CrossFit Oakland

« This is the Diesel! Front Squats at CFO | Main | FUEL Nutrition Seminar at CFO »

October 21, 2006

Measurement Matters

We've recently had a few of our athletes (we consider all of our clients athletes) share with us how pleased they are with our style of training and the results they're getting.

During this conversation, they'll share with us a particular outcome that has led them to the conclusion that their level of fitness has improved. In so doing, they share with us their criteria for evaluating their own level of fitness (although they may not think of it in those terms).

Almost always, the outcome will be something along the lines of dropping down to X pounds for the first time in Y number of years, or being paid flirtatious compliments by relative youngsters, etc. In short, the outcomes that resonate with them are almost always tied to a qualitative end.

What's interesting to us as trainers is that almost all of these qualitative outcomes can be seen coming a mile away, so to speak. Is this because we possess some sort of weird psychic ability? Absolutely not. We know that our athletes are getting results because we measure them. And it's been our experience that the quantitative measures we do daily (and the results tied to those measures) usually precede the qualitative outcomes that clients are looking for.

So the next time you see us walking around with dry-erase markers or poring over the workout journals we keep, understand this: there's a method to our madness.

While we take great pride in--and love to hear--qualitative endorsements of our training, it's nothing that we can hang our hats on. We need data, and we need to be able to quantify, analyze, and compare said data. The bottom line is that if we're not measuring, we're not doing our job.

With that in mind, we'd like to give you a sneak peek at our new CFO Skill Assessment Guidelines.

All of our athletes will become familiar (probably more familiar than they'd like) with this document--and the standards it defines--in the very near future.

Those of you who are familiar with the national CrossFit site (and the discussions that ensue there) will see that our guidelines are based in large part on the guidelines that CrossFit North put together (we've changed a few things here and there). We owe them a huge debt of gratitude for the work they did in creating the original assessment document.

CrossFit Toronto has created a neat little graphic test based on the standards; you can take it HERE.

Posted by Mike Minium at October 21, 2006 8:03 PM