April 2018
Rules, rules, rules! Sometimes, life is filled with too many of them like “stop at red lights”, “no fishing off the bridge”, “in the handstand push up – ensure your heels make contact with the wall above the line with your arms fully extended”… ugh! Tons of rules! Many rules are laid out and very specific. Others are more like common courtesy or simple etiquette. We’ve outlined a dozen or so in our “Box Rules”, but we would like to highlight a few things to help us all do better as a community.
Welcome the new peeps! Remember your first day in the Box? Remember your first class in the main gym? You probably share that nervous and awkward feeling with the newbies as they creep in for the WOD brief. Please introduce yourself to newer members and help them get acquainted with our community. Our community is what sets us apart from any other gym, so lets keep it growing!
No Athlete Left Behind. Start together, sweat together, end together. Don’t consider your WOD complete until the last athlete finishes! Once you finish, look around to see who isn’t done yet and cheer them on! Your voice could be the one that helps them get through the WOD. They’ll appreciate it and who knows… You may need the push in the next workout!
Respect Your Coaches. Pay attention when the coach is doing the WOD brief. Please don’t hold any side conversations or talk when coaches talking. It can interfere with others trying to understand the plan for the day. Oh yeah, it’s also rude.
Don’t Load Up Early. Don’t load your barbell until the coach gives you a thumbs up. Be patient! There’s probably a good reason they want you to hold off!
Control Your Kiddos! We always welcome family members of EFC to the box, but want them to be safe. If you decide to bring your kids, they need to be able to sit unattended at the front of the gym. If your kids make a mess, please clean up after them. Please keep an eye on them!
Clean up your DNA. Please clean up your sweat, blood or any other body fluid that leaves your body. Wipe down your equipment before putting it away and pick up your used tape, paper towels, and anything you could leave behind. Gym wipes are available to you in the white tubs.
Don’t leave the gym a mess! Wipe down the marker boards and equipment. Please put away all the equipment you used (even stuff other people left out) back where it belongs. Stack the boxes neatly, put the bars in the racks, stack the plates in order, and hang up your jump ropes, etc.
Keep the chalk in the buckets! We all know what happens during a work out. There’s a few of you that seem to dump the entire bucket over your hands, on the barbell and even on the rig… for a running WOD. Please try to keep it clean!
Be Positive. Pretty simple. Negativity breeds negativity. Let’s keep our gym atmosphere fun, open and upbeat. Positive attitudes are contagious!
Be Coachable. Even Olympians have coaches!! Our coaches are here to make you better. Help us help you! Listen to the cues, take the advice! If we recommend that you scale back, it doesn’t mean that we want to hold you back, it means that we want to do the best for you and keep you safe!
Leave your ego at the door. Work outs are tough. We don’t want to make them tougher by battling someone’s ego!
Don’t cheat your reps. No one likes a cheater.
Be accountable. Know your lifts, track your progress and PRs.
I know that I outlined a some items in this piece that is on our rules board, but we just want to remind you how you can help us build a strong, fit community. Thank you for being a part of EFC and remember that Ability is Limitless!