Crossfit Active Performance Just in it for the money and the fame, injuries galore, no experience Mission Viejo California

You’re better off reading real reviews on Yelp and our FaceBook page.  Although this seems like another fabricated report, we nevertheless feel it is worth clearing the record since this is now online for all to see:

Point by point:

1)      Legitimate review? 

No one by the name of “John Stevens” has ever visited or trained at our gym. 

2)      Title:  “Crossfit Active Performance Just in it for the money and the fame, injuries galore”

The reviewer says we are in it for the money, then begins the review talking about how we offer great introductory discounts – seems inconsistent.  Furthermore, as any CF gym owner will tell you, no one is getting rich opening a gym.  I and my co-owning partner probably make less than minimum wage from this gym – no exaggeration – when comparing the meager income we get vs. the hours we work.  We prefer to reinvest in our athletes and our staff.  We coach because we love it and it has been our passion for years.  Luckily we have other jobs that pay the bills so that we can continue doing what we love: helping others reach their health and performance goals.

Injuries galore?  We actually have an extremely low incidence of injuries and haven’t had a single serious injury to date.  In fact doctors in the area have chosen to train with us and have partnered with our gym, regularly referring their post-rehabilitation patients to us as the most responsible strength and conditioning program in the area.

3)      We have a problem keeping members? 

Anyone can look at our schedule online and see that we are steadily adding classes and coaching staff as our classes our full and continue to grow – this despite the fact that we have more available classes than almost every CF gym in the area.  Anyone that calls to join our gym can tell you that we usually have a wait list of at least one to three weeks because all of introductory on-ramp classes are typically full.

4)      You get what you pay for?

We offer a discounted first month as a low barrier to try out CF for the first time, as new comers are understandably hesitant.  Included in this first month is a very thorough on-ramp program that mirrors and exceeds the content of coaching certification programs that cost up to $1000.  This program is lead by top tier coaches.  See bios on our website.  So you actually get way more than what you pay for.

5)      Head coach has no prior coaching experience?

I actually have several years of coaching experience, having coached over 800 athletes to date (I keep track of everythingJ), having been extremely active in the CrossFit community since 2006, in addition to USA Weightlifting and having piles of other coaching certifications.  Furthermore, all of our very experienced coaches contribute to our top notch program modeled after the programs of our industry leading mentors.

6)      Their programming is a trade secret?

1. That’s the service we sell: our top notch coaching and our cutting edge programming.  Anyone that wants to learn what we do is welcome to try us out for a week free, a first month at a discount and then as a regular paying member thereafter.

7)      “[He] will almost banish you from the gym if he finds you posting them on a social media site or sharing them with friends”?

I almost fell out of my chair laughing about this one.  We absolutely love it when our members post about us on social media and share tales of their awesome workouts with their friends.    Anyone can go on FaceBook and Instagram and find that our members talk about us non-stop, posting pictures of the workout, posting workout scores, etc.  Of course we encourage this!  Why wouldn’t we want our members talking about how much they love their workouts?

8)      “the wod's at Active are suspect and he does not want them found out.”

Our program is based on the most current research and developments in fitness within and outside the CF community.  Our program is meticulously designed and constantly scrutinized to ensure that we get the highest performance and health from our members.  The fact that 80-90% of our athletes get new personal records in nearly every domain that we regularly test speaks for itself.

9)      “their progression tiered programming is not recognized as a true Crossfit program.”

Our Active Smart Tiered progression states our priorities in this order:  1^st, strive for full range of motion, 2^nd strive for full count of reps and distance, 3^rd strive for more advanced movements, 4^th strive for more advanced weights and last, and only after competence in the prior steps, strive for faster times.  This is the Active approach.  However any qualified coach in any field of athleticism will tell you that this is a preferred common sense approach to any athletic program.  Sadly there are gyms out there with priorities in the opposite order, but we are certainly not one of those gyms.

10)   “Next up is their lack of experience.  Not a single coach in the box has coached prior to opening their own location.”

ALL of our coaches have coached prior to opening this location, most for several years.  We have some of the most experienced athletic and CrossFit coaches of any CF gym in the area.  Just read our bios:  http://crossfitactiveperformance.com/index.php/about-us/meet-our-team

11)   “Scott (the head coach) even recruitted his girlfriend to become a coach so that he could coach less since he has a full time job as well as running the box.”

Anyone who has actually trained at our box lately, would know that my girlfriend, an exceptional athlete and coach, actually does NOT coach at our gym anymore as she focuses on pursuing a medical career.  Furthermore, when she did coach, we already had a coaching staff of 4 before her and she only coached 2 out of 56 classes per week, certainly not out of necessity.  Also, all of our coaches have other jobs with CrossFit Headquarters, other athletic programs, in medicine and other professional endeavors.  Our team is not staffed by gym-rats that couldn’t find anything better to do.

12)   “So that touches on the programming and the coaching, now for the bigger issue, injuries.”

After this dramatic intro, the reviewer actually says nothing about injuries occurring at our gym. Instead the reviewer just vaguely talks about liability options in case someone ever did get injured.  Not sure where the criticism is here, but of course we ask members to sign a waiver of personal responsibility, just as every other gym and athletic program does.

13)   “If you are going to start Crossfit, which I think everyone should, invest in a location that has a reputation one that has been around for longer than the current bandwagon.”

We couldn’t agree more with this part!  This is why we say to everyone that walks into our door that they should check out every gym in the area before deciding if they want to continue their training with us.  We do so because there is a lot of variety out there; some great gyms and some terrible gyms.  We want our members to feel like they have seen all their options and found the best fit for them.

We hope that clears the air a bit!  Again, if you are interested in real reviews, check out Yelp, our FaceBook page or come and talk to any of our members at the gym or around town.

You’re better off reading real reviews on Yelp and our FaceBook page.  Although this seems like another fabricated report, we nevertheless feel it is worth clearing the record since this is now online for all to see:

Point by point:

1)      Legitimate review? 

No one by the name of “John Stevens” has ever visited or trained at our gym. 

2)      Title:  “Crossfit Active Performance Just in it for the money and the fame, injuries galore”

The reviewer says we are in it for the money, then begins the review talking about how we offer great introductory discounts – seems inconsistent.  Furthermore, as any CF gym owner will tell you, no one is getting rich opening a gym.  I and my co-owning partner probably make less than minimum wage from this gym – no exaggeration – when comparing the meager income we get vs. the hours we work.  We prefer to reinvest in our athletes and our staff.  We coach because we love it and it has been our passion for years.  Luckily we have other jobs that pay the bills so that we can continue doing what we love: helping others reach their health and performance goals.

Injuries galore?  We actually have an extremely low incidence of injuries and haven’t had a single serious injury to date.  In fact doctors in the area have chosen to train with us and have partnered with our gym, regularly referring their post-rehabilitation patients to us as the most responsible strength and conditioning program in the area.

3)      We have a problem keeping members? 

Anyone can look at our schedule online and see that we are steadily adding classes and coaching staff as our classes our full and continue to grow – this despite the fact that we have more available classes than almost every CF gym in the area.  Anyone that calls to join our gym can tell you that we usually have a wait list of at least one to three weeks because all of introductory on-ramp classes are typically full.

4)      You get what you pay for?

We offer a discounted first month as a low barrier to try out CF for the first time, as new comers are understandably hesitant.  Included in this first month is a very thorough on-ramp program that mirrors and exceeds the content of coaching certification programs that cost up to $1000.  This program is lead by top tier coaches.  See bios on our website.  So you actually get way more than what you pay for.

5)      Head coach has no prior coaching experience?

I actually have several years of coaching experience, having coached over 800 athletes to date (I keep track of everythingJ), having been extremely active in the CrossFit community since 2006, in addition to USA Weightlifting and having piles of other coaching certifications.  Furthermore, all of our very experienced coaches contribute to our top notch program modeled after the programs of our industry leading mentors.

6)      Their programming is a trade secret?

Yep. That’s the service we sell: our top notch coaching and our cutting edge programming.  Anyone that wants to learn what we do is welcome to try us out for a week free, a first month at a discount and then as a regular paying member thereafter.

7)      “[He] will almost banish you from the gym if he finds you posting [their workouts] on a social media site or sharing them with friends”?

I almost fell out of my chair laughing about this one.  We absolutely love it when our members post about us on social media and share tales of their awesome workouts with their friends.    Anyone can go on FaceBook and Instagram and find that our members talk about us non-stop, posting pictures of the workout, posting workout scores, etc.  Of course we encourage this!  Why wouldn’t we want our members talking about how much they love their workouts?

8)      “the wod's at Active are suspect and he does not want them found out.”

Our program is based on the most current research and developments in fitness within and outside the CF community.  Our program is meticulously designed and constantly scrutinized to ensure that we get the highest performance and health from our members.  The fact that 80-90% of our athletes get new personal records in nearly every domain that we regularly test speaks for itself.

9)      “their progression tiered programming is not recognized as a true Crossfit program.”

Our Active Smart Tiered Progression (TM) states our priorities in this order:  1^st, strive for full range of motion, 2^nd strive for full count of reps and distance, 3^rd strive for more advanced movements, 4^th strive for more advanced weights and last, and only after competence in the prior steps, strive for faster times.  This is the Active approach.  However any qualified coach in any field of athleticism will tell you that this is a preferred common sense approach to any athletic program.  Sadly there are a lot of gyms out there with priorities in the opposite order, but we are certainly not one of those gyms.

10)   “Next up is their lack of experience.  Not a single coach in the box has coached prior to opening their own location.”

ALL of our coaches have coached prior to opening this location, most for several years.  We have some of the most experienced athletic and CrossFit coaches of any CF gym in the area.  Just read our bios:  http://crossfitactiveperformance.com/index.php/about-us/meet-our-team

11)   “Scott (the head coach) even recruitted his girlfriend to become a coach so that he could coach less since he has a full time job as well as running the box.”

Anyone who has actually trained at our box lately, would know that my girlfriend, an exceptional athlete and coach, actually does NOT coach at our gym as she focuses on pursuing a medical career.  Furthermore, when she did coach at our gym for a short period, we already had a coaching staff of 4 and she only coached 2 out of 56 classes per week, certainly not out of necessity.  Also, all of our coaches have other jobs with CrossFit Headquarters, other athletic programs, in medicine and other professional endeavors.  Our team is not staffed by gym-rats that couldn’t find anything better to do.  We have an intelligent, ambitious and professional coaching staff as one of our key differentiators.

12)   “So that touches on the programming and the coaching, now for the bigger issue, injuries.”

After this dramatic intro, the reviewer actually says nothing about injuries occurring at our gym. Instead the reviewer just vaguely talks about liability options in case someone ever did get injured.  Not sure where the criticism is here, but of course we ask members to sign a waiver of personal responsibility, just as every other gym and athletic program does.

13)   “If you are going to start Crossfit, which I think everyone should, invest in a location that has a reputation one that has been around for longer than the current bandwagon.”

We couldn’t agree more with this part!  This is why we say to everyone that walks into our door that they should check out every gym in the area before deciding if they want to continue their training with us.  We do so because there is a lot of variety out there; some great gyms and some terrible gyms.  We want our members to feel like they have seen all their options and found the best fit for them.

We hope that clears the air a bit!  Again, if you are interested in real reviews, check out Yelp, our FaceBook page or come and talk to any of our enthusiastic members at the gym or around town.