Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. Today’s edition is powered by Red H Nutrition, an athlete founded, athlete focused supplement company who believes in the process as much as the result.
We’re hanging out in D.C. Yesterday, we ate the best doughnut in the city and joined Anthony (reader) at CrossFit Balance in Thomas Circle for a spicy ski erg + snatch chipper. Check it out on our Instagram story.
Meet Brandon Ryan, an adaptive CrossFit athlete with Cerebral Palsy. He shares his story about the challenges that athletes like him face when starting CrossFit. All Red H products are currently buy one get one 1/2 off, no code necessary.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
CHALK UP IN 2 MINUTES
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU HIT THE BOX
With your second cup of coffee — “MS is not a stop sign, just a guideline.”
Relationship goals via Carleen Mathews.
THINGS TO…
WATCH: Masters Men 50 – 60
START WATCHING.
HEAR: Achievement and Growing Through Obstacles
TUNE IN.
EAT: Crispy Buffalo Chicken Fingers
GIVE IT A TRY.
BUY: Free Recovery Kit
START SHOPPING.
CHALK UP AFFILIATES
“CrossFit Alkaline named their box Alkaline because for a person in homeostasis, blood pH should be 7.35-7.45 or slightly ‘Alkaline’. To get to a state of slightly Alkaline the body has to be fed the right kinds of food, more specifically, alkaline foods. We named our box this because as owners we believe that CrossFit and nutrition go hand-in-hand. Whatever fitness level you want to achieve, nutrition plays a 70% role in your training. It has been said many times, if you want the best results from your training program, it needs to start in the kitchen.”
Fitt lists their 15 most badass CrossFit boxes in the U.S. and we dropped into one of them in D.C. yesterday.
Becca Voigt shares some tips on opening and owning your own affiliate.
CHALK UP READS
When you’re starting out, keeping expenses to a minimum is crucial. Editor’s note: I did a bad job at this. ? Even if your gym isn’t huge, if your margins are right then you are doing fine. Many gym owners and coaches get wrapped up in membership numbers, but if your rent is too high and you’re paying out lots of other streams for monthly upkeep, expenses, etc. you will quickly have a problem on your hands.
Combined with that potential problem area, a major hurdle in the beginning is just getting enough bodies in the door to call yourself an actual CrossFit gym. Coaching classes of one person gets old quickly, and classes where nobody shows up feels even worse. In the beginning, just getting enough people to have classes with a fun vibe and different people who can interact, push each other, and build your community wider is key.
There are two crucial things to keep in mind about bartering. First, the person should be someone you want in your gym- someone whose energy, social network, and personality are all fits for the vibe you are creating. Ideally they are bringing more value than just the service they are performing- in the same way that your gym is giving them more than just a workout. Second, are they already a member or planning to sign up for a membership anyway? If you convert all of your paying members to “staff” you will quickly have a very smoothly-running gym…with no income. Try and identify people who are on the fence about signing up, or who want to sign up but are worried it will be a financial stretch. Or find a member who comes a few times a week but wants to come more, and offer to make up the difference in memberships for a little help.