My Journey to CrossFit Level 1 Trainer (CF-L1) Credential

Yes, it is true! I earned the CrossFit Level 1 Trainer (CF-L1) credential.

Fitness is a journey, and milestones give us a chance to look back and think about what comes next. They help us recognize our progress and keep working toward better health.

Today, I am proud and happy to say that I have earned the CrossFit Level 1 Trainer credential. It is an amazing feeling.

UPDATE: Since writing this post, I have also earned the CrossFit Level 2 Trainer (CF-L2) credential.

Brief History – Huge and Heavy!

Those who have met me know that I had been heavy for many years. I had almost become accustomed to my weight. I could give many excuses for not getting fit, but I don’t want to give any. Over the past year, I have focused on improving my health every day.

I had reached the point where I needed two seats on a flight. Even walking somewhere required planning so I could reach my destination safely. Moving from one place to another involved far more calculation than it should have.

Not good. Totally not good!

A Conversation with My Daughter

One day, a conversation with my seven-year-old daughter made me think seriously about my health. Her words touched my heart and left me speechless. I decided that I needed to take better care of myself.

Fast Forward – One Year – Healthy Diet

I decided to start with my diet and focus on eating more healthily. It was the first change I wanted to make.

I found that no single diet routine worked for me throughout the process. I tried different approaches to keep myself from getting bored and paid attention to the variety in my food.

I tried:

• Juice routines on alternate weeks
• A keto diet, high in fat and low in carbohydrates, for 15 days
• A green diet, with food and drinks made from green vegetables

These were approaches I tried during my own journey. I eventually found that the following worked best for me:

• No sugar, low carbohydrate diet: I avoided sugar and ate very few carbohydrates.

With these changes, I lost around 25 kg (about 55 lb). After a while, however, I reached another plateau and stopped losing weight.

Fitness Tracker

While changing my diet, I purchased a Fitbit, and it worked well for me. It connected me with friends and an encouraging online community. I began working toward 10,000 steps every day. Without the tracker, I doubt I would have moved much from my couch.

Initially, I couldn’t complete 10,000 steps every day, but gradually the habit became part of my routine. The Fitbit community encouraged us to keep going and complete our goals. I became able to manage 10,000 steps most days, except when flights or unusual travel schedules limited my movement.

One of my close friends, Amit Bhawani, wrote an article about how I used a fitness tracker for weight loss. I encourage you to read it.

No Progress with Traditional Gyms

I had lost weight, but I still wasn’t fit enough to move around as easily as I wanted. My weight loss had also stopped. I decided to look for alternatives and joined a gym.

I tried a couple of gyms with treadmills, cross trainers, stair machines and weight machines. I found two problems with this setup for me:

Problem 1: Boring and Monotonous

I tried listening to music and watching my favorite movies while doing cardio, but the routine soon became boring. I was running and my heart was working, yet I didn’t feel I was making the progress I wanted. I struggled to see how to build on that routine. Over time, I found it monotonous and demotivating.

Problem 2: Too Much Focus on Isolated Movements

Leg raises, triceps pushdowns, seated leg presses and leg curls focused on particular movements. I found myself repeating isolated exercises without feeling the overall improvement I wanted. My biceps were getting bigger, but I didn’t feel the same progress in my joints or everyday movement.

When I focused on one area, I felt another was being neglected. I didn’t enjoy repeating those isolated movements. That was why I continued looking for a different approach after trying several gyms.

CrossFit – First Contact

While looking for a gym, I happened to walk into a CrossFit gym. At first, it looked almost empty. The equipment I had always considered essential was missing. There were no treadmills, cross trainers, lat pulldown machines, cables or pulleys.

Instead, I saw barbells, weight plates, dumbbells, medicine balls and kettlebells. Nobody was working out when I visited. I wondered why they even called it a gym.

When I asked a trainer named Sunil, the response was: “You do not need machines to get fit, you need right techniques, good friends and lots of determination. Here we play it differently.”

Sunil 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, Sunil 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 my first day, I understood why this workout felt different to me. Within minutes, my heart was racing, and I could feel different parts of my body working. I felt the stretch and effort throughout the workout. This was the kind of activity I had been looking for.

Every day brought a different workout of the day, or WOD. A CrossFit gym or workout area is also called a box.

I was hooked from that first class. Here is the workout I did on my first day:

• 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

The workout needed no special exercise machines. By the time I completed the final run, I was exhausted. I had found a workout that challenged me in a different way.

CrossFit is constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity.

A Good Trainer

Whenever I discuss workouts, the conversation often turns to finding a good trainer. Most people I meet believe their trainer understands them well. Trust matters when working toward fitness goals.

During my search, I tried several gyms and worked with different personal trainers. I found that even a good trainer could be limited by the environment and equipment available. The routine could still revolve around machines and isolated movements.

A trainer might understand the importance of a balanced workout, yet the session could remain focused on the equipment. That was another part of my experience that made me look for a different setting.

Some people judge a trainer by how sore they feel the next day or how difficult the session was. I wanted to look beyond soreness and find an approach that helped me make progress.

CrossFit – A Personal Transformation Story

After joining the CrossFit box, I noticed tremendous improvement. I could move around more easily, run for kilometers, bike for hours and lift more weight. I had more energy and could do things for which I had previously depended on others. I felt like a new person.

Something that happened earlier that month showed me how much this progress meant in everyday life. It helped me appreciate how far I had come.

Putting My Fitness to Use

A few days earlier, movers in our apartment building were struggling with a large couch stuck in the main elevator. It was causing inconvenience for several people. I was happy that I could now walk up six floors, but someone else was waiting who could not manage the stairs.

I was with my wife and daughter, and I asked them to stand aside while I helped. I squatted down, placed one hand beneath the couch and lifted. With the movers pushing, we were able to bring the couch out of the elevator.

The three movers were surprised. They had been struggling to lift it, and my help had made a difference. They commented on the strength in my hands.

I explained that I had used hip extension to generate the force, with my hand providing support. I was putting a movement I had practiced into use outside the gym. That connection meant a lot to me.

My daughter noticed that I had helped everyone. Seeing that reaction felt like a reward for the work I had put into my health.

Why CrossFit Level 1 Trainer (CF-L1) Credential?

CrossFit had helped me improve my fitness and become more capable in daily life. I could see the difference when helping myself and the people around me. I wanted to understand more about the training behind that progress.

I decided to attend the official training and work toward the CrossFit Level 1 Trainer (CF-L1) credential. Last week, I completed the course with instructors from CrossFit headquarters. We learned about human physiology, psychology, nutrition, workout programming and techniques. At the end, we took an exam to test our knowledge.

I passed and earned the CrossFit Level 1 Trainer (CF-L1) credential. After the training, I saw my workouts in a different light. I had a better understanding of techniques and programming. It was an important milestone in my life.

One Line Summary

I am happy to have earned my CrossFit Level 1 Trainer credential. If you decide to try a nearby CrossFit box, I would love to hear about your experience.

If you have questions about my personal transformation, you can email me at pinal@sqlauthority.com.

Published by Pinal Dave on SQLAuthority. More of my work at pinaldave.com.