When you become a member at DogTown, you become family.



The excitement of a new training stimulus and community is typically overwhelming for the new member. Very quickly, we are introduced to the whiteboard and the data driven training in the gym. It is often difficult in your early days to not look at the whiteboard and see the enormous numbers of veterans and extremely fast times of others and feel intimidated or inadequate. Stated and reiterated by the coaching staff is the importance of staying in your lane, and focusing on doing your best in each moment. We try and make this as easy as possible for the newbie.

As you see results in the early days you learn to push intensity for the sake of getting fitter, or de-stressing or for intensity’s sake (merely wanting to see how far your body can go). Then, as we travel along a year or two, we hit the wall. PRs slow down and the real work begins. We are human. Our ego takes a hit, and the body starts to hurt a little more.

However, it can’t be at the price of credibility within reps and workouts. Sometimes along the way we lose sight of what is most important for various reasons. Maybe we are tired of chasing endorphins, or struggle with counting (laugh but its true) and stop listening to coaching. Quite possibly at some point you just don’t care anymore. However shaving reps or ROM(Range of Motion) in workouts and then blurting out a ridiculously fast time or not at all pulls us so far away from the point of exercising and training as a community it renders it pointless. 

Ultimately, training is a personal journey and your successes and failures you must own, but you must respect this institution, the coaches and your peers. If you are one of these people, just stop. Stop and think about what training means to you, and why you do it. Why you started. I always return there every day. You need to understand the why!

Start with your why!

Do:
  • Think for yourself
  • Be a Great Teammate
  • Be held accountable
  • Be proud of your hard work
  • Understand that nobody is perfect but we strive to always do our best
  • Support others as they support you
  • Be honest with yourself 
  • Realize you may never know what someone else is dealing with and that’s ok
Stop:
  • Showing up late
  • Not signing in ahead of time
  • Leaving your equipment out after class
  • Shaving Reps
  • Shaving ROM (Range of Motion)
We care because mediocrity affects the entire gym as a place of business and a community. We care because this is our family. Let us continue to coach you. You pay for it. We are really good at it. Trust me.

--Coach Dusty