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“I want to train, but I can’t afford the gym membership.”
Well then you really don’t want to train. So how about you shut it up? This annoying, incessant refrain … people come in and ask a million questions about training, only to say to myself after I’ve indulged them with an hour of my time: “I want to train, but I can’t afford the gym membership.”
Please do not get me wrong. I’m more than happy to answer questions from serious prospective students, but the keyword here is “serious” and if you’re not, get out of my gym.
Over the years, you wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve heard this: “I want to train but I can’t afford a gym membership.” Statistics show that 99.987% of the time the person is full of garbage. I mean, I’m not a statistician, but … To hell with statisticians, I’m right.
The only thing worse than the applicants are the “almost wolves.” One guy told me that he could no longer afford the tuition because he bought a replacement exhaust system for his Harley Davidson. Now I’m sure this would have been very good for your landlord: “I can’t pay / make the rent this month, I had to buy an exhaust system for my motorcycle.” Uhh, what?
A contract is a contract. I’m not playing “MMA coach”, this is how I feed my kids.
The thing is, we all know this guy. He would love to train but cannot afford to pay the monthly fees. You have a long list of reasons why: job, girlfriend, wife, car, mom, etc. But, go out on a Saturday night to your local bar. You will see it there. Upload a bill, eat chicken wings at 2 am, flirt with a girl by buying her and all her friends a round of Vegas Bombs.
It all comes down to how serious you take it and how badly you want it. If you want it, you make it come true. It seems difficult, but in reality it is not. If I don’t know you (and because you have a friend who is the brother of a boy who is dating a girl who is the cousin of a boy who is training in my gym, IT DOES NOT MEAN THAT WE KNOW EACH OTHER … AT ALL), do not tell me one BS story about how tough times are and how you could be the next GSP if someone gave you a chance, that is, let you train for free.
As a gym owner and coach, I hear this story every week from someone. If you sign up (and pay), show me you’re serious and I see you have potential, then I might be willing to work with you.
Eventually, you could help out at the gym by cleaning the mats every day or we work in some kind of trade, but don’t ask for free training with nothing in exchange for the gym. And, believe me, believe me, listen carefully, until you have shown on the mat that you have nothing that I want.
No matter how confident you are that “you’re going to make me famous and put my gym on the map,” I’m not going to buy what you’re selling. It costs money to pay for good instructors, utility bills, equipment, insurance … I’m not in the business of giving free training because you think you could be cool.
Most of the time, these guys only last a few classes, a couple of months at most, and are never seen again. I, like many gym owners, have been the victim of a sad story here and there only to be repeatedly disappointed in said student’s work ethic, heart, commitment, and lack of talent, and the list goes on.
Show me you’re serious. Most of us have wrestlers that we let train for free because they fight for the gym, clean the gym, promote the gym, support their teammates from the gym, love the gym, love the team, and love the trainers.
These guys … these guys, they’re pretty weird. So when I get one of them, I do my best to hang on. But if you are not one of these guys, and before insisting that you are, take a look at yourself why these guys compete to eat, drink and breathe, if you are not one of these guys, go away.
If you’re just looking for a free ride, don’t ask for free training. You’re asking me to give you the equivalent of several thousand dollars a year for free and to that I say, “There’s a little ‘fight club’ down the street, wait a minute, let me find their number … you’ll fit the bill perfectly.” .