Does your box have "motivational consequences"?

[Jason Peacock]

Agreed with everyone else - motivation consequences are silly.

If someone is late, they'll usually do some quick warmup on their own and then join in wherever the class is. But if they're more than 10min late, they just don't show up b/c then you've missed a lot of class. Very few ppl ever show up late, so this is a pretty rare event.

I haven't seen this personally, but I have a strong feeling that the coaches at my gym would pull you aside educate you about being late & the importance of starting the class with everyone if you were a chronic late arrival.

[Oli Kellett]

I guess it all depends on the person, I am all for "extras" if I am late to a training session but I do that on my own and don't expect the coaches to make me do it.

For example, when I am late for rugby training we have some some stairs near there and I give myself 1 stair run for each minute I am late however I do this at the end of the session and if others want to join me they can.

[Mark Ritchie]

We implemented the 10 minutes late and you can't do the class rule and it has helped people who got in the habit of coming late. If there are extenuating circumstances, just talk to a trainer. The biggest thing is to make sure your class is running tight. A good time control plan so things really DO start on time helps a LOT!

As for penalties, I think it depends on how you do it. One of our trainers asked for permission to hand out burpees for people who left their equipment out -- not putting back barbells, bumper plates, etc. It was becoming a real problem in one of the classes, and trainers and a few of the responsible clients were picking up after each WOD. And it kept happening even with reminders. As you might expect, it was really only a problem with a few chronic offenders.

I wasn't sure, but said okay. Since it was done in a funny and humorous way, people now pick up their stuff, and now it is rare to hand out burpees. But we joke about it and it is done in a lighthearted way. No one gets offended, and people laugh about it if they forget. Good natured teasing ensues if someone walks into the gym and immediately drops and does burpees.

Burpees for being late would just be mean, I think, so we don't do that. I also don't like WODs that have burpee penalties for dropping the bar or finishing late -- some people find them motivating, some don't -- since it seems like you just end up punishing the people who are the most out of shape. That's not good.

-Mark