Crossfit Level 1 Trainer Course Blog

Since Lindsey is writing the Brussels blog, I thought I would write about what I was doing on an US Air Force base in Belgium last weekend.
Back in April I was introduced by Coach Franz to a website called “Crossfit Kids”. At the time I weighed over 200 lbs, and was in arguably the worst physical condition of my life. Franz introduced me to “Crossfit Kids” because it has direct application to my job as a swimming coach.
Not only did the “Crossfit Kids” website have a positive influence on my coaching, it led me to “Crossfit’s” main website. Crossfit is home to the “Workout of the Day”, a free workout performed by people throughout the world who post their results online to create a virtual workout group. Aside from the “WOD”, the main site shares video of exercises, and lectures on all aspects of human performance.
Within 3 months I had dropped 20 lbs, and improved my fitness level dramatically. 6 months later, I’m fitter than I was when I was 22. To put it mildly, I’m hooked, and wanting more.
Franz and I became aware that “Crossfit” offers level 1 trainer courses, and we both had been waiting for the opportunity for one to become available to us. As soon as I saw the course offered in Belgium, I knew it was a possibility. With the support of Lindsey, we made it happen.
We decided that Lindsey would spend the weekend in Brussels with Ivy and Henry while I took the course at Chievres Air Force Base.
The Friday evening drive down to Brussels was an adventure. Lindsey drove, Mike (our carpool friend) sat in the front passenger seat, and I sat in the back between Ivy and Henry’s car seats. Ivy was my entertainment the entire drive, chattering with song and laughter the entire way. Henry on the other hand, decided to get car sick… in my lap. Poor guy was miserable, and thought I should be too.
When we rolled into Brussels, the Google maps directions were FUBAR, and we got lost. In addition to bad directions, the Belgians do not believe in marking their intersections with street names. Asking for directions was difficult because none of us speak French. Eventually we were able to get to the hotel, check in and clean up.
Dinner included a fine Belgian beer. It is true that the Belgians have mastered the art of beer making, and they make them just my style. I love dark beer and Belgian Browns are the best (and strongest) that I have ever had. Westmalle, Leffe, and Keizer Karel are my favorites.
Saturday mornings wake-up call came early, but I was so excited for my classes to begin I didn’t care. Because of recent terror threats, and the September 11 date, base security was hyper vigilant. As you can imagine, being on a military base overseas gave everything that happened at the trainer course a surreal effect.
Heading into the course, I had very little information. One thing that I was anxiously awaiting was finding out who would be our trainers. Upon my arrival, I was not disappointed. The trainers were excellent. The head trainer was Chuck Carswell, an awesome guy who played football at the University of Georgia, and for the Miami Dolphins. He’s a class act all the way. His staff was made up of Crossfit Gym owners throughout northern Europe including Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, and Germany. Fortunately the entire class took place in English.
The classes consisted of lectures on Crossfit methodology, foundational movements, nutrition, and programming. The class also included breakout sessions to learn/teach the foundational movements (air squat, front squat, overhead squat, shoulder press, push press, push jerk, deadlift, Sumo Deadlift High Pull, and Clean). In addition we were treated to instruction on the kipping pull-up, the muscle-up (Pull-up to dip on the rings), and the snatch.
In addition to the class work and breakout sessions we were treated to a workout on each day of the class. The day 1 workout was a fun one. It was a group workout. We split into teams of 5. The workout was a 400 Meter group run, 250 reps of thrusters (front squat to push press) divided up among our team, another 400 meter run, 250 pull-ups divided among our team, and another 400 meter run. My group finished second only because of an injury sustained to one of my teammates on the run. On my team were 2 enlisted soldiers, a 3 letter agency special operations soldier, and a professional MMA fighter.
After the 1st day in the classroom I went back to my hotel to study. The television found its way on and I realized that they had American Programming on the TV. I didn’t even notice the fact that European Television doesn’t cover American sports until the College football season started. I was treated to the Buckeye win over Miami. I really enjoyed the game, but was nervous that staying up until 1:00AM was going to affect my performance the next day.
The second day’s workout was an individual challenge. It was 7 repetitions of a Medicine Ball Clean, and two lengths of a basketball court with the medicine ball. Every 60 seconds, we had to drop and do 7 push-ups. The workout lasted 12 minutes and the goal was to find out how many rounds you could perform. The competitive side of me came out and I ended up winning this workout, and in fact lapped the closest competitor in my group of 20.
The course culminated in an exam. All that is required to become certified to coach at an affiliated Crossfit gym is a passing score on this evaluation. A failed score would mean a retest or taking the entire class over again. At my test we had at least 20 people come for the available re-test alone.
I was certainly nervous. As the test unfolded, it went well for me. I knew that I had done well when I had used half the allotted time. I used the time to go back over the test and review my answers. I’m glad I did because I discovered two errors upon my review.
Results were returned to us that day. They came in a large envelope, and contained either a Trainer Certificate or a Certificate of Participation. I nearly cried when I opened my envelope and it was empty. What the heck does an empty envelope mean? It ended up meaning that I had registered late, and they didn’t have a Certificate made up for me. I ended up with a 100% score on the test. It didn’t happen to me too often in school, so I was very proud of myself.
In Chuck’s closing remarks, he told us to go home, knock on our neighbors door, let ourselves inside, grab a broomstick from their closet and start teaching them how to perform the Snatch. In seriousness he encouraged us to start coaching as soon as possible, in order to keep the information fresh, and to start developing our coaching ability.
I’m offering my services free of charge to friends and family. Crossfit is not insane workouts. It is constantly varied, so it never gets boring. It is functional movement, so it helps you live better (think bad backs, knees, and shoulders). It is relatively intense, which means that it is designed to your ability and goals. Mechanics, consistency, and intensity.

Ben