And here is something that I always said that I wouldn’t do: A Coach’s Blog.
I used to believe that a blog, or a sounding board from a coach or owner of a gym would be unnecessary. I used to think that the social, face to face interaction that we have with our athletes would be sufficient for discussion of thoughts and beliefs of CrossFit, catching up on personal lives and anything else that comes to mind. I believed those interactions were all that are necessary to stay “plugged in” with each other. While I’m not saying that I was wrong because I still believe that most of the magic happens with those face to face interactions, but I do believe you need to go beyond that.
In Malcom Gladwell’s “The Tipping Point” he discusses “The Rule of 150” or really previously established as “Dunbar’s Number“, created by British anthropologist, Robin Dunbar. In either case they state that 150 individuals is the upper limit of any group’s size in which the members of that group can still have “real relationships” and in effect, real communication.
While don’t completely agree, I did notice a slight shift in the gym’s social structure as we hit and surpassed the 150 mark. It wasn’t a bad thing, just a noticeable way that we all communicate and interact. I think with the community building nature of CrossFit along with social media such as Facebook, groups/tribes/communities such as ours can still stay largely cohesive past the 150 mark. However, as I stated above, I now believe more needs to be done with groups of this size.
After careful thinking, I decided to launch this blog. I’ll be using this blog periodically as a sounding board on a variety of topics. What this won’t be is a “Dear Abby”, or my own daily personal diary/journal. You don’t need to see what I eat, if it’s Paleo or not, when I wake up, and what I did during the day. CrossFit subjects ranging from technique to training philosophy and business operations/current news of CrossFit 858 will be the primary topics of this blog. The idea is to be able to communicate to the group as a whole, from the main source vs relying on word of mouth or hearing it through the grapevine.
Also, I have a list of topics already that I wish to cover in the future, but I’m also open to anything you may want to suggest. As always, I can be reached at: coachmark@crossfit858.com
With that said, I hope you enjoy future posts and I look forward to hearing your suggestions.