Where's the Girl Power?

[Helen Lawson]

Originally Posted by Courtney Bear

Hey Ladies -
I need help. I have serious squat form issues...

Hi Courtney, I'm going to send you a PM about the squat issue -- sounds like you have very unique circumstances so expect the solution to be somewhat unique as well!

[Anne Bogel]

Thanks to your encouragement, I hit my first CF affiliate over the weekend while traveling. I am SO GLAD I went for it! I went on two separate days, once during an open gym and once during a group workout (very different experiences). The coaches were awesome and provided excellent feedback on my form on lifts I'd been working at home.

So I came away encouraged (I can keep up, my form's not terrible) and chastened (I have DEFINITELY not been working hard enough).

Great experience and great motivation. Thanks, ladies, for pushing me in the right direction!

I should probably note here that two days later, I cannot walk, only hobble. Forget "delayed onset." My legs have been hurting since halfway through the WARMUP the first day. It could have been a WOD all on its own. Brutal! But in a good way

[Jennie Yundt]

Originally Posted by Laura Kurth

Yeah - I've seen some 'cheating'. If somebody says they got 22 rounds of cindy, but I see the pushups and the ROM is like, 2 inches. Please. If I did pushups like that, I could get 20+ rounds too

I don't see stepping off a box as cheating however. When I do high rep box jumps and jump OFF the box too my knees get all messed up for days. Not worth it to me.

And there is no point in cheating if you think about it - eventually (competition, or just at an affiliate where you are being watched!) you will have to do everything legit... and if you've been doing half pushups, tossing wall balls to 6 feet or shallow squatting, it will catch up to you eventually

Hi Laura,

I agree with stepping off...if you don't want to hop off, please don't. One of my CrossFitters twisted his ankle pretty badly about 2 weeks ago because he jumped off the box, and landed wrong.

I WILL, however, bust you the instant you try and step ON the box. I'll get you a bumper plate to jump onto if you aren't comfortable, but please don't step onto the box.

[Patrick Haskell]

Originally Posted by Courtney Bear

Does anyone have any advice? I have Level 1 coming up and I don't want to be the one in front of the class again with everyone grimacing or giving me pity looks!

Courtney, you absolutely want to be the person in front of the class getting personalized attention for 5 minutes from the head trainer. We had a guy in my group at the Level 1 who was so thoroughly quad dominant and rooted on his toes that he became Nicole's demo boy for squat therapy. He struggled to no end, both due to flexibility issues and a CNS that was completely unfamiliar with the fundamental movements, but he did it with great humor and was so grateful at the end of the weekend for the attention he got from the trainers througout. That sort of extra attention, especially at the very beginning of the 2-day cert, is priceless to your development as an athlete and a coach. Swallow your pride and let the great coaches you'll only be working with for two days help you out. You'd be surpised by how positive an experience it can be to have your weaknesses worked on in such a supportive environment.

[Hollis Rudiger]

Originally Posted by Anne Bogel

Thanks to your encouragement, I hit my first CF affiliate over the weekend while traveling. I am SO GLAD I went for it! I went on two separate days, once during an open gym and once during a group workout (very different experiences). The coaches were awesome and provided excellent feedback on my form on lifts I'd been working at home.

So I came away encouraged (I can keep up, my form's not terrible) and chastened (I have DEFINITELY not been working hard enough).

Great experience and great motivation. Thanks, ladies, for pushing me in the right direction!

I should probably note here that two days later, I cannot walk, only hobble. Forget "delayed onset." My legs have been hurting since halfway through the WARMUP the first day. It could have been a WOD all on its own. Brutal! But in a good way

Isn't it amazing how much harder it is when there is someone else keeping time and checking your form? I swear, I THOUGHT I was working hard, but a 20 min AMRAP is way different in a real CF class/gym!

[Marianne Urbanski]

i'm just wondering from some of you ... should I get certified? A woman at my affiliate just got certified, she is planning to hopefully open an affiliate when she moves to Alaska to be with her husband when he returns from overseas! I have no intention of opening an affiliate, but I am interested in learning as much as I can about cross fit. Can one get that simply by doing the workouts (esp since I am at an affilitate) or is it better to "bite the big one" and get certified! (it aint cheap, ya know!).. is it worth the investment? What would be the benefits of being certified? who has done it and who can comment? (sorry if it is already out there, but I haven't seen this in a thread..)..

[Amy Crawford]

Been missing for a while ... lots of traveling, so is hubby, more girl-rearing responsibilities (btw, I have the best husband in the world!!).

I was at a gymnastics cert with Tucker and ***Byers*** this past weekend. HOLY COW! How awesome! We had such a great time, learning tons, and being entertained nonstop by Tuck. He is a hoot! I highly, highly recommend learning from him whenever possible! Shoulders are tired today, but I'm no nearly as sore as I thought I was going to be!

Back to a series of posts about a week ago, regarding injuries. My degree is in sport medicine, and I've dealt with injured athletes for years. One way to sum it up is this ... there's a difference between being hurt and being injured. You/I/we all need to figure out the difference for your/my/ourselves. Is the pain just a little nag, or is it a stabbing pain that's trying to tell you something? I know this was addressed, but I thought I'd throw it in the mix.

[Renee Lee]

Originally Posted by Marianne Urbanski

i'm just wondering from some of you ... should I get certified? A woman at my affiliate just got certified, she is planning to hopefully open an affiliate when she moves to Alaska to be with her husband when he returns from overseas! I have no intention of opening an affiliate, but I am interested in learning as much as I can about cross fit. Can one get that simply by doing the workouts (esp since I am at an affilitate) or is it better to "bite the big one" and get certified! (it aint cheap, ya know!).. is it worth the investment? What would be the benefits of being certified? who has done it and who can comment? (sorry if it is already out there, but I haven't seen this in a thread..)..

i'm looking forward to the other responses you get here marianne, I'm struggling with the same question. (though let me preface by saying that i'm pretty confident i WILL get certified when i get a real job).

I don't intend to go into the career of personal training, so i wonder what "good" being a level 1 certified crossfit trainer will do me.

obviously the certification has LOADS of priceless information that will make me a way better athlete and better equipped to answer questions my friends ask me about what i'm doing, which i think makes the cost 100% worth it...but i wonder if i NEED it.

I'm a bit obsessive compulsive, and a big completionist...so I sometimes tell myself I just want the cert. because I want to be the best i can...and they're the best ways to get there...does that make sense?

I'm totally rambling

[Alix Clark]

I think it depends a fair bit on who you train with. I'm lucky in that I train at a small affiliate and have total confidence in our coach (he was one of only 5 out of 23 who passed the first Level 2 Cert in Australia - go Andrew!). I get loads of really great info from him and feel like I am getting a very high level of coaching and knowledge. I'd like to do a L1 Cert for my own interest but am not going to work as a PT or affiliate so can't really justify the cost (esp with the crappy AUD exchange rate right now). However, if I trained by myself or at a globo, I would be much more likely to do a Cert cos I just don't think you can learn all the movements and stuff by yourself or through video. I did do a gymnastics cert which was great fun (and more affordable) - but that was a treat rather than a necessity. Plus, I got to meet Tucker! Hi Tuck!!!

My 2c.

[Jennie Yundt]

Just a fair warning, this post could POSSIBLY be an over-share.

Do any of you ladies have issues when jumping rope? Specifically issues involving bladder control? We did the following workout last night:

3 rounds for time
Row 500 meters
21 burpees
50 double unders

In my 3rd round, I had to stop after 25 double unders and head to the little girl's room, because I feared I would make a puddle under me. What the heck!? As if there aren't already enough fun issues involved with being a woman, now I can't control my bladder?

My time for the workout was 21:16, and the person who finished before me finished in 21:08. You pee, you lose. I will gladly accept defeat if my arms give out and I can't get that last handstand push-up in under 3 attempts...I will bow down to the fantastic runners we have who will beat me every single time...but I CANNOT accept defeat because of bladder problems!

Any suggestions? Anyone else have this issue?