If you've never been to a CrossFit before then you should really stop in at a couple so that you can see the difference. If your coach ever picks up his cell phone during your workout then he is no longer coaching. He is either marketing his business or taking a break. That is a sign not to return. CrossFit is nothing like the traditional gyms where you plug in your ear buds, turn on your music and work at your own pace. The movements that they are doing are very skilled, the intensity is always high, the vibe from the people that you work with is very important. Initially I joined a CrossFit in Los Angeles and thought that they would all be the same. It was crowded and the coach would look annoyed if you asked how to perform movements correctly. The workout was explained, the coach would say 3, 2, 1 go, and then pick up his cell phone to post pictures of the class on Facebook. Unfortunately there are many CrossFit's out there exactly like this where they pay no attention to the members and people frequently come and go either because of injury or lack of improvement. For about 3 months I was a member of one of these boxes and thought that they were all going to be the same.
Luckily my job put me in the Joshua Tree area for about 6 weeks and I found CrossFit Joshua Tree. I remember walking in thinking I was in good shape and that I knew what I was doing. My experience here really changed the way that I look at CrossFit in general. Immediately Mike had me lighten the load and he was on me constantly during the workout correcting my form. He had a cap on the amount of people allowed for each class so that he would have enough time to monitor everyone's performance. After the warm up we would practice the movements that we would be doing during the workout. That was a strange experience as my first coach looked down on people that asked too many questions so we would try to watch how other people performed movements like a jerk clean, snatch, starburst, high hang clean, etc. that I had never learned in my previous 20 years of gym attendance. The only answer that I could ever get out of my first coach was "add more weight" which should have been a sign as to why there were so many injuries. When I performed the movements with correct form immediately it felt better and I was able to improve in weight and endurance. Mike made sure that everyone in the class performed the movements correctly or they lightened the load until they could It make perfect sense as your number one goal should be to avoid injury.
There is another aspect that is very important and that is the community in the CrossFit. It was strange to me that no one finished working out and immediately left. They would instead go to the other members and try to encourage them to keep working or when they were done they would help them to put away their equipment. At my current box the community is my favorite part as we are always pushing each other to get better and it can really hep motivate you much more than being on your own at the traditional style gyms. I haven't been to CrossFit Joshua Tree in almost a year but I remember Margo, Chris, and Jeff. In my time there I went to some classes in the morning, and in the evening and they all had the same feeling, everyone was pushing each other to do better. My experience here helped me to leave my old CrossFit and immediately find a much better place to work out.
Try out a couple so that you have something to measure your experience with. I'm very loyal to Mike and CrossFit Joshua Tree as I am now in the best shape of my life and feel as if I owe a lot of it to my experience here. read more
