More about Level One CrossFit Seminars

We've recently received some feedback from members regarding the CrossFit Level One Seminars that we run on the weekends. We want to take an opportunity to explain our strategy regarding these events. Here it goes!

What is a CrossFit Level One Seminar? 

The L1 Seminar is CrossFit's basic course used to teach the fundamentals of the CrossFit system. During the two-day course, participants receive instruction on the theoretical and practical uses of the system and how to teach the movements. In order to open a CrossFit gym, trainers need to attend this course and pass a fairly rigorous test at the conclusion of the weekend. Participants travel from all across the country to attend these events!

How do we handle these events with our current members? 

During these Seminars, the main gym floor is occupied for much of Saturday and Sunday. In order to keep the gym running and provide continuous service to our members, we have rented the 'Annex' space to deal with the overflow and allow classes to continue.

The Annex is located across the back parking lot. While it is not as large as the main floor (approximately 1200 sq ft), it has plenty of equipment and is as large as many area CrossFit gyms!

On average, we have about 6 athletes in each class on Seminar weekends in the Annex and this number is not larger than the attendance in the main gym on non Seminar weekends.

What are some of the benefits for KOP members, with regards to hosting these events? 

Aimee is a member of the Seminar Staff team and teaches at most of these events. That means that she is amongst a worldwide team of about 175 select CrossFit trainers who have become 'trainers-of-trainers'. By hosting these events, Aimee is able to improve and refine her coaching technique and that passes onto CFKOP members and coaches. Aimee has been on the seminar staff for over five years.

Being a host facility is an honor and CFHQ maintains a tight relationship with their key facilities. Being connected to CFHQ allows for better communication about events, programs and initiatives. NO gym has cooler members than ours, and we want those members to be connected at a higher level than other facilities.

To date, CFKOP had trained about 2000 trainers.  It is exceptionally common to be at an event and hear, "I got my L1 at your box".  We take pride in having a well known gym and think it is special to share this with each and every person that walks through the door.      

Finally, CFKOP receives a stipend for each seminar that we host. We use this money to buy new toys, purchase new equipment for the gym and Annex and provide events for our members such as the King and Queen of Prussia and Festivus. Few other regional gyms have this additional source of income that we can use to improve our services!

The Bottom Line

All gyms have limited resources and we try to be smart about how we operate. We realize that training in the Annex doesn't have the same feel as our spacious main floor.. That said, we feel that our participation in this process is the best overall decision for the gym, due to the reasons outlined above.

We hope that you understand our strategy regarding the Seminars and feel free to ask questions in comments or in person (to Aimee and Jason) if you do not.   Thank you for the honor to be called your home box!