Since obtaining my Level 1 Certification for CrossFit in early August, I've been "interning" at my box, CrossFit Cleveland.
For the first several weeks, I felt really apprehensive about coaching. Not so much because I felt I didn't know what I was doing, but because I wasn't sure what the expectations were. That's not to say that when I was asked to start hanging around, it wasn't made clear that I would start interning and slowly working with people, but I wasn't really sure what "slowly working with people" meant.
I had a realization. As a coach or trainer, it is partially my responsibility to define what "slowly working with people" is to mean. I as a coach or trainer have to be comfortable with the cues and direction I am issuing. I won't say I haven't had an awkward moment or two, or potentially issued a cue that didn't correct the fault I was looking to correct, but, that too is a learning experience.
Previously, I had thought I had made a mistake in getting my L1, but I realized: the mistake was my own- not in getting my level 1, but rather in not applying what I learned there and what I've learned in doing CrossFit over the past several months. And, in applying what I learned there, and in my time at CrossFit, I have realized that I am getting to where I belong, and doing something I truly love. Every time I go to CrossFit and workout, or coach, I learn something new, and that is awesome.
So, my responsibility as a trainer/coach is to stay engaged, to issue the right cues, at the right time to help people master the movements they are executing and foster a love in others for this thing that I have come to love (I don't want to put a name on it, because, I'll have three thousand rabid fans at my door going "It's not a gym, it's a lifestyle" and the like).
For the first several weeks, I felt really apprehensive about coaching. Not so much because I felt I didn't know what I was doing, but because I wasn't sure what the expectations were. That's not to say that when I was asked to start hanging around, it wasn't made clear that I would start interning and slowly working with people, but I wasn't really sure what "slowly working with people" meant.
I had a realization. As a coach or trainer, it is partially my responsibility to define what "slowly working with people" is to mean. I as a coach or trainer have to be comfortable with the cues and direction I am issuing. I won't say I haven't had an awkward moment or two, or potentially issued a cue that didn't correct the fault I was looking to correct, but, that too is a learning experience.
Previously, I had thought I had made a mistake in getting my L1, but I realized: the mistake was my own- not in getting my level 1, but rather in not applying what I learned there and what I've learned in doing CrossFit over the past several months. And, in applying what I learned there, and in my time at CrossFit, I have realized that I am getting to where I belong, and doing something I truly love. Every time I go to CrossFit and workout, or coach, I learn something new, and that is awesome.
So, my responsibility as a trainer/coach is to stay engaged, to issue the right cues, at the right time to help people master the movements they are executing and foster a love in others for this thing that I have come to love (I don't want to put a name on it, because, I'll have three thousand rabid fans at my door going "It's not a gym, it's a lifestyle" and the like).
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