Yes, it is true! I Earned CrossFit Level 1 Trainer (CF-L1) Credential.
Fitness is a journey and can’t be a destination. Just like every other journey, milestones are very important in the journey of the fitness as well. They help us to dwell on our past and envision our future!
Today I am proud and happy to say that I have earned “CrossFit Level 1 Trainer” credential. It is an amazing feeling.
Brief History – Hugh and Heavy!
Those who have met me knows that I am a very big guy (heavy weight) and almost got accustomed to my weight for many years. Today, I can give many excuses for not getting fit, however, I do not want to give any. From the last one year, I have been focusing on my health and improving it every single day without a single excuse.
I have grown very huge and I started to need two seats in flight. Additionally, I reached to the point where if I have to walk anywhere I needed to do planning ahead so I can reach at destination safely. I used to do lots of statistical calculation when I had to move from one place to another place.
Not good. Totally not good!
Chhota Bheem and My Daughter
One fine day, my daughter (7 years old) was watching Chhota Bheem animation series on television. It is a television series around a young boy Bheem who is very strange and brave. He always manages to solve everyone’s problems. While she was watching the series, I ask her –
Don’t you think I am like Chhota Bheem, who solve SQL problems for many?
She instantly replied –
No dad, you are like Kalia who is big and fat but smart. Chhota Bheem is very fit kid.
My daughter is just a 7 years old, but what she said that day truly touched my heart. I was truly speechless and I decided to get better at my health.
Fast Forward – One Year – Healthy Diet
I decided to go for healthy. The first thing I decided is to focus on my diet. I decided that I will eat healthy.
I found that there is not a single diet routine work for effective weight loss. I had to mix up various different routines to keep myself away from getting bored and prevent an imbalance in nutrition.
I tried out-
Juice Therapy – Various detoxing juice for alternative weeks
Keto Diet – High fat, low carbohydrate diet for 15 days
Green Diet – Food and health drinks from all the green vegetables
Trust me, there is no one solution and each diet has a different impact on different people. I finally figured out that what works best for me is
No Sugar, Low Carb Diet – I pretty much avoid sugar everywhere and eat very little carbohydrates in my food
I think it works for me and I lost around 25 KG (45 lbs) of weight with this food but after a while I again hit plateau. I am again not loosing any weight.
Fitness Tracker
While I was on healthy diet I purchased a fit bit and it worked pretty good for me. I think it instantly hooked me with a great set of friends online and the community. I think I started to love walking every single day 10,000 steps. Trust me, if there was no fitness tracker, I would have not moved from my couch. Initially, I was not able to complete 10,000 steps every day, but gradually, it became addictive. In addition to that, Fitbit has amazing community who will push each other to complete the task. I am now able to manage every single day 10,000 steps unless I am flying or stuck in weird travel routine where my mobility is limited.
One of my close friends Amit Bhawani wrote an article about how I use fitness tracker for weight loss and I encourage you to read it.
No Progress with Old Styled Gym
Well, when I reached a point where I had lost weight for a while, but I was still not fit enough to move around quickly. I also head reached to the point where I was no longer loosing any weight. This is when I decided to look for alternatives and finally decided to go to join a gym.
I joined a couple of gym where there were treadmills, cross trainers, step masters and few other weights machines.
There were two problems with this entire setup-
Problem 1: Boring and Monotonous
I tried to listen music, watch my favorite movie while I was doing various cardio exercises but after a while, they were boring. I was running and my heart was running, but I never found this effective. For a while, I felt that I am moving, but very soon it was routine and did not see how can I scale this up where it is effective to my body. I started to find it boring, monotonous and demotivating.
Problem 2: Isolated Uneffective Movements
This the major reason when I decided to quit old styled gyms. No matter what equipment I used I always found that I am only doing movement in isolations. Leg Raise, Tricep Pushdowns, Seated Leg Press, Leg Curl or any other machine, they all at any one point of time focus on isolated movements. Very soon I figured out this is not going to work with me. I noticed while my biceps are getting bigger my joints were not getting any stronger. When I focused on my joints, I realize that some other part of the body was not focused. I never enjoyed a single isolated movement in multiple reputations.
Well, now you know, why I decided to look alternative after trying out various gyms.
CrossFit – First Contact
While looking for a good gym, I accidentally walk into a CrossFit gym. When I saw the gym, I felt it pretty empty. The gym had no traditional equipments which I always believed integral part of the gym. There were no machines (treadmill, cross trainers) or equipments (lat pull down, cables and pulleys). I saw lots of barbells, weight plates, dumbbells, medicine balls and Kettlebells. Nobody was working out at that place when I visited and I immediately felt why do they call it even a gym.
When I asked the same question to an expert trainer Sunil there, he said – “You do not need machines to get fit, you need right techniques, good friends and lots of determination. Here we play it differently.” He continued, “You may see some individuals who can run for hours but can’t climb stairs and individuals who can do hundreds of KGs bench press but can’t do a simple squat. CrossFit is all about bringing fitness in every aspect of natural functional movements.“
After a brief pause, he asked – Why will you not try out one free trial on the house? Let’s meet tomorrow morning at 6:45 AM?
CrossFit – The Fitness Lifestyle
On the very first day of the CrossFit class, I understand the power of the CrossFit. Within very few minutes, I realized that this workout is impactful, powerful and effective. I felt blood rushing through my veins, I heard my heartbeats racing every moment, and I was indeed feeling stretch as well as the pressure on my various body parts. In the first few minutes, I understand this is the workout, I was in search for.
Every single day we have different workout of the day (WOD) at our gym (box – CrossFit workout area is called as a box).
Well, that’s it. I was hooked at the very first instance with CrossFit. Here is the sample workout which I did on my very first day at the CrossFit.
Run 200 meters
40 Squats
Run 200 meters
30 Push-ups
Run 200 meters
20 Box Jumps
Run 200 meters
10 Sit-ups
Run 200 meters
You can see there are no need of any special machine equipments in this workout, but trust me, when I was done with the final run, I felt like Atlas who is holding the earth on his shoulders.
CrossFit is constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity.
A Good Trainer
A very popular argument, I often here is that is about a good trainer. Everyone whom I met, thinks that their trainer is awesome and he understands them very well. This is essential that one has trust in their trainer, otherwise, it is almost impossible to reach to our fitness goals.
During my journey to search for a proper workout and gym, I have changed quite a lot of gyms and took personal training from many different trainers. Consistently, I found that a good trainer is often constraint with the environments (and gym) where he works at. I have often seen a good trainer end up following the routines of machines and movement in isolations. Though good trainers understand the importance of a good well around workout, they often ignore to build a good workout for their client when the client is focused on using workout machines and equipments.
Many individuals call a trainer good trainer, if they are sour next day or find the training very difficult to accomplish. This in reality is not good for learners as well as trainers.
CrossFit – A Personal Trasnformation Story
After I joined CrossFit box, I see tremendous improvement in me. I am able to move around easily, run for kilometers, bike for hours, lift lots of weight and many more things. I am full of energy and I do things so easily, which I always depended on others. I am like a whole new person.
I think you need to read following story which just happened at the beginning of the month to understand the power of my personal transformation.
My Daughter: “Dad, you are like Chhota Bheem!”
Let me tell you a real story, a few days ago, movers and packers guys in our apartment were facing a problem while they were moving a big couch. The couch was stuck in the primary elevator. This had created a lot of inconvenience for many. When I saw the elevator not working, I was happy that I will be able to walk up six stories as I am much more active than before. While at the same time, I noticed that there elderly person who was waiting in the elevator to function as they can’t climb the stairs.
I was with my wife and my daughter at that time, so I asked them to stand aside. I had decided to help the movers and packers guys. I squat down and put my one hand under the couch and lifted the couch up. With my help and push from movers and packer guy, we were able to bring the couch out of the elevator. They were pretty surprised as they were three guys trying to lift the couch with hand and it was not moving, whereas I was able to help them with just pushing my hand under the couch.
They said – “Wow, you have lots of power in your hands.” I replied – “Not really, actually I lifted with my hip extension, it is what generated power, my hand was just there for support.” I do not think they understood what I meant. However, If you are familiar with how the body works or a CrossFit follower, I am sure you understand what I meant to say.
My daughter, who was standing next me exclaimed – “Dad, you are like Chhota Bheem, you help everyone!” I think I have earned my reward and may be a badge in my life’s epic quest.
Why CrossFit Level 1 Trainer (CF-L1) Credential?
After attending CrossFit classes, I have seen a lot of improvement in me. I can share many stories, where I was able to help myself and people around me with my improved fitness.
Looking at everything, I decided that I should go for official training where I can earn CrossFit Level 1 Trainer (CF-L1) Credential. Last week, I earned the same where we had amazing instructors from CrossFit Headquarter. During the training, I learned a lot about human physiology, psychology, nutrition, workout programmings and techniques. At the end of the training, we had exam to appear where we were tested with our knowledge about CrossFit.
Well, I passed and I earned CrossFit Level 1 Trainer (CF-L1) Credential. After the training, I see myself in the very different light. I believe now I know more techniques and understanding of workout programming. I believe it is a very important milestone in my life.
One Line Summary
I encourage everyone to try out nearest CrossFit Box and share your experience.
If you have any question about my personal transformation, you can reach out to me by sending email at pinal@sqlauthority.com
Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com)
First appeared on My Journey to CrossFit Level 1 Trainer (CF-L1) Credential