A new gym just opened up on our block.
Honestly, I could have written that sentence in 2017.
Or 2019.
Or 2021, 2022 or 2023.
But this isn’t a flashback. And I’m not recycling an old blog. This is current day Dan coming at you.
Somehow, Flatiron has become to gyms what Orlando has become to theme parks and family restaurants. Except we don’t torture endangered marine life or deep fry oreos here. At least I don’t think we do.
I want to approach a new gym neighbor from a place of confidence. I love the gyms, the community and the training product we’ve been able to sustain on this block for over a decade now. It’s certainly something I am remarkably proud of. And I know it’s not easily reproducible.
But a new gym on our block is also a bit unnerving.
I can remember being in the office of the gym that I used to work at when the owner of that facility was meeting with the head of product at Nike. I’m not sure how the conversation started but they both threw back their heads in laughter at the thought of CrossFit being any kind of viable player in the fitness space.
Neither of them saw it as legitimate competition.
Flash forward about fifteen years and that gym is out of business and Nike has lost about 50% of its market share in the training shoe and gym space.
A gym doesn’t have to share your modality or class size or attention to training in order to be seen as competition. Even if your product is vastly superior, most people just don’t know the difference between effective training and the newest fad.
And people only have so much time and money to spend on fitness. It’s not as if most of them are adding this new training class into their week. Rather, they are simply replacing you with something new.
Interestingly, this new gym has changed names a couple of times prior to opening which I didn’t take as a good sign. But curiosity got the better of me and after snooping on them via Instagram, one morning I took the long way around the block to see if I could spy on our new neighbors.
I noticed two things immediately.
The first is that this place had some nice decor. Really nice. I mean the wall sculpture hanging behind the desk looked like it cost more than my apartment.
The second was the lighting. Why do all these new fitness studios share this dark, barely there lighting? It’s dark, moody, and hides more than it reveals. Kind of like your kid sister in her teen years.
The final thing I will mention, cause I found it remarkably odd, is that you can’t really see anyone training through the windows but you can see into the locker room. Which seems like “a choice” that will either make them very popular or backfire completely depending on who you are trying to attract.
I mention all of this not just so I can process my insecurities aloud (a common theme on this blog if you are keeping score) but as more of a warning.
Allow me to share a related story in order to make my point. Like most of you, I have an accountant. Now, personal taxes are complicated enough but when you operate a business, your tax situation gets exponentially more complex. There’s servicing debt, equipment depreciation, submitting sales tax and about a thousand other things that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and, in all honesty, I understand almost none of it. Which is why you hire an accountant. Hopefully they help you keep some money and, perhaps more importantly, keep you out of jail.
Training should be looked at in a similar light.
Now, I don’t propose that a biceps curl is as complicated as the tax code, but an effective training program does require some thought. Things like exercise selection, synergy, volume, intensity, order, progressions and pacing are just a few of the things one should consider when creating an efficient and effective training program.
And, if I knew how to use a computer properly, I would underline the word “should” in that paragraph. Because every facility that charges money in exchange for training expertise “should” do those things. But most do not.
And just as my accountant might be taking the correct number of deductions on my 1040, the truth is, I have no idea. And, when it comes to training, you probably have no idea either.
So, allow me to do my part. As a certified meathead (an honor that can only be bestowed by Arnold Schwarzenegger himself!) allow me to give you some hints as to what to look for in an effective, diligent training facility.
The first is that there should be a plan.
And while a plan for any given day is nice, what I’m talking about here is a long term plan that thoughtfully and systematically helps you reach your goals. I often refer to this as a roadmap. On the roadmap, workouts stitch together in a way that follows the principles of training in order to best deliver an outcome.
So, if you walk into a facility for three sessions and you don’t have a clear understanding of how those sessions have progressed, you should be suspicious.
The second is tracking.
It’s almost impossible to progress the plan if you don’t have a record of what you’ve done previously. So there needs to be a record of your weights, reps, paces or any other relevant data. Sure, you aren’t a math problem and things like stress and sleep and nutrition will affect how you perform on any given day, but knowing what you’ve done before should influence what you do next.
So if you are in a place that just prescribes set weights for everyone regardless of capability or, perhaps even worse, is just winging it, there is no way for them to put you in the best position to make progress. And, God forbid, they say some shit like, “Everyone grab dumbbells. Guys grab the 25s, girls grab the 15s!!!!” run….run away.
You know how casinos get you to gamble more money than you are probably comfortable losing? They set you up in a huge, winding room with no windows or clocks. They ply you full of “complimentary drinks” as long as you are making wagers. They study which colors make people take the most risks and cover their tables with it. They give you “free” meals and set off loud buzzers and bright lights.
Essentially, they distract you and manipulate your psychology.
So if you walk into a gym and the focus is more on the decor, the lighting, the fog machines, the smoothie bar and the awesome collab they did with a soap company to provide the shampoo in the bathroom, you are being distracted into not focusing on the workouts but getting sucked into the bells and whistles.
And that’s fine, if that is what you are there for. Hell, I love a nice soap as much as the next guy. But from what everyone tells me, people want efficient and effective training more than they want a shirtless DJ in front of a fog machine when they are trying to do some goblet squats.
Sure, training can be fun. It can even be slightly entertaining. But the training should be the star of the show. You are going to the gym, not the circus.
Lastly, any facility should treat you kindly and with respect. And not just when you sign up and they are trying to make a sale. Listen, no one understands better than I do the value of consistent revenue. But if a place locks you into some iron-clad contract that you need a doctor, an attorney and a visit from your angry Jewish mother to get out of, you are locked into a toxic relationship.
Life happens. People get sick. They lose their jobs. Hell, they can even just change their minds. You should be attending a facility because you want to be there and they continually earn your business. Not because you are being forced into it or you feel like you are just lighting money on fire if you don’t go.
I think more gyms, more options and more competition is actually a good thing. We certainly need people training more in our great city.
But ineffective training and, more importantly, shady tactics give people a general distrust of gyms and training and this may be the hardest thing to overcome. No one wants to feel like they are putting in effort and not making progress or getting taken advantage of. And when you are in an industry that promotes general distrust, building trust is a real challenge for the people who are doing good work out there
I’ll stay optimistic (but maybe a touch skeptical) every time a new sign goes up on our block. And, as my contribution, I’ll keep doing what we’ve always done. Train people hard and treat them fairly and with respect.
No fog machines. No shirtless DJs. No clowns. No illusions.
Just a commitment to do the things that we know work.