DoD Dialogues

May 2026 | Gym Rules, CrossFit Culture & Community, and Training Mindset

• CrossFit Doors of Daring

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What actually makes a great gym… great? In this May 2026 episode of DoD Dialogues, Jim Powell and Courtney Barbour break down the core values and “unwritten rules” that shape the culture at CrossFit Doors of Daring. From showing up on time and leaving your ego at the door, to why cheering people on matters more than your score… this episode dives into what separates a true fitness community from just another place to work out. 

They also talk about: 
- Why consistency beats intensity
- How to avoid injury and train smarter
- The importance of being coachable
- Why you should never quit (and never cheat)
- Fueling your body the right way
- Celebrating wins… and failures
- Building real community through fitness 

Whether you're new to CrossFit or years in, this is a reminder
of why you started—and how to keep growing. Plus, shoutouts to athletes heading into semifinals.

Available on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. CrossFit Doors of Daring | Waxhaw, NC
#podcast   
#CrossFit #GymCulture #FitnessMindset #Consistency #Community #CrossFitLife
#FunctionalFitness #TrainSmart #FitnessJourney #DoDDialogues

SPEAKER_02

I think we're ready. Welcome everyone to the May 2026 edition of the DoD Dialogues. I'm Jim Powell, an owner here at CrossFit Doors of Daring. And with me is Courtney Barber, also an owner and head coach at CrossFit Doors of Daring here in Waxaw, North Carolina. Today we are, it's just the two of us, right? No guests today. We have a special inanimate guest behind this uh sheet, and we'll unveil that in a little bit. But first, Courtney, we have to start where we always start. What'd you do for fitness today?

SPEAKER_00

I did running intervals. Oh boy. What kind of run? It's growing on me. So um we had today for class programming, we had every seven minutes for four sets, uh just an 800-meter run. And yeah, just a little 800-meter run.

SPEAKER_02

800 repeats.

SPEAKER_00

But you know what's so fun about that? Me coming back from having the baby. This is um, I haven't done a ton of running, so this was actually awesome for me. It's exactly what I need. I was not fast by any means, but it's just the work. And you guys know that tackling this hill out here, um, you know, both ways is uh is some really good fitness, especially after the heavy front squats and split squats we did earlier this week. Um, you know, this was a little, we needed to shake that out a little bit. So that was good. That was really great. And it was cool to see some people's times today, man.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Stuart, who we had last month, blew us away super fast.

SPEAKER_00

Blew us all out of the park, yeah. Super fast.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, for those of you that don't know our little running track here, DOD's like a it's like a bowl. Yeah, it's like you run downhill a little bit at the beginning and then you're uphill, and then you gotta come back downhill and back up the hill at the end. Yeah, um, it's uh it's a it's a challenging, it's good for character, yeah. Builds builds character, builds character and booty. Yes, definitely. Well, we all do. Well, uh, my fitness today was an absolute goose egg.

SPEAKER_00

Nah.

SPEAKER_01

Hey, we need recovery days.

SPEAKER_00

We talk about prioritizing recovery.

SPEAKER_02

Today's a rest day today. I have to rest two days a week, and sometimes I'll throw in a little like gentle like zone two on one of those rest days, it'll be an active rest day. But today I needed a full day of rest, and uh, I'm glad I didn't have to do 800 repeats. That would have beat me up.

SPEAKER_00

And you've got big travel coming up, Jim. Yeah. Would do you typically rest kind of before big travel like this or no? No, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

No, usually like tomorrow I'll be in here uh for class in the morning and I'll be on a plane for a long, long time after that. Yeah. Um, but you know, I just I try really hard to get up a lot during the flight. Um, I'm an aisle seat guy, so I get I get up a lot and I move around and um I'm that guy that annoys everybody on the plane because I'm walking around and whatever. But um yeah, I try to I try to stay loose on the plane and then I try really hard to stretch out when I get to my hotel. Um again, just to stay loose.

SPEAKER_00

So but a lot of people who travel are like have jobs like that, so I think that's a good little tip.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, stretch as soon as you can when you get to the hotel, even if it's five, five, ten minutes of stretching, um, it helps. Um, but I always get I usually get a workout in the day I travel, yeah. Most of the time. Um I know sometimes you you definitely don't want to work out and go straight to the airport. Yeah, you definitely don't want to do that. Um, so but it it just depends on how long the travel is, whether or not I can fit something in be after I land. So most of the time it's it's before I take off. Yeah. So, Court, today I thought uh since it's just you and I, we'd cover a series of topics that are near and dear to our hearts and to everybody really that's at Doors of Daring. Uh, rather than an AMA style episode, I thought we would talk about the gym rules here at CrossFit Doors of Daring.

SPEAKER_00

Our secret reveal.

SPEAKER_02

There we go.

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

SPEAKER_02

Make sure we move it out of the way so it's not in the way of our gym rules. Can we see? Can we see okay? We're good. You got it, gotta move my leg, my skinny little leg. Might hide one letter.

SPEAKER_00

Not my skinny little leg.

SPEAKER_02

All right, so these are our gym rules, folks. And if you haven't been to CrossFit Doors of Daring, they're right over here by our member area. So when you walk in, you put your stuff in one of the cubbies, and you're reminded of our rules here at DOD. Uh, these were written, this is actually chalk. These were written uh in chalk by one of our sort of founding coaches. Um, shout out to Sarah if she's listening. Um, amazing penmanship. Beautiful. And this these rules have been on our wall over there for over six years. You know this this this board has held up. You can see we got a little smudge, you know, a little fixed a kid, you know, smudge that up. But other than that, pretty, pretty good longevity for this. And I think the as we go through these rules, I think everybody will agree these are still pretty relevant today, yeah, right? And hopefully they stick around and serve us well in the future. But anyway, I think we could start at like number four if you want, but I think maybe it'd be logical to start with number one. What do you think?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, sound good? I think that's good. And two, just to kind of point out, I think rules can kind of be something that it's like they're up on the wall, okay, whatever. I read them once and then I like leave them in the dust. Um, but this is the reason why we're doing this is to draw more attention to why these matter and why they're something that is not just like a burden on our members, but actually bring life to this space, you know.

SPEAKER_02

So it we live these. Yes, right at the gym. It's not just something you hang on the wall and forget.

SPEAKER_00

Exactly. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02

All right, so you you want to start with number one, maybe give give us your thoughts about that.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, number one, show up on time, sign in, and work hard every single day. Um, so the show up on time part, it's funny, we talk to people about this all the time. We start our whiteboard talk right on time. And typically that goes like three to five minutes, you know. Um, and it's giving direction to the workout, it's um pulling everyone together, it's um a little camaraderie, you know, question of the day or whatever we're doing. Um, and so if we're not showing up on time, we're meeting, we're missing that really big important chunk that adds so much to the experience of the class. Oftentimes that's a that's a lot of where you get your little kind of chit-chat with fellow members, even showing up a little early to do that. Um, and I think that is where you kind of build relationships and get to know people and also get a lot of kind of clarification from coaches. Um, so that's so important. And then the sign in part uh really helps us as a staff like know where people are and who's coming and um who's here. I mean, now we have committed club and people are on it with the sign-ins. And if you don't sign in, yes, you don't give your class credit, you know. No sticker for you. I had a lovely member text me at like 9:15 p.m. last night. I forgot to sign in. I'm so sorry. Can you please sign me in? And I was like, I love you, I'll do it, right? But that's not always gonna be the case. You gotta make sure you sign in. Um, so yeah, and then, you know, of course, the work hard everyday part. I think cross, what I love so much about CrossFit that sets itself apart from some other um fitness like mindsets, right? Is that we're gonna do hard things, right? Whatever that looks like for you, a hard thing for you and me might look very different, right? But we're gonna come in here and push ourselves and not be afraid to hurt a little bit and sweat a little bit and walk out of here challenged. And I think you have to have your mindset ready for that at the whiteboard. When you show up on time, when you sign in, your mindset is I am ready to do something difficult today, right?

SPEAKER_01

That's right.

SPEAKER_00

And again, it looks different for everyone. Um, right. Like if you have an injury, like maybe the hard part for you is just like, I'm gonna move today, even though I don't feel comfortable, or um staying with a lot of our members who are having babies or recovering, right? It's like their hard thing is, I'm coming to the gym and I'm gonna move even though my kids are acting wild in the back. Like I am making this time, you know? But we have to have our mind ready for that um when we walk in those doors. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. And that whiteboard time can be really useful for just freeing yourself of everything else that happened before you got like, okay, it's time for me to focus on me for the next 55 minutes, right? And just really lean into this experience rather than where do I have to be next? Where was I before? The kids were screaming, you know, whatever, whatever was happening in your life before you got to the whiteboard. Uh so I think those three to five minutes can be a really important transition time. You cross over the threshold and now you're in CrossFit class. Yeah. Um, so Courtney, you know, maybe I'm new, I'm new to the gym. Tell me, if I show up a few minutes late to class, yeah, like, are you gonna make me do burpees or like what's the deal?

SPEAKER_00

No, ma'am. We're not gonna make you do burpees, not here at DOD. Um, primarily because um we most of our members are busy professionals, parents, they have chaotic lives, right? And stuff happens. Um, and so we're understanding of that. I'm not gonna punish you because you're trying to do your best coming in here, right? Um, however, right, I am going to try to hold you accountable for your best experience, right? So if it becomes like just repetitive over and over again, most likely what I'm gonna do is ask you a question, like, hey, what's going on? Like, is you know, is is stuff hard in life right now, or it's really hard to get in, or you know, how's your day been going? Um, that's primarily it. You know, we have some members shout out at the 7 a.m. Alec, he'll take it like a champ. Um, or man, I guess that dude's alarm just like really struggles to go off in the morning. Um, and so, you know, we give him a loving hard time. It's like, dude, there's no 7.05 class, it's a seven o'clock class, right? Um, but again, here's this guy who, you know, he's he's such a fun guy who has probably slept in for his whole life, right? Never gotten up early for anything other than maybe work. And he's prioritizing coming in here, right? And so absolutely, we gave him a hard time. And when he shows up on time, we are like, Yes, you did it today, you know. Um, and people like joke with him that his committed club should have like an asterisk on it because over the month he's missed like the class or whatever.

SPEAKER_02

22 classes, but all of them five minutes later.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, whatever. But but again, it's like, you know, let's let's look at the real big picture of this, you know. Um, we're trying to add value to our day. The one time where I will put my foot down is like we're not going to interrupt, we're not gonna interfere with another member's experience, right? So absolutely there's grace if you're, you know, three minutes late one day because you your kids were crazy and you got stuck in traffic and whatever, but you're not gonna come in here, you know, loud and obstructive and not listening and then talking to everybody, and now no one knows what's going on and the class is running behind, right? So there's um yeah, it it's obviously goes both ways where I'm gonna give you grace and then I expect you to be respectful to your classmates, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

You know, and not not to kill number one because we got nine more to get through, but but the I would just say the thing that really is meaningful for me with this one, the work hard is just obvious, like that. But for me, it's show up, and it this leads into one of these other rules. We got the word consistency in one of these other rules, and you gotta show up. That's the first step. It's the first two words of all the rules show up, just show up. Like if you show up, a lot of great things start to happen as you stack those bricks, just keep showing up. Yeah, um, I love that that's first, me too. You know, it's just it's really meaningful. The rest of this will will fall in line if you keep showing up. Yeah, um, we go on to number two. Maybe I'll I'll take this one and get us started. And I bet you have a lot to say about this. Um, leave your ego outside. Um, maybe you can't set it aside, maybe you can't physically take it off and leave it outside. Um, but the idea is um do what's best for you where you are in the phase of life you are, and acknowledge that and don't try to be your former self, yeah, your former you know, collegiate football player from you know 20 years ago, maybe. Don't try to lift your old PR if you haven't done that lift in you know six months. Like be smart, you know what I mean? No, but like it's no, yeah. A lot of us get caught up in like who we feel like we should be, who we once were. Yes. Um, maybe who the the 25-year-old in the rig spot next to us is, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Um or even the 55-year-old woman who's a beast, right? And that kind of heart.

SPEAKER_02

That might you know tweak your ego a little bit, like, wow man, look at how much she's lifting. Let me give that a rip.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Um, we we just want you to do what's best for your body. Again, that's mentioned in here too, listening to your body. And that's what this listen to your leave your ego outside primarily says to me. It's like, don't do dumb things, do hard things. Yeah, don't do dumb things. Yes, right. Uh progress through the movements, make sure that you uh approach things logically, don't overdo the weight, make sure that you're getting the stimulus of the workout as intended, yeah, which goes back to that whiteboard brief. Like, what are we going for today? It should be a moderate barbell, we wanna be fast. This is a sprint, right? So if there's a weight on that board that isn't moderate for you, yeah, you got to lower the weight. Yeah, and that means you're not gonna click the RX button. And that might tweak your ego a little bit, but you gotta set that aside to get the stimulus of the workout. The workout's supposed to be a sprint, right? And if you're just slogging through a heavy barbell, you're not doing what was intended for today, which means you're messing up the program. Yeah, you're not doing what was intended for the week, for the month. Um, and that's what we want you to do is pay attention to the whiteboard brief, leave your ego outside, and do what's appropriate for you in that moment.

SPEAKER_00

And I think it comes down to just remembering why you're here in the first place, right? And 99% of people who come to our gym every day are here to get healthier, are here to get fitter, and to have a better life outside of these doors, right? And if you let your ego get in the way, for example, too heavy of a load on a barbell, that's the number one way you can get injured in here, right? Or or trying to do a gymnastics movement you have no business doing at volume, or you can name a lot of things, right? That is no longer working in favor of your goals. You're working against that goal of longevity, of health, of long-term strength, right? Trying to move a barbell that's crushing you um rep after rep after rep is more likely to hurt you than it is to make you stronger in the long run, right? Um, so I think that's number one. And I think that's where good coaching comes in and just being open to listening to good coaching. Because oftentimes um, you know, it's it's up to the coach to be like, hey, I think you should do this load, or I think this movement is best for you, right? And it is hard sometimes to be like, okay, you're right, you know, I think you're right.

SPEAKER_01

Yep.

SPEAKER_00

Or even sometimes in the case, so Jim, everything we've talked about, I think you do very well, right? Like oftentimes you're like, okay, what load should I do? I want to make sure I hit the stimulus, you know. And lately I've had to be like, no, Jim, I think you can do the other thing, right? And it might mean that Jim's finishing near last in the workout. He usually does. But but it's like, no, Jim, I I think in this workout, you really can use the 20-pound wall ball and it's gonna hurt. And you might be last on the leaderboard, but I really think you can do it. And it takes a lot of guts and uh no ego on your part to be like, okay, coach, like I'll if if you think so, I'll do it. You know, if you think that's what's best for me reaching my goals, I'll do it. And I really I know we're gonna talk about that in a little bit too, but I really think that's a big part of leaving your ego outside, yeah. Especially when we have a variety of coaches, right? And um, I love our members for this. Shout out to all of you guys, but um, I love that we have insanely fit um men with uh elite athletic backgrounds, right? Who come in here and when I ask them like, hey, I think you should do this, it's yes, coach, let's do it, right? There's no ego there. Or we have um athletes who are borderline about to go to the CrossFit games, right? And when they're when we ask them things or tell them strategy or whatever it's like, okay, yes, coach, right? Um, that is something I love about CrossFit Doors of Daring that I hope all of our members just continue to own that, you know.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, and that being coachable, we're definitely gonna talk about. Yeah. Um, but it it definitely goes back to the ego. Ego, yeah. Because you have to be willing to just say, okay, you know, maybe I need to think about it differently. Yeah. And you know, the hardest time to to do that is in the middle of the workout. I know. Right? And when a coach is like, hey, I think it's time to maybe drop the weight, knock the weight down, steal the run. Here's a different dumbbell, you know, yeah, that can be crushing to the athlete. Yeah. Me, like me too. I've been there, yeah. But you know, the coach is there to help you, and and sometimes you just gotta let it go and get the most you can out of it. You wanna you wanna touch on this uh this this adage here tech technique, consistency, intensity in that order. In that order, always, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Um, so in that order, always. I think like I'm a perfect example of this, right? I came to CrossFit, absolutely zero gymnastic background, and I was like, I want to do all the cross-fitty things, right? And so CrossFitty, yeah. I was just like, dude, I want to be, I want to do all the things, right? I had literally like maybe two strick pull-ups, and I was like, how do I get a bar muscle up? And unfortunately at the time, like I was fit enough where I could kind of make it happen, but it was not technically sound, it was absolutely not consistent, right? But I, in my competitive mindset and being a uh previous athlete, I was like, let's add intensity, right? And very quickly that was a shoulder injury. And um, now I'm grateful. I think that makes me a better coach now, right? Because I'm able to be like, hey, let's learn this the correct way. I was just having a goal review today, right? And we're talking about kind of slower toes to bar progression than this person wants, right? And I just encouraged her, like, let's keep building the strength through all these areas, through our lats, through our hip flexors, through our core, midline, all this stuff. And then when it happens, it will happen so beautifully and it will happen so consistently. And then we can add intensity, right? Um, so yeah, I think oftentimes in gymnastics that happens. It's like we want to get a pull up, and then we want to get this, and then we want to get this, and then we want to get this. And um sometimes it's like, let's make sure we're doing it right. And then if you're doing it right, all the rest will happen so much better. Um, we'll stay healthy. You can then be able to do it for big sets and all this stuff, right? Same with weightlifting. Um, I would argue we had a running day, even the same with running. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. Like we gotta learn how to run correctly if we want to do it at at speed, you know? For sure. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And in the in the crossfit sort of realm, they call this mechanics, correct, consistency and intensity. The same thing. Yeah, right. It's technique, yeah. Right. The technique is what's going to allow you to bring intensity later, but you have to demonstrate that technique consistently across load, right, with volume. Well, volume is is arguably intensity, yeah. Right. But if you increase volume or speed, right, either one of those brings intensity. And you just have to be careful that you're not adding too much of either.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Right.

SPEAKER_00

And that is definitely like a learning process, right? We can dabble, like, okay, I I have it pretty well, right? And I can do it well most of the time. Now let's see if I can do it in a Metcon with a little bit of intensity. Right. And that goes way wonky.

SPEAKER_02

And where does your technique break down with intensity?

SPEAKER_00

Correct, right? And so then we learn from that and we maybe dial it back a little bit, or maybe you surprise yourself and you do really well, and you're like, oh, I can start doing a little bit more now, right? So it's not like absolutely clear cut. Um, but but we do need to be mindful that this is the first goal, right? Mechanics are the first goal. Um, and sometimes that's kind of the boring part. It's like, are you really good at hollow and arch on the barbell? Do you keep your feet together? Is your butt tight? Is you, you know, do you um know how to engage your lats? Like all those things. We need those things to happen before we do a chest to bar. Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_02

One of the things that um I can't remember which Flow Master it was, one of the CrossFit red shirt flowmasters, I saw a video of them talking about how much intensity is the right amount of intensity. And and I'll I'll misquote it, but he said something like the right amount of intensity is right before your technique breaks down. Yeah. Right before you lose your that threshold, right? Where right before your technique is potentially injurious, that's how hard you need to work, right? That's the amount of intensity. And so there's always that balance.

SPEAKER_00

Or walking that line a little bit.

SPEAKER_02

Because you don't want to be going so slow that you're not actually getting stronger from it. Yeah, right. Exactly. But you need to, you know, you need to be safe so that you can come back tomorrow. Yep. Right. Back to the ego part, right? Exactly. This all ties together.

SPEAKER_00

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02

All right, number four. Think about number four. I love this. I love this. Because I'm a sap. And I and I I wish I wish we had a metric for it, right? We don't, we don't, but introduce yourself, cheer members on, and be excellent to each other. A little Bill and Ted there, be excellent to each other, I guess. Bill and Ted's excellent adventure. Anyone? No? Okay. See, I'm I'm too old, I guess. Uh introduce yourself. Like this is this is huge. One of the things that made me love CrossFit from very early on. You just come into the gym and like everybody is very welcoming, you know. Um, sometimes when you look at it from a distance, you're like, CrossFit is you know, a bunch of crazy people half naked, like throwing around barbell, screaming, screaming, like it's it's nuts, right? Yeah, but then you know, you walk in and everybody's like, Hey, who are you? You know, yeah, are you dropping in? Where are you from? You know, and it's just all the questions, what do you do for work? How many kids do you have to do it? Yeah, it's like it's such a welcoming community. And I really you mentioned before that many of us travel. Um, I've had the privilege to drop in at so many CrossFit gyms uh around the world, and it is it's just amazing how welcoming this community is uh everywhere. Yeah, whether English is their native tongue or not. Um, and you know, like in New York, I'm not sure English is the native tongue. You go in there and you're like, this is a different language. What is he saying? But yeah, I mean, it is it's such a welcoming community, and this like being willing to walk up to a new person and introduce yourself. We have so many incredible members that do this, and we get to see that, you know. Someone will walk in and maybe we're busy engaging with a member or doing something at the front desk, and you'll just see one of our OG members just walk up and be like, Hey, yeah, you know, I'm so and so, you know, what are you doing here? Are you dropping in? And it's just it's so welcoming. Like, I love seeing that in the gym. Um, and then I think you know, there's some stuff in here about cheering people on, right? Cheering members on, but even cheering non-members, new people on. Um, a lot of people get sucked into CrossFit with that. It's like, man, you know, these are people I don't know, and they're cheering for me in some random workout, and I'm gonna get in my car and go to the airport and go home.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Um, but it like where else can you go where total strangers are cheering for you and want you to be successful?

SPEAKER_00

And that is like my one of my biggest ways that I advocate for CrossFit um and for you know doing anything competitive or whatever, because adults don't get enough of this, right? We get this all the time as kids, and then like we turn 18 and everyone's like, bye, see ya. You don't ever need like loud verbal encouragement. No encouragement for you. No, you know, like I don't know about you guys, but like when I get home, if I do a great thing at work or whatever, Lance isn't like great topic, you did awesome. He doesn't do that, he doesn't do that. No, no, and so like I mean, this sounds cheesy, but for me, I grew up playing softball. I literally had that as part of my life. Like, I did that for other people, and other people did that for me my whole life, all through college, even a couple years after that. And then when I was done playing softball, bam, done, quiet, right? No one, I mean, this sounds kind of harsh, but like no one cares what you do. Like, you know, you do a good job at work, awesome, pat on the back. You're supposed to do a good job at work, right? Like all that stuff, and I think that that's so sad, man. And people come into this space and they just lift a barbell one time and there's a roar, yeah, and something inside them comes alive again, and it's like I forgot I needed that, you know, or that feels so good to have people believe in me again. And uh, ah, that's so cool.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I love that. I think it I think it matters so much, and I think it even matters more in those moments where maybe you miss the lift. Yeah, you know, um, you still have people patting you on the back and like, hey, it's okay, you'll get it next time. Yeah, and we'll talk about that in a little bit with one of the other rules too. But I think having the support of others around you, even maybe when it's not going great.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Um, and I know this is a little bit of a controversial thing in CrossFit. There are some people that are like, man, don't cheer for me. Do not cheer for me. If I'm the last one and I'm doing burpees, I'd like to see you standing over me. Cheer me on. It's so important, right? Yeah, like hey, leave your ego. So we we we are trained to cheer for each other. So in that moment, you gotta set it aside and be like, all right, yeah, you know. But I think what what you said is so important as adults. Um, we've sort of some of us have built up that wall around us where we're like, I don't want that, I don't want that attention on me. Or they feel embarrassed by that, maybe. Yeah. Oh, I look the times in here when I've finished last, like I am just like, oh man. There's a part of me that just dies inside. I'm like, oh my gosh, I gotta finish this. Here we go again. Here we go. Here we go.

SPEAKER_00

15 people standing around sweaty gym, finishing his burpees.

SPEAKER_02

But you know what? Like, yeah, it's awesome. And you and sometimes in those moments, you're in that situation because the workout didn't go the way you wanted, right? And it's you know, it feels good to have the support of other people around you and like, hey, you did your best, you got your workout in, you know, a little pat on the back and get out of here and get after it next time.

SPEAKER_00

And that's what I was just thinking again, like, I, you know, maybe I'm a fundamentalist, but I'm like, let's go again back to the reason why you're here, right? If you are embarrassed because people are cheering you on and you're last or whatever, like the underlying thing in that is that you expect yourself, like the the main priority is to not be last. The main priority is like your standing, right? Whereas if the main priority was just getting a great workout, if actually the main priority was like, I'm gonna do hard things and die on this floor today, right? Then you being last and people cheering you on is like not a bad thing at all. Because you did what you came to do, you know? Um, and so absolutely like I've been there too, you know, where it's like a bar muscle up workout, and I'm freaking last and I'm just so pissed at the ball at the rig or whatever. We've been there. Yeah, but it's just a good reminder. Yeah, that it just doesn't matter. Yeah, it doesn't. It doesn't, you know, show up tomorrow. And I even love watching like some of these semifinals on um on TV lately, and you have even those level athletes like getting last or whatever, and people are cheering them on. Yeah, and they're not just not just the crowd either. The other athletes other athletes are cheering them on, high-fiving them, whatever. And you don't see them have a bad attitude about it, right? They're games level, they're professional getting paid. Yeah, and they're waving at the crowd, thanking them, all this stuff. They're upset. They're not pissed. I mean, they're not happy that they got last, but like they have a great attitude about it. Walking off the floor grateful. That's a really good point.

SPEAKER_02

We can do that. That's a really good point.

SPEAKER_00

We can do that.

SPEAKER_02

So, speaking of the end of the workout, yeah, right? Somebody's end of the workout. This one's big. I I'll let you read it and and give us your thoughts on it.

SPEAKER_00

So here at here at DOD and in all of CrossFit, hopefully, we wait for everyone to finish before putting our equipment away. Why do we do that, Jim?

SPEAKER_02

We do that because we want to cheer other people on, right? Back to number four, right? We want to be there cheering other people on. We don't want it to be all about us. We want it to be about the community, about shared suffering. Yeah, right. Like we're doing this together. Um, and so it's not about me getting my stuff put away so I can go grab my bag and be the first one to the shower. It's about, hey, I see your effort. Yeah, I salute you, you know, I'm gonna cheer for you. Um, and then when it's three, two, one time, then give them a high five and then go about cleaning up your stuff. Yeah. Um, it's I it's so important and something that we have worked really hard to train every member that comes in here, that that's the expectation. And now, like, look, once in a long while, if you got a jet to work, you know, you gotta get to work, you have an important meeting, and you know, somebody's gone over the cap, and you just gotta get moving. We understand, give a nod to the coach and be like, I'm sorry, I gotta go, you know. Yeah, that's okay. But on the on the regular, we all wait.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Hey, and I've even told members, like, just let me know before class, right? I'll clean your stuff up for you. Like, you can just kind of sneak out the back, yeah, or even like, hey, you got it, come on, finish strong, and then like sneak out. Yeah, because that's like the character part of it, right? You can go about that in a really good way, or you can go about it in a way of like, I'm out of here, I'm done, so I don't care about any of these people. Yeah, right. And that's that's really why this is up there. It's the heart behind it, right? Are you supporting the other community members here, or are you, like you said, just only focused on yourself?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, we start together, we finish together, we cool down, stretch together, and yeah, you know, that's improved.

SPEAKER_00

That again is like what drew me into the doors of a CrossFit gym, you know? It's like there's a lot of other places where you can go for fitness where it's like this is my fitness, I'm gonna do my fitness, headphones in, don't talk to me, da da da, and then I'm out, right? And gosh, I did that for a while, and that was lonely, and that sucks. Yeah, right. It sucks.

SPEAKER_02

It's interesting you brought up headphones.

SPEAKER_00

I'm sorry if that's what you love, because trust me, come try across it, it's way better.

SPEAKER_02

Interesting, interesting. You brought up headphones. We have a we have a rule coming up that almost had the word headphones in it. Almost, so we'll get there in a minute. Okay, uh I'm glad you brought that up. Yeah, cool. There's something else in here. So we have equipment written twice. Boom, equipment, boom, equipment. Look at that. So respect your equipment, period.

SPEAKER_00

Big on that here at DOD. I think um I grew up in like some grind kind of like grungy, grimy gym spaces, very like you know, blue collar, whatever. Um, the second I walked into DOD, I was like, man, this is a game changer, right? It is not only do I love like I feel confident bringing my children here, all that stuff. I know they're gonna be safe, I know they're gonna be healthy, all that stuff in here. Um, but also it's like the level that we respect our space and our equipment is the level of of greatness, the level we do everything else, right? So, like we coach with greatness, we um follow standards with greatness, we respect each other with greatness, and we respect our equipment with greatness. And like it um, you know, you go to some other gyms, you know, and not just CrossFit, anywhere else, right? And all the barbells are rusty, and there's like blood lift on there from someone cycling, and um there's like sweaty chalk angels on the ground everywhere and stuff like that, and to each their own, right? Like I think some people really thrive in that. Um, that they like the grunge and they love that. Um, but I think here it's like, no, like we respect our members enough um that even the space itself reflects that level of professionalism and respect and care um that we have, you know, as from leaders and then each of our members who who buy into that every single day. Because really it's it's you guys, right? It's our members who maintain that. Like we hold the standard and we double check it and stuff, but it's everyone who's bought into that, you know.

SPEAKER_02

And I I love what you said about respect because you know that's that's the first word here. Um but it's more than respecting the equipment, yeah, it's respecting each other. That's just a reflection. You know, equipment is you put away the equipment nasty, you know someone else has to pick that up. Yeah, either in the next class or a couple hours later or whenever someone's gonna have to pick up that you know bloody barbell, and then they're gonna have to clean it up, right? Like have some respect for your fellow members. I mean, it for me, it's always about that is like which barbell would I grab? I'm gonna grab the clean one, right? Yeah, so why would I put back a nasty one? Why like have some respect for other people that are working out here? This is a community that I want to be a part of. Um, I want to respect other people that are part of the community. The other thing that I really like about this simple three-word rule is it doesn't say our equipment, it doesn't say Jim's equipment, Courtney's equipment. This is your equipment. It's yours. You you get to work out with it every day. Yeah, you pay us to work out with this stuff. It's yours. Keep it nice, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So that you don't have to work out with dingy stuff. And nasty stuff, right? I think our members do a great job of this. And it's because even long before I got here, you guys set the tone. Um, Sarah and her beautiful handwriting, right? They set this tone of like, this is how we do things at Doors of Daring, and people love it. So they take ownership of that, and I love it. And it's one of the things that they like um long standing members kind of teach new members. Oh, yeah, they do. Like we we do our part in on-ramp and stuff, but then there's like you know, Brian shout out at the 6 a.m., the sheriff, like this is how the kettlebells go back, and it's like, yes, sir, you know. Um, I love that, it's awesome.

SPEAKER_02

I love it too. Yeah, yeah, and you know, the our plates have really stood the test of time because our members take good care of them. Yeah, our dumbbells have stood the test of time because people aren't talking about dropping them from on high, like straight to jail, yeah, to jail, yes, yeah. We I I think that this this community really has embraced this, and I'm super happy about it. Um not just because it means I don't have to spend thousands of dollars on new equipment, but because I think it is a sign of respect, right? And um, and that that Matt makes me feel like we built something really cool.

SPEAKER_00

And then we can spend money on equipment, but it's new, new sun equipment. Yeah, I'm not ready to do it.

SPEAKER_02

Replacing something that somebody ghost, you know, yeah, dropped from overhead and buy another it hit the box, broke the box, hit the rig post, you know. Who knows? I've seen too many videos of that. All right, you want to cover this one? Because I don't know, you might be a coach.

SPEAKER_00

You want to cover number seven, let the coaches coach and be coachable. So I think I'm gonna kind of talk to the second part first, be coachable. Um, just have open ears and be willing to listen, be willing to do your best to make um changes and adjustments, adaptations. Um, I think often as coaches, um, well, I know one thing we work on as a coaching staff is keeping things simple so that the adjustment is clear and uh actionable, right? Um and sometimes like you just want me to do that, or like that's too simple, or that's whatever, but like let's do it, you know, let's do it. Um, or even if it's in a workout, you're like, I just gotta get this round done, whatever, right? And it's like, no, my I my mindset for you is actually much higher than just this round. It's that I want you to move your body well and safely and be strong.

SPEAKER_02

It's a longer story, aren't you? Exactly.

SPEAKER_00

Like I'm thinking, I know you're in the middle of the workout because I'm the same person, right? In the middle of the workout, you're like, I just want to get it done, I want to get it done quickly. I want to beat so-and-so next to me, right? And the coach is there to be your most voice of reason. No, I want you to move this a little bit better so we don't hurt ourselves. Or actually, you might beat so-and-so if you correct this or whatever.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Um, and so just have ears to listen, right? So have ears to listen, put that ego aside, ears to listen. And then when it says let the coaches coach, that I to me speaks to you don't need to coach anyone else, right? Um, and this is hard. We have a lot of families that come here, we have a bunch of friends, and I'm all for like if we're lifting and I just lifted, and then now you're doing your lift, and I like, hey man, like um it was a split jerk and you did a push jerk, right? And uh, hey Jim, I think these are supposed to be split jerked, right? Awesome. Let's encourage each other, let's help each other out, talk CrossFit outside the gym and give each other pointers, whatever, right? But let the coaches coach in class, right? Sometimes um, I was just talking to someone about this the other day. There's a reason why I will only give someone one cue, right? I might see 10 different things going wrong with them, but I know if I tell them 10 things, zero things will get better, right? It's just overwhelm. So I will pick the one thing that I think is most important for them to fix. And then when I see them correct that first and foremost thing, then I'll layer on another cue, right? But sometimes well-meaning members, right, will be like, but also there's this, and also there's this and this and this and this. And then whoever it is, their brain is just exploding, right?

SPEAKER_02

Now they're not gonna execute that one thing that you wanted to make. Because it got drowned out, right?

SPEAKER_00

So, um, so as much as it is well-meaning, like I said, talk CrossFit outside, watch all the videos, right? Do all the things, but in class, like let the coach coach, yeah. Um, and ask questions. If the coach hasn't coached you yet, then feel free to be like, knock, knock, can you watch me? What should I do? You know, yeah, please do that. Beg for attention, yeah. Ask for feedback. Yeah, because we're all human, right? Maybe I like didn't peek at your push jerk and I need to.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah. Uh there's two two things I would add to that. Uh I think um the one about letting the coaches coach. Um, you know, we want people to be social, we want people to be friendly, but if you're having so much fun talking to one another, uh yes that the coach can't like communicate with you or with the person next to you because y'all are being too loud.

SPEAKER_00

I'm so bossy, I'm like, shut up.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, but like, like have fun. Yeah, like that's one of our rules too. Have fun, but like let the coach get through. Let the coach, hey, it's time to demo the next movement. Make sure you're paying attention, encouraging others to pay attention, um, and not dominating the class. Um, because you know, it's 60 minutes, yeah. Trying to get a lot of work done usually.

SPEAKER_00

Give people their money's worth. And we got experience.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, you just nailed it. That was my second point. Uh, stole my thunder. Let the coach be coachable because that's what you're paying us for.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Like that's what we're you pay, you can go to, I won't name them, but you can go to any one of these globo gyms. You can go to your garage and pay a fraction of the cost every month. I don't know if people know that, but if I'm giving away a secret, but you can pay a lot less and get no coaching. Yeah. So if you're if you are not willing to be coached, if you're not putting yourself in a position to be coached, you're not getting the value of what you're paying for here. We want to coach you, so be coachable. You know, Courtney says knees out, like actually do it. If Courtney says knees out five times and you're just not trying your best. You're just trying to get through this workout. Well, you could do you could go to one of these other globo gyms, grab a dumbbell, do a bunch of do it however you want, do a bunch of alternating dumbbell snatches, and uh burpees over the dumbbell as fast. As you can get zero coaching, yeah, for a lot less money. Like, yeah, you're paying to be here and get coached. Like, I just think you're missing out on the value of what our great coaches can do for you. Um, and I think it's a it's short-term thinking. It's that I want to get through this, I I just want to beat my time, you know, that kind of short-term, not thinking of the longer story arc. Like you said, I have more in mind for you.

SPEAKER_01

Yes.

SPEAKER_02

I want you, I might want you to slow this set down so you can focus on this, that, or the other. It doesn't matter that you're not going to PR your Helen today. Yes. You know what I mean? It doesn't matter, right? So I think that those are really important points. Um, I love number seven. Number eight, take care of your body, listen to it, and feed it well. I think um we've done a few podcasts now, and this is something that I feel like we've covered in almost every one of our episodes. Um different ways people need to listen to their body. Um we've talked a lot about nutrition. Um, we've talked about we've talked about recovery, we've talked about how this may or may not change as you age, as perhaps you go through menopause. Um, I think that that really everybody sort of checking in, and back to number one, what better time to check in on how you're feeling today than at the whiteboard? Exactly. I love that. The coach is describing the workout, describing the intended stimulus. Maybe that's the first time you're seeing the movements, the load, the rep range. Check in with yourself. Man, I got I did not sleep well, I don't feel good today, I got a headache, you know, the kids are driving me crazy. All right, the word scale, I hope, is ringing in your head. Like, how am I gonna scale? And it's not a bad word. No, it's a great word, but like you know, you know, you could be a semifinals athlete, yes, and today is the day where you need to scale because that's where you are. Um, and I think just really listening to your body and making the right choice, again, your point about there's more in store for you than just today's workout, right? Think about the longer term, think about how do I get through today so I can be here tomorrow. Right. And to that point also, what we talk about a lot is what do I have to eat so that I benefit from today?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_02

It's a huge part of it. Yeah, I think so many people overlook that. Um, and unfortunately, you know, in the past many, many decades, a lot of um you know, pseudoscience and a lot of people that are trying to help people get fit, yeah, are really preaching starve yourself. Starve yourself, yeah. Starve yourself and work out a whole lot more. And that like, I don't think that works. Yeah, so you really you have to fuel.

SPEAKER_00

Like if you, you know, a lot of gyms, right? Might be like um, like only hit your macaroni number, or you know, maybe not a lot of gyms, but a lot of fitness spaces, right? Like be in calorie deficit or like take out these food groups, no sugar, you know. Exactly. Well, you know, yeah, I have bone to pick with you CrossFit. No, I'm just kidding. But that this would be written in like a negative, right? Like this is what we need to take away. Yeah, and I love that this rule is written like feed it well. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02

Give your body what it needs, good quality, give it enough, right?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I love that.

SPEAKER_02

I think there's so much underneath that that you can read into. Yeah, it doesn't say lift more, eat less. Yeah, you know what I mean? That's not like it doesn't work that way. That's not the deal. Yeah, you gotta eat. It doesn't work for me. That's for sure. Let's go. You gotta eat.

SPEAKER_00

Um, yeah, and I think too, this is one of these things that happens outside the gym too. So sometimes it's easy to forget because people are like, oh, not at the gym, not doing gym things, blah, blah, blah, right? But we gotta remember a lot of this stuff applies to even when you walk out of these doors, because again, the goal is longevity and health and strength, and you know, um, this is a big part of that, right?

SPEAKER_02

100%.

SPEAKER_00

None of that is gonna come true if even if you're working hard in here, but you're starving your body or you're just feeding it crap 24-7, right?

SPEAKER_02

Like, and it um and it's also not um, it's not only about aesthetics, yeah. And I think so much of what fitness culture has become is what we eat is about how we look. Yeah, and I think CrossFit does a great job of reinforcing what we eat is about how we perform, yeah, it's how we move, it impacts how we perform, right? Are we able to bring the intensity? Because intensity requires fuel. Yeah, and if you don't fuel yourself, you can't bring the intensity. And the great things that happen in CrossFit happen when you bring the intensity to the workout. You work hard. You want to cover number nine? What do you think?

SPEAKER_00

All right, number nine, never quit, never cheat, celebrate success. Yes, yeah, we don't quit, we keep at it, and we chip away, we attack um the process. I'm a big, big, big, big process person. Um I talk to anyone who coaches me, like, hey, I want to go step by step, I want to learn all the things, I want to do it right, I don't care how long it takes, I'm gonna keep chipping away at this thing, right? And I think that's like the never quit part. Um I think too, like when we talk about long-term results of really changing your life, really turning your body from maybe stagnant, unhealthy, you know, in CrossFit, we look at like the sickness, wellness, fitness um spectrum, really taking your body from sick in terms of, you know, maybe health markers and that sort of thing to well and then to even fit um takes time. It takes months, sometimes years, depending on where your starting point is, if you do it right and if you're gonna hold on to those results. And so you cannot quit on that process, right? Like you just have to stay determined and committed and consistent, right? You gotta show up. Um, yeah, you just gotta keep showing up. Yeah. Um, so we can't quit. And then along those lines, never cheat. And it's because if you're showing up day in and day out, right, and you're putting in the work, like the only way you're gonna see real results is if you do the real work, right? Yeah. Um, if you're putting in fake data and you're cutting rounds or reps or whatever in your workouts, that all that's doing is harming you in the long run, right? I mean, probably pissing off your fellow members too, because people know, people always know. They always know. People come to me about it, right? All the time. I get text and say, oh, so and so, da-da-da. And I think, dude, and my response is always stay in your lane. We talked about this before, right? But but in the long run, it's like you're not gonna get the results that you want, you're not gonna see the growth that you want if you're cheating yourself, just to put some score up on the board, right? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

I mean, the the cheat to me goes right back to the ego. Like, why else? Why else would you do it? Like, yeah, I know, yeah, like you're in the middle of the workout, you miscount reps, cool. But like, yeah, yeah, if you're purposefully skipping around or whatever, or skipping reps, like yeah, doing half reps, it's you're just cheating yourself. We talked about that so much.

SPEAKER_00

We're not to drain because you don't you don't need to do that, right? And then that kind of brings us to celebrate success. Lately, there's been a lot of people getting PRs and they're chicken to write it on the PR board and ring that bell over there. What they're too chicken, they're shy again. Leave the ego at the door. Man, if you accomplished something awesome, Erica did four full rope climbs today for the first time ever. So proud of her. That's awesome. And she went right over there, wrote that up, and rang that bell. And I don't care how small your success may seem like in the grand scheme of things, we are going to celebrate it, right? I gotta shout this out. I like have been helping my dad a little bit, you know, he's working out and um not a member here yet, but you know, eventually we'll get him. But um, because he's in Virginia. When he moves, he'll get here. But I've been helping. Right, a little bit tough. 5 a.m.

SPEAKER_01

class.

SPEAKER_00

But we're we're doing some CrossFit program with him, and you know, he's been like a little shaky um in his hands and stuff. He's 75. And he called me yesterday to tell me that he's been doing this um training now for about three weeks, and he was pouring his morning coffee and he realized his hand wasn't shaking anymore. And I started crying. I started crying because like, talk about quality of life, talk about all these things that we say are most important. And he was like, Oh, it's nothing, it's da-da-da-da-da, you know, and um my dad listens, so he's gonna be like, cool. But really, like he he was like, I know people are way stronger than me, and da-da-da-da-da. And I was like, uh-uh, we are stopping to celebrate this moment right now. This is huge. The fact that you can walk down the hallway in your house confidently with no fear of falling, and that your trembles are now gone because you're physically active and getting stronger.

SPEAKER_02

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, that is huge. So I don't care what your success is. We're gonna, what we said earlier, we're gonna cheer you on. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's big. So cool. So cool.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, that that's really big. And for me, like this idea of never quitting, I think it's a lot of people don't experience um what that means in a sort of a physical, you know, like working out kind of sense. Yeah. Um, maybe a game, a competition, maybe they think of quitting like that. But with working out, especially when you work out by yourself, you know, it's like whatever. I just do what I want. I do I work out till I'm tired or till the time's up, and then I leave, you know. Yeah, but like there are moments in a CrossFit workout where like you want to stop. Yeah. You you're like, this is terrible. And there not everyone, right? But there are moments where you're like, I really don't want to keep going. Um, but there's so much value in in continuing on. And it's funny, you know, tonight um I showed up here a little bit early in the 530 class was finishing up, and uh there's a pretty amazing runner in that 530 class, Katie Toomey. Yeah, coach Katie. We were just we were talking about her splits, and you know, she she cracked the joke. She's like, you know, after the second the second run, I was thinking, you know, I could totally fake an injury right now and not not have to do the third or fourth run, and nobody would know. Like everybody would totally believe it oh, I twisted my ankle, you know, whatever. And because she, you know, there's that moment in some of these workouts where you're like, Oh, I just do not want to do this. Yeah, um, but I think it there's so much value in learning that you can you do the hard if you stick it out and you finish it, there's so much value and reward at the end of it. Like, I did that, I didn't quit on myself. Um, I think there's just so much in that for us as adults, yeah um, that um people that don't do CrossFit or really any other kind of group fitness maybe don't have that experience. Uh and I think that's that's one of the values of again having the community around you, having a coach there. They help you not quit. They're gonna help you get through it. Yes. Um, they're gonna help you not quit.

SPEAKER_00

The other thing David today had to be that person for me.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, he was pulling you through it.

SPEAKER_00

It's like attack that hill. Like, I can't do it. I don't want to, David. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

The only other thing I want to say about this one that speaks to me, and maybe maybe it'll resonate with with other folks, but this idea of celebrating success, I feel like that's almost too easy.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Um I I like it when we celebrate failure too. Yeah, you know, and I said that before about like people missing a lift and still getting cheered on about that. I think that there's so much greatness in that. Like it's okay to try something and fail. Yeah, it's okay to be uh new at something, it's okay to try something that scares you.

SPEAKER_00

Do it, right? Do it anyway, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And failing at something first time, second time, third time, whatever, it's only gonna make you better. Yeah, right. Doing handstand walking for the first time, right? You it you have to fail, you have to fall a few times before you learn to handstand walk. Um, you know, maybe there's some crazy person that could did it first the first time, but but that wasn't me. That wasn't you hard me, right? Like Jim's only filmed many times. I mean, it's so I I actually like to celebrate the failures, not for myself, because uh everybody knows I beat myself up, but yeah, I like to encourage other people to be willing to fail, right? And and grow from that. I think that's super important. And um, and I think it's unique to CrossFit. We don't get that really in other places in our adult life. Yeah, we're always encouraged to be safe, yeah, do the smart thing, make sure. Yeah, yeah, make sure. But but in here you can kind of let it rip as long as you're not getting crazy, you're doing it with a good technique, right?

SPEAKER_00

Well, and that's what I was just about to say. If you know that your mechanics are pretty good and you're doing that consistently, now you have the freedom to like take some of those risks with heavier loads, right? I know I don't I do this pretty well 99% of the time. Let's load up that bar, let's see, right? And that's why I tell people all the time, but what if I don't get it? Okay, so what? Let's see. Let's just see. If you don't get it, we're still gonna be happy, we're still gonna walk out of here. It's gonna be a great day, but we'll never know if we don't go for it.

SPEAKER_02

Well, and you and I have talked about this too. Yeah, and not to make it about me because it's not about me, but you and I have talked about this. Sometimes our unwillingness to pick up the barbell or jump up and do the next pull-up or do the next rep is rooted in a fear of failure. What if I don't get it? We don't we don't want to fail, right? And it's you know, pick it up before you're ready because you're not gonna fail. You'll get it. Yeah, right. Even if it means you're only gonna get one rep and you got to take another break. But um, that fear of failure, I think it's very normal human instinct. Um, and just not giving into it, I think is there's a lot of value there. Yeah. Number 10, though, most important, best one, have fun, yes, and be an awesome part of our community.

SPEAKER_00

Have fun. Yeah, this is adding value to your life. You don't have to be here, right?

SPEAKER_02

It's not that serious.

SPEAKER_00

You choose to be here, it's fitness, right? It's a barbell at the end of the day or whatever, a kettlebell. And as much as I love this stuff, right? We're in here walking on our hands. Come on, man. Like, yeah, have a good laugh about it, have fun, slap people on the back. Yeah, give someone a high five.

SPEAKER_02

Yes, and come back tomorrow. Like, just have fun. And you know, it that feeds into so much of this like, don't cheat, yeah. Your ego outside, uh, you know, introduce yourself to somebody, like, be cool, have fun, don't take it too seriously. You're actually not trying to kill the other people in here, right? And guess what? No one is getting paid any money at the end of the workout. No, there's there's no there's usually no podium. Like, it's just we'll just have it.

SPEAKER_00

And even when there is, still have freaking. Still just for fun.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, like we're it's not that serious.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it's not it's really not and like that is a joy, like that is a gift, I think. You know, I've actually like played a sport for money before, and like ain't nobody want that pressure in the long term, right?

SPEAKER_02

We just want to come here now, but it's not as much fun, yes.

SPEAKER_00

Like sometimes, I mean you gotta fight for it, but like, dude, yeah, yeah, just come in here and have fun, do the best that you can, walk out of here like, man, I'm 45 years old and I am walking on my hands, or whatever you can do, right? That's a huge accomplishment. Like, be so proud of that and enjoy it and have a good laugh with your classmates and let it add joy to your life, not the other way around. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And the community part of it is it it tends to grow up sort of naturally around the gym. People become friends, they bring their friends here. We have a lot of families here. Um bring a friend week next week. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Bring your friend, make them an awesome part of our community. But we, you know, we got Murph coming up, right? End of the month, be a big potluck after that. A lot of people hang out, um, have a good time. But we we love our community events here and we get great attendance. Our members really love to come just hang out. Um, even if they're not working out, yeah, they'll they'll come show up and hang out, uh, you know, have some have some food, have a burger, have some tacos, whatever it is. Um, and I think community, our community is a reflection of all the things above it. Yeah. Right? You think about our community is sort of based on all of this. And in some ways, you know, we talked about at the beginning, maybe rules is a little bit too strict a word. Yeah. Right? Like take me back to school. These aren't these aren't really rules, this is just kind of maybe how we roll.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Or maybe another way of saying it might be like we're doing it. This is our gym culture. What do you think?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

This is our gym culture, yeah. Right? This is the crossfit, be be part of our cult, culture, join our cult.

SPEAKER_00

This is how we thrive in being a family, being a community within these doors, right? Um, the fitness part of it itself is really hollow if none of these things are done with greatness. Yeah, you know. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And it's it's an ex as we've said a couple times through this, it's an expectation now of the members. Yeah. These are not like rules that Jim and Courtney enforce. This is the culture that has evolved at the gym. Yeah. And like you said, Brian, and there's several other people, Gemma. There's a lot of other people that are like, yeah, they're the culture ambassadors.

SPEAKER_00

I would say each class has like a couple, you know.

SPEAKER_02

And they're like the ones that are like, hey, this, you know, chill out, we'll clean that up later. You know, like they they're the ones that are introduce themselves to new people. They're the, you know, the ambassadors of our culture. And I just love that. You know, it's not it's not you and me anymore. It's it's something that we'll live on uh for as long as DOD's here. And all of us, you know, at some point we might, you know, this chalk might get a little a little more smudged, and we might have to rewrite these, but I think they'll stand the test of time.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah, it's good stuff, and it sets what we do apart, right? And it really makes it valuable.

SPEAKER_02

But we hear that from our members, right? They go visit other gyms, and there's there are great things about other gyms, but there are things in here that I think make DOD stand out, make it special. That's uh, you know, what makes me tear up sometimes when I think about this place. Yeah, it's awesome. Not not that I ever tear up, but yeah, anyway.

SPEAKER_00

Hey, before we finish, guys, I want to do a quick shout out. We had a couple uh athletes qualify for semifinals talking about celebrate successes. Um, so on the adaptive side, we had Will Kinsey and Zeke Maddox both qualify. Um, so they'll be participating um in a couple weeks, mid-May, yep, in those online semifinals. Um, then all of our uh teens who were in quarterfinals are moving on to semifinals. So that's Zeke Steffler, Anna Toomey, Claire Toomey, and Marlon Sandoval. Um, we also had Natalie Kinsey on the age group side, 50 to 54, uh female, crushed it at quarterfinals. Amazing. Her first one, now going to semifinals. So excited for her. Um, and then our very own Gabby Bellinger, uh, just about a year out from having a baby, qualified for semifinals in the open division, which is such a just massive accomplishment. Um, so she'll do those online semifinals in June. I think that's like the first weekend in June. Um, and so just huge congrats to all of them and talking about celebrating, let's all get together. You'll see posts about that in social media and all that kind of stuff. Um, so you guys can come cheer them on at the gym when they're doing their workouts. That's right. That's gonna be a blast.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, that's gonna be amazing. May and June will be big for that. And I know, I know there'll be people in here cheering them on uh as they go through those workouts.

SPEAKER_00

Jim and I will have our judge hats on.

SPEAKER_02

We're gonna have to judge. We have to be mean, but the rest of you come be nice.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it'll be awesome. Hey guys, thanks for listening so much. Yeah, I have another one coming for you next month.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah. June, June 2026, we'll have another one. I got plenty of travel between now and then, but thank you for listening. Thank you for watching. Follow or like our podcast. You can find us on YouTube. Hopefully you're watching it there. You can find us on Apple as well. And you can find us on Spotify audio only. Thanks a lot. We'll see you next time.

SPEAKER_00

Bye, guys.