Sometime after 6 p.m. on Thursday, Shane McBride’s phone pinged.
It was a message from someone who wanted to drop in to the 1-p.m. class the next day at his affiliate, CrossFit 557 in Collinsville, Illinois. McBride swiped open the message and quickly tapped out a response. Then he returned his attention to the head judges, who were presenting critical information about movement standards at the Central Regional individual athlete briefing.
McBride may be a six-time CrossFit Regional athlete, but business doesn’t stop just because he’s competing to be the world’s best exerciser.
“They’re both full-time jobs,” he said.
McBride is one of at least eight individual athletes at the Central Regional who also own and run a CrossFit affiliate. Either endeavor on its own is a challenge; together, they’re an undertaking.
“The biggest challenge is that it doesn't end,” said Addison Bain, owner of Farmhouse CrossFit in Edina, Minnesota, after taking 11th in Event 1. This is Bain’s first Regional appearance as an individual.
“I'm sitting over here thinking about the gym, about to go out and do the Triple 3,” he said.
Kevin Schuetz, a five-time Regional athlete and owner of Koda CrossFit Norman in Oklahoma agreed.
“Balancing the business, being a good athlete and trying to be a good husband and good friend—you just really have to try to prioritize everything as best as possible, and I'd be lying if I said it wasn't really difficult,” he said. “But it's all stuff that I love.”
McBride opened his affiliate almost five years ago and still retains many of the day-to-day aspects of running the business. He returns messages from prospective clients and gives the “foundations spiel.” He coaches several classes per week in addition to personal-training sessions, and he stocks the shelves and manages inventory.
On Thursdays, he cleans the gym—including the bathrooms.
He also trains five times per week, often two times per day. He wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I think both (training and running an affiliate) motivate me in the right way of just being positive and inspiring others,” he said after taking 20th in Event 1 Friday afternoon. He finished the day in 20th overall.
Bain said learning to compartmentalize is the key to succeeding in multiple endeavors, a lesson he learned from his coach, CrossFit legend and multiyear Games veteran Chris Spealler.
“He's been through this lifestyle his whole career: running the affiliate, being present in the affiliate, and then also being present in training. It's just all about balance,” Bain said. “I've really learned to disassociate myself of both if I'm in this environment or in that environment and really stay present and make sure what I'm doing at the moment is the most important thing.”
McBride and Schuetz said having a top-notch support team is critical.
“None of this would be able to happen if it wasn't for my great supporting staff,” McBride said, giving a nod to his girlfriend, four staff coaches and his assistant. “Any time that I need any assistance or extra help around the gym, they’re amazing, which allows me to compete.”
Schuetz relies on a team of three full- and 14 part-time employees to keep his 350-plus member affiliate running smoothly.
“I’m on the floor as much as I can be, but doing the not-fun stuff: the taxes and the hiring and the payroll,” he said.
To prepare for the Regional, Schuetz fit his training into two 45-to-60-minute sessions per day between bouts of computer work and coaching. He also writes programming for a number of other individual athletes.
“It's really just a day-to-day thing of (having) to prioritize what needs to get done that day,” he continued.
Megan Scales owns CrossFit Adversis in Taylorville, Illinois. Currently in seventh place, Scales is making her fifth Regional appearance this year. She used to work full-time as a nurse, and compared with her former schedule—morning coaching followed by a 10-hour shift followed by evening training—running an affiliate while preparing for Regionals is easy.
“As long as you use your time wisely,” she said. “You have an hour here, you do something.”
Jolene Quirke, six-time Regional athlete and owner of CrossFit SEO in Athens, Ohio, said the heavy workload makes for more focused training sessions.
“I can't train probably as much as many athletes at this level do, but when I can, it's all out,” said Quirke, who sits in 37th at the end of Day 1. “And it's quality over quantity for me at this point.”
So why do these athletes try to do it all? Why not focus on training full time?
“Out here at the Regionals, at the Games, we're the top 1 percent of CrossFit—that’s not CrossFit,” McBride said. “CrossFit is people like my girlfriend's father … He got his cholesterol checked. He was borderline diabetic. His points came down from that (after CrossFit)—that's the true testimonial. When people come and tell me that they got their first pull-up or they’re changing their lifestyle. … They say I inspire them, but they inspire me.”
And though elite competition might at first seem unrelatable to the average CrossFit athlete, Schuetz said it helps him demonstrate what’s possible with a little hard work.
“I think it helps to walk the walk if you're gonna talk the talk,” said Schuetz, who added that he was overweight and unhealthy before CrossFit. “After my college-baseball days I drank a lot of beer and ate too much fast food … and being able to go through that process and improve, I think, helps me as a coach and business owner to say, ‘Hey I've been there. You've just got to focus on small progress and try to enjoy the day-to-day.’”
To be sure, being both a Regional-level athlete and an ace affiliate owner is no easy task. But it’s not impossible.
“You just gotta love it,” Schuetz said, moments after finishing Event 2 tied for 29th. He ended the day in 27th overall.
“I think in this world if you just work hard, you're gonna get a lot further than the majority of people. The majority of people aren't going to work that hard. You don't always have to be doing the perfect thing, whether it's training or whether it's on your business. You just have to be wanting to improve and make it better.”
Pictured in cover photo: Megan Scales, Triple 3
For complete Day 1 placement details, visit the Leaderboard.
