CrossFit Level 1 Cert

After four years of CrossFitting, I finally attended a Level 1 Certification. I shouldn't have waited. It was exactly what I expected from CrossFit: comprehensive, authoritative, and thought-provoking.

The first day covered 9 foundational movements (squat, front squat, overhead squat, (shoulder) press, push press, push jerk, deadlift, sumo deadlift high pull, and clean) in exacting detail. For someone who had studied the pre-read material for weeks prior, had been training with a good trainer for months and had practiced the movements for years, you might think that this could be excruciatingly boring. However, the detail, the explanations, the training cues, and the hands-on practice under the careful eye of incredibly experienced trainers could not have been more interesting. As simple as these movements are, being as efficient as possible can be incredibly nuanced. Equally nuanced can be the simple, effective cues and drills to correct major and minor errors in mechanics. I went with lots of questions, most of which were answered in the lectures, but the ones that weren't were answered thoughtfully by the coaches. Some of these I'll have to mull over a bit and I'll comment on them here.


This cert happened to be at my old affiliate, although they've sinced moved into this big new box. It was a chance to see some old friends. People I had sweated and grunted and bled alongside for months. It was also the first time since I moved to State College 6 months earlier that I was working out in a group. A big group. In this case it was 59 other people. It's incredibly hard not to give exactly 100% when everyone around is working so hard. And you don't even have to know these people, but you can see the effort - and typically the pain - in their face and doing less than your best is simply not a possibility.


The weekend really managed to focus and harmonize in my mind how and why CrossFit works. These are things I want to share with State College in several ways. More to come...