At Kanna Fitness, we’re about providing an enjoyable fitness experience for you. And while the coaches guide you through the hour-long class, the other members in the class can also contribute to your experience (and you to their experience).
Just like many other groups you’ve belonged to, there are unwritten rules of behavior which you might pick up on in terms of what’s acceptable or not. Some gyms even have these written down or up on a poster! Here are some for us that help everyone enjoy their fitness experience:
- Show up on time – if everyone is there on time, class will start as a cohesive unit and have a shared experience rather than having an interruption of someone coming in late. We understand when someone’s occasionally late and can’t help it, but don’t take your fellow members for granted
- Listen, but also ask questions – Although we post the workout to a members’ app the night before, not everyone reads it. Coaches will go over the workout in detail, demonstrate movements, and coach you through those movements and warm-ups, but don’t be afraid to ask questions. Chances are if you’re thinking it, someone else is, too!
- Try your best – The actual result of the workout doesn’t matter to us in the sense of we don’t care who lifted the most weight or who came in “last” of the metcon. What matters is effort – and although this shouldn’t have to be said, cheating reps is just cheating yourself!
- Encourage others – Look, none of us at Kanna are trying to be competitive athletes and certainly none of us are getting paid to workout. So let’s have fun and support each other. If you finish the workout before others, cheer them on! If someone is going for a PR lift, get excited and yell with support! A simple “nice job” or “great lift” can really make someone else’s day.
- Say hi – Again, we want this to be fun. We also find the group dynamic does better when people know each other. That’s why we try to use names as much as we can and have people introduce themselves during the beginning of class. But also don’t be afraid to say hi to others. There’s a reason we put up member’s polaroid pictures on the corkboard (so you can be reminded of their names!)
- Don’t be afraid to scale/modify – Whether it’s due to injury or simply “not feeling it” that day, you’re always encouraged to change the weights, reps, or sets to fit your intentions. This might mean scaling down and modifying. We encourage this and think it also sets a great example for others to see so that they can do the same when needed. We don’t need a culture of machismo and meatheadedness!
- Clean up once everyone is finished – This one is a bit trickier if time is running out of class, but assuming there’s enough time, just wait to clean your stuff up. Focus on who is still working out and see #4!
These are just 7 unwritten rules of the gym, at least at Kanna. What other rules have you either seen or think should be on this list?
-Coach Chris