If you train at WaYa Fitness in Ruimsig, you might look at the programme on the board and think, Cool, that’s today’s workout.

What you don’t see is everything that happened before that workout landed on the board.

Programming a gym isn’t simply about finding exercises that look good together or putting together a hard workout. There is a much bigger strategy behind it.

At WaYa, we have to balance what our members need, what they enjoy, what will challenge them, what our coaches can deliver well and where we want the business to grow.

That means our programming is deliberately managed.

The 60/30/10 approach

Our current programming model is roughly 60% CrossFit, 30% HYROX and 10% flexibility.

The 60% CrossFit component gives us our foundation. It allows us to develop strength, conditioning, gymnastics, weightlifting and the skills that come with functional fitness.

Then we have around 30% dedicated to HYROX training and the specific demands that come with it — running, functional movements, strength endurance and working under fatigue.

The remaining 10% is where things can change.

And I think that part is important.

At the moment, we’re using some of that space for group fitness aerobics. It’s a completely different stimulus and, quite frankly, sometimes you need to train differently to challenge the body differently.

That 10% also gives us room to experiment.

It gives us space to learn.

It means WaYa doesn’t have to become a gym where everything is locked into one particular training style forever.

Not every class should be flexible

This is where programming gets interesting.

There are days where you will have the opportunity to adapt, change an exercise, add something, scale something or even have a little bit of fun with the workout.

And then there are days where the stimulus is the stimulus.

If the purpose of the session is to develop a particular energy system, movement pattern, strength quality or race-specific ability, we don’t want to keep changing the workout because someone would rather do something else.

That’s not bad programming.

That’s actually the point of programming.

There has to be a reason behind what we’re doing.

The skill is knowing when there is room to move and when there isn’t.

What happens behind the scenes

This is probably the part most members don’t think about.

We analyse our classes.

We look at attendance. We look at which sessions are being used. We look at how programmes are being received. Our coaches feed information back from the floor. We look at whether we are getting the balance right across the week.

And then we adjust.

Not because we’re chasing whatever happens to be popular that month, but because running a functional fitness gym is also about understanding the community you’re serving.

If you’re looking for a gym in Ruimsig or Roodepoort, you should be able to find a training environment that is structured, but not completely rigid.

That’s what we’re trying to build.

The Head Coach turns strategy into reality

The strategy is one thing.

Getting it onto the gym floor is another.

Our Head Coach takes the broader programming direction and turns it into something the coaching team can actually deliver.

That means looking at the week as a whole rather than treating every class as an isolated workout.

What happened yesterday?

What’s coming tomorrow?

Where are the heavier sessions?

Where do we need recovery?

Where are the CrossFit elements?

Where does HYROX fit?

Where can we introduce something different?

And, importantly, how does this all work for the people actually standing in front of us?

That’s the operational side of programming.

A good workout on paper isn’t necessarily a good workout for a particular class, at a particular time, with a particular group of people.

Our members are part of the data

Your role in this is bigger than you probably realise.

When you consistently attend classes, try different sessions, give us constructive feedback and tell your coach when something is working — or isn’t — you’re giving us information.

We don’t expect every member to love every workout.

That’s not realistic.

In fact, I think training becomes boring when everything is designed around making sure everyone is comfortable all the time.

Sometimes you’re going to walk out thinking, That was exactly what I needed.

Other days you’ll probably think, I’m not sure I enjoyed that.

Both can be useful.

Because our job isn’t to create the same experience every day. It’s to create a balanced training environment that helps people become stronger, fitter and more capable over time.

Why we keep the system flexible

WaYa Fitness has grown, and the people training with us have changed.

Our members aren’t all training for the same thing.

Some are here for CrossFit. Some are preparing for HYROX. Some want strength and conditioning. Some simply want structured group fitness in Ruimsig. Some are competing. Some are training because they want to feel better and move better.

That means our programming has to be broad enough to serve the majority without becoming so broad that it loses direction.

That’s the balance.

We need structure.

We need consistency.

We need room to experiment.

And we need to keep learning.

That’s why I don’t want WaYa to become a gym where you know exactly what you’re going to get forever.

I want us to have a strong foundation, but enough flexibility to evolve.

Because fitness changes.

Our members change.

Our coaches learn.

And the business changes too.

So yes, there is a workout on the board when you arrive.

But there’s a whole lot more behind it than that.

That’s programming.

And that’s why we take it seriously.