I started at South Denver in the heart of the Pandemic and chose this gym because masks were required and got the impression that Kyle, the owner really cared about us and safety. I had been doing CrossFit for about 3 yrs previously and what I gained from that experience was my love and passion for CrossFit, not just fitness, but the 'community', the friends, the comps and the FUN. When I joined 'CrossFit' South Denver, I understood that there weren't any options for social events, at the time, but there was a 'competition' class and was told that there is a good 'community' in this gym.
I also liked this gym for the high quality and experience of the coaches and figured I would 'sacrifice' the 'community' for the quality of coaching. I learned that for me this trade off wasn't worth it.
Programming was very packed; everything was always rushed. I had asked Kyle why we only have 5 minutes to build to a 80-90% max, he said you either have it or you don't and he doesn't want people piddling around to get the work done. I lost a lot of confidence in lifting heavy, Classes are structured, rigid, serious and talking or having fun was not there. a BIG part of the CrossFit community is supporting other athletes, cheering them on during a heavy lift/skill, a high five after they get it, etc. I had tried that, a couple of times, once when someone was doing a back squat and I said 'drive' out loud, and was quickly shut down by Kyle, where he said "stop coaching, if you want to coach, go get your L1 and your L2 and come back to see me, but otherwise, do not coach in my gym" - Another student also heard this and he was shocked by it, and from that point, also he is afraid to say anything to anyone in the gym.
There is a comp that is made for those of us who are not true 'RX' athletes called Festivus, Kyle actually laughed at me (instead of supporting me) for doing this comp, he says he hates it because it is not 'locally owned'. I was banned from posting anything about this on his FB page, but I did ask him about posting for local events, he said that was fine - until it wasn't. I posted a women's comp and was told to not post about anymore 'outside' comps. Well it turns out there was some past issues many years ago, with one person that I was not aware of, even though I had permission, this was another comp he had a problem with.
After that, I realized this is not the program for me, I love CrossFit, and Kyle changed the name to South Denver FITNESS, they may do CrossFit style workouts, but they are not part of the community or have that kind of atmosphere in the gym. I was tired of being afraid to come into the gym and not having fun.
Before I decided to make my switch, I looked on Instagram, at Ken Caryl, Wash Park, Decima, Omnia and Back Country CrossFit gyms - then compared to South, what you will notice is there is not one picture of anyone in the gym smiling, no group pics, no excitement over getting a new skill, no FUN - you will see B&W pics of people working out, but not ONE smile.
I had signed a contract to save $20 a month thinking that Kyle was a good guy and that it is unheard of in this community to not let someone out of a contract let alone take them to collections over it which he threatened. I was wrong. I asked Kyle if he would let me out early and offered to pay him the back discounted amount, plus basically 2 full months and he release the remaining 3 months. He said, "I do contracts to hold people to them" - and then when on to personally attack me. His words - "Most people ease that eventually as the friction runs Coaches down. And the stubborn student wins. I've found an inner strength called context to fight every student that won't comply". Never thought I wasn't 'complying'.
If you want a structured, workout with knowledgeable coaches, this is a good gym, but if you want to do CrossFit, be a part of the community, maybe some competitions, and simply have FUN IN THE GYM, this is NOT a place I would recommend. Whatever you do, DO NOT SIGN A CONTRACT! read more