In a word, awesome!
The crew from CrossFit HQ turned up this morning at the gym and I was impressed to see who had turned out. Coach Glassman, Nicole, Jolie, Dave, Todd and Jimi. They brought some of the very best and it was sensational to finally meet the crew. Coach was simply fantastic. A very personable and intelligent man who freely shares his knowledge and experience.
The content of day 1 was excellent. We covered the 9 fundamental CrossFit movements, learning the theory and practice behind them. Coach Glassman spoke about CrossFit and the CrossFit prescription of constantly varied, functional movements, performed at high intensity.
Dave spoke at length about his introduction to CrossFit and how, as a US Navy SEAL, he realised that the age old military fitness prescription of long slow distance running and high rep calisthenics left him gassed and struggling on operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. He also mentioned how, on his first visit to Crossit HQ, he had his butt kicked by Nicole in the split jerk! Humorous story, but an excellent example. Dave also covered CrossFit's definition of fitness. What is fitness and who is fit.
We finished off the day with a dose of "Fran". That was fun, but I was disappointed with my time of 5.41 mins. My PB is 5.14 and I would have liked to have smashed that, but it wasn't to be. I was pretty gassed about halfway thru the first set of 21 pull ups. It was still enough to finish around 4th from about 36 participants so at least that's something.
I always thought it was my strength holding me back in Fran, but after today and after speaking with Nicole, I've realised that it's not really that. It's probably more cardio-respiratory endurance and stamina. I tend to gas out rather than suffer from muscle fatigue. That said, the best bet is to stick to constantly varied, functional movement, performed at high intensity, simply CrossFit. That's how you improve your Fran time and become fitter.
No photos from today. Due to where the cert is being held, no camera's are allowed.
Time for bed and back into it tomorrow.