How to Make Sure Your Gym Succeeds

CrossFit Koa family representing for Barbells for Boobs

There isn’t enough space on the internet to share all of the things I learned in just 6 months working at the Attitude Nation Gym in Charlotte, NC.  There was something about being at the headquarters of THE Attitude Nation… surrounded by black sheep, by people who had hearts that at certain times seemed to be made of steel too tough to break, but then also soft enough to show the deepest compassion and emotion you could ever imagine.  Sure it was remarkable to see freak athletes like Jon and Jessica North, Donny Shankle, Travis Mash and his Mash Mafia, the entire AN Weightlifting team as well as the AN Performance all-stars… but that isn’t what made an impact on me.  It was who they were.  It was what they represented.  They were such unique spirits with a depth I have never before encountered and that is why they were all brought together under the flag of THE Attitude Nation. 

Success is not something that you wonder about at the Attitude Nation Gym.  It is something you learn to expect.  You don’t wonder if it will come, but instead anxiously wait for the day it will come.  There is a tangible feeling that hits you like a brick wall the minute you walk into the gym.  Weights don’t matter.  Percentages don’t matter.  Numbers don’t even matter.  Whether it’s your first day or you are a 10 year vet in the game, whether your max is 50kg or 200kg, you walk in and know that you are a f**king beast and that bar, those weights, and those PRs better look the hell out because you are going to beat the living crap out of all of them. 

Damn I am getting so amped up writing this. 

While the Attitude Nation is truly a unique place, there are lessons learned here that need to be adhered to in EVERY SINGLE GYM in the world.  Go to Travis Mash’s gym Mash Elite in Winston-Salem and you will see the same exact characteristics on display each and every day.  It is impossible to share everything, but I do believe there are there crucial elements your gym MUST have if you want to enjoy true success amongst your athletes and coaches and community as a whole. 

- This one starts with the owners, head coaches, assistant coaches and anyone else in a leadership / teaching role in your gym.  There MUST – let me repeat that – there MUST be an absolute 100% genuine and sincere desire amongst every single one of these individuals to help each and every person around them succeed.  This sounds like common sense right?  Well sadly enough it is not.  In my opinion, there are too many people in these positions who care about their own success more than those around them.  They cringe as other shatter PRs when it threatens their self-proclaimed “badassery” inside their own gym.  When it comes to helping their fellow coaches, they instead withhold knowledge because they want to appear more intelligent.  They contradict their fellow coaches, fail to listen or try to learn from anyone else they consider “below” them, and are constantly trying to one up their coworkers.  This type of attitude is absolute POISON in the gym.

Sometimes this is not always done maliciously.  Donny Shankle and Jon North had always pointed out that if you want to be a great weightlifter (read: athlete) then you NEED to be selfish.  You need to make decisions that will help your personal development within your own sport and that needs to take precedence over all other decisions.  This type of focus is paramount for the success of any athlete… and is also crippling to anyone trying to be a great coach. In this particular case if you are on the fence, DON’T BE.  It’s not fair to you or your athletes.  Pick one dammit.

When the leaders in the gym portray this selfish type of conduct, it will then trickle down to the athletes in the gym.  The gym will then take on the demeanor of the coaches, and jealousy and backbiting will soon become the norm in your gym.  It will only be a matter of time before defection starts, and membership / attendance falls dramatically.

Consider yourself warned.

-  Success is not defined by numbers but by effort.  The best people in the gym aren’t necessarily the ones doing the biggest weight… it’s the ones laying it ALL on the line.  The most heroic clean I have ever seen was from Joe Coates and it was 75 kg.  A working man, father, husband… not an Olympic hopeful.  He fought for about 11 full seconds to stand that thing up… frigging epic.

If as a coach that type of effort doesn’t get you more jacked up than anything else you have seen than you are in the wrong business.  And stop with the bulls**t. Just because you tweeted it or gave someone a shout out on Facebook does not prove anything.  Are you living and dying with each one of these makes and misses because you SINCERELY and GENUINELY (refer to point #1) want the best for your athletes?  You better be. 

Treat ALL of your members the same.  Regardless of what they CAN or CANNOT do.  Stop playing favorites.  It’s obnoxious.

 -  The Monday Test.  This one I learned directly from Jon and Travis.  Very simple: on Sunday night, do you dread going to work at your gym on Monday?  Or are you absolutely GIDDY in anticipation of getting back in the gym and seeing everyone and training and training with people you have come to love, respect and admire? If it’s the former, quit now.  You are absolutely in the wrong field and your athletes are suffering because of it.

Successful gyms are not full of coaches and trainers dreading to come in to work.  Every day Jon North walked into the gym he would literally bust through the door, beautiful wife and two incredible dogs right behind him, and he would announce to the entire room (even if it was just me sitting there) “WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY!!! A PERFECT DAY FOR US TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD!”  His attitude was so damn infectious you couldn’t help but want to go pick up a bar and be great.  That is the kind of owner and / or coach you need to be.  That is the kind of owner / coach your athletes deserve and if you can’t deliver best to believe they will find someone that can. 

There is no place for apathy in coaching.  Your dedication to your athletes and your fellow coaches has to be unconditional.  Your pursuit for knowledge and improvement has to be relentless and there should never be a moment when you think you know it all.  Stop thinking your “big” lifts automatically make you a legit coach because odds are there are teenage Chinese girls hitting your max for triples.  Be humble and be a servant.  Recognize you can’t please everyone all the time, but that doesn’t mean you should ever stop trying.  Don’t be good enough for your athletes, be the absolute BEST you can be every single day.

Success doesn’t come by mistake.  It comes from persistence and hard work (as anyone who has ever trained with a barbell could tell you).  Intelligence, experience and skill are of course necessary to lead a gym, but equally important is everything I have discussed above.

If you don’t believe me, that is fine.  Continue doing what you are doing and I will enjoy welcoming your disgruntled members into my new gym.