’s a big but) after they have started a sound foundation. Throwing an out of shape adult who has lived a sedentary lifestyle for a decade leads down a slippery slope. It can cause an already fragile self esteem to continue to go down. They can feel discouraged because they can’t keep up with the class. They can get frustrated with this weird unnatural movement they call a “clean and snatch”. It can cause egos to flare up, leading to new athletes rushing the process and getting injured. The injury leads to time off and out of the gym. Hence leading to not going back to “that awkward hardcore gym where I got hurt”
This can all be avoided by slowing down the experience for the new member. CrossFit is a potent strength and conditioning methodology. It needs to be delivered in the proper doses. Just like medications, overdoses or improper administration can have undesired and adverse effects.
Value
One of the great things about being a CrossFit affiliate is we are left to build and make our own product as we see fit. (Pun intended) Every gym is different. Every gym has their own bias. Every gym has their own personality and process.
At CrossFit 8 Mile we choose to introduce new members to the highly effective fitness style of CrossFit slowly. With a controlled setting and 1 on 1 personal training to get them up to speed with a class.
As we previously mentioned, personal training is expensive, but we are so confident that you’ll love 8 Mile and all of its encompassing attributes that we give the next 30 days for free.
We pride ourselves on our member retention. We have a solid community of people who have been with us through the ebbs and flows of what is the fitness industry.
If you don’t believe me, or if you really want to see if what I’m saying is true, give us a call. Come try a class. Shoot us an email. Ask a member. I promise that I do not embellish or lie about CrossFit 8 Mile.
Come constantly pursue progress.
Nick Carignan
CrossFit 8 Mile