Well, I’m back home now just nursing my aches and pains. Why you may ask? Well, I completed my Level 1 CrossFit Certification this past weekend at GSX in Ft. Worth Texas. The host site for our Certification Seminar. The instructors present were all outstanding individuals ranging from the West Coast, Mountain states and Midwest / Central States.
One of the things that made this event a treasured event for me was when I introduced myself to Jeff Tucker, owner of GSX. Former Firefighter, First Responder with a humble and servant personality and a great sense of humor. He was my first contact at GSX even before the wheels of my airplane had made contact. He made sure that I had a ride to the Cert. every morning of the seminar and we had great conversations all of the time.
The very first morning of the Cert/Seminar we had to our service, Jeff along with his the staff at GSX. Serving up some serious Starbucks and Fruit for all. Water was a plenty since we were gonna get it right from the start of the gun.
When speaking with him, you have this odd sensation of having him engulf you like a relative than a guest in his facility. The entire staff at GSX is just fantastic, the facility is gorgeous with plenty of room to spoil just about any gym owner out there with room to spare. Space a plenty all the while he has his sites set for more surprises to come for the CrossFit community, so I won’t spoil it here. Let’s just say that this gentleman is set on a vision that is just beginning to sprout it’s wings.
We started the day with presentation from Dave Castro on what is Fitness. Though many have touted their expertise in said matter, it is true that ‘only’ CrossFit was able to give it a true definition! Wow! Does that really surprise anyone out there? No!
We had our taste of Tabata in the form of air squats and boy were we all on fire. Nice springy floors, since it is a gymnastic facility also and it is BIG, just like Texas Big! I loved it, we were all instructed on the nine fundamental movements, technique along with corrections for all of them. Repetition, correction, repetition, more correction. Tired? Good, repetition, more correction. Get the pattern? Who’d ever thought that holding a dowel/pvc pipe for that stretch of time can ever experience fatigue? Well, I felt a little tightness and burning, while others that were just starting out can attest to the fact that it can get tiring after a while.
So, squats coupled with more squats, and then more squats. Presses, push presses and then the push-jerks. Get the pattern again? So the day was not even completed yet, and we had more lectures on technique correction, the defining answers to what is Fitness. Kelly Starrett is just incredibly knowledgeable on the topic at hand in defining the Sickness, Wellness, and Fitness. Going through the comparison of what the popular societal model of fitness is compared to our model of Fitness. Yes, Greg Amundsen vs Mark Allen. Well, which one would you pick to win a FGB, or Fran/Nancy/__________(fill in the blank) and do it in such a matter in which he can walk in the next day and still perform in such a great capacity.
IWCABTMD! This will echo in my head for the rest of my life, and why is that? Well, simple. That is CrossFit!
Increased Work Capacity Across Broad Time and Modal Domain. Simple isn’t it? Just say it out loud 50 times until it sinks in. Then you may have a little echo in your head for some time afterwards.
We met Fran, and in this environment of differing abilities and knowledge. Some saw the barbells on the floor and just winced since it was all set up in a certain pattern that was just unmistakably that to mistake it for any other workout would be ignorant. We all were introduced to the proper thruster technique and pull-up variations to be completed in said manner. We were given a max time of 10 minutes to complete Fran. So we were to go in waves so that all got a chance to perform this fantastic (notice sarcasm?) exercise routine.
Well, I started my Fran at Rx’d weight of 95 pounds, and man it felt like a TON! I was already feeling the earlier workouts and this was heavy. John, from CrossFit Agoge saw me struggling through 95#’s and pulled me over to a lighter weight to continue. Well finished 2nd set and still everything just felt heavier and John just kept pushing and motivating me. Started set 3 at 65# I believe and my hip was yelling/screaming at me to stop or pay the consequences later. Well, I was able to get 6 out of 9 more reps and I could not snap my hips anymore due to the pain. John was like, “You’re Quitting?”, so I bowed my head and said ‘yes’. The shame that comes to starting something as simple of thrusting a weight up and down from a squat to over head extension and followed by pull-ups was a humbling experience for me.
Another one to notch up on my belt. “I Will conquer FRAN!” You mark my words and have it recorded so that at least my friends know what I’ve done so give me a month to recover and train properly so you’ll see. My head was flying, my hip was on fire, my lungs were gasping for air, so I just laid there trying to feel normal. Pukie was not even in sight! I was surprised with the amount of exertion I put out, could have been my endorphins that kicked in to keep me sane and focused on what really was hurting that I didn’t really think about puking at all. Some met pukie for the first time while others were just incredibly resilient and blasted to new PR’s.
One of them was Dutch from CrossFit ATM with a Fran time of 2:30. Can you say INCREDIBLE! I was floored. While more than one PR’d, others were doing so for the first time since it’s their first time doing Fran. Congrat’s to all of you. Job well done.
This Certification/Seminar could not have been made possible without the organizational abilities of both GSX owner / Staff and CFHQ and the trainers involved.
Day two began with a little lecture then proceeded downstairs for a little warm CF SF’s very own Kelly Starrett to give us a thorough warm up. Showing us how tight we were from the day before and how to move from it. As a Coach/Trainer I can see/hear my very own clients complaints about tightness in specific areas that are none too foreign to me this early chilly morning while performing the techniques that I can incorporate into my programming.
Well, onto the day with great lecture from the ‘Lipid Commando’ - Robb Wolf. He doesn’t just know his stuff, he KNOWS his stuff intimately and lives it himself. Giving us a thorough lecture, though a bit short due to time constraints and focusing mostly on the spectrum of Sickness, Wellness, Fitness. How, what, how and when was very interesting when it detailed specifics about proper nutrition, to get you from sickness to wellness, so as to ramp up to real “Fitness”. Nothing was left out to the imagination, with references to food types and “diets”. Great resource, I suggest you go read up everything you think you know then go to his website to really Learn what you really thought you knew was incorrect about your eating.
Our workout this morning was Max rounds in 20 minutes of 400m run, kettlebell swings, and burpees. I was not able to participate on this lovely little event, I was just managing going up and down those stairs and waiting for my hip to loosen up a little more before it gave me permission to thrash it up again later. Well, after lunch and another lecture we had the broken down piece by piece version of the Burgener warmup. Details, details, details. Many believe that watching and doing or reading and knowing is all you need. Well, without proper and immediate feed back from a true trainer/coach is invalualbe in the sense that you perform what you believe is correct, all the while it really isn’t correct because of no actual feed back for form correction in the process.
Lecture time from Tony Budding. How I imagined this day was something else. We had Annie all of the two days just performing all of the exercises we were to perform later on both days. Strong lady is all I can say, and humble all the while. Smart as a razor, so watch out.
We ended the Seminar with Tony Budding explaining to us about CrossFit, that we are what Fitness should be so we have to keep motivating, supporting and encouraging ourselves to want more than what we have. We are the revolution in Fitness, for we are Fitness.
Stay healthy, eat right, enjoy your family and have fun. Most of all, give thanks. You are blessed with something special, now go out and share it.
Yours,
G
—————-
Now playing: Casting Crowns - Voice of Truth
via FoxyTunes
Posted in CrossFit | Tagged certification, CrossFit, Exercise, Fitness, health | 1 Comment »
