I haven’t put up a blog post in some time now. Truth is, I have a few that I started and just never finished. Which is unlike me. Usually I have a topic in mind, I sit down and finish the post in an hour or so. I guess I have just been busy, which is a good thing. If I wasn’t busy, Sublime would be in trouble. Anyway, I am on my flight home from Saskatoon and figured I would just start writing. Since we just celebrated our two year anniversary, the topic will be sort of a ‘how did we get here?’
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I remember last year around this time, I was trying to put together a ‘year in review’ blog post and I realized I had no idea what to write. I honestly didn’t know how we had made it through a whole year. It was a blur. Lots of highs, real lows, and all sorts of business mistakes sprinkled in there. Half way into our first year we realized that our business model wasn’t going to keep us afloat and we were going to have to raise the rates. It made me sick. I looked for any other possible way to make it work, but it was a mistake we made when we initially set our membership fees. It wasn’t a significant raise, but I was nauseous when we sent out the letter to all our members. It was awful. In the end I likely over thought it, because as always, our members were very understanding and supportive. But that comes back to something I have tried since we began, to be honest and upfront with everyone. I’m fairly young to be running my own business, I had just turned 24 when we opened so I was bound to make some mistakes along the way. That is one I really learned from, a lot more planning goes into any decision we make now.
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Way back when Brendan lived in the gym, and didn’t have kids or some stupid lifesaving job, he was my coach.
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Much like I am to lots of you in the 3-5pm time slot, Brendan was the guy I always had at the 3pm class. Many times it was just me and him. Sometimes he would let me play my music, and he would hate it. But I loved it. Lots of coaching time, we got to change workouts up sometimes to work on new things. I would come in, pay no attention to the strength work (HA) and just scope the board for the scores people put up on whatever Met-Con was scheduled that day. I was so into it. Then he (selfishly) made a family choice, took a job and decided to part ways with the gym. Leaving ME! I kept up with it and stayed with the gym, things kind of changed for me with him gone though. It just wasn’t the same. At some point I thought I should go get certified, maybe I could get that feeling back, be that guy to other people. It was fun, but it wasn’t enough. I would only work with these people once a week, then send them on their way. I wanted more impact, more control.
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The dream of Sublime all started when I attended a coaching lecture Brendan had put on. After the lecture I set up a 1-1 session with him, sometime in the fall of 2012 I believe. Well actually it was our second scheduled session…cause on the first one BRENDAN FORGOT ABOUT ME! I sat there, palms sweating, in the parking lot and got stood up! Anyway, I’m over it. Really I am, it’s no big deal.
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So we had this 1-1 session. Brendan asked beforehand what I would like to work on. I said, ‘Well, my Olympic lifting could use some coaching’…. But really I was thinking, ‘he hasn’t seen me lift in forever, I’ll show him how awesome my 95# snatch is’….
He was less than impressed.
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He was different now. He talked about bicep curls? And how important squatting is? I was like, ‘dude? I want to do 1000 kipping snatch box jumps for time! That is how you workout!’ He had scientific answers to training questions, he didn’t just use the Crossfit mantra, ‘ready for anything.’ He said blasphemous things like ‘CrossFit isn’t for everyone.’ I didn’t understand at the time, I figured, of course you needed to do handstand push ups to get fit! But more than anything, he had a tone to his voice that I recognized. He longed for a place that people could train smart, where the coaches were actively involved in helping people improve their lives.
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Just quickly wanted to touch on this. To me, there is a difference between a ‘trainer’ and a ‘coach.’ We have set our system up that way. Our trainers (Gail/Mel/Andy/Tyler/Jay) are there to help you with your session, answer basic questions in regards to nutrition, movement, recovery etc. The coaches, Myself, Brendan, and Brad take it a step further. Help with lifestyle practice, motivation to get you back in the gym, keep you on a routine, advice for specific goals. Life coaching, if you will take it that far. I have people talk with me about divorce, pregnancies, depression, job losses, and financial problems. I try to help, I’m certainly no expert on that stuff. We try to make things work. We try to help as much as we can. We have failed some, been unable to help them achieve goals. It isn’t for a lack of effort on our part. If we lose a member, to me it counts as a failure. That is a tough part of this business, when you just can’t find a way to get someone where they want to be. It sucks. It would really beat me down during our first year. I’m not immune to it now, I just deal with it better. I understand that I won’t be able to help everyone. Anyway, that’s not important to this blog.
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Okay, basically what is happening here is all the unfinished blog attempts are coming out in this one. It’ll probably end up being long. I am typing like a mad man. The guy beside me is creeping on this as I type, he has also decided this entire row is his and has made himself as wide as possible (I hate planes)….lets see if he saw that…
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I left that session with Brendan, my mind running a mile a minute. When I got home I started talking with my pops, explaining the thoughts I was having, blah blah blah, I went on and on. At the end of everything he just looked at me, with a matter of fact face and said, ‘then do it.’ And that was it. So I did.
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I contacted Brendan, he was cautiously interested, and he asked if we could include Brad in this conversation. The three of us sat down and discussed numbers. I was all fired up! I thought it was pretty simple, make more than you spend! It is a lot more complicated than that. We decided to start looking around at buildings, test the feasibility of this project. Things were put on hold for a bit while I went to Thailand to find myself.
Party all DAY! 
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I came back from my spiritual journey and we jumped into our business model. The gym flow was unique to Winnipeg, we thought it created a greater coaching environment. What we were envisioning was so different than anything we had experienced, we weren’t even sure it would work. No standard CrossFit ‘on ramp’, we would do 1-1 sessions instead and begin with a movement screen. Classes beginning every 30min, a self-led warm up. I am so happy we stuck with it. Every now and then I hear things from people saying stuff about how were different. ‘Yeah, I heard you guys weren’t really CrossFit.” I’d ask to clarify what they mean, “you know, not really a 3-2-1 go gym.’ I have heard that we are ‘too careful’, ‘too technical.’ I guess that’s true, and I guess I’m okay with that. We decided to pick a business model that required consistent lifelong members, we needed people to stay and commit to us. Our gym flow depends on people attending class regularly. We try to achieve that by ensuring longevity in fitness. So yeah, when I say that I don’t think it is safe for you to do any overheard pressing yet (or ever), it is because I want to work with you to eventually reach that point (or challenge you other ways). That may take over a year. So if we ‘aren’t Crossfit’ because we don’t try to hammer a square peg into a round hole, then I guess that is true. What is ‘CrossFit?’ Honestly? I have no idea anymore. Now THAT is a entirely separate post. Anyway, eventually we found our home on Main Street. The process of getting up and running is a story all in itself. I have no interest in talking about that right now….
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One of the things I struggled with the most during our first year was balancing work, life, and training. I thought I needed to be this elite level crossfitter, you know…since I owned one. I got in touch with Mike from Optimum Performance Training after I went down there for a competition. When talking with him I realized that we had very similar views on how people should train, for CrossFit and just fitness in general. I told him I wanted to do my best to make Regionals by the age of 27. He told me you can’t ‘try to do your best, either you want it bad enough to make it or you don’t.’ So I lied to him (and myself), and said I wanted it more than anything. During my time working with him I learned a lot about myself, my weaknesses, LOTS about programming, that I actually REALLY love lifting weights, and most of all…. That I wasn’t willing to give what it takes to make it to Regionals. It is funny to say but Mike forces you to come to that decision on your own, by asking the right questions he gets you to the point where you admit that you are not willing to make the sacrifices it now takes to make Regionals. It isn’t the old show up and compete days, it takes a LOT of work. Near the end of my time with him my training sessions were miserable, I would just drag myself through the motions. I wanted to have fun in the gym again.
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I have friends outside the gym that I like to see, we do fishing trips and cabin weekends. I wouldn’t be able to do that if I was training 6 times a week, sometimes twice a day. I enjoy going to Jets games, I also enjoy playing hockey. That first year I think I made ¼ of my hockey games. But most importantly I realized that I have a little lady that I love, and I would rather spend summer Sundays lounging at the beach with her than sweating at the gym. I have been a much happier man since I came to terms with all of that
A Much Happier Man.
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I realized that I started to care about my members’ success more than mine. It became obvious that running your own business is a lot of work, because I want Sublime to be the best. I consider us the best. Every gym owner should, if you don’t then you should get back to the drawing board. I want Sublime to be successful forever. I don’t define our gyms success by our ‘Opens’ ranking or how we place in local competition. I base it on the general fitness, health, and wellness of our members.
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This goes back to what I mean by the whole coach or trainer thing. The first thing we ask someone during the intake assessment is ‘what are your goals?’ That is crucial to know. We have to be real with people, we have to control our members’ expectations. I think it’s great if you come to the gym 4-5 times a week, then grab some beers with your buddies on the weekend after hockey or out at the cabin. But then you have to be real with yourself in terms of what you want to accomplish with your gym time. You will not be an elite level crossfitter, or elite in your specific sport with that training schedule. However you can maintain great functional fitness with that schedule. I wasn’t being real with myself. I wanted to be a successful business owner, a knowledgeable coach, a great crossfitter, a great friend, and a great boyfriend. It wasn’t possible to balance all those. I was always dropping the ball on one of my titles.
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Okay I need to wrap this up. Guy beside me has stopped looking over, must’ve seen that part above
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Two years and still learning. After listening to Dr. Stuart McGill speak, it has never been more evident to me that I have much to learn. I have hardly scratched the surface. If any coach tells you they know it all, you should leave immediately. However, it was also encouraging to talk with many of the speakers and realize that we are on the same page. That we are applying similar practices. I have a unique career. People are generally happy to see me, and me them in return. I am allowed to make mistakes and keep my job. They say as you age you become grateful for what you have. I’m still a young guy, but I’ve been told repeatedly that I have an old soul. I am very grateful for what I have, in my personal and business life. Thank you all for coming along for the ride so far, being so understanding and so supportive. I am going to make mistakes, business mistakes, and training mistakes. We will learn from them and be better for it.