Service & Humility.
- Coach
- Jan 13
- 2 min read
Service
In our CrossFit classes we do not face mirrors, because it is not about what we look like; it’s about what we can do. Instead of looking at ourselves, we face the coach and we face each other.
The CrossFit experience is built on the coached workout. This is not your typical “follow along and face the instructor” as everyone only watches themselves in a wall full of mirrors. The coach briefs the workout, instructs the movements, and then coaches the class to ensure everyone is moving well, using the right loading, and pushing themselves appropriately. The coach is coaching in a way that is much more akin to the sports coach than the fitness instructor. And class participants are much more like teammates at a practice than they are like robots imitating an instructor in an aerobics or cycling class. Furthermore, we have almost nothing in common with the isolating self-in-mirror relationship of the bodybuilding big-box gym culture.
At the highest expression of their craft, our coaches are leaders. They are not trained to say, “Look at me”; they are not there to show you how fit they are and how good they look. Their work is about service. The focus is on how fit they can make you. Similarly, our members are watching each other, whether to learn, be inspired to push harder, compete, or simply lend encouragement and support.
Humility
Think about the demands of our methodology: constant variance across broad time and modal domains; optimizing fitness across skills and drills, adaptations, energy systems, etc. There is always a chance that something will show up in a workout that we are not very good at. Our weaknesses are exposed regularly, and this means to progress we need to do a bunch of stuff we are not good at — and often. And just when we think we are “that good,” something shows up, some flaw we didn't notice or seen before. This keeps us humble as individuals and as a community.
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