Monkeys and The 4PM class 1


Robb Wolf tells a story in one of his podcasts about how they catch monkeys in one of the places he has visited. They take a jar with a mouth that is just large enough to put a monkey paw in and then fasten the jar to something sturdy. They put a piece of fruit in it and come back later. Apparently, the monkey gets “trapped” because he/she “can’t” let go of the fruit to get its paw out when the hunters return. Robb uses this story as an analogy for athletes who want to do too many things at one time, ironically, sometimes you have to let go of something to get what you want or avoid getting killed in the monkey’s case. For instance, the typical male athlete usually wants to get both lean and “jacked.” Robb’s answer is get lean first, then get jacked because without the hormonal balance gained from getting lean, lifting hard and heavy is like stepping on the brakes and the gas at the same time.

So what does this have to do with the 4 PM class? Well, I finally decided to follow Robb’s advice and, with the help of a coach, started creating the kind of job that both Susan and I (and the other trainers) can be passionate about for the long haul. The first thing we needed was larger blocks of time to work on projects. We looked at our records and schedules to see what we could do to get us both some 2 to 4 hour blocks so that we can start working on the business (some continuing education, but mostly finances and marketing). I know there are some people who got the short end of the stick when we removed the 4 PM class and we apologize, but there was definitely a downward trend in both the quality of coaching and of life for us. I think we addressed some of the issues, so far everything is going well. We are getting things done and we are getting more rest.

Some final notes on the recent schedule changes:

  1. We added the 12:30 Friday CrossFit class back to the schedule officially. In the winter months, this is another opportunity to get some sun and natural vitamin D.
  2. Class start time is the class start time. If you are 10 min early that is fine, sign in and quietly do some rolling/mobility work but understand that part of what personal training athletes pay for is… well… personal time with the coach. If class athletes come early, our insurance says someone has to supervise and then one of us (the one that isn’t coaching) has to stop his/her work and help out. If it were up to us, we would coach all the time and let someone else run the business, but desk work (marketing, planning, etc.) is a necessary evil. Help us minimize our time at the desk by coming on time, not too early, not too late, just right. 🙂
  3. We appreciate your patience while we are making changes. In the coming months, you will see a number of changes and there will probably be plenty of bugs, ummm, I mean “features.” A few people have already given us some feedback. Please let us know how we are doing, (don’t worry, we can handle the truth), besides, we can’t build the place you want to be without your help and feedback.

One thought on “Monkeys and The 4PM class

  • Kris

    Love how you guys are always striving to make things better in your business and lives, and how candid you are about what that will mean for your patrons and why. It’s part of what makes MDF the best CF box ever! Good luck, guys.

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