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That trainer moment
Posted on May 18th, 2009 6 commentsOver the past few months I’ve been participating in one of our affiliate’s group introductions to CrossFit—at CF PEI it’s called a fundamentals class. Long story short, it’s ten classes spread over five weeks which introduces potential members to the nine foundational movements, and prepares their conditioning so that they can participate in the regular workouts.
I participated in a fundamentals class myself in September of 2008. It was fun, tough, and it gave me my first introduction to what CrossFit was all about.
Before attending my Level I Certification in March, I decided to ask if I could join in as a trainer. I realized I would be on another path, and one that would take time. You don’t attend a Level 1 certification and then become a trainer the next day. You put in your time and when you are ready then you get to take on a class.
Since my certification, I’ve helped out during workouts, answered some questions, and even had a chance to review some of the nine movement with the Fundamentals class. Essentially I’m a trainer in training.
I have a lot to learn before I consider myself a full fledged CrossFit Trainer, but I did have my first “trainer moment”. It’s that moment where your instructing someone and in instant you both learn something.
For me it was after the fundamentals group was introduced to the shoulder press. After being taken through the movement with the PVC pipes, the group was also given a chance to use some of the weighted bars… just to give them a context to work from.
As the fundamentals groups were rotating through a variety of weighted bars and the majority of the group was moving on to the next part of the glass I saw a woman by herself holding a 7 ft, 45 lbs Olympic bar just above her shoulders. As I approached her we had a short discussion:
Woman: Should I be able to put this over my head?
Me: Absolutely, it’s only 45 lbs.
Woman: 45 ?!
Me: Yup.
Woman: I’m not sure…
Me: Ok, let’s give it a try.
Fix your stance, it’s too wide. Get those feet under you hips.Woman: Ok.
Me: Let the bar rest on your shoulders, now get your hands in closer to just outside of your shoulders.
Woman: Ok
Me: Now bring those elbows forward just a bit and push that bar overhead.
Woman: Ok, here I go.
She was successful,and her eyes lit up. What she thought just a few moments earlier was near impossible was done with ease. All I had to do was ensure she was setup properly.
I let her now the importance of set up for movements and how they enable efficiency under load, she thanked me and joined the rest of the group.
I stayed back and said to myself, “yeah, I can do this”.
6 responses to “That trainer moment”
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Thanks Gary.
I don’t think you’ll be feeling like a novice much longer. Show up, train hard and ask a lot questions… these are things you are doing now and they are great recipe for success.
Joey
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Gary Craswell May 19th, 2009 at 01:23
Joey your comments are always welcome. You put in your time and for a novice like me any comments or suggestions from you are welcome. I may want to tell you to screw off but it does make a difference when you do something the right way (set up). You take this 'workout for life' very serious and that is the only way any of us will ever get ahead. Maybe some day when I walk though 'the door' I will not feel like a novice. Thanks for the help and love your site great stuff.
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Thanks Gary.
I don’t think you’ll be feeling like a novice much longer. Show up, train hard and ask a lot questions… these are things you are doing now and they are great recipe for success.
Joey
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Thanks for stopping by Heather, I really have to get the word out more. Actually I have to get off my ass and write more.
You are going to love the cert, between the lectures and review of the movements you will gain a lot of knowledge plus it will be a lot of fun.
Joey
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Heather June 4th, 2009 at 01:46
Hi Joey,
I did not realize that you had a site!! I too participated in the games for personal goals; it was the best decision I have made in years!! I had so much fun.
Keep yelling at me about form; hopefully the cert will correct some of my less desirable habits!!
Keep up the great work!
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