machinelab crossfit house rules

Be early. If you’re not early, you’re late. Give yourself enough time to sign in, change, and use the bathroom if you need to before your session starts. Most likely, that means showing up at least 10 minutes before warm-ups.

Check your ego at the door.

Clean up, and put away your toys. Clean up your sweat, blood, and puke.  Don’t spit on our floor. Pick up your used tape, pens, notebooks, scrap papers, chalk, band-aids, water bottles, and sweaty clothes. Pack it in, pack it out, as they say. Put away the equipment you used. Stack the boxes and plates, put the bars in the racks, hang up your jump ropes.

Respect our equipment, and drop as a last resort. Put things down gently. Dropping weight should be a necessity, not a convenience. Bumpers are made for emergency dropping, not for dropping every rep. ALWAYS keep your weight under control. NEVER drop an empty barbell, kettle bell, or dumbbell. Our equipment was expensive…and the more we have to replace it, the more we’re going to have to charge you.

Let us know. If you notice broken equipment, burnt out lights, or missing toilet paper, let us know so we can do something about it.

Try hard. Effort earns respect. Be optimistic, have fun, encourage others, and push yourself and those around you to do better.

Push your limits. The only way to get stronger is to increase the load. Always strive to go a little heavier and a little faster. Never say “I can’t.” When you want something you’ve never had, you have to do something you’ve never done.

Don’t cheat. No one cares what your score was. Everyone cares if you cheated. Be honest with everyone else, and be honest with yourself. You know what full range of motion is, so there’s no excuse for shoddy reps. If someone calls you out for doing something wrong, listen to them. The person watching you work out has a much better perspective on what you’re doing. They’re breathing gently and probably experiencing a restful glow at a sub-60 heart rate. You’re halfway through the workout. You’re biased, trust us.

Learn how to count. If you lose count, the next number is always 1. If you know you have trouble keeping count, use chalk to mark it...or ask someone to count for you. 
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Come to sessions. For newbies and old hands alike, stay consistent. There are many reasons why we have sessions. For starters, you’re less likely to gravitate towards the things you’re already good at. Plus, you’ll benefit from some friendly competition and encouragement...and, no matter how experienced you are, you can still benefit from some coaching and working on the basics. If there are extra things you'd like to work on, take some extra time before or after class.

Take ownership. Be responsible and respectful, and take pride in your gym.  Don’t let others get away with things that are bad for them or bad for the gym. Remind people to take their clothes with them and pick up their water bottles. If you see someone doing something that you’re pretty sure will hurt them, tell them to stop. We don’t care who it is: if one of the coaches are deadlifting with a rounded back, call them out!  Safety first.