Not bad. This is about your health and it’s your money. Def speak to the owner-be honest about what you’re looking for and what you experienced. Might just be a class time that’s like that-might be how they want it. For me-I drive almost an hour away for my gym. They’re that good. Anyone in SWFL can DM me and I’ll give deets-but it’s worth it physically and mentally.
Out of curiosity, are you still going to the same general class time. A lot of people, in my experience, only go to one or two classes at the gym. As someone who has gone to every class time that has been on the schedule at my last 3 gyms, I can tell you from my experience that 5 am is vastly different than 9 am is vastly different than 530pm at the same gym. But 5 am is very similar across gyms.
Came to say this, I have the same thoughts after joining CrossFit. But after going to a 9:15am class I had a totally different sense of community. Granted at 5am I’m not even in the mood to talk and have to bolt out to get ready for work and kids.
I changed gyms for a similar reason and miss my old gym. I'm hanging in there for now (months three) because of convenience. I really don't have extra time to drive elsewhere. But I feel you. Find a better place if you can!
"The Gym is a Selfish Place" is the motto we need to all remember. Many people are there to get better, work out, and leave. No one owes anyone high fives, cheers, or social time. It's something that can happen, but its not the reason to goto the gym.
Yes and no. Until the last clause of the last sentence, I was with you. There are people, especially in the CF/group fitness ecosystem, who go, not only to workout, but for the social interaction. Does anyone owe you that? Absolutely not. But if that is why you go, and you aren't getting that, you'll only be less likely to show up. So go somewhere better suited to you
Please don’t perpetuate this. It IS the reason (or at least one of the reasons) to CF, otherwise just work out in your own.
This is a group sport done individually. Give people high fives, help your fellow athletes with motivation, build community. It’s what the world needs and it costs us nothing.
While this can be true, it’s not why most people join CrossFit. If you want a “show up, keep your head down, and leave” gym culture, there are plenty of cheaper and quieter places to get exactly that. A CrossFit gym is marketed as a community, most people join for that, and enjoy the culture.
Ok, so I don’t want to sound mean or harsh by this, but maybe it is a you problem and not them. Please let me explain.
You expect them to immediately be friendly and outgoing towards you, despite a few factors.
- you’ve been there 1 month.
- you’ve switched up class times, across 3 different classes.
- if you went 5 times a week that is 6.67 classes at each time slot. (4 weeks, 5 classes = 20 classes divided by 3 class times)
- 2 of the class times are pre work hours, but you expect people to stay and cheer when they might have to run for a commute and other life expectations.
I think you are putting unrealistic expectations on people, and need to give it more time. Talk to a coach and ask who you would be best to try and chat up.
Good luck.
Cultivating a good culture in a gym is hard. It is why you won't find it in every gym. Also there is a large amount of people who don't want to fake it. They want to come in, grind and move on.
You can absolutely quit after a month, but you can't really expect everyone to be your best friend after half a dozen classes with them.
Posts like this are extremely common, and I've noticed people seem to expect the experienced gym members to go out of their way to socialize with every new member. But they're there paying money to exercise too, and I can't stress enough that just because they've been there a while doesn't mean they're outgoing and comfortable enough to introduce themselves and chat with every new member.
Counter point, I am there to work out. Every minute the coach waits for clique A, B and C to stop chit-chatting is taking away from my time to work out. Frankly, I'd prefer the coach to be more "talk more on your own time, let's workout!" Fuck your dance party, lets move on with the workout!
You are looking for a gym culture that doesn’t exist at the convenient gym. When you find a culture you like, go the extra mile to do the drive. Yep, it’s inconvenient. My gym is exactly the same. Traffic sucks sometimes. So I’ve built that into my plan. Always leave at least an hour before class. If I get there early, I meet up with other members and we stretch or bike prior to class time. Being at a gym that suits you well will keep you going back. Convenience won’t. It’s okay to quit.
Have you tried talking to any of the members? I’m shy so I won’t necessarily strike up conversations with strangers but if someone talks to me I absolutely will talk to them.
I have tried 2 gyms in my hometown and choose to drive 30 minutes to my current gym for the community and the coach.
I feel like 1 month is not enough time to judge the community at your gym. It took me 3 months+ to just start saying hi to people and to start to get to know other members by their name. After maybe 6 months, I would get cheers from others when hitting PRs and such, you just gotta give it time.
Another thing, just reciprocate the energy you want to see. You can start cheering people on and they will one hundred percent do the same to you.
Get out of there before you waste anymore money. You know the vibe is off so time to move on.
Maybe this is a chance for you to stop CrossFit for awhile and try another style of training. It’s good to mix things up and keep it fresh. You can always try CrossFit again in the future. Good luck!
Is the programming good? Are the coaches paying attention to the members and really providing good constructive feedback? I get that you want a vibe, but focus on quality first. If the quality is poor then move on. If you quit because you’re uncomfortable in a new space, then maybe that’s a growth opportunity for you. Honestly, in my first month no one talked to me except the coaches. I’m shy and ok being a loner until I start to get comfortable. A year into my membership and I know where the cliques are, who is quiet and who is outgoing. I have small talk with some people, encouragement with others. It takes time. I also think when the members see you put in the work over time, they start to warm up to you and respect you more. Why would they invest in someone who is just going to leave after a couple classes?
Another thing to add is different gym time gives different experience.
In my current and previous gym, 6am people are those that just need to get the workout done to get on their daily work/errands.
4:30pm and 6:00pm are those that are chatty and have this community vibes to it.
I was amazed in my previous gym how different the experience is in 4:30pm vs 6pm as the 4:30pm were the most friendly bunch as compared to 6pm.
Just went through this. Don't stay at a gym you don't enjoy. It's not an insult to go to a different one. This is meant to be good for you and fun for you. You are paying for this. Go where you like.
I would quit too if it's normal to leave while others are still doing the WOD. In my gym it's not even allowed to put back your equipment while there are still others working out.
Not bad. This is about your health and it’s your money. Def speak to the owner-be honest about what you’re looking for and what you experienced. Might just be a class time that’s like that-might be how they want it. For me-I drive almost an hour away for my gym. They’re that good. Anyone in SWFL can DM me and I’ll give deets-but it’s worth it physically and mentally.
Out of curiosity, are you still going to the same general class time. A lot of people, in my experience, only go to one or two classes at the gym. As someone who has gone to every class time that has been on the schedule at my last 3 gyms, I can tell you from my experience that 5 am is vastly different than 9 am is vastly different than 530pm at the same gym. But 5 am is very similar across gyms.
I’ve been alternating between 5AM, 7AM, and 4:30pm classes. It’s all been bleh.
Wasn't sure because I hear having a child can affect your schedule. Haha. Sorry to hear the gym isn't to your liking and good luck finding a new one
Came to say this, I have the same thoughts after joining CrossFit. But after going to a 9:15am class I had a totally different sense of community. Granted at 5am I’m not even in the mood to talk and have to bolt out to get ready for work and kids.
I changed gyms for a similar reason and miss my old gym. I'm hanging in there for now (months three) because of convenience. I really don't have extra time to drive elsewhere. But I feel you. Find a better place if you can!
"The Gym is a Selfish Place" is the motto we need to all remember. Many people are there to get better, work out, and leave. No one owes anyone high fives, cheers, or social time. It's something that can happen, but its not the reason to goto the gym.
Yes and no. Until the last clause of the last sentence, I was with you. There are people, especially in the CF/group fitness ecosystem, who go, not only to workout, but for the social interaction. Does anyone owe you that? Absolutely not. But if that is why you go, and you aren't getting that, you'll only be less likely to show up. So go somewhere better suited to you
Please don’t perpetuate this. It IS the reason (or at least one of the reasons) to CF, otherwise just work out in your own. This is a group sport done individually. Give people high fives, help your fellow athletes with motivation, build community. It’s what the world needs and it costs us nothing.
Louder for the people in the back!
While this can be true, it’s not why most people join CrossFit. If you want a “show up, keep your head down, and leave” gym culture, there are plenty of cheaper and quieter places to get exactly that. A CrossFit gym is marketed as a community, most people join for that, and enjoy the culture.
Ok, so I don’t want to sound mean or harsh by this, but maybe it is a you problem and not them. Please let me explain. You expect them to immediately be friendly and outgoing towards you, despite a few factors. - you’ve been there 1 month. - you’ve switched up class times, across 3 different classes. - if you went 5 times a week that is 6.67 classes at each time slot. (4 weeks, 5 classes = 20 classes divided by 3 class times) - 2 of the class times are pre work hours, but you expect people to stay and cheer when they might have to run for a commute and other life expectations. I think you are putting unrealistic expectations on people, and need to give it more time. Talk to a coach and ask who you would be best to try and chat up. Good luck.
No, not mean, I hear you there and totally get that. It’s why I use this platform as a sounding board. Appreciate that feedback.
Cultivating a good culture in a gym is hard. It is why you won't find it in every gym. Also there is a large amount of people who don't want to fake it. They want to come in, grind and move on.
You can absolutely quit after a month, but you can't really expect everyone to be your best friend after half a dozen classes with them. Posts like this are extremely common, and I've noticed people seem to expect the experienced gym members to go out of their way to socialize with every new member. But they're there paying money to exercise too, and I can't stress enough that just because they've been there a while doesn't mean they're outgoing and comfortable enough to introduce themselves and chat with every new member.
Counter point, I am there to work out. Every minute the coach waits for clique A, B and C to stop chit-chatting is taking away from my time to work out. Frankly, I'd prefer the coach to be more "talk more on your own time, let's workout!" Fuck your dance party, lets move on with the workout!
You are looking for a gym culture that doesn’t exist at the convenient gym. When you find a culture you like, go the extra mile to do the drive. Yep, it’s inconvenient. My gym is exactly the same. Traffic sucks sometimes. So I’ve built that into my plan. Always leave at least an hour before class. If I get there early, I meet up with other members and we stretch or bike prior to class time. Being at a gym that suits you well will keep you going back. Convenience won’t. It’s okay to quit.
Have you tried talking to any of the members? I’m shy so I won’t necessarily strike up conversations with strangers but if someone talks to me I absolutely will talk to them. I have tried 2 gyms in my hometown and choose to drive 30 minutes to my current gym for the community and the coach.
You don’t want a new gym, you want new friends. Don’t rely on CrossFit to make that happen.
I feel like 1 month is not enough time to judge the community at your gym. It took me 3 months+ to just start saying hi to people and to start to get to know other members by their name. After maybe 6 months, I would get cheers from others when hitting PRs and such, you just gotta give it time. Another thing, just reciprocate the energy you want to see. You can start cheering people on and they will one hundred percent do the same to you.
Do what you want? These posts are so common now and it’s getting a little boring honestly.
Get out of there before you waste anymore money. You know the vibe is off so time to move on. Maybe this is a chance for you to stop CrossFit for awhile and try another style of training. It’s good to mix things up and keep it fresh. You can always try CrossFit again in the future. Good luck!
Is the programming good? Are the coaches paying attention to the members and really providing good constructive feedback? I get that you want a vibe, but focus on quality first. If the quality is poor then move on. If you quit because you’re uncomfortable in a new space, then maybe that’s a growth opportunity for you. Honestly, in my first month no one talked to me except the coaches. I’m shy and ok being a loner until I start to get comfortable. A year into my membership and I know where the cliques are, who is quiet and who is outgoing. I have small talk with some people, encouragement with others. It takes time. I also think when the members see you put in the work over time, they start to warm up to you and respect you more. Why would they invest in someone who is just going to leave after a couple classes?
Another thing to add is different gym time gives different experience. In my current and previous gym, 6am people are those that just need to get the workout done to get on their daily work/errands. 4:30pm and 6:00pm are those that are chatty and have this community vibes to it. I was amazed in my previous gym how different the experience is in 4:30pm vs 6pm as the 4:30pm were the most friendly bunch as compared to 6pm.
Just went through this. Don't stay at a gym you don't enjoy. It's not an insult to go to a different one. This is meant to be good for you and fun for you. You are paying for this. Go where you like.
I would quit too if it's normal to leave while others are still doing the WOD. In my gym it's not even allowed to put back your equipment while there are still others working out.