EVALUATE your GYM!

YOU CAN QUICKLY AND EFFECTIVELY EVALUATE GYMS ON THE FOLLOWING FOUR MEASURES:

1. Performance data- If a gym or program doesn’t regularly measure the performance data of its athletes, then it doesn’t care very deeply about their performance. The best programs keep close track of their athletes’ numbers, and constantly strive to improve them. You won’t improve nearly as fast if you don’t measure your performance. Competition, one of the keys to success, is impossible without data.

2. Fundamental movements- The best gyms focus on the basic, most effective exercises: squat, deadlift, jump, Olympic lifts, pull-up, push-up, run. If you hear that a program doesn’t do one of these movements b/c it is too hard to perform or teach, it is not a very effective program. Emphasis on secondary movements like burpees or ball slams is a sign of a less effective program. Those are effective movements, and performing them from time to time is great, but the above-listed fundamental movements should take precedence. One of the questions that should be used to evaluate whether a movement is fundamental, and thus whether it should show up frequently or infrequently is this: What relevant benefits can I get from this movement that I cannot get from other exercises?
If you ask that about burpees, the answer is very few. If you ask that about squats, the answer is: a whole freaking lot. Fundamental movements tend to move large loads long distances at fast speeds, and do so while replicating out-of-the-gym real-life experiences. They also require skilled coaching to reach proficiency in.

3. Nutrition and recovery– the best gyms emphasize nutrition and recovery as much or more than their workouts. To the best of your ability, eat zone/paleo and sleep as much as you can. Don’t stress out.

4. Quality of athletes– the best gyms produce the fittest athletes and make the biggest improvements in all of their athletes’ fitness levels. This is the most important criteria. Of course, this is impossible to know if a gym doesn’t follow the first point mentioned above. Performance data is what allows us to evaluate our own and other athletes’ fitness levels.
-CrossFit FACEBOOK page.



Workout of the Day
Five rounds for time:
Run 400m
21 Bench Press #135

"Age doesn't matter, unless your cheese." -John Paul Getty