WFAC New Member Experience
This is all assuming the person actually wants to train, is going to be committed, and isn't lazy. This, however, is not the norm. I'll give you a bit of stream of consciousness pertaining to what goes on here at the gym.
Every new member is required to learn the basic barbell lifts, regardless of what it is they may intend on doing at the gym. I teach them the squat, press, and deadlift on the first day. Sometimes I may wait till the second day to teach the deadlift if I know the person is going to be pretty damn sore (I can tell). The teaching method has the same structure, but I change how I approach the individual, how I talk to them, how complicated I make my language (technical or general), and how much I want them to think about depending on my impression of the individual. This is based on their prior lifting experience, how athletic they are, how intelligent they are, how mature they are, what their attention span is, and shit like that. I can read that pretty easily, so I cater my personality to what will work best with that individual.
After this initial lesson, the gym member has a few options. They can be a regular open gym member, they can opt for personal training (one-on-one with me, scheduled when convenient), or they can "join" the "barbell training group" at 5:30 PM on weekdays. The typical schedule for that training group is MWF, and typically it consists of people on the linear progression and some intermediate folks. Usually people in that training group will opt to compete in weightlifting, powerlifting, or what we used to call the CrossFit Total. I'll tailor their training to what event they want to compete in. I've had or have weightlifters, powerlifters, rugby players, football players, basketball players, softball players, and track athletes (I've coached more, but this is what we typically have at the gym).
Open gym members will get our coaching eyes on them when they need it. It takes a few weeks to get this stuff down pretty well, and usually everyone needs some coaching in the long run anyway. The persisistent trainees (like our infamous Zach) will get extra help because a guy like him busts his ass, so we help them out a little more. We won't let anyone do anything horribly-ass wrong, even if we (meaning Rip or I) have to go out of our way to fix it.
The barbell training session is a group of people training together. I will watch their warm-ups and work sets. Sometimes I have to get them moving, because everyone becomes friends and they usually dick around and have fun too. It's pretty neat, too, because there will be young highschoolers becoming friends with college age students, and they all get along. We train hard, and have a jolly time doing it.
Alas! This is still Wichita Falls, and we don't have lots of traffic. The community is pretty close knit because of this, and realistically if someone is going to come in here and fuck around, we may opt to recommend they go somewhere else.
A gym member, regardless of what they end up doing at the gym, will inevitably learn about programming. This is inherent in my introduction to them, and the smart ones will continue asking questions about it. The people that have been here for 5, 10, 15 years have inevitably been subject to the epiphanies that Rip has had over the years about life, lifting, and whatever. The group of members that have been here for years are all great people and make things interesting.
I tell the potential gym members what they will get upon signing up. If someone doesn't have any clear cut goals, then a linear progression will typically be what they do. There may be some particular cases of some additional conditioning and nutritional stuff if someone wants to lose bodyfat, but all of our gym members are all squatting at least twice a week and performing the basic barbell lifts.
I've seen a 60 year old friend squat 305 for a set of five when he's tired. I've seen another friend, 47 years old, pull over 500 pounds on a regular basis just because. I've seen 60+ year old doctors bust their ass pushing the prowler because that's the kind of thing they are into on Tuesday and Thursday nights.
My point is that this gym will never be replicated. The personalities, the dedicated training, the development and sharing of knowledge, and the little community makes this place unique. Sure, it's a place to learn. Sure, it is the Company Information Center for the Aasgaard Company. Sure, it has some of the best collection of equipment to get someone strong and conditioned, but the thing is, the majority of the people walk out of the door at the end of the day leave knowing they got stronger and that they had a good time.
I can't fathom a better place to train at.
Originally Posted by JLascek
