Last month, Cameron and I traveled to Pittsburgh to complete our CrossFit Level 2 Trainer seminar weekend.
There aren’t enough amazing things to say about the seminar staff, lectures, practical “exams”, and feedback received, but I’ll certainly try to give a summary of everything in a way that does it justice.
We left bright and early to make the trek to our seminar location, and nerves (well, my nerves) were high. I think Cam spent the entire ride reassuring me that neither of us were going to die…or fail. (thanks, Cam!)
I am a newbie to coaching, with just under seven months of classes under my belt at the time of the seminar. Let me tell you, to me, it felt very obvious when I was standing around people who have been coaching for longer than I’ve been doing CrossFit. Being called out to demonstrate movements and answer questions about why and how I planned to break movements down for my class was something completely out of my comfort zone.
After the initial introductions and opening lectures, our crew was separated into small groups. We were given a movement to study, memorize, and demonstrate to our small groups for the rest of the weekend.
I chose to let Amy, our flow-master, choose my movement and was somewhat relieved when she told me I’d been given the Push Press. This won’t be so bad! Famous last words (or thoughts!).
Have you ever been in a situation where you didn’t even know what you didn’t know? That’s pretty much where I was during that first breakout session.
Even though I had felt I adequately prepared, had read the manual before that weekend, and have been doing CrossFit for over 4.5 years, I felt like a fish out of water. Thank goodness the seminar staff seems to expect nerves and even try to calm them when it’s your turn to put yourself out there.
I received a lot of feedback that first day. Was I as prepared as I thought? Absolutely not. Heading home that first night, I felt completely defeated. I’m pretty sure I said I was planning to quit CrossFit altogether. Is this dramatic? Absolutely. Was I overwhelmed? Yes.
That evening, we had to create a lesson plan for our movement for the following day. I sent a quick “I’m not going to make it” text to Jason Ackerman (he’s an L4 if you didn’t know 😂) and hit the books.
The best way I could think to practice my points of performance for my Push Press demonstration was to teach it to 2 of my 4 children. Why? They have absolutely NO idea what I’m talking about. It was the perfect plan.
After a solid two hours coaching my kids, they were able to complete a Push Press with good form. I wrote down my notes and went to bed having made up my mind that I wasn’t quitting CrossFit and would likely survive day two.
Seminar Day 2 was amazing. Walking in knowing what to expect (sort of) was so much easier.
The day 2 lectures were amazing and our small group breakouts were equally awesome.
Thankfully, after demonstrating the Push Press on the second day, my feedback was “Much improved!”. Thank God.
Stepping outside of your comfort zone is HARD. Doing things that make you uncomfortable (like demonstrating movements in front of people who are WAY more qualified than you are) is HARD. Putting yourself out there is HARD. Doing something new is HARD. That weekend was all of those things.
BUT isn’t that what CrossFit is all about? If anything, it certainly prepared me to face and do hard things. Every week, we put ourselves through workouts that are hard, uncomfortable, and difficult, but we do them. We prevail. We come out better and stronger than when we went in.
That’s why it works.
That’s what keeps people (like me!) coming back.
That’s what makes the uncomfortable worth it.
Cameron and I walked away with SO MUCH knowledge and information so that we can become better coaches, but it’s not the end of the road. We should always be learning.
The Level 2 weekend is over, but that doesn’t mean we stop here. There is always more information to learn. There is always room for improvement. There is always a way to become better than where we are right now.
THAT’S CROSSFIT.
As this year comes to a close, ask yourself what you can do to be better than you were yesterday.
If it’s tightening up your diet, do it.
If it’s studying for your CrossFit Level 1, Level 2, or Level 3, there’s no better time to get on it.
If it’s going for that heavy lift that you missed earlier this year, let’s go!
Always be learning. Always be a student. Always be teachable! Put yourself out there and do hard things.
-Rachel
