We had another great  i-course day. So good that Ryan And Ian celebrated by banging out a few muscle ups at the end. Good Job!.

As normal we stomped through drill after drill, doing what we do best, which is breaking stuff down. It was a bit nerve racking for some of our newer trainers who were subject to a lot of “on the spot” critique as part of our ongoing improvement policy.

Another long day with the audience giving 100% concentration. Well done

We held another fantastic i-course at the Blackboard Gym yesterday and, once again, we were lucky enough to have a room packed full of enthusiastic attendees who improved rapidly through the day.

As always we had a fascinating mix of “normal people”, fitness enthusiasts, soldiers, personal trainers, sports people and “remote” Crossfitters looking to get some of the best Crossfit instruction available in the UK.

The course was lead by the two Crossfit London directors, Andrew Stemler and Steven Shrago, supported by Chris, Kate and Kat.

The Crossfit London i-course has an impressive history and is the culmination of over 7 years worth of Crossfit experience and coaching excellence. As the oldest affiliate in the UK, we have a unique and unrivalled experience base to offer.

As one person said ” I’ve come here because my local Crossfit, although good, is in effect a group of fit young guys being fit: I didn’t see anything extraordinary in young fit people being fit! But to see a 51 year old do muscle ups and handstand push ups, and then discover he wasn’t a child gymnast or a weightlifter – but the result of a well-taught Crossfit regime that can give those skills to anyone (even me eventually) was exciting. I also loved the originality and thought processes of the Crossfit London website, where the articles seemed to be balanced, interesting and well researched” (David)

Anyway, we had a great day,

Another fun-packed, skill-packed, learning-packed, handstand, snatch, clean pull up, ring dip packed day with a group of fabulous learners spending time with infamous Crossfit London Trainers: Andrew, Steven, Kate, Kat & Alex. Terrific support was provided by Naama and Cameron and we were even treated to a flying visit from Jacob from CrossFit Monteray.

There were some terrific performances all round, with everyone getting their fill of squats, barbells and swinging from bars.

Good job everyone!

There are only 2 people in the world I really listen to.

One is Greg Glassman, the other is Cicero. Whilst the span of the centuries separated them, they both guide us in how to run our  sessions, especially beginner sessions. The often ignored  ”letter to trainers”   with its emphasise on virtuosity, holds in my view, the same sway as the concept of  captatio benevolentiae or  ”capturing good will” as suggested by Cicero.

It was perhaps with an eye to classical rhetoric that we chose the name “i-course” for our one day crossfit skill masterclass. We felt the “i” could stand for  ”introduction”, little remembering that a few centuries before, Cicero has said the function of an introduction (exordium) is:

Crossfit London UK, led by Andrew Stemler and Steven Shrago, today hosted the 21st i-Course,  supported by coaches Kate Pankhurst, Phillip Rolling, and trainees Jenny, Katarina and Ludwig.

The i-Course means different things for different people.

For some the “i” stands for introduction, and the course gives you a preview of what a Crossfit life could look like.

For others the “i” stands for intermediate, ideal for those people who have “sort of” got a handle on the skills but need fine tuning.

For others this is the ideal preparation for a full Crossfit certification if they don’t have regular access to a Crossfit gym .

The i-Course is a “do-able day” but it’s a long one, so well done everyone and thanks for the gift of your day-long attention. Some incredible improvements in form from some. Some rapid learning from others.

Everyone walked away with stuff they knew they could do to improve their skills: that’s what learning is about. Understanding the next step and committing to practice. Progressions are the key. Once you know this, every skill we have to teach you becomes possible: some only in three years, but all achievable by normal people

A pile of cushions...

...to slightly fewer cushions...

...to the perfect cushion-less handstand push up...good job!

All the photos from the day are on the CrossFit London Flickr pages, here!

Today we had it all: great weather, a hugely talented group of i-Course delegates and a great bunch of CrossFit London trainers.

After kicking off with the usual getting-to-know-you shenanigans, it was on to the famous CrossFit London Squat Workshop. After discussing our unusual definition of ‘fun’ we went on to have great ‘fun’ wall, box and pole squatting.

New CrossFit London coaches Alex and Efe took the group through the rest of the squats and presses, before Sally and Steven coached the Olympic lifts.

The afternoon was a full dose of floor and bar-based core work, before we moved on to handstands, pull-ups and ring work.

We finished the day with a record number of delegates getting their first muscle-ups. Special mention to be made of Jasmine for being – as far as I know – the first lady to get her muscle-up in the new gym!

It was another great day in the new gym. Thanks to everyone who made the trip to train with us today!

Loads of pictures from the day can be found on the CrossFit London Flickr site, here.

We hope to see you all again soon!

Steven, Sally, Colin, Alex and Efe.

A fabulous mixed group of “normal people”, trainers, and physical therapists got together in Bethnal Green to try out the world famous Crossfit London i-course: the one-day course that gets you practicing most of the essential Crossfit basics (squat, clean, snatch, ring work, handstands, muscle ups)

As always, a phenomenal Crossfit London team, led by Andrew and Steven, with superb support from Kate, Phil, Alex, Kirsty and Sevan; taught, inspired, problem-solved and target-set for an anxious-to-learn audience.

The Crossfit London i-Course is an ideal way of covering those basics, and can be a great way of preparing for your CrossFit Level 1 Certification. For “normal people” without regular access to a Crossfit gym, it’s a great opportunity to get some feedback and pointers from the Crossfit London multi-skilled team.

Well done everyone, especially to Sammy for coming first in Thumb Wars, Jo for a great handstand push-up performance, and Tracy for that pull-up with a band demo. You are on the road of the righteous!

Some great effort in the L-Sit practise

A special muscle-up festival from the “big tough boy group”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7u17QtsUiw

Wondering what all the fuss is about? Book your place in the May i-Course and come and find out!

I don’t know how many people pass their level 1 test with 100% , but I did.

Here are my special preparation tips.

First: There are numerous different version of the level 1 test in existence so don’t bother picking anyone’s brains for helpful answers.

Second: Get a revision pal and ask each other questions and make each other explain the answer. Don’t be content with memorizing phrases such as “increasing work capacity across broad time and modal domains”. Work out what that actually means. Actually, ask each other difficult questions and make them look up the answers if they don’t know.

Third: Go through the manual looking for 3′s and 4′s. You’ll find statements along the line of ” Our reasons for this are 3 fold, there are 4 elements to our definitions of …..”  Extract them from the text and learn them.

Fourth: Follow the links from the manual. Follow and read them.

Fifth: Watch all the associated videos.

Six: There are 9 fundamental movements with performance criteria. In the book, you are given how to teach the moves, faults etc. These appear in note form, with the suggestion that you memorise them. My suggestion. Memorise them. Yes, really.

Seven: When taking the test, listen to the instructions.

Eight:  Read the questions: I mean double read them. They are not trick questions, but assume they are.

Nine: Do a first swoop, answering those questions you know for sure. If you see a question that you are not 100% sure of, leave it. Just get the ones you know!

Ten: The chances are you just passed on your first zoom through, now you can focus on those sticky questions. Do the same process, if you are lucky, you’ll see another batch of obvious right answers. On your last pass, you are down to guess work. Knock out the obviously stupid answers, and make your best guess.

Eleven. Don’t think of cheating.

Twelve: In terms of the amount of work you need to do, I’d say you need to clock up  at least 24 hours worth of solid study. Do not  just flick through the handbook . If you over prepare it will simply make you a better trainer.

If you don’t train in a Crossfit affiliate facility on a regular basis, attending the Crossfit London i-course could be useful advanced preparation for you. At the certification, it is more helpful if you are polishing moves, rather than seeing them for the first time.

We had another fantastically successful i-course day, introducing a mixed group of fitness professionals and “normal people” to a fascinating range of Crossfit skills. You can check out the photos here

A lovely helping team included, Amelia and her (soon to be a Crossfit affiliate in the West Country) boyfriend Andrew, and Peter Walker, all of whom were glad to stick their fingers in peoples hips and prod and poke and encourage. Good Job!

The core material was delivered by Crossfit London’s very own Steven, Colin, Chris and Kate . Marvellous!.

This course seems to go from strength to strength, mainly because of the attitude of the attendees who come to learn, and in many cases, knowingly step out of their comfort zone to improve. In return, we don’t beast people, merely take them through a supportive, structured day of learning, that involves only a bit of good natured pain.

Debbie on her way to thrashing the boys in the basket sit hold competition

There is something unique about a Crossfit London i-Course and that is the opportunity to witness so much improvement in so many people in such a short space of time.

For many people this is the first step away from silly gyms and their machines into a world where skill merges with strength and flexibility and agility and endurance, over all the  energy systems (not just the long slow jogs).

In the morning session, 17 fabulous attendees stormed their way through the olympic lifts and our world famous squat correction workshop.

In the thick of the snatch progressions

Whilst covering all of the fundamental moves (but using the full barbell clean, rather than a medicine ball clean) they learned how to engage their hips, how to commit to one direction then switch in a real display of agility, and that real moves involve real world mastery of balance, not wobbling on gym balls.

The afternoon was a great mix of gymnastics body weight drills covering the handstand push up, pull ups (strict and kipping) dips, muscle ups and push ups and some  frankly, nasty core exercises.

The event also welcomed new presenters Phil and Efe, of whom,  I’m sure, we will see much more in the future And  Kate Pankhurst with her “paint the wall with your elbows” drill for the front squat. Thanks to Rita and Peter who turned out to help poke and prod and cue and encourage.

Efe and Phil coaching the muscle up

A special well done to John for his first ever muscle up!

John cracks out his first muscle up and gets a halo

And  a big “you’re awesome” to  Jim who as a 60 year old was the second oldest person to attend an i-Course, ever!

A great group, thanks for being there!

Class of August 2010

Loads more photos from the day on the CrossFit London Flickr pages, here.