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Be Your Own Crossfit Trainer: The Essence of Being Self-Taught

Be Your Own Crossfit Trainer: The Essence of Being Self-Taught

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A lot of people like the idea of being their own crossfit trainer in their own garage gym, but is it really for you? Can you really do it? Crossfit is an amazing sport, program, or fitness variance routine…whatever you want to call it. However, if you cannot afford a crossfit box (aka crossfit gym) then you could look into training yourself out of your garage.

Can you be your own crossfit trainer?

Answer the following….

  1. Do you have the discipline to stick with working out with NO system of accountability?
  2. Do you have the time and ability to teach yourself a lot of new and unfamiliar movements?
  3. Can you truly push yourself without anyone around and no one to give you “in your face” intensity?
  • If you answered NO to any of the questions above a garage gym, and attempting to be your own crossfit trainer, may be a waste of time. I know, seems a little harsh, but it is true. Crossfit is complicated to learn and to teach. It is hard enough to teach others and can be even harder to teach yourself. Crossfit takes a lot of hard work, and intensity is a must. Things don’t get easier, they get tougher in crossfit. Once you get a pull-up its a small congratulations but then you have to ask yourself when will I get 50?
  • If you answered YES to the above, let’s keep moving.

Items you’ll need to train yourself:

  1. Video Camera
  2. Workout Log
  3. Goals
  4. Ability to tell yourself you suck
  • Video camera is a must, especially if you are just starting out. A flip cam or even a good smart phone will work for this. Crossfit movements are complicated. You could watch an instructional video 100 times and go do what seems and feels right, but after you watch yourself on video you realize you are doing a lot of it incorrectly.
  • Workout log. You HAVE to keep track of your progress. I use an online blogging platform for my workout journal/log. It helps becasue you can use the search function and find out how you did on workout XYZ two years ago. You can also make blogs completly private even though its on the internet. But I also use a good ole pen and paper.
  • Goals. Being your own crossfit trainer is being just that. You are your trainer. If you and a trainer stepped into a a gym everyday and you asked your trainer “what are we doing today?”, and he said “ehhh let’s play it by ear.”…what would you say? Set short and long term goals and hold yourslef accountable. A good place to start for this would be Are Goals Necessary?
  • If you cannot tell yourself you suck then getting better is going to be difficult for you. If you take a video and you say “Well it’s not TOO bad” and you think you’re finished, you’re wrong. You need to critique every little thing you do right and wrong.

Helpful resources:

crossfit trainer