CrossFit, the sport of fitness, presents a few unique challenges to the novice coach.  It is not necessary that a coach looks a certain way or wears certain things but there is an aura around a coach who is CrossFit. This is a coach that can do whatever it is that they ask of you.

The CrossFit Mind pyramid represents the elements of the CrossFit brand. On the left side of the CrossFit Mind pyramid you’ve got one extreme of the brand – Intense and Hard Core CrossFit. This side is the kill your mother, hard core, Rage Against the Machine, Metallica, tattoos, skulls and guns, I’m gonna murder you intense CrossFit people. This is CrossFit. We’re a part of that – and it’s why I do CrossFit. But it’s only one side of the pyramid and only half of your brand. This style is the manner in which this company began and the brand that carried CrossFit into the latter part of the 2000’s with massive success.

The opposite side of the pyramid represents professionalism.  If you want to be successful you have to operate like a professional business. This means a professional brand, logo, legit systems, and structure in your box. These two sides of the pyramid represent two extremes and as a CrossFit affiliate you have to strike a balance between the two. You need the feel of CrossFit, the culture, and the attitude. And at the same time your business should appeal to everyone. It should offer stability, accountability, and high quality world class training.

Create organization and structure within your business model but keep the look, feel, and culture of a garage gym. There are a couple of different ways we strike this balance at Central: Our gym looks and feels like CrossFit. We’ve got roll up garage doors and a real minimalistic garage gym feel. In the front part of the building where clients walk in is a check in desk and a retail area. The front lobby looks and feels very professional. This is where they fill out their waivers, where we have nutritional meetings, and where their benchmark scores and body assessments are kept. When you walk out into the gym you’re going to get the garage gym experience. It’s a lot like a mullet – business in the front, party in the back.

Our trainers at CrossFit Central are CrossFit and represent the brand.  The culture of the CrossFit brand is west coast garage gym. In Texas you see guys CrossFit in board shorts. Think about that – we wear board shorts in Texas….where there are no beaches. The whole reason people who live in California CrossFit in board shorts is because they’re going to the beach or they just came from the beach. Nobody is going to the beach in Texas, but we still wear board shorts. Why? Because it’s a part of the brand. It’s part of our culture and we have to maintain that brand in our box.

Excerpt from Forumula5