The free trial will last approximately one hour. In that hour we will give you a more comprehensive overview of CrossFit, our programming and philosophy, as well as answer any questions or concerns you might have.  We will then take you through a short warm-up, teach you some basic movements that we will then incorporate into a workout for a true CrossFit experience. Workout attire, a water bottle and a towel is all you will need.

No! At CrossFit de l’ouest, our specialty is getting you in shape regardless of your initial level. We do not require or expect you to start training elsewhere before coming to see us, that will only delay your progress. Our Fundamentals classes are ideal for someone just starting out, all you need is a healthy dose of enthusiasm and a willingness to push yourself!

At CrossFit de l’ouest, we believe that providing a solid foundation of the movements and gradually adapting your body to the intensity of the workouts is the safest and smartest way to integrate you into CrossFit training.   This is but one of the many features that distinguishes us from other CrossFit gyms.  The Fundamentals better prepare you for regular groups classes by reviewing the movements  more than once,  allowing more time for your tendons and ligaments to adapt to the demands of weight bearing exercises, and offers more personalized attention as the groups are kept to a maximum of 6.  For exceptions, see below.

We do occasionally make exceptions for people who have a solid foundation in sports and strength training.  We encourage you to call or write to us to discuss your background as well as goals, however, we’d also like to meet you in person so that a) you can attend a free trial and b) we can assess your skill level to determine which avenue you should take.  If we feel you already highly competent in  many of the movements we will recommend private sessions at an accelerated pace.

If you have done CrossFit at another affiliate or elsewhere, you may feel qualified to skip fundamentals. If this is the case, you may request to “test out” of fundamentals by taking one private session. Note that we are extremely high standards, so if you are not sure whether you are ready or not to jump into group classes, you should consider taking a few personal training sessions to work on some of the more technical movements.

Dealing with an injury does not mean you need to avoid CrossFit. Variety is a key component in CrossFit training, which allows us to keep you active while working around an existing injury. Our trainers will be happy to modify a workout in order to meet your need so that you may continue to increase your fitness.

(answer courtesy of San Fransisco CrossFit)

“If you are really worried about this, read this article.   But the short answer is no, lifting weights will not bulk you up.  In fact, it will help you burn more calories and look better naked.”

CrossFit is extremely potent at strengthening your “core” as a strong trunk and effective spine stabilization is necessary to increase performance on a wide variety of movements. The program specifically targets your core strength, although you probably won’t do as many crunches as you think. Want to hear some more? Check out this video by Greg Glassman, founder of CrossFit (YouTube link)

Each CrossFit affiliate is run independently, so we cannot speak to the safety at other CrossFit affiliates but we have taken several steps to ensure your safety at CrossFit de l’ouest. First, we emphasize form and technique in our 12 class fundamentals. These fundamentals are much longer than is the norm at most CrossFit affiliates and we use them to make sure you learn proper technique to reduce chance of injury.

We also limit the group size to ensure that you receive proper supervision, this way we can correct minor technical faults and make corrections as needed. In the case of major technical faults or unsafe movement execution we will stop you, even if it’s in the middle of the workout. Finally our junior coaches are experienced and well trained, they go through an extensive apprenticeship process before they are coaching clients without supervision of a senior coach.

Safety is a top concern at CrossFit de l’ouest, and we want to make sure that you get the results you want. Keep in mind that even with all these measures,it is impossible to remove all risk, particularly when working at very high intensity, and injuries do happen.

At CrossFit de l’ouest we differentiate ourselves as follows:

Nutritional information is an integral component of our Fundamentals, there is a strong emphasis in the Fundamentals to explain to you not only what you should eat and how much of it you should eat but also why you should be eating it in the first place. A series of lectures at the end of each Fundamentals class will get you up to speed on current thinking on nutrition in the scientific community and how it affects your day-to-day eating habits

Yes, we do.