How Do I Get Started?
THIS IS THE SECOND OF OUR FOUR-PART SERIES ON THE BASICS OF CROSSFIT BY MUSCLETECH AMBASSADOR JOHN PORTER JR.
When people look at CrossFit and how the elite athletes within the sport (yes, CrossFit is a sport) perform, they automatically assume that there’s no way they could do what the top CrossFit athletes can do. Many don’t understand that many of the elite CrossFit athletes have been in some form of athletics most of their lives. Some have very physical and demanding jobs. Some are just genetically predisposed for it. But one thing they have in common is the countless hours of hard work they put into CrossFit in order to perform at that high level. Another thing they all share is, they had to start somewhere. Someone had to point them in the right direction on how to get started.
If you want to get started in CrossFit, one thing to do that is strongly recommended is to ask a person who is well versed in the system and has the experience to back it up. The number one person that would have that knowledge is a certified CrossFit Trainer/Coach CrossFit Trainers/Coaches go through a rigorous certification process at one of CrossFit’s many gyms. They learn the methodology and how to apply it in such a way that yields results in all that are under their tutelage. They even put their applicants through workouts in order for them to understand what CrossFit is about from a kinesthetic perspective. The last thing on the agenda is a written test that assesses the knowledge attained from the weekend course. Once the written test is passed, one has earned the right to be called a certified CrossFit Trainer/Coach.
Once you’ve found a CrossFit gym and coaching staff that professionally meets your needs, then it is a matter of following their directions on how to properly perform the exercises/movements you’ll typically see in a workout. Great CrossFit gyms usually have what is called a “Foundations Course.” This 2- to 5-day course includes an in-depth teaching of all aspects of CrossFit. This includes posture and position, exercise execution, skills and drills that assist one in doing exercises, and even a workout that simulates what one would expect in a normal CrossFit class.
What you do from there can only be described with one word: CONSISTENCY. One will never achieve anything in life without doing what is required to reach your health and fitness goals daily. Be it nutrition, training, recovery, and everything in between, you have to put the work in. No exceptions. No excuses.
BY JOHN PORTER JR.
MUSCLETECH AMBASSADOR
