100 Starting Strength gyms in 5 years

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LKJH
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Re: 100 Starting Strength gyms in 5 years

#4101

Post by LKJH » Fri Aug 05, 2022 12:13 pm

mbasic wrote: Fri Aug 05, 2022 3:57 am
who wrote that first one? It just says "by: [blank] "
Weird. The forum credits it to "Michael Jones".
mbasic wrote: Fri Aug 05, 2022 4:10 am
KyleSchuant wrote: Thu Aug 04, 2022 11:17 pm Note: there are appear to be 99 SSCs worldwide. This number hasn't really moved for... what? Ten years? They endorse some, some quit, some get chucked out, they endorse some more, etc.
I remember looking at this back then, its always been around 45 to just under 50.
Funny too, I see a lot of completely new faces and names on that page. So they must've lost some.
Looks like it's just both organizations accounting for turnover. They will always lose coaches but they will always have newbies to replace them with.
mbasic wrote: Fri Aug 05, 2022 4:10 am Getting back to SS, I'm guessing that's a bad sign if the gyms have gone up in number, but SSC numbers stagnate.
I was guessing the SSFGs would also work as a recruiting too, for new SSCs, as they would provide a place to teach how to coach, with clients, barbells, and all that in one place. Geographically it makes no sense, because the newly minted SSC would need a new gym, or I guess, the original veteran SSC would move on to elsewhere.
I don't know if that's a bad sign, considering the new gyms tend to get their SSC from the pool of veteran coaches they already have. Maybe they don't want to eat the risk of owning their business after covid. Sure, the number of gyms go up, but the number of affiliate gyms goes down, so all those veteran coaches are just moving from gym owners to gym managers and retaining their license

The numbers (theoretically) stagnate because veteran SSCs relinquish their license and newbie coaches from the SSFGs start passing by merit or necessity. That's assuming the number of SSCs we're looking at is accurate. :?
KyleSchuant wrote: Fri Aug 05, 2022 5:34 am A trainer friend wrote an article mentioning this,
Every year 10% of the trainers leave for a variety of reasons...
...

Basically, unless they make it easier to become an SSC, their numbers stagnate at best, whittle away at worst.
Apt and based

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Re: 100 Starting Strength gyms in 5 years

#4102

Post by asdf » Fri Aug 05, 2022 2:50 pm

LKJH wrote: Fri Aug 05, 2022 12:13 pm
mbasic wrote: Fri Aug 05, 2022 3:57 am who wrote that first one? It just says "by: [blank] "
Weird. The forum credits it to "Michael Jones".
I recall there being an article where they removed the author's name because he got in trouble for it with his employer.

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Re: 100 Starting Strength gyms in 5 years

#4103

Post by brkriete » Mon Aug 08, 2022 12:34 pm

KyleSchuant wrote: Thu Aug 04, 2022 11:17 pm Oakes! I'd forgotten about him. Quite the philosopher.
He posted some stuff on Facebook in a non-SS lifting group (Stronger By Science?)....I thought "wow this guy is a weirdo" and then made the connection that he was the same guy who had written for SS. It does not sound like his training is going well. I was tempted to link him to some of his own articles but refrained since it seemed an awful lot like punching down. Rip isn't doing Oakes or himself any favors by giving his writing a wider audience.

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Re: 100 Starting Strength gyms in 5 years

#4104

Post by KyleSchuant » Mon Aug 08, 2022 11:30 pm

All of us tend to preach against our own worst weakness or vice. It doesn't occur to us to preach against weaknesses we don't have.

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Re: 100 Starting Strength gyms in 5 years

#4105

Post by KyleSchuant » Thu Aug 18, 2022 3:10 am

Interesting, it looks like they're trying to improve the pass rate by a "prep course". This bloke Rodriguez talks about it here.

I'm sure a number of us suggested something like that... I dunno, ten years ago? A good initiative, I think.

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Re: 100 Starting Strength gyms in 5 years

#4106

Post by mgil » Thu Aug 18, 2022 4:48 am

It’s just more profiteering. Another $600 for Assguard for what should be an easy pass on the certification if you’ve read the books a couple of times and run the program for 8-12 weeks. They just want regurgitation and compliance.

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Re: 100 Starting Strength gyms in 5 years

#4107

Post by mbasic » Thu Aug 18, 2022 6:01 am

mgil wrote: Thu Aug 18, 2022 4:48 am It’s just more profiteering. Another $600 for Assguard for what should be an easy pass on the certification if you’ve read the books a couple of times and run the program for 8-12 weeks. They just want regurgitation and compliance.
A quick glance is costs 199/mo., then down in the description it state its a 5 month course .... a grand! not 600.

--------------

Also says you have to be actively coaching during that whole time frame (already a coach of some sort, or have some trainees, etc).
I guess ... it seems like the bar is kinda high to take this course in a way.
If I'm already coaching to that level, how many additional doors does this cert open for me that aren't already open?

I mean, its not geared toward making new coaches from scratch; moreso its about converting existing coaches to SS.

---------------

The reviews are curious, all are from year 2000 within a four day time period.
None in 2021 or '22?

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Re: 100 Starting Strength gyms in 5 years

#4108

Post by mgil » Thu Aug 18, 2022 6:33 am

@mbasic, I was just guessing it was 3 months like everything else over there.

If you need to be coaching, then it sounds like more grift from the apprentice pool they are recruiting for the SSFG joints. Pretty awesome how an organization that complains about taxation being theft will try to get $2k out of each potential SSC coming up through those ranks while they are paying them $15 an hour.

$1k for the weekend seminar
$1k for five months of videos

Can work in one gym franchise with limited locations. CrossFit level 1 is $1,200. Still a bargain. If you want, you can buy the blue book for $25 and know all of the SS secrets.

ETA:

Are these newer coaches demonstrably better than the coaches from 10 years ago? Most of the strong coaches with consistently solid technique along with an inkling of post-novice programming have departed. When I wonder around the SS world on social media, it’s mainly DYEL people. Kudos to them for getting non-standard gymgoers to lift barbells, but this seems like the riskiest of all the markets, in terms of departing to something else fun on a whim.

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Re: 100 Starting Strength gyms in 5 years

#4109

Post by Culican » Thu Aug 18, 2022 8:13 am

mgil wrote: Thu Aug 18, 2022 4:48 am It’s just more profiteering. Another $600 for Assguard for what should be an easy pass on the certification if you’ve read the books a couple of times and run the program for 8-12 weeks. They just want regurgitation and compliance.
That sounds like a great corporate title: "Director of Regurgitation and Compliance."

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Re: 100 Starting Strength gyms in 5 years

#4110

Post by KyleSchuant » Mon Aug 22, 2022 6:05 pm

mgil wrote: Thu Aug 18, 2022 6:33 amAre these newer coaches demonstrably better than the coaches from 10 years ago?
Not obviously so, but most of us only have social media to judge that from.

But the course may make it easier to get more of them. It's like training people: if 10 years ago I trained 40 guys and 20 of them squatted 120kg in 3 months, and now I trained 40 guys and 35 of them squatted 100kg in 3 months, I'm better at training people - at least on that one measure (then there's how much further they go, or even whether they're still training at all 12 months from now, etc).

So if previously they had 15-25 people a weekend seminar and 1-2 SSCs out of it, and now they get 3-4, then that's an improved metric - whether or not the new SSCs themselves are better. And let's face it, they need more SSCs - or else SS as an organisation is going to die with Rip.

From the point of view of a prospective coach, if you're able to pass the SS certification you were probably going to do alright professionally anyway. This is obviously different to Crossfit 1 or any of the personal training certifications, which any non-disabled person can pass.

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Re: 100 Starting Strength gyms in 5 years

#4111

Post by TimF » Fri Sep 09, 2022 1:03 pm

You can now spend you GI Bill on a SSC apprenticeship: https://www.vetsmakeit.com/blog/achievement-unlocked

I'm not sure how I feel about that. Granted, I used my GI Bill money to get an online bachelors and masters degree for the sole reason of putting it on my resume. Because otherwise the HR drones wouldn't give me a chance. On that level, I guess the SSC is about the same thing?

Don't question this on the SS Facebook though, as you'll be excommunicated real quick:


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Re: 100 Starting Strength gyms in 5 years

#4112

Post by mgil » Fri Sep 09, 2022 1:37 pm

The SS Facebook group is filled with toxic idiots.

As a taxpayer, I’d expect solid ROI on the GI Bill funds. I generally think they are used for useful degrees. This is not the case.

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Re: 100 Starting Strength gyms in 5 years

#4113

Post by mbasic » Fri Sep 09, 2022 2:07 pm

You'd think they'd want to get by with their free market enterprise without gov't assistance.

("we built this on our own")

its not ok for other entities to fleece the gov't, but we can.

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Re: 100 Starting Strength gyms in 5 years

#4114

Post by mgil » Fri Sep 09, 2022 2:32 pm

mbasic wrote: Fri Sep 09, 2022 2:07 pm You'd think they'd want to get by with their free market enterprise without gov't assistance.

("we built this on our own")

its not ok for other entities to fleece the gov't, but we can.
It’s a pretty obvious way to pad mediocre pay. E5 BAH locally is just over $2000 a month if there’s a dependent. $1700 a month without. That’s tax-free money. That way you can pay an apprentice coach $15 an hour for 40 hours but it “feels” almost like $30 an hour because of the BAH allowance.

Then you can extend the apprenticeship even longer, to keep the labor costs down, while convincing the apprentice to sign up for more online SS learning. Maybe even have Rip et al fail them on the first pass at the SSC (but really close) so that you can delay things a bit more as well.

Smart business

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Re: 100 Starting Strength gyms in 5 years

#4115

Post by hector » Fri Sep 09, 2022 2:49 pm

mgil wrote: Fri Sep 09, 2022 1:37 pm The SS Facebook group is filled with toxic idiots.

As a taxpayer, I’d expect solid ROI on the GI Bill funds. I generally think they are used for useful degrees. This is not the case.
I've known some people to get useful degrees with their GI Bill. I've known others who already had jobs and just enrolled in nonsense online degrees to get the $. I don't fault them at all, they earned it. But I wish the middle man would have been cut out and the $ just given to the vets.

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Re: 100 Starting Strength gyms in 5 years

#4116

Post by OrderInChaos » Fri Sep 09, 2022 3:10 pm

hector wrote: Fri Sep 09, 2022 2:49 pm
mgil wrote: Fri Sep 09, 2022 1:37 pm The SS Facebook group is filled with toxic idiots.

As a taxpayer, I’d expect solid ROI on the GI Bill funds. I generally think they are used for useful degrees. This is not the case.
I've known some people to get useful degrees with their GI Bill. I've known others who already had jobs and just enrolled in nonsense online degrees to get the $. I don't fault them at all, they earned it. But I wish the middle man would have been cut out and the $ just given to the vets.
Money direct to vets would’ve been pretty much guaranteed to become problematic quickly 😂

MGIB already is that - it’s just conditioned on enrollment and what level you paid in.

The 9/11 and yellow ribbon one is kinda shit tier unless you’re going full time in dorms or a multi roommate situation in a high BAH zip code.

Can pass to kids or a spouse so it’s not a waste for those who don’t use or need (self).

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Re: 100 Starting Strength gyms in 5 years

#4117

Post by hector » Fri Sep 09, 2022 3:14 pm

OrderInChaos wrote: Fri Sep 09, 2022 3:10 pm
hector wrote: Fri Sep 09, 2022 2:49 pm
mgil wrote: Fri Sep 09, 2022 1:37 pm The SS Facebook group is filled with toxic idiots.

As a taxpayer, I’d expect solid ROI on the GI Bill funds. I generally think they are used for useful degrees. This is not the case.
I've known some people to get useful degrees with their GI Bill. I've known others who already had jobs and just enrolled in nonsense online degrees to get the $. I don't fault them at all, they earned it. But I wish the middle man would have been cut out and the $ just given to the vets.
Money direct to vets would’ve been pretty much guaranteed to become problematic quickly 😂

MGIB already is that - it’s just conditioned on enrollment and what level you paid in.

The 9/11 and yellow ribbon one is kinda shit tier unless you’re going full time in dorms or a multi roommate situation in a high BAH zip code.

Can pass to kids or a spouse so it’s not a waste for those who don’t use or need (self).
The people I know in DC were paid well. But it was also gravy, they already had jobs. Would have been tough to get by on just the GI Bill alone in DC.

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Re: 100 Starting Strength gyms in 5 years

#4118

Post by OrderInChaos » Fri Sep 09, 2022 3:50 pm

Yeah BAH rates can be absurd in either direction. Utah is pretty shit, Colorado is alright Augusta, GA is super inflated.

Hawaii, SF, and NYC are good places to get E5 BAH…

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Re: 100 Starting Strength gyms in 5 years

#4119

Post by asdf » Fri Sep 09, 2022 6:37 pm

What even is the SSC at this point? A certificate? A certification? Is it accredited?

Do they have a set of Professional Standards and Guidelines? Do they have a written Scope of Practice?

Hard to believe SS has a valid program accepted by the Department of Labor as a Registered Apprenticeship.

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Re: 100 Starting Strength gyms in 5 years

#4120

Post by OrderInChaos » Fri Sep 09, 2022 6:52 pm

asdf wrote: Fri Sep 09, 2022 6:37 pm What even is the SSC at this point? A certificate? A certification? Is it accredited?

Do they have a set of Professional Standards and Guidelines? Do they have a written Scope of Practice?

Hard to believe SS has a valid program accepted by the Department of Labor as a Registered Apprenticeship.
I bet that like a church with 501c3, even if you have very solid evidence of misbehavior that should invalidate the status, it’s a huge ordeal for that to happen.

Given that employment prospects are actually worse than like a DoD skillbridge internship in middle management in retail or fast food… it’s pretty f*ing absurd.

At least you can learn how to build a guitar or lay a keel for recreational schooner at some of the GI Bill mills…

ETA: *coughs* https://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill/feedback.asp

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