I spent Saturday and Sunday at CrossFit Monrovia doing my Level 1 Certification class.
IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!
Great photo of our entire class plus instructors. Terrible photo of me.
I know. You’re not surprised…. Neither am I really.
The main things that stuck out to me from this weekend were:
- The instructors LOVE teaching people about the in’s and out’s of CrossFit. They were so knowledgeable, but they were also very clear and fun communicators. You could tell that they were excited to be there and to teach and train us.
- Everyone was pretty friendly and helpful. There were over 60 people attending and they represented all kinds of CrossFitters, newbies and old school garage wod types.
My 1 year CrossFit anniversary is coming up at the end of this month. This L1 Cert was actually the first time I’ve been coached by someone not from my box. It was fun/educational to see different coaching styles and cues. It was also affirming to have my movement critiqued by the instructors. I got a compliment on my PVC Push Jerk & PVC Snatch during our skill drill sessions.
If you’re curious, this is how the weekend went. There were lectures intermixed with break out sessions on the 9 basic movements of CrossFit.
Lectures covered things like “What is CrossFit?”, so what do we really mean when we say constantly varied, high intensity, functional movement, as well was “What is Fitness?”, programming workouts and nutrition.
The 9 basic movements were taught in groups of 3. We covered the squat series Saturday morning (Air Squat, Front Squat, Overhead Squat), the press series Saturday afternoon (Shoulder Press, Push Press, Push Jerk) and the last set on Sunday (Deadlift, Sumo Deadlift High-Pull, Med Ball Clean).
The instructors would first demo/explain the movements and then we’d break out into 6 groups to be led through it by one of the instructors.
SKILLS & DRILLS
The break out sessions were the best part of the weekend. In addition to the 9 basic movements, they also took time to teach us pull ups & thrusters (so we could then do Fran), and strict muscle ups and snatch. This wasn’t just about teaching us how to do these movements, but also showing us the simplest way to coach others.
WODS
Day 1 was a team version of Fran. For those of you who don’t do CrossFit, “Fran” is the name of one of the most notorious CrossFit workouts, and this is how it is written:
- Complete the following for time (as fast as you possibly can, no stopping):
- 21 Thrusters (95lbs for men, 65lbs for women)
- 21 Pull-Ups
- 15 Thrusters
- 15 Pull-Ups
- 9 Thrusters
- 9 Pull-Ups
Basically, you do 45 reps of both Thrusters and Pull-ups but break them up.
What’s a Thruster? It’s like a Front Squat & a Push Press got married and had a baby.
You can ask most any CrossFitter about “Fran” and it calls them to a dark place. I haven’t actually done Fran since I got my pull ups, so I don’t have an RX (doing the workout as it’s written without modifications) Fran time yet. That day is coming, though, and I fear it with joy. If that’s possible.
Team Fran worked like this: Four person team, so multiply the reps by 4 and you get…
- Complete the following for time:
- 180 Thrusters (Yes, we did 65#)
- 180 Pull-Ups (2 ladies modified this to jumping pull ups)
- Only one person on the team works at a time.
- If you drop the barbell, your entire team does 20 burpees each.
- Avoid dropping the barbell by using the “human rack” – the team member working holds the bar on their shoulders when they’re ready to be replaced. Two team members grab the bar and hold it while the third swaps in and gets to work.
My team took around 20 minutes I’ll say to get this done and I walked away with 3 beautiful momentos to remember it by.
Status: healing nicely. They’ll be no trace of them in 4 weeks.
Day 2 was more of a coaching opportunity. It was an 8 minute workout doing As Many Rounds As Possible of Push Ups, Med Ball Cleans and Sit Ups. This is how it was written:
- 8 Minute AMRAP
- 8 Push Ups
- 10 Med Ball Cleans
- 12 Sit Ups
We were partnered up and we each took turns either doing the workout or coaching our partner through it. This was really helpful as it allowed the instructors to come by and help us with our coaching cues and developing our “eye” to see what someone was doing wrong in real time.
Highlights of L1:
I fell in love with CrossFit all over again. Our instructors really embodied the best of the CrossFit community.
Definitely feel like I better understand the basics of CrossFit, and appreciate it more as a fitness program.
I enjoyed meeting new people and working out with them. I didn’t even bother trying to take photos for instagram or anything. I just lived the moments and had fun.
I was happy to see that my skill set has a good foundation. I need a lot of improvement of course, but my coaches at CrossFit Surf City have done a great job of teaching me the basics.
Cool T-Shirt. Advertising CrossFit, of course.
I was pleased that the test at the end of the weekend was conducted with a care and integrity. Yes, it was just a multiple choice scan-tron job, but there were several different versions handed out, the questions were fairly representative of the many different aspects of CrossFit, and for the most part, well written.
I’ll admit I was nervous to realize there were over 5 questions that I really wasn’t sure about. However, I only had to get 35 correct, and I’m fairly confident I did that. We’ll find out later this week, though.
[UPDATE: I heard via email on 6/9 that I passed and on 7/6 I received a paper certificate in the mail.]
Good for you! I don’t do crossfit, but I’m always interested to hear about it (and to look at those awesome blisters on your hands!). Do you feel you will be prepared to teach after this certification or does it just give you a fuller knowledge of the sport?
The gym I go to has been training me to become an instructor since last October and I do coach classes now already. All those hours of shadowing coaches was the real preparation. The certification isn’t about preparing you to teach so much as it is about giving you the foundational knowledge to start thinking like a coach and to make sure you maintain the standards of CrossFit. Passing a Cert is also the only way you can legally call yourself CrossFit Level 1 Trainer.
LMFAO!!! I love your picture, but what I don’t like… YOUR BLISTERS!! OW!!!!
Ow, those blisters look painful, but clearly badges of honor!
Whoa. Intense yo. You’ll have to give me pointers in PDX 😉
Thanks so much for sharing this. I am considering getting my Level 1 cert as well but wasn’t sure if it was worth the time/money/effort. If nothing else, I think it would help me understand crossfit better and just be good for me as an athlete! I appreciate your throrough rundown. Ericka @ The Sweet Life (sweetlifeericka.com)
The $1000 fee is a hard pill to swallow for sure. Depending on where your priorities are though, it can definitely be worth it.
Yowza, those blisters are like badges of honor 🙂 I’ve thought about one day doing my Level 1, but I think I need to wait till life calms down. It would be such a great learning experience!
I LOVE that picture!!!
Lol thank you for sharing the funny expression pic. I love when people can laugh at themselves. I try to remember that when I look like a goofball (which is quite often).
Sometimes it feels like I’m reading a different language when you talk about Crossfit, but regardless I love reading about it 🙂 I’d hate to have those blisters though, yikes!
I hope you get good news this week on the results!
Great pic!! haha! The way CrossFit goes about instruction sounds like a GREAT opportunity to learn-by doing, hearing, seeing, & teaching to fully take it in. I can imagine the info overload but also confirms how much you love it!!
😀 Thanks, Jess!
Oh my gosh, your poor hand. I have yet to find my way into a box (mostly because our local boxes don’t have daycare… GRRRR!!!!) but have been really wanting to try CrossFit because I love Olympic style lifting and team fitness! Sounds like your cert experience was a blast!
Thanks, it was! And I just found out this morning I passed. Woot! I hope you’re able to find a way to get in to try CrossFit soon! Some families at our gym have kids who are old enough to sit on a couch by themselves with a book/iPad while mom works out. There’s another family who’s kid is less than 1 year but he just sits happily in his bouncy chair or stroller off to the side as long as he can see what’s going on. Not sure if the coaches at your local boxes would allow that though.
Hi, thanks for sharing your experience. I completed the Alexandria, VA Crossfit Level One this weekend (04/19/14-04/20/14). I enjoyed myself and really took in every minute of the training course. All of the coaches throughout the weekend were super friendly and super knowledgable. I do not know if I passed as of yet but either way, I’m pleased with the experience and happy to be introduced to Crossfit and what it represents. My goal is to coach but before I do, I want to ensure I have successfully mastered all basic movements and have a greater understanding of what it means to be a coach.
Hi Donnie! I’m so glad you liked your CFL1 weekend. Hope you pass! I bet you did, but waiting to find out is no fun. 🙂
I’ve already commented on this post but i’m rereading it since I just registered for CFL1 here in Seattle and started feeling nervous and your recap just calmed my nerves! LOL
Lol! You will do great!
COngratulations on passing the certification! Im going in 2 weeks and I’m super nervous! do you have any pointers on what to study and what the questions are like? any information would be much appreciated! thank you!