THROWDOWN 301
Keara Miller and Jessi Smith go head to head for TTT THROWDOWN 301. We added some on screen graphics to help see the various split times during the wo...
If you’ve been running your gym long enough, you know how great it feels when attendance is high. There’s a next level of confidence in your programming and your operations.
Everything is great.
Until it isn’t.
At some point, almost every gym goes through it, your biggest asset, which are your classes, start to lose their value.
It can be challenging not only to attract new members, but also to keep your current ones consistently showing up.
While being proactive about engagement and participation is crucial, don’t let periods of high attendance create a false sense of security about why people are showing up.
If you’re a coach, programmer, or gym owner, here are 3 things you should look into if you are struggling to get attendance up, or want to avoid the potential pitfall of your current members losing interest in your daily classes.
#1 – Repetitive and overly predictive programming can be a motivation killer.
For your classes, variety is your fuel for your amazing programming. Structure is extremely effective in progressing strength, but this predictability can lead to boredom and overuse.
Consider variations in strength cycles. Using A week & B week split, switching from 7-day to 10-day frequency for your lifts, or completely alternating training cycles where you have high and low frequency of strength days, are very simple ways to maintain progression, keep the focus high, but avoid the risks of redundancy and overuse.
Change up your strength prescriptions. Incorporating things like manipulation in tempo, time structures, or including drop sets to add some flavour. Bonus: Adding accommodating resistance tools for your more experienced members (bands or chains) is a great way to keep interest high and, even better, break through long-standing strength plateaus.
Falgout’s 2021 study of 15 long-term CrossFit athletes (avg. 3.5+ years) shows variety is the fuel for sustained attendance: daily WOD unpredictability eliminated boredom, drove 80–90% weekly attendance, and far outperformed prior monotonous routines.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7497044
If you’re running another Monday Back Squat Cycle, read the room. If there are eye rolls at your legendary Wendler progressions once again, consider making this phase one that includes pauses in the bottom, or pair it up with another exercise that rocks the boat a little bit.
Example:
Old –
A. Every 3 min x 4 sets: 5 Back Squats @ 65-80% 1RM – Increase load each set
New –
A. Every 3 min x 4 sets:
5 Back Squats w/ 1 sec pause in the bottom – Increase load each set until you reach a 9/10 RPE
Rest 60 sec
5 Band Assisted Overspeed Jumps
(Similar prescription, same time structure, easy to implement for a large group. But includes some variation of pause work, and contrast plyometrics into the mix. The biggest point is that it’s new and will create some excitement to show up and try it out.)
Change up your met-cons. A simple upgrade to the way your time structures are delivered can bring a new feel and stimulus to your conditioning work. Explore using things like broken AMRAPs, incremental EMOMs, and met-cons with micro challenges built in.
Example:
Old Variations:
15 Min AMRAP:
30 Walking Lunges
20 Single Arm DB Power Snatch – 50/35lb, alternating hands
10 Chest to Bar Pull-Ups
EMOM x 16:
Min 1: 30 sec Row Calories
Min 2: 30 sec Burpees
Min 3: 30 sec Double Unders
Min 4: 30 sec Toes to Bar
5 Rounds for time:
Run 400m
21 KB Swings – 53/35lb
12 Pull-Ups
New Variations:
5 min AMRAP; rest 2 min x 3 sets
30 Walking Lunges
20 Single Arm DB Power Snatch – 50/35lb, alternating hands
10 Chest to Bar Pull-Ups
*Pick up where you left off each set.
(Simple manipulation in time to drive higher intensity and give a different mental stimulus).
EMOM x 16:
Min 1: 20 sec Row Calories
Min 2: 20 sec Burpees
Min 3: 20 sec Double Unders
Min 4: 20 sec Toes to Bar
*Each round increase the working time by 10 seconds. IE – 20 sec, 30 sec, 40 sec, 50 sec
(This progressive build in time allows for a gradual increase of intensity/volume, while the work/rest time changes each set, creating a novel experience relative to a traditional emom.)
5 Rounds for time:
Run 400m
21 KB Swings – 53/35lb
12 Pull-Ups
*Option 1 – Each 400m run MUST decrease in time
*Option 2 – KB Swings MUST remain unbroken
*Option 3 – Pull-ups completed in at least unbroken sets of 4
(Small challenges like this can break the mold of traditional pacing/gaming all workouts and create an actual training stimulus, which can be very helpful for those who’ve been at it for a while and are reaching plateaus.)
Novelty triggers interest, keeping members engaged without anything overly fancy. Keeping them healthy, slowly progressing, all while still having them guess what’s next, is where the magic is.
#2 – Relentless intensity fries members.
Sneak in deloads without saying the word “deload”
Track your attendance. Especially during retest weeks. The numbers don’t lie. If members are so exhausted that they skip the final test of what they’ve been working on, it’s a clear sign that adding some breaks earlier would help keep more people showing up in the long run.
A 2023 Delphi consensus of 34 expert coaches defined deloading as a 30–50% volume drop every 4–6 weeks to reduce fatigue, prevent overtraining, and sustain motivation.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10511399
Low attendance during retest weeks signals burnout, and strategic deloads keep members fresh and boost long-term attendance. Consider these to mask your deloads while keeping the gym vibes high.
Implement consistent Bring-a-Friend Weeks. Not only is it helpful for your business to get new people in the door, but it’s an opportunity to include workouts with lower impact and complexity, less overhead or squat volume, and partner variations to change up the monotony of the solo grind. The chance of push back on an “easier week” is much lower this way and keeps members showing up.
Additionally, the success of these weeks is HUGE for growing memberships. See what some of our TTT Affiliate members shared.
Active Recovery Week. If the BAF week isn’t up your gym’s alley, and you’re perfectly fine telling the members they need to back off, simply changing the name to “Active Recovery” vs “Deload Week” is a purposeful way to keep them coming in and setting the stage for reduced volume and intensity. Including training days that put targets or restrictions on intensity, removing the leaderboard, and cutting out the top score targets is a great way to help members focus less on “racing” and chill out for a few days.
Worst case is you simply program the easier training days in, and ask for forgiveness later, then give them the ol’ “told you so” wink after they crush it on retest week.
Here’s your quick checklist for a proper back-off week:
1 – Lower strength % work to under 70-75% (but keep it fast) or reduce strength volume by 30-50% across the entire week.
2 – Reduce kipping & overhead volume. Instead of kipping pull-ups or overhead press, swap with chin over bar holds, inverted body rows, or planks/handstand holds.
3 – Implement a higher frequency of skill days on back-off weeks. It’s an opportunity to slow things down and include more technical work with intent. Keep it fun and something they don’t normally do, such as rope climb technique, handstand drills, or kettlebell cycling.
4 – Include forced pacing and rest breaks. If you have a 20-minute AMRAP, simply add in a “Rest 20 sec after each movement or 60 sec after each round.” Or if it’s a 5-round for time piece, adding in rest breaks with stipulations that intensity/split times must increase or stay the same across to lower the amount of fatigue created. Finally, using isometrics or static holds is a great way to still bring some challenge while keeping contraction volume lower. Things like sandbag/zercher holds or overcoming isometrics blended into conditioning pieces can still be fun and challenging.
Giving these methods a shot will keep egos intact while giving bodies a break and keeping attendance up.
#3 – Workouts Need a Why
Create a Common Goal to Peak Motivation.
Not everyone cares deeply about the intricacies of block periodization and energy system development. Those things are cool and important to some, but not everyone. Most members just want to go hard/be challenged, feel healthier, and work out with a cool group of people.
Working together toward a similar goal is a fantastic way to boost gym morale. Which is why we feel it’s important to run cycles that have a theme and transparency of the WHY behind what they are doing.
A 2000 RCT by Estabrooks and Carron found that older adults in group exercise classes with shared team goals and identity achieved 92% attendance and 85% 6-month adherence, compared to 68% attendance in individual goal-setting and 59% in standard no-goal classes, showing group training toward a common goal drives 30%+ higher adherence than isolated or unstructured training.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4483226/
Create cycle overviews. Being transparent about what the goals are for the next several weeks in the gym can help bring more excitement and boost motivation. It also keeps people engaged when you have days that are easier or more skill-focused, as it gives them a higher purpose, knowing it’s part of the greater plan. It’s an opportunity to also get your entire coaching staff on board, so their excitement and motivation has a trickle-down effect on the members.
Theme your training blocks. It doesn’t mean you need to name every workout (some enjoy that), but if you have a few cycle tests and benchmarks themed around the time of the year (Winter Warriors or Summer Swole) it creates a little more buzz and hype around the targets and focuses for that cycle. This leads to a feeling of not wanting to miss out.
Include Specialty Classes. If you’re in a conditioning phase (Ie, “Build Your Engine”), including extra class options outside of your normal structure is an opportunity to give a unique feel to the training cycle. Check out this article on Why Specialty Classes Are A Game Changer For Your Gym and how to implement them.
To wrap it up, use these simple changes to keep your programming exciting, attendance high, and your members buzzing. Be proactive by including creative and smart variety into your strength work and metcons, add in proper but fun back-off weeks, and create common goals for a higher meaning in your training blocks, and you’ll see an improvement in your attendance and retention. This will help keep the value of your classes higher than it’s ever been.
If you liked these and want to see how we put it all together, check out a sample week and cycle overview of TTT Affiliate Programming.
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