I love Cross fit. I really do! Actually I have been involved in Cross fit workouts since I was about 18 yrs old. I just didn’t call it Cross fit. I remember one of my first ICCT sessions. We worked up to a heavy single on the back squat, one that we could do deep, no knee wraps and just a belt. A weight that we could have hit for a double. Then we divided that weight by 50 % and did a set of 40 reps (forty) without a belt and without stopping. My training partner did a 500 lb BS and then a set of 40 with 250 lbs. BRUTAL! Then once we stopped drifting in and out of consciousness we jogged over to Owen Field ( where OU plays their football games ) and did piggy back end zone stadium steps. Your partner hopped on your back and you walked all the way to the top without stopping and without your partner getting off. Look up a picture of the Oklahoma Football stadium end zone. It’s up there.
I love training hard and I like to see other people train hard too. It’s life changing. There was no pretending you trained hard.
We had a coach that was educated and experienced. We were taught how to lift and if you were unable to perform a lift without the proper technique, you were not allowed to increase the weight. We were also not allowed to continue training with a specific exercise when the technique began to deteriorate. Bad techniques plus fatigue equals injuries.
I am amazed as a society that we put so much trust in a person who is wearing a shirt that says”Trainer” or a person that has a piece of paper that says “Certified”. Certifiable is more like it. Wake up! Stop believing some trainer is qualified because he or she wears a t-shirt that has the word trainer on the back or has a piece of paper that says the word “certified”. Think about it like this. We wouldn’t let someone start poking around on us in the doctors office without the proper education, training and experience or let someone work on our Mercedes or Lexus who only has a weekend course under their belt. If you don’t view your body as a Mercedes you should. Being certified means very little as well. Many people can memorize and regurgitate. There is no national governing body for the personal training industry. Many certifications allow an open book format and the test to be taken at home. I could have gone to Medical school that way. Most personal trainer certification exams only require a high school education / GED, a drivers license and CPR card. That is not very demanding. We all know someone who has their drivers license who is not a very good driver. But they passed and are on the road, scaring us all to death. Be assertive, ask to see the resume of your trainer and don’t let just anyone work on your Mercedes. You most likely will end up walking.
