If you’re not early, you’re late. Give yourself enough time to change and start warming-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. Every minute you are late past the start time is 5 burpees!
Somewhere a high school kid is warming up with your PR. No matter how strong you are someone else is stronger.
Clean up your own sweat, blood and puke. 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.
Drop as a last resort. When a lift goes wrong drop it. Otherwise, put things down gently. Dropping weight should be a necessity, not a convenience. Bumpers are designed for emergency dropping, not dropping every rep of Grace. ALWAYS keep your weight under control. NEVER drop an empty barbell. NEVER drop a kettlebell. Our equipment was expensive, and the more we have to replace it, the more we’re going to have to charge you.
If you notice that equipment is broken or there’s no toilet paper, bring it to our attention so we can do something about it.
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.
The only way to get stronger is to increase the load. Always strive to go a little heavier and a little faster. Never say, “I can’t.” When you want something you’ve never had, you have to do something you’ve never done. Push your limits.
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 shoddy reps. 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. They’re breathing gently and probably experiencing a restful glow and a sub-60 heart rate. You’re halfway through Fran. You’re biased, trust us.
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.
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.
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 Todd or Jerry are deadlifting with a rounded back, you can call them out! Safety first!
