Day 2 of the CrossFit Level 1 certification. There's a good chance that some of this is out of order, as my recollections of what happened when are all a bit fuzzy a few hours later...
Still a little sore and creaky from our dozens of reps of the nine basic movements from the day before, as well as a killer rendition of Fran to seal the deal, we sat down to some more theoretical work. After another "classroom" section, we split off into groups to either learn the kipping pull-up OR do a work-out. And then we switched! I got to learn the kipping pull-up first, as well as (more importantly) the tips to getting good at it. Now, if only I had somewhere to practice it... quite possible that putting enough weights/sandbags or whatever over the base of my pull-up/dip tower in the garage might allow me to do it there. I should probably try that out before i forget how...
After that, we swapped with the tired and sweaty bastages who were working out, and faced our doom: Tabat medley. Basically, every Tabata I've done to date has involved staying with the same movement for several rounds at a time, usually 8 rounds. Since the action is 20 seconds of all out effort followed by 10 seconds of rest, 8 rounds is only 4 minutes. Do that over 4 stations, and you've just annihilated your body for 16 minutes in ways that most cardio-only fitness buffs can't even begin to comprehend...
In this case, after each 20 seconds of work, we would transition to the next exercise. We did this across three stations (air squats, push-ups (deck to full arm extension), and kettle-bell swings) for 5 rounds. Since that works out to 15 sets, for a grand total of 7.5 minutes' work. Sounds simple, right? You try it... and make sure you're squatting so that your hip crease goes below the top of your knee, and make sure your hips, chest, abs and chin all hit the ground at the same time, and that you come back up to full extension on every rep. Basically, the first few sets were "ok" which quickly devolved to "ARGH!!!"
After that, we went back to the classroom to learn about the applications and uses of the glute-ham developer, most of which was review for me, but some of it was exciting and new. After a lunch break, we came back for anther classroom lecture, this one on nutrition (which was probably before lunch...seeing as how some of the lecture dealt with food in my bag that i hadn't eaten yet, but decided to anyway...). Then we went back to our large "small" groups to work on our squat snatches and muscle-ups.
I do not have a muscle up on the rings. I can barely get to a control position on the rings. I need to get some rings, because they target muscles I didn't even know I was ignoring. Lame. Still, it was cool getting the pointers on how to approach the problem, both as an athlete, and as a trainer who wants to work with athletes who will undoubtedly struggle as well. Squat snatches (with pvc pipe as our "bar") seemed to go easily enough. I have to work a bit on footwork and opening the hip more explosively, but those are both common faults and easy ones to fix (hopefully) with some dedicated practice.
After one last classroom session on programming workouts and scaling, it was time for the test. (which sounds like I'm glossing over the classroom material. I'm totally NOT, its just that there's waaay too much good info to try to squeeze into a "basics" post like this! The test? It was easy. I swear to you, if you do the reading and pay just a little bit of attention in the classroom sessions and small group coaching environments, you almost CAN'T fail. I passed with flying colors, and did well enough that I'm actually a little bit bugged about those few questions missed. Right now, I like to think I made extra marks on the scantron, and that I actually got everything right. Sigh...
So yeah, I'm all certified and shit. Show me your squat! Do it NOW!!!
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