“Drop In” Gym Culture
The coaches and I have been talking a lot lately about culture. About how we build a strong, resonant culture for our members that grounds fitness in their life and makes coming to the gym an act of self expression. That’s the best culture, where participation in the activity makes you feel part of something, makes you feel like you are this-type-of-a-person, where your personal and communal identities intertwine and push you to be better.
I mentioned it a few posts back, but CrossFit during its heyday was a true monster in terms of culture building, and one of my favorite things about CrossFit culture was (and still is!) the culture of “drop-ins.”
Drop-in culture came out of the early days when there weren’t a ton of CrossFit gyms, or CrossFitters. If you were a CrossFitter travelling for work or vacation, you might look up CrossFit gyms where you were going. This was far enough back that looking it up on CrossFit.com was probably more accurate than using Google Maps- their data was better at that point (!!!)
So you’d find a gym, you’d reach out, usually by email, often have a real conversation with someone, and find a time to “drop in” for a class. At the time, this would often be free if you bought a t-shirt, and people would collect shirts from across the globe as they travelled and sweated in new locales. As CrossFit grew this became a somewhat unsustainable or at least overly informal business practice, so gyms now mainly charge a single class fee. It makes sense, my gym does it, but it does make me wistful for simpler times… isn’t nostalgia grand?
Anyways. Drop in culture is cool because it made “being a CrossFitter” feel like your hall pass or access key to gyms across the world. Just by saying “i do this too” you were in! At the very least, you had an easy way to keep up with fitness while you travelled, but there was so much more.
For instance, one summer my wife and I were in Banff, Alberta, Canada. (Don’t tell the President.) We dropped in at a gym, got to talking with people, and before you know it, we were invited for a post workout dip in the Bow River with some of the regulars. For those not in the know, the Bow River rarely gets above 40 degrees fahrenheit, so it was…invigorating to say the least!
I have lots of other drop in stories like that, and I’m sure lots of other folks do too. Drop ins are a great way to connect to people in the place you’re visiting, to get local intel, to hear about the best restaurants, places to see, etc. Especially in the age of search engines and other online tools being increasingly polluted, unreliable, and money driven, talking to real, actual locals- especially ones who are also committed to caretaking their physical health- that’s priceless.
As the coaches and I talked about this, we lamented that we didn’t feel that our members are as aware of these offerings or as apt to take advantage of them as they could be. Maybe it’s because we haven’t been an affiliate in a while, maybe we haven’t presented that option to people as clearly as we could have. Either way- if you’re reading this, and you’re a Lumos member YOU SHOULD DROP IN TO GYMS WHEN YOU TRAVEL!
There’s more to consider here- sometimes it’s nice to fully relax when you travel, or to practice “exercise minimalism” and just use the space and equipment available to you. Those are valid and interesting ways to express (or intentionally pause) your fitness. However, if you’ve never dropped in, I highly encourage it- meet some people, sweat in a new place, and who knows- you could end up neck deep in freezing water by the end…if you’re lucky.
