CFTally: Compare us!

A proper comparison is one that enables you to make a good decision, which is a decision that logically follows from the facts.

Below is a guide for understanding the differences between what we do at CFTally and what other gyms typically do. We are not trying to be complete, just to give you some food for thought as you evaluate your opportunities.

CFTally vs. Corporate Gyms

A corporate gym is a franchise gym. These gyms are characterized by slick promotion, advertising and sales. Oh, and mirrors, "exercise" machines and juice bars too!

How do they measure up to CFTally?

1. Price: 
   • Seemingly much cheaper but only seemingly and not really true.
   • At CFTally you have a trainer at every workout. A true comparison requires you factor in the cost of a personal trainer at these gyms. When you do you'll see how much better our prices are.
2. Quality of workout:
   • Anonymous workouts are the norm at the corporate gym and one-on-one training with a personal trainer easily turns into a gab fest.
     • At CFTally it's not all workout all the time but we have goals that cause us all to focus on the work at hand.
   • Personal trainer programming is notoriously uneven with a built-in ethical dilemma that corrupts all but the most diligent trainers.
     • Programming our workouts is something we spend more time on than anything else. We are constantly assessing its effectiveness. This leads us to try new things then assess them in a continuous cycle. 
3. Business Model:
   • This is important because it directly affects your fitness and athletic outcome. If a business's economic success is not directly aligned with your fitness success then you will find it difficult to succeed.
     • The question to ask is can the business succeed if you fail to reach your fitness goals? If yes, then their business model is not aligned with your fitness goals.
       • At CFTally we measure our success by whether you reach your fitness goals.
   • They measure success on the number of contracts they get signed each week, not how many of their athletes achieve a Personal Record that week.
     • We monitor your athletic performances so we know how you are doing. They are clueless.
   • The fact that they are a franchise is important since this means they follow a "proven recipe." This is a recipe for their financial success not necessarily your fitness success.
     • CrossFit is not a franchise and CrossFit Corporate (such that it is, it is very small) provides us no or very little business direction. Everything that happens at CFTally is our responsibility. This makes us very responsive to what works.
4. What are you buying?
   • Access to the facilities.
     • Ask yourself what do they talk about when you first visit these gyms.  Usually they talk about the amenities like the locker room, sauna, weight room, hours of operation, etc.
       • Come to a CFTally fitness assessment and you'll hear us talk about adaptation, rates of increase, and what to expect as you progress as an athlete.
   • Fitness Complacency
     • When asked if they go to the gym these people answer yes, but what they have and what they do are two different things.
     • They have a membership but don't "do" much. But having the membership allows them to feel satisfied they are "doing" the right thing.  They are complacent about their fitness.
     • It's easy to spot these people. They are the ones that don't sweat when "working" out. They talk more than work, and they never ever get better.
       • This never happens at CFTally. This kind of person won't join us at CFTally because we expect everyone to work hard and they know it.

CFTally vs. Specialty gyms

A specialty gym is a gym that uses some special approach to create fitness. These "gyms" are certainly creative with some doing spinning (Now with turning and TV!), all sorts of dancing, pole dancing, women's only, even circus training! Under the guise of something is better than nothing then this is good, but comparing these approaches with what we do at CFTally quickly shows their failings.

How do they measure up to CFTally?

1. Price:
   • This varies with many going with low prices to pretty steep.
2. Quality of Workout:
   • Who knows? Some better than others certainly.
   • The real question here is about sustainability. Is this something you will do in the long term? Whose going be doing pole dancing or circus training in 5 years?
     • At CFTally we are teaching skills that take a lifetime to develop. Sure that may sound scary but once you get beyond a certain age long-term challenges are a good thing. 
       • The long term is the only term that counts.
3. Business Model:
   • This is another alignment issue. If a gym depends on a gimmick will it be around?
   • Another issue we have with women's-only gyms is they depend on appealing to women's fears and therefore they accentuate these fears, since after all they depend on them.
     • We don't deny that women are different from men, but only in degree not in kind.
     • This means women can do everything men can do but not to the same degree. i.e. women's weights won't generally be as heavy as what the men lift.
     • Just try to tell our women at CFTally they can't do something as well as the men and you'll have a fight on your hands!