For Coaches: The Class Briefing in Under Three Minutes
Updated: 23 hours ago
"Okay, so today we have a fun one. Three rounds, run, swings, burpees. The run is 400, you know where it goes. Swings, you can go Russian or American, whatever, actually let's do American, but if your shoulders are bad go Russian. Burpees are chest to floor, jump at the top, and, oh, the bells, grab whatever feels right. Any questions? Cool, three, two, one..."
That briefing is a composite, but every coach has heard a version of it, and I'll admit I've given one or two myself. I'm still a fairly new coach, and on busy days I still catch myself rambling. It took about ninety seconds, which sounds efficient. The trouble is what the room actually learned: nothing about the intended effort, an unclear standard for the swing, no guidance on load and no plan for the athlete with a sore shoulder. Half the class will pick weights that are too heavy, a few will swing to a different height from their neighbor, and someone will ask a question at the rower in the middle of round one.
A good briefing isn't longer. It's organized. Here's the script structure that's working for me so far, segment by segment. Take what fits your gym and leave the rest. I'll use that same workout: three rounds for time of a 400 m run, 15 kettlebell swings and 10 burpees.
IN THIS ARTICLE
Segment One, 0:00 to 0:30: Name the Stimulus
Start with what the workout is for and how it should feel. Your athletes can't choose the right load or scale without knowing the target.
"This is a short, fast piece. We want it to take most of you somewhere around 10 to 14 minutes. You should be able to run every round at the same pace and do the swings unbroken or in two sets. If a round takes you more than five minutes, we'll scale so you finish in that window."
That's thirty seconds, and it answers the question every athlete is silently asking: how hard, and for how long? Time domains like this are guidelines; your athletes will vary. What matters is that the room has a shared picture.
I think a lot about the volleyball timeouts I sat through growing up in the Philippines. A coach had a few seconds, a sweaty, distracted team and one job: give us the single thing that mattered for the next rally. The good ones never tried to say everything. That's the spirit of a class briefing.
Segment Two, 0:30 to 1:30: Standards and One Cue Per Movement
Next, go through each movement once, in order, with the movement standard and a single cue. Not three cues. One.
"Run: out the door, around the cone and back. Swings: American today, which means the bell finishes overhead with the bottom of the bell pointing to the ceiling, arms by your ears. The cue is snap the hips, then guide it up. Burpees: chest and thighs touch the floor, jump and clap overhead at the top. Step down and back if that's kinder to your body today."
Demonstrate, or have a member demonstrate, as you talk, rather than talking and then demonstrating. People process what they see faster than what they hear. Point at the finish position of the swing when you name it.
Segment Three, 1:30 to 2:30: Scaling in Clear Tiers
This is where most briefings fall apart, because coaches try to answer every possible need out loud. Instead, offer a few clear tiers and a rule for choosing between them. Two or three options are usually enough:
Performance: the prescribed bell, American swings, full burpees.
Intermediate: a lighter bell you can swing unbroken when tired, American swings, full burpees.
Foundations: a moderate bell with Russian swings to eye level, step-back burpees, 200 m run or a row substitute.
Then give the decision rule. "Choose the bell you could swing 15 times fresh, twice in a row. If you're unsure, go lighter; you can always go heavier next time." Anyone with shoulder concerns does Russian swings. Anyone with a specific injury talks to you privately, not in front of the group.
Scaling tiers aren't about labeling people. Present them as three versions of the same workout designed to create the same stimulus, and make sure your language treats all three with equal respect. I watch the nervous beginners in the room when I say this part. When the foundations tier sounds like a real choice, their shoulders drop a little.
Coach's cue: Say less, say it clearly, then let them work.
Segment Four, 2:30 to 3:00: Safety, One Question, Go
Finish with the space and safety details: where bells go when not in use, which direction to run, where to line up for burpees so nobody lands on a kettlebell. Then ask a single, specific question instead of "Any questions?"
"Show me with your fingers: how many sets are you breaking the swings into in round three?"
A specific question checks understanding and gets athletes thinking about strategy in one move. "Any questions?" usually gets silence, and silence isn't the same as understanding. Then set up, start the clock and coach.
Rehearsing Your Own Script
The habit that has helped my briefings most is writing one and timing it. Before class, read the workout, decide the stimulus in one sentence, pick one cue per movement and write two or three scaling tiers. Say it out loud once with a stopwatch running. If you're over three minutes, cut words, not structure. The first time I timed myself, I was well over, and most of the extra time was me repeating things I'd already said.
The four segments flex with the session. On a heavy strength day, the stimulus segment becomes the target effort for the top sets, and scaling becomes a conversation about loading and rep quality rather than movement options. On a long chipper, spend more of your minute on pacing and less on cues, since athletes will have time to settle in. The structure stays the same; the emphasis moves to wherever the workout is most likely to go wrong.
A few other habits help. Stand where everyone can see you and the whiteboard. Make eye contact across the room rather than talking to the front row. Use names when you can, and keep jokes short. Respect the details: consistent language for standards across all your coaches makes classes smoother and judging easier.
Once the clock starts, your role shifts from speaker to coach. If the room already knows the target, the standard and their scale, you can spend the workout coaching positions instead of answering logistics.
Make Every Minute of Class Count
A tight briefing tells your athletes that their time matters and that the session has a purpose. I pieced this structure together from watching coaches with more years on the floor than me, and I'm still sharpening it. Try it for two weeks, adapt it to your room, and see what sticks.
If your members start asking for more than class can provide, such as focused engine work, gymnastics skills or individual plans, ATHLETESPHERE programming and coaching are built to complement what you already do. If you'd like to talk through what that could look like, or swap notes on coaching, reach out to me here.
Your turn. I'm still learning as a coach too. If you run this differently in your gym, share it in the comments below. I read every one and would love to learn from you. If it was useful, tap the heart so more coaches find it.
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Coach Fritz Bautista · Head Coach, ATHLETESPHERE
CrossFit Level 2 Trainer (CF-L2) ✓ · CrossFit Programming Certificate · MBA · Digital Marketing Certified · Coaching athletes from all walks of life online
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