CrossFit Etiquette. The Unspoken.
Arrive early, arrive about 15 minutes early will help you get eyes on the WOD and warm up. During this time it’s fine to catch up with your friends but make sure that you are taking care of any issues you have with your body in relation the workout of the day. For example; handstand walks and thrusters. If you have poor shoulder positioning or pain overhead, this is your chance to get in there and hit a few different mobility exercises to try and improve your position for the workout. Due to the varied nature of CrossFit programming, if you did this every time you can in early then you would eventually get to tackle all of your problem areas in rotation.
Work on your weaknesses. If the workout of the day involves something that don't have yet or don't like, it’s time to ‘man’ or ‘lady up’ and get in there. In CrossFit it is nearly impossible to have a fault in an exercise and for that fault to not be present in multiple other exercises within the scope of CrossFit. Rather than scale away from the problem, ask for help and be open to feedback in regards to what needs to be done. We take a no BS approach to your fitness and strength and so should you.
Stretch, If you wanted 1 magical thing to work on that would make your CrossFit time much more rewarding and maybe finally nail that triple reverse-sault you’ve been working on. I would say stretch. Stretching is best applied in small doses and regularly. Biggest muscles first is a good approach. If your unsure then go ahead and ask a coach what would be the best 2 or 3 stretches to do for you. You will be amazed in the result if you stick with it.
Don’t pack up until everyone is finished the WOD. It’s never a good feeling when you’ve been grinding away at some brutal workout with your back to everyone thinking your flying along and you hear people packing up and leaving. With time caps and proper scaling you wont have to wait long till everyones done with the workout and it’s a great opportunity to get around your mates and push them through the final few reps. Again, this helps build the atmosphere and culture in the box and if the pro’s do it, so should we.
Keep your shirt on, I get it, I really do but just keep it on. Im sure your body is rad but save it.
Be attentive in the briefing. It wastes everyone's time if you miss the briefing, we cover it all, including things that are not written on the whiteboard. It’s important to know whats expected and have your questions answered rather than delay the start of the WOD asking stuff thats already been answered.
Always train in proper shoes. Get yourself some flat shoes like converse all stars, inov-8’s. These are cheap and they are what have been used since forever. Running shoes will give you trouble in terms of foot positioning and loading not to mention instability due to all the cushioning. No bare feet.
Don’t walk in front of someone who is or about to lift. This one is so old it was carved into a stone tablet. It’s distracting, off putting and dangerous for you and the lifter. Not to mention it’s courtesy to wait. Don't you want to see an amazing lift?
Load your bar in an un selfish manner, take off 3 5kg plates and use a 15 kg etc. saves the plates for others that need it.
Give 100%. People feed off each others intensity, you might be someones hero and not know it. Don’t be the fastest slow person in the room.
Be friendly. The culture of the box grown from its members and the energy in the room. Make it positive.
Learn everyone's name. There should be no one in the box who you don’t know by name.
Never ‘double under’ angry, you can’t win.
Don’t pick and choose the WODs you attend. CrossFit works because “everything is everything” meaning that every exercise, style of WOD etc has a direct and relative effect on other exercises in the rotation, get good at the basics, really good and the more you do them the greater and more diverse the effect on other skills and movements. Take the SDHP and the clean for example, nail the SDHP and the benefits to your clean are amazing. Pay attention to the cues the coaches give you. We will always strive to tell you the most important thing to fix during a movement that is likely to have the biggest impact on the end result.
Come in as much as possible. CrossFit is programmed by us in a way that will enable you to come in every day if possible, I hear people have a life out of CrossFit? We can scale WODs and work around soreness. Contact hours with coaches are a good thing, you pay for it so use it.
It’s your gym after all.
