#4: The Whiteboard

The whiteboard is more than a place to record your scores. It is a way to push yourself and to push those in the community. Part of what we do is compete against one another. It helps everyone. So, here are a few thoughts on the whiteboard.

Record your score: I have always made it optional to put your score up. I felt that pressuring people to write down what they did may be off-putting. But I am seeing more and more people not record their score so that others can’t see what they are doing. This isn’t in the spirit of the community. So, effective January 4th everyone will be required to submit a score. The penalty is 10 burpees. If you do not know what to write or don’t want to then just write your name on a board with your time/reps/weight/etc and a coach will put your info on the board.

Record your score honestly: I think we are pretty good at this but I know of people from other gyms that intentionally add/shave reps to make themselves look better. Like I said above, folks are competitive and with this comes observant. Just keep that in mind. In the grand scheme of things I have always felt that who you are in the gym is a pretty good reflection of who you are as a person. If you cheat and lie on something as simple as your workout then you likely do this on other things. We have a pretty good group of people so I think we are good here.

Don’t live by the whiteboard: The logging of scores here is just part of what we do. It is great to see people push themselves further than they thought they could because they are chasing someone else. If you are the person being chased you should be flattered that you are being chased not upset that you got beat. Use this as fuel to go a little bit harder next time but don’t let it get you upset and make you feel like your workout isn’t valid because you lost. Fact is, the PM class has the advantage. That’s just the way it is. That doesn’t mean that you cant dig a little deeper and make them work extra hard to beat you.

The main thing to take from this is that competing against each other is only one of the tools we have to push ourselves. Use the whiteboard to help with this. If it doesn’t help you the chances are that it is helping someone else. Either pushing them to beat you or helping show them that there are many different fitness levels and someone is exactly where they are.

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One Response to “#4: The Whiteboard”

  1. Dave S

    I remember when I joined way back when, it was pretty much just Ryan, Gary and I in the 6am class. I had said that I was not into the whole competitive thing. Both Gary and Ryan laughed and said give it time. It was about 2 weeks later and it became a competition!! Now I am slowly coming back. Ryan, I will catch you!