CrossFit Impulse strives to provide an unmatched experience to all our athletes. This includes creating a genuine community, providing a professional CrossFit facility, offering effective training, and maintaining quality equipment. The desired result is helping you achieve your fitness goals, and to have a great time doing it. We also believe in healthy communication and transparency about our affiliate, which is why we’ve chosen to talk to you about some upcoming changes. As we continue to grow, we must make some changes to our business model in order to sustain the level of quality that we want to deliver and you’ve come to expect. Over the course of the next several months we will be implementing a membership rate increase, the addition of another certified trainer to our team, expanding our class times, and continuing to build our equipment inventory.
Rate Changes
Anytime your wallet is affected, we realize it’s a priority. Let’s start with a summary of the upcoming rate changes. First, existing members will not be affected by the rate increase in any capacity until six months after it is implemented for new members. We are humbled and honored by your vote of confidence to join our affiliate as a new and unproven facility, and we thank you. Existing members will continue to pay their current rate until October 1st, 2010. All rate adjustments will be effective April 1, 2010 for all new members. Sorry, it’s not an April Fool’s joke. The cutoff date to join under existing rates (and lock them in for six months) is March 31st, 2010. The last Fundamentals class for those without CrossFit experience to join before the rate increase is March 12-14th.
Next, don’t worry, the rate changes aren’t going to hurt too much. We currently charge $60 per month for General Membership, which includes unlimited class attendance. We will be increasing the General Membership rate by $20. The new rate will be $80 per month for unlimited classes. A slight discount will be available for 3-month General Membership at $230 and 6-month General Membership at $460.
Partner Membership will increase from $100 to $140 per month, which includes both partners. We are also refining our policy that defines eligibility for Partner Membership. Our present structure for Partner Membership is loosely defined as any two people who sign up together. This is unfair to members paying the general rate, because receiving the partner discount largely relies upon luck in someone you know joining at the same time. The purpose of the Partner Membership discount is to make membership more affordable for those who share the same finances and allow partners to influence one another to participate in CrossFit. Therefore, under our new policy, partners are defined as individuals who cohabitate, simply meaning individuals who live together. We will no longer offer 3-month and 6-month Partner member discount rates, as they are seldom used. The new rate is $140/month for as many or as few months as you’d like to pay for.
The Special Service Membership will increase from $50 to $65 per month. Special Service members are defined as law enforcement, firefighters, active duty military, and emergency medical technicians (EMT). Like the 3-month and 6-month partner membership, We will no longer offer 3-month and 6-month Special Service member discount rates, as they are seldom used. The new rate is $65/month for as many or as few months as you’d like to pay for.
Additional Trainer
As part of our growth, CrossFit Impulse plans to make an addition to our team of trainers. Increasing our trainer capacity will allow us to expand our offering of classes to better accommodate everyone’s schedules and more new members. This will also reduce class sizes. We have already begun this process and look forward to providing more details soon. Our plan is to have a new trainer fully onboard by the first week of May 2010.
Class Structure
Part of our present business model is open and unlimited classes. This means that you can always choose what class you attend, and you can attend as many classes as you want. Many affiliates do not operate this way. However, with this model we occasionally experience days when classes may be crowded and equipment quickly becomes limited. Thanks to everyone’s patience, we have been able to manage this issue well through running multiple heats, substituting exercises, and creating team workouts. We have no plans to modify our class structure of open and unlimited classes. However, the downside to this structure is that once in a while you may not be able to perform a workout as prescribed, or you may have to share equipment with another athlete. We think this is a small price to pay for the large amount of freedom and flexibility this structure offers. In an attempt to minimize crowded classes, we will be adding at least one additional class time to our schedule starting around May 2010, along with the new trainer. The new class time will be determined from member feedback. We are currently considering three possibilities:
- Early morning class following the 5:30 A.M. class, possibly at 6:45 A.M.
- Lunch-time class sometime between 11 AM and 1 PM
- Afternoon class prior to the 5:00 P.M. class, possibly at 3:45 P.M.
Email us or talk to us at the box about your preferred additional class time. And if you have a different idea than the three proposed above, please let us know.
Equipment
CrossFit Impulse continues to evaluate equipment needs on a regular basis. We want everyone to be able to perform the WOD as prescribed (or modified appropriately) within the scheduled class time. We plan to continue investing in equipment to eliminate bottlenecks and minimize the need to modify workouts. We view our immediate needs as Olympic bars, bumper plates, rings, and at least one more Concept 2 rower. We appreciate any feedback you can provide on where you see equipment shortfalls. Again, our goal is to provide you with enough quality equipment to meet the needs of as many athletes as possible, and allow everyone to attempt the workout as prescribed if they wish.
Summary
Over the course of the next year, we plan to continue to improve our product: Life. Changing. Fitness. To make this happen, we believe the rate changes, additional trainer, class time expansion, and additional equipment are all essential. We want to continue to facilitate your training, in the best facility we can provide, using the best training methods in the world. We think CrossFit Impulse has become a great place to train, but only because of you, the athletes who call it home. We look forward to continuing this journey together and achieving the great things of which this great group of athletes is capable.
Sincerely,
David, Jeff, and Christina
I like the way you explained everything to all of us. It makes me feel like this is more of a family then a business. I understand the need for the rate increase and to be honest expected it to be much more than it is. If you look at any other box throughout the nation you guys are still one of the cheapest. I am glad to pay more out of my pocket for the training we get from the trainers and the friendships I have forged there.