Why We Have Rules

There was a time, not so long ago, when we abhorred rules. We were the fitness counter-culture (still are!) and rules and regulations were for them. Not us.
We took for granted that people would know their way around a CrossFit gym; that they’d be sensitive to the same issues we were. In short, we made the mistake of projecting our values and background onto everyone, because we’re all friends here.
Recently, we’ve had to crack down a bit. We’ve tried hinting, and surprise! that didn’t work. You CAN’T read our minds, after all! We’ve tried being cute – the burpee penalties aren’t working. So here it is: WHY we insist on things being done a certain way. After all, we’re not just making up rules for their own sake.
1. Don’t wear wet shoes in the gym. I don’t want to sit in your mess. Do you want to sit in mine? I don’t want to get out of a shower and step in dirt. Kinda defeats the purpose.
2. Don’t drop an empty bar. A seven-foot drop of a finely-tuned, $800 instrument CAN’T end well.
3. Don’t expect to train while there’s a CrossFit group. We are, first and foremost, a coaching organization. We make our gym space available to our athletes for practice during our non-coaching hours. Participants in CrossFit groups – whether they number 1 or 20 – deserve (and have paid for) the exclusive use of the equipment and exclusive attention of the coach. Your gym membership is valid from 6-7am, from 8am-12pm, from 1pm-7pm and from 8pm-9pm. That’s eleven  hours of availability, for about a buck a day. When a coach has to ask you to finish up at 7pm to make way for the group, it’s incredibly awkward for everyone involved.
4. Don’t leave your stuff around.  We don’t want your shoes, or your water bottle. There simply isn’t room to keep them here. If it were important to you, you’d remember to take it with you. Similarly, put equipment away properly. Bars fall over and make dents in equipment. A piece of dented rower costs $500 to replace; a bar costs $800. You’d have to be a member for 30 months to cover the cost of replacement, not including taxes and shipping and repair time. When you break equipment, you’re taking it away from all members until we can fix it. 
5. Sign in.  We’re tracking peak hours so that we can plan around them. We wouldn’t ask if we didn’t need the information. It’s not hard, promise.
6. Take ownership. Stepping on skipping ropes is bad for them. Letting a three-year-old run around is bad for them. Leaving a piece of chalk on the floor is bad for everyone.
We hate being the ‘bad guy.’ We like everyone here. We’re attempting to keep our community small and close; the atmosphere intense; and the floors clean enough to collapse upon. Rules aren’t about being ‘nice,’ or ‘in a good mood,’ or ‘mad’ at anyone. There’s a reason for every one. If you’re unsure, just ask. Please, and thanks. Now let’s all get back to training hard.