On occasion, coaches and owners voice their concerns about publishing workouts in advance for their members to see. The concern is often rooted in worry about the athletes who cherry-pick their WODs. Owners attempt to reduce cherry picking by not publicizing the WOD. What those owners might not consider is that they are doing themselves and their members a disservice.
When the topic of cherry picking comes up, the key question you should consider is:
What kind of culture do you want to promote in your gym?
Do you want to create a culture in your gym that accommodates the people who don’t follow the CrossFit tenet, “constantly varied”? Or, do you want to build a culture that supports your ideal athletes?
You know, the athletes that show up, every day, no matter what the WOD is and work their butt off? We’re betting the latter. The constantly varied principle sets your athletes up for high levels of fitness and performance. As your athletes become better, they usually become better customers. They stick with CrossFit, they stay at your gym, and they tell others about the incredible fitness experience they’re having.
Build systems and processes that support your ideal athletes.
The flip side of cherry-picking is preparation.
If your athletes know what the WOD is before they get to the gym they have the opportunity to review their past performance, watch movement videos, and consider their workout approach.
Imagine if all of your athletes showed up to work out having prepared. Instead of fielding questions like, “What is a hang squat clean?” you’ll be able to answer better questions like, “What should my strategy be for this workout?”
People who cherry pick are only hurting themselves.
Athletes that are unprepared hurt the whole class. These athletes require more attention from the coach and risk injury without the proper understanding of the movements.
We understand that cherry-picking can be a problem, and SugarWOD has settings to allow you to delay the posting of the day’s workouts. But please consider the trade-offs.
Build your processes to support your ideal athletes and you and your members will be rewarded with a better class experience and better performance.