What is a GYM?

Just recently I have been having what could potentially be called a mid life crisis. Some might call it a blip, I’ve referred to it as torpedoing my whole life. That is possibly a little dramatic but the crux of the matter is purpose. What is it all about? Now i’m not going to get into the meaning of life and all that ballocks but part of my current mindset is what is My Gym, What is its purpose? and what is my responsibility to it, to my members, to my coaches, to the other businesses involved and, most importantly, the members that are the lifeblood of our great community.

We recently started a Bootcamp program. A 6 week course aimed at bringing people into the gym who wanted to get fit and lose weight. On the face of it that sounds like every fitness course you’ve ever seen on instagram or Facebook. The goal from a business perspective to grow my membership and make more money. The only problem with that is I have an issue with trying to make money under false pretences so I set about making sure it was good value for money and produced results. I think everyone who has completed the 6 weeks, lost around 10 pounds and gained a huge amount of strength and fitness as well as meeting great people, will back up that claim

But ultimately it brought up questions within myself about What is the purpose of my Gym? I’ve had many conversations with members and friends and business associates about this subject. Albeit I haven’t asked anyone specifically that question it is insightful to hear peoples opinions on the subject of fitness but more importantly health and well being. Both Physical and mental.

When starting AFSCrossFit in 2010 my goal was to get swole. Pukkie the clown was my hero and working out hard and competing everyday was the the bare minimum expected. This was reflected in my coaching, my mindset, my members and how my business was viewed. It has taken me quite a while to realise that my why, is not necessarily the same as everyone else’s. for some making it into the gym is a win, for others hitting PB’s is what its all about and for others its just about the social side of working out with friends. Just the other day I was being educated as to why my own ego (which I believed to have been checked at the door 🤦‍♂️) could be a factor in not being the best coach or business owner, and apparently i’m old and need to make way for the young bucks to progress. Adapting my coaching to be more of a mentor to these members rather than an antagonist. This is something I will have to work on for sure.

What this brought to light is what am I doing each day to make my gym, my members and myself better. I’m sure Mark will be happy to get a mention, but recently I have had a lot of people show me they care. Mark for one, albeit an airborne w@£nker has bombarded me with podcasts, book recommendations and advice. He would say i’ve ignored it all but everyone has to find their own way in their own time and some of it has sunk in I promise 🤪. Jodie went out of her way to buy me a journal and I’ve started doing a daily paragraph or two and It’s amazing how many people are psychologists 🤣. Kathryn and Gina have been life coaching me and apparently it’s good to talk. I’m still not so sure. but maybe it’s helping me get to my WHY?

I love the gym, and I love to work out. I think that has been lost somewhere along my journey. A lot of injuries, a lot of stress, and as it would become clear a lose of purpose have all contributed to a very poor fitness standard of myself. Although the bootcamp has helped a lot of people retake control of their fitness and possibly made life changing choices it has also made me look at myself and my business from a very different perspective. One that has taken me down quite the route of self evaluation, analysis and asked me to answer some pretty tough questions.

The main one of concern for this blog is What is AFSCrossFit? To some it’s just a gym, just an expensive gym at that. To others it’s a community, to me its life. I think working out shows true character. Some people aren’t ready to ask themselves the dark questions of why and that is ok. Is it to look good? is it to feel good? is it to get rid of stress? is it to live longer?. That last question, IS IT TO LIVE LONGER? is becoming my why. Why I am reenergising my workouts and also rethinking how we as a gym serve our members. Is it enough to just open the doors at 6am say hi to everyone who comes through the doors in the next 13 hours, coach them a tough work out then wish them well until the next time we throwdown in the AFSColosseum. That’s certainly how I have gone about it for the last 13 1/2 years.

This however is not how I see AFSCrossFit moving forward. I still want to say hi, still want to coach, still want to make you work as hard as you can, but I need to be accountable. I need to do more to provide a service that truly stands AFSCrossFit out from the rest. To build a gym that EVERYONE is PROUD to be a part of, and EVERYONE BENEFITS from. That’s my owners intent for those new to my ethos. The truth is though I have been struggling to see exactly what that looks like. But not anymore. I believe that information and education is the key to success. To that end AFSCrossFit will become a Gym that strives to give all of our members the motivation, accountability and coaching to never be in a vortex of bulls&£t when it comes to their health and fitness.

How are we going to do that you ask? Well we already have great coach’s, A great gym and a vast array of classes. But moving forward I will be looking to employ 2 full time coaches. Their responsibilities will be first and foremost Member engagement. They will be checking in weekly to ensure everything is going well, inside and outside the gym. They will obviously coach, and they will carry out our new HEALTH MOT Package, provide nutrition coaching and much much more.

Our Open gym area will very soon have programs laminated to deal with shoulder pain, hip pain, and back pain that you can head up and start to implement should you be struggling with an injury. These will be available to be coached 1-2-1 should you need help but all the information will be available to follow online as well. We will shortly be starting a 3 Monthly Health MOT. This will be available for all members and will consist of an in body scan, a lung capacity & power test and a blood pressure screening. All included in your membership. These will give you the basics to be able to track your progress and stay as healthy as possible for as long as possible.

And lastly by building an even stronger community. We will be doing more events for you to take part in. More monthly challenges. Team Events and much much more. This is just the start of the improvements and I would love to hear any feedback you may have. Communication is the only way we get better together and it’s something I will endeavour to better as we move forward.

Thanks for reading

G-Unit

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