I got chatting a member the other day about a few of the finer details of running Saxon CrossFit and it came to light they thought that CrossFit, as in CrossFit Inc, programmed all the workouts for the affiliates worldwide, including Saxon. Hopefully most of our members know that we (Jess and I) write all the programming for the classes ourselves? But this got me thinking – what else might people need to, but not, know about what makes a CrossFit affiliate?
Here’s a quick guide as to what exactly a CrossFit affiliate is:
Their Independent:
CrossFit gyms are individually owned and operated (Saxon by Jess and I) – it is not a franchise. Apart from letting us use the term CrossFit, CrossFit Inc have no input in the day to day running of any box. Essentially boxes are free to do their own thing but it is expected that they will provide quality instruction on constantly varied functional movements performed at a high intensity.
This independence means that all boxes are different and if you’ve ever dropped in at another box on your travels you potentially experienced something completely different to Saxon. We love hearing from members who have hit a box on holiday to see what they liked and to see if we can improve our service based on their experiences.
They write their own programming:
Or at least most do – some boxes will follow programming written by external companies. At Saxon and the majority of boxes the coaching team write the workouts. We do this for several reasons:
1 – we know our members, their strengths and their weaknesses. We can program for our community because we interact with them all day everyday.
2 – we know our facility. We can program for our kit, our space and our surroundings to ensure our members can get the best workout in possible.
3 – we have a strong belief in our programming and its effectiveness. Our coaching team all follow the same programming as our members and we think it’s pretty great!
By writing all our own programming we can plan out a years’ worth of wokrouts and then adjust it monthly or weekly to suit our member’s needs thus providing that personal touch that we pride ourselves on.
They vary in size and kit – dramatically:
Affiliates all over the world can vary from monstrous 40,000 sq/ft facilities to 400sq/ft , from custom built warehouses to tarpaulin spread between two containers, from every piece of kit imaginable to a couple of kettle bells and a pull up bar. One of our favourite things about CrossFit is seeing unique and inventive spaces used to house some phenomenal boxes and seeing clever programming using minimal kit to produce maximum results. The biggest and most kitted out boxes are by no means the best!
So, all boxes are different – they work to their own plan, to their own beat and to their own ends. The one thing that should be consistent across all boxes is the welcoming and friendly community that CrossFit is renowned for!