It didn't happen by accident.

I wanted to take a few minutes to talk about classes, more specifically how they are set up and put together.  I could be reiterating what may have been posted in old blogs but whatever, I want to bring it up again because, well, we all take classes be it at CPC or other places.  

First off I’ll just share a quick story that I’ll never forget, this happened shortly after we had opened about 5 years ago.  I don’t remember the person specifically but I remember how the conversation went, it was something like this.  

Person “Mike that was a great class, thanks, that was tough!”  

Me “Thanks (person), glad you liked it”  

Person “Where do you come up with some of these exercises and how do you put them together into a workout like that?  You guys probably have a book right that you print things from?” 

Me “No, there’s no book, we don’t print anything, all of the workouts that we come up with are our own material.  We write every program/class, we plan out the exercises, the timing, the reps, how much rest, all that stuff.”  

Person “Wow, I didn’t realize that!” 

I don’t remember what my response was after that but you get the point of the conversation……we write our own shit!

With the exception of a few classes, namely the TRX Premiere classes which we have the rights to teach, all of the programming that is presented to you and that you go through each day that you are here comes directly from that coaches brain.  Part of what a lot of people don’t realize that makes CPC so different is that there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes that people don’t see or know about.  We work tirelessly to make sure what is presented to a subscriber within the 30 or 60 minutes seems flawless and effortless. What isn't known is that it can take upwards of 30+ minutes to really put together a good program/class together. Multiply that by however many classes a coach instructs in a week and add that to what is methodically written for each personal client program. Yeah, that’s a pretty good amount of prep to be this good. Trust me, I wish sometimes that CPC printed shit from a book, less work sounds awesome but then the class isn't really MINE anymore! 

With that being said, one of the really tough parts of putting together a great class is the set up.  The actual program (what you have to accomplish) can be pretty easy, what’s tough is the logistics of laying it all out and making sure that it flows well.  Where should I put the rower?  Where should the ropes go?  I have the kettle bells over here, so the RIP’s should go over there so that when we switch they can go right into the slam balls, but will that leave enough room for the slosh pipes?  YES, this is what we go through EVERY time we write out a class. It’s not easy and there are times we misjudge. Those moments are very noticed in here because we try to make sure they're RARE. 

Geoff and myself have been here since the beginning so the space is what we know, it’s what we are used to, we’ve grown as the facility has and adjusted our programs along the way.  I wouldn’t say that it’s easy for us to put together programs, it can still be tricky sometimes and we mess things up a little from time to time, but for someone new like Lana, Amber, or even back when Sarah first started, it can be tricky to program around the space that is available to us and get used to it. It takes time and thought to plan this stuff out, and yes as with anything it gets easier as you go but it’s still work. And all of this is the very reason we stress that signing up in advance is so critical. It makes the effectiveness of the class and the quality of the experience what you have come to expect and pay for.  

With so much work, detail, planning, and coordinating going into these programs, if everything doesn’t work out as planned or something gets messed up it can be frustrating.  For instance if the music isn’t playing right, you don’t have all of the equipment you thought you would, or something breaks this can totally throw things off.  But the “show” must go on, you make adjustments, stick with the plan, and keep things layed out as best you can.  Similarly classes are planned for a reason, to try to avoid or easily adjust to the afore mentioned scenarios, obviously to give you a kick ass experience but also to keep other people safe, account for equipment availability, amount of equipment, number of people, space needed or space that just may not be available, and many more.  Next time you walk into a class whether it’s here or someplace on the west coast, take a look around and think of and appreciate the amount of work, planning, and set up that went into it……don’t move that mat!  It’s not there by accident, and I'll bet you'll know when you experience a class that was printed out of a book.