When most people come to do a No Sweat Intro with me, they aren’t looking for a great community. They are looking to lose weight, get stronger and feel more healthy. The odd person mentions they’d like to workout with a group of like-minded individuals. When I hear that, I get excited.
I know we have an awesome community being built at Defy Functional Fitness. One I haven’t been a part of anywhere else. Most communities have little subdivisions. Groups of people who branch off because they relate better to certain people.
What we have is a very friendly, very welcoming group of people who all want to push themselves to be a little bit better every day. They listen to information, they try new things and they see what works for them. There are no egos.
Every CrossFit gym I’ve ever seen uses their “awesome community” as a selling point so you may think ours isn’t that special. It’s pretty tough to explain the community aspect of our gym but to give you some ideas:
- You’re greeted by every member when you join one of our classes. This is not a gym where you put the headphones in and watch your biceps work in the mirror. During rest periods in our strength sets, members are interacting, asking each other about work, family and how their weekend was. We chat sports, politics and anything else that comes to mind.
- We organize things outside of the gym. Our first social was at the Amsterdam Barrel House last month and our morning members met our evening members for the first time. We have a gym leaderboard every day so everyone had seen other names on there, but finally got to meet them. In July we have a bunch of members using their fitness outside of the gym to tackle the Spartan Super Race. This will be a tonne of fun and will forge even better relationships between our members.
- We contribute to our community through charity events. So far we have had one event that raised over $1000 for Children’s Make-A-Wish foundation. We have donated memberships to local schools to help with their fundraising efforts. We want to give back to the local community as a gym community and we have lots more in the pipeline.
- We have an active member’s Facebook Group that is exclusive to our members. Here we share our ‘Bright Spots’ and celebrate our weekly wins.
What will this community do for you?
- Social support – you will feel welcome and you will be a part of something that is greater than just going to the gym. Knowing your gym buddies will be at the class will hold you accountable and keep you committed. The group will provide encouragement and motivation when you are struggling. Sometimes you don’t feel like working out but other peoples energy can be infectious. Research at Oxford University found that working out in a group resulted in a greater release of endorphins than when working out alone. That endorphin release is what makes you feel great after a tough workout.
- Social Liberation – it’s ok to use chalk, it’s ok to push so hard that you’re struggling to breathe and sometimes make funny noises. In a conventional gym, people would look at you funnily if you did this, not at Defy Functional Fitness. We get inspired to see people give their all and bathe in their sweat afterward. Your goals are important to everyone else and you will be congratulated for your efforts.
You don’t realize you need our community to help you achieve your goals but if you are interested in seeing for yourself what this is all about, click below and book a No Sweat Intro with me.
You won’t regret it
Thanks for reading
Darren