So, i'll caveat this review with the fact that I'm an American, so maybe I'm just too uptight for…read morecanadian Crossfit.
Here's the scene-- i'm in town with a friend and looked for a box that i can go for the week. We buy the unlimited week package.
We get there-- and are greeted by Crossfit 416's only redeeming quality-- the front desk guy, Gus. He was super helpful, while Rachel was not on the phone, and found us a cheaper option for the week.
We check in, and head to the back. We are greeted by no one, and there were three coaches back there, Luke, Rachel, and Daniele. I had to introduce myself to Luke, and ask "Hi, are you the coach? My friend and I are visiting for a class." He said "yes." That's it. No question of my fitness ability or Crossfit experience.
Then, as we were doing the strength portion of the class, the only "coaching" we received from Luke was negative. It was clear to me that during his L1, he learned that the only way to coach is provide negative feedback, and ZERO positive feedback. As two experienced Crossfit athletes, i'm certain there was SOME aspect during our one-hour session that he could have praised. Instead, it was all negative. At one point, he told us "don't be afraid to bend into the swing" while we were doing double KB Russian swings. WHAT? No where have i ever been told to bend into a KB swing.
Why Luke was so critical, yet had zero questions about our experience confuses me. But, it was clear that he didn't care about safety.
The shitiness of this gym didn't end at the coaching though-- when the next class came in, there was a guy, Ramzi, warming up with kettlebells. One girl thought he was getting too close to the group, and ACTUALLY PUSHED HIM while he was swinging 70lbs of weight. They got into a verbal altercation, and Ramsey told the girl passionately that he "wished she would die", and made some very strange comment about the fact that "God does not exist".
1.) Who pushes someone swinging heavy weight?
2.) What the hell, Ramzi?
3.) Where are the coaches managing this altercation?
My friend and I decided not to return to Crossfit 416 and just work out in the hotel gym.
Oh wait, i lied-- other than Gus, the other redeeming quality of Crossfit 416 is the soft shirts. Yeah, we bought one to commemorate that time we went to the worst caricature of a box ever.