The hot days of summer are here for many of us but boxes are still going full speed, running classes full of athletes who love to get their WOD on in the gym. We’re recognizing just one of those boxes as our July Box of the Month, CrossFit Spartiate.

CrossFit Spartiate is located in Del Rio, Texas, and was founded on the idea of keeping the sport of functional fitness simple and straightforward to help athletes achieve elite fitness. We love their message, so we reached out to the Spartiate team to answer a few questions as our Box of the Month. Here’s what they had to say:

• Can you please give us a brief background on yourself and your box? Spartiate CrossFit is a small box in Del Rio, Texas that is dedicated to serving the local community and providing elite fitness training to all of our members in a small setting where quality of training is the guiding measure of success. We are a TRUE ‘garage gym’ devoted to keeping CrossFit simple and focusing on small classes with attention to detail. We’re here to not only train, but to coach, mentor, motivate, and inspire people to be the best version of themselves. We opened Spartiate CrossFit to address what we saw as an unmet need in the fitness market in this area. While there is one other CrossFit affiliate in Del Rio, we were interested in offering a smaller, more personal approach to training athletes. We specifically wanted to train and cater to first responders and their families. This meant not only military and law enforcement, but teachers, nurses and anyone else who makes our community a better and safer place.
• Were you using any other management system, software or pen and paper, before beginning to use Wodify? We did not use any other software prior to signing up with Wodify and were using the old whiteboard method along with some paper records for all of our athletes. Wodify has enhanced our record keeping, connectivity with our athletes and provided us with a great tool to run our box. We are the only CrossFit box in the Del Rio that uses Wodify.

• What made you decide to implement Wodify? The head trainer and owner, Ron Rios, heard about the software and we decided to research it. Once we saw the capabilities, it was a pretty easy sell. We’ve never looked back since.
• What was the onboarding and installation process like? The installation process was simple and we had the entire system up and running within a few hours. We actually started using the software prior to our final telecon being completed. We have a pretty good IT guy.
• How was Wodify received in your box by your athletes and coaches? Everyone at Spartiate loves the Wodify system and how easy it is to use. The integration with Facebook is one of the best features. Being able to post WODs, share results, and communicate with our athletes is a big help. Also, automating the payment options has really simplified our process.
• How did you drive adoption and encourage users to log their results? We pretty much told our athletes that from now on we [Spartiate CrossFit] will be using Wodify and that was that. Once they saw the service and began to use it, no real convincing was needed. Just like CrossFit, the results did all the talking.
• Did you notice changes in how your athletes performed after beginning to see their results in Wodify? Our athletes began to track their workouts and took more ownership in the use of Wodify. It wasn’t a system we used and they had to deal with, it was our system that we all used as a community to improve our training experience. Our athletes love being able to track their progress, see PRs, see the next day’s WOD, and keep track of who is leading the pack.
• What would you say to people who think technology does not belong in a box? Technology is a tool and it should be harnessed and properly employed like any tool. When it comes to technology, overreliance can be problematic, but we use technology selectively and only if it improves our overall purpose. We won’t even invest in an air conditioner because we see it as a ‘want but not a need’. Wodify is not only a need, it’s a mustfor any box. If someone was to say they don’t think there is a place for technology in a box, I would probably give them the same look I would give a person who told me they don’t use a cellphone. Then, I’d show them what Wodify does and ask them to sign up for a free week of classes. Never attempt to alter an opinion through argument if you can do so through action. I approach the argument against technology in the same manner I approach arguments against CrossFit. I constantly hear people saying that CrossFit is dangerous and has no place in fitness. The never ending; “Oh I heard someone died doing CrossFit” or the “CrossFit is too dangerous”. ‘Danger’ is a relative term. Being a Marine on patrol in Afghanistan or Iraq is something I consider dangerous. Doing a traffic stop in Detroit at 3:00 without back up is dangerous. A Border Patrol Agent patrolling the Rio Grande River on foot is doing something dangerous. Working out and pushing yourself in a gym surrounded by friends is fun not dangerous. Besides, people die in car accidents every day in this country yet all of us still get behind the wheel of a car every day. Not using technology to make your life better is silly just like not doing CrossFit because it’s hard is silly.
• How has Wodify changed your box? Wodify has simplified every aspect of running and managing our box. We are much more effective and efficient when it comes to tracking athletes, social media integration, WOD programming, and finances. Once you have it you don’t know what you ever did without it. Kind of like the internet.
• How has Wodify changed your personal day-to-day? Our personal day to day has become more fluid and predictable. We know how many athletes are attending each class, we know who hasn’t paid on time and how many burpees they’ll be punished with the next time they show up (just kidding), and we’re able to track everything in one place. Wodify serves as a “one stop shop” for all our needs and has made our lives much simpler.
• Do you have a favorite feature? If so what? Our favorite feature is the social media integration and the ability to post WODs. We also like the fact that there is no 3rd party app or website for tracking financial information.

Thanks for sharing!