Weird.

So we got back from Melbourne around lunchtime on Monday from a weekend weightlifting seminar with Glenn Pendlay and Donny Shankle.

The seminar was held at Schwartz’s CrossFit Melbourne. If you haven’t seen some pics or been there all you really need to know is that it’s absolutely massive. A weird thing is that it’s upstairs and while no one batted an eyelid to us dumping bars on Saturday, Ben did ask us not to on Sunday: It’s seems that the factory outlet underneath is only open on a Sunday – weird? Yes.

Schwartz’s CrossFit from a space, equipment and fit-out point of view is absolutely amazing. One day me might have a set up like their men’s toilet (3 wash basins. 3 urinals, 2 toilets, 2 showers and 1 big-arse change room) although I highly doubt it. They had 10 C2 rowers – in a row even (very cool) and a lot of Rogue equipment (10lb,15lb – 45lb bumpers) which made working out what you had on the bar a bit of a nightmare. They’ve got a really high ceiling with heaps of climbing ropes, crash mats and at least 12 pairs of rings set up in a row (all at a great height for kipping – their ceilings are high enough…).

The place is so big they can even run 2 separate sessions at the same time and from what I heard/saw they do: A group A (elite) and a group B (not elite?). It was actually pretty interesting to watch the Saturday morning class/s in progress. From what I could tell, there were 2 separate WODs. Actually, there looked like there was even a third group of guys wondering about doing their own thing too – Open gym perhaps?

Weird.

It was a weird vibe. There was no #epic-ness. No yelling coaches. No group dynamic -> Even though the group B WOD was run in a set area, each athlete seemed to be doing their own thing, at a pace that was reminiscent of watching Oprah on a recumbent bike AKA: club lime style? From what I could tell it was a 20 min AMRAP and some people would wonder off to the side, mid WOD to grab a drink of water. Others would hit a set and then rest for what seemed an eternity – it was kind of “Meh…”

The ‘A Team’ wasn’t that much more engaged either. There were a few guys and girls hitting some squat variations out of stands over on the platforms. One jacked dude with short shorts (and yes, I’d probably wear short shorts if my quads were as big as his) would wonder from sets of back squats off to snatches and burpees over the bar. He did seem to being doing the WOD with another guy but because they did their snatches facing each other, well that was kinda weird too?

In both groups there was no “3-2-1-Go”? No encouragement from athlete to athlete? Very little encouragement from the coaches either? It was very impersonal. Very “blah…” or “meh…” – no vibe at all.

Now every gym’s got their own feel but Schwartz’s just felt weird and disconnected. I loved the space, the fit out and the huge amount of gear they’ve got but it was lacking something – It didn’t have that Adapt feel…

What we’ve got here is so special. I know you hear me say it all the time but there’s something very special in this place we call Adapt. The crazy cats that train here. The awesome community. The ‘3-2-1-Go’ and it’s on. The tunes are loud. The coaches are loud and that’s how we roll. We’ve got a mad vibe and I think it’s truly awesome. Sure sometimes you need a little kick in the butt to wake you up but all in all, just about all our crew rock up ready to get into it, every session, every single day. Good times 🙂

If you ever get the chance to visit another CrossFit Affiliate or decent strength and conditioning facility you really should. It’s great to experience something different, a different vibe, a different program, different coaches and different athletes.

I walked away from Schwartz’s thinking about how I want Adapt to be when it grows up. I love the way we do things now and at least for the foreseeable future, I’m not going to change a thing. – B