Beating the Summer Slump: How Small Gyms Can Keep Members Engaged When Life Gets Hot

Summer hits different.

The days get longer, vacation calendars fill up, and even your most consistent members start ghosting class. If you’re running a CrossFit gym, you’ve probably seen it—lower attendance, dropped check-ins, and a creeping sense that the energy in the room isn’t quite what it was back in January.

But here’s the thing: summer doesn’t have to be a slump. With a few intentional programming shifts and some lighthearted community-building, this season can actually become one of your strongest.

We pulled together ideas from affiliate owners, coaches, and our own experience to share what’s working—and how tools like BoxBoard help tie it all together.

Want members to show up just for the fun of it? Theme workouts bring novelty and excitement without changing your core programming.

These WODs become community events. Members plan for them. Talk about them. Invite friends to them. That kind of buzz drives engagement even when people are busy.

This one’s tried-and-true. When workouts become social, attendance climbs. A lot of gyms shift toward more partner or team workouts during summer months.

Why? Because it’s awkward to bail when someone’s counting on you.

This morning, one of our regulars texted me at 5:00 AM before class: “Not coming today… no good excuse. Just tired. I know you’ll roast me.” 😂 That’s the kind of community connection that keeps people engaged.

BoxBoard helps amplify this. Members see who’s doing the workout, react to scores, and encourage each other — even when they’re out of town.

You don’t need a built-in challenge platform to run a killer community event.

We’ve seen gyms create bingo cards, travel WOD logs, or “12 Workouts of Summer” consistency goals—using BoxBoard to track workouts, post notes, and shout people out. In our gym, people had to post their completed cards on social to win a prize. One gym even handed out custom-branded socks to everyone who finished their challenge—and you better believe people chased that.

You could easily use BoxBoard to track completion through workouts and notes, then run the prize and promotion outside of the app (through email, social, or in-person shoutouts).

While BoxBoard doesn’t yet offer a coach broadcast feature or central “Coach’s Corner,” every member can add notes on their workouts—and coaches can see those.

Use this feature intentionally:

It’s a lightweight way to maintain coaching visibility and create that feedback loop that makes members feel seen—even in July.

Instead of losing people to vacation schedules, create a travel WOD track inside BoxBoard.

You can:

This gives members something structured to follow—even if they’re training from a beach, cabin, or Airbnb driveway with dumbbells. They can still log, still comment, still be part of the gym from afar.

Want members to stay consistent through summer? Put a flag in the ground.

Announce a fall throwdown, a post-summer fitness test, or a “train for your shirt” day in early September. Talk about it now. Build the momentum early.

People love training with purpose—and this gives them one that bridges the summer lull.

Even without big feature sets, BoxBoard helps foster daily community habits that drive engagement:

You can build fun challenges around this. You can maintain consistency. You can even support travelers.

It’s not about over-complicating things—it’s about giving your community simple, sticky ways to stay close when their schedules pull them apart.

You don’t have to accept the summer slump as a fact of life. With the right programming, community focus, and tools that support connection, your gym can stay energized—even when half your members are at the beach.

Try one of these tactics next week. And if you want help brainstorming a “Traveler Track” or setting up class variations in BoxBoard—reach out. We’d love to help make this summer your strongest yet.

☀️ See you in class.

– The BoxBoard Team